Unlocking iMac when locked by Find My iPhone?

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Level 2

262 points

Unlocking iMac when locked by Find My iPhone?

My iMac 10.8.2 was stolen recently during a burglary. I immediately used the Find My iPhone app on my iPhone to locate the iMac and lock it as soon as it was connected to the internet. Within a few hours, it was located and the police recovered it and made two arrests. The individual who was caught in possession apparently told the police that, as soon as he had started to use the iMac, he received my Find My iPhone message that the computer was stolen and the screen went blank. I now have the iMac back but, when I start it up, I get a grey (gray) screen with a little progress bar towards the bottom. When this bar get about a third of the way through, the iMac switches off. Starting up while holding the option key, gets a similar grey screen but with options to chose the boot disc and connect to a network. I can connect to my home network but, selecting the iMac hard drive again results in a switch off. Selecting the recovery disc allows me to bring up a Safari browser and the Disc Utility but I cannot seem to get any further. Using the Find My iPhone app from my iPhone allows me to send a sound to the iMac and I have an option to Lock or Erase the iMac, and nothing about unlocking it. I don't know if something was done to the computer after the burglary and before it became locked but I don't think so because there would have been little time to do so. Any suggestions as to how to unlock (if that is the problem) my iMac?

iPhone 4, iOS 5.1.1

Posted on Nov 30, 2012 1:58 AM

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Answer 1

Nov 30, 2012 3:58 AM in response to bratman91

Her is what another User said in a past Post here:

aduffbrew Western United States

Re: Enter your sustem lock pin code to unlock this Mac

Feb 9, 2012 11:01 AM (in response to grigoriyfromlipetsk)

This looks to me to be a Find My Mac issue. I'm not too familiar with how it works so maybe someone knowledgeable will chime in here. From what I read, it seems if you lose your Mac you can lock it or erase it. This one's been locked. The code is the one entered when it was locked using iCloud.

However, according to Apple,if you forget your passcode, or if you set an EFI firmware password on your Mac before it was lost, then remotely lock it and later find it, you may need to take it to an authorized repair center to unlock it.

Hope this helps 🙂

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Answer 2

bratman91 Author

Level 2

262 points

Nov 30, 2012 4:19 AM in response to Radiation Mac

Radiation Mac - I was expecting to get something like the situation shown in your post but I am getting nothing that allows me to input the code I used to lock the system, nor does Find My iPhone in iCloud indicate that the iMac is locked (in fact, I get the option to lock it!). The iMac does connect to iCloud as it can be located and a sound sent to it, so there is something still working.

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Answer 3

softwater

Level 5

5,556 points

Nov 30, 2012 4:25 AM in response to bratman91

Apparently resetting the PRAM solves this...

https://discussions.apple.com/thread/3260436?start=0&tstart=0

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Answer 4

bratman91 Author

Level 2

262 points

Nov 30, 2012 5:16 AM in response to softwater

The posts on that link, softwater, seem as though the issue there was not quite the same as mine in that, after startup, a screen appeared that required a pin (password) to be entered. Nevertheless, I tried resetting the PRAM but it has made no difference. In fact, things may even be worse as, now, Find My iPhone cannot find the iMac even when it is on line. If I startup while pressing the option key, I can get OS X Utilities which allows me to open a Safari browser. I can use this to get Find My iPhone on iCloud but this cannot find the iMac which it is operating from! I have not, at least knowingly, installed any EFI firmware requiring a password.

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Answer 5

Linc Davis

Level 10

209,541 points

Nov 30, 2012 10:37 AM in response to bratman91

The computer may have been damaged during the burglary. Will it boot into Recovery (command-R at startup)?

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Answer 6

Csound1

Level 9

59,973 points

Nov 30, 2012 10:49 AM in response to bratman91

bratman91 wrote:

The posts on that link, softwater, seem as though the issue there was not quite the same as mine in that, after startup, a screen appeared that required a pin (password) to be entered.

Did you enter the code you used to lock your Mac at this point?

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Answer 7

bratman91 Author

Level 2

262 points

Nov 30, 2012 3:25 PM in response to Csound1

Sorry if I didn't make it clear - it was those on the other post that got the option to enter in a pasword. My screens never give me any such option.

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Answer 8

Csound1

Level 9

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Nov 30, 2012 3:27 PM in response to bratman91

Oh, sorry I misread you.

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Answer 9

bratman91 Author

Level 2

262 points

Dec 1, 2012 8:37 AM in response to Linc Davis

Linc Davis - It is possible that the computer was damaged but I can get the OS X Recovery disc where I can connect to wifi, connect to the internet and bring up Disc Utility. I have tried Repair Disc but it fails to complete although does not indicate why. I think that the Mac HD is not mounted but trying to mount it fails. I can also get a terminal, and it looks as though all all my folders and files are there. In short, everything looks good except that the computer will not boot up into the Mountain Lion operating system. My guess is that the Find My iPhone app has locked the computer but there is no way that I can find to enter in my unlocking PIN. I would hope that there is some way to do this via a terminal command but.........

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Answer 10

Csound1

Level 9

59,973 points

Dec 1, 2012 8:43 AM in response to bratman91

To get around the locking pin requires a visit to the store, if that is the cause of the issue, bring proof of ownership with you.

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Answer 11

Linc Davis

Level 10

209,541 points

Dec 1, 2012 9:00 AM in response to bratman91

What backups do you have?

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Answer 12

bratman91 Author

Level 2

262 points

Dec 1, 2012 9:09 AM in response to Linc Davis

Time Machine to a Seagate external drive. I am not sure how to recover my system through this as I cannot get at the Time Machine app on the computer.

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Answer 13

Linc Davis

Level 10

209,541 points

Dec 1, 2012 9:17 AM in response to bratman91

Launch Disk Utility in Recovery and erase the boot volume. Then install OS X. If successful, you'll reboot automatically into the Setup Assistant, where you can transfer your data from the backup. If not successful, take the machine in for service.

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Answer 14

bratman91 Author

Level 2

262 points

Dec 1, 2012 3:07 PM in response to Linc Davis

Thanks, Linc Davis. Just to clarify in my own mind, the "boot volume" is the Mackintosh HD? And I would install OSX from the internet and not from my backup? And then I could use the backup to get all my personal files? Sorry of these sound dumb questions but I have never needed to do anything like this before.

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Answer 15

Linc Davis

Level 10

209,541 points

Dec 1, 2012 3:14 PM in response to bratman91

Yes to all.

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