Firmware password Removal

Hi guys,
Please read details below, but for those who can't be bothered, I would like to REMOVE my firmware password on my mac.
I have a strange problem. I recently put in the Mac OS X install disk (10.6.1) and set up a firmware password from the 'utilities' menu on the disk. Everything went as planned, and now I cannot start up using Verbose mode (Cmd V on start up) or start up from a disk on start up (C), this is what I wanted, and expected. All seemed ok, but today, I wanted to remove it, as I wanted to use Verbose Mode. I Put in the mac os x install disk, went to system preferences and chose to boot from the CD. I did, and then went back to the Utilities menu on the disk, and went to the firmware password option, however I see no option to remove the password. Infact, there is no sign of a firmware password in place. How do I remove it, (I do know the password) or change it!
Please Help, I do not want to have to take an iMac on a long journey to my nearest apple store!
Nathan

im not sure whether it worked
It should be easy to tell - just restart while holding down the option key. If you can choose a startup disk without first getting a screen with a padlock and a password entry field, then the firmware password has been removed.

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Firmware password removal not working ?

I have a Mac mini Core Duo with SL installed.
Since the Mac do not respond to key commands at boot time I suspected that firmware password protection was set.
I read :
http://discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa?messageID=12801722&#12801722
http://discussions.apple.com/message.jspa?messageID=12069530
and thus I booted on the SL DVD and opened Firmware Password utility
I found that the check box was checked (before I installed Snow Leopard) but the two text fields were empty. Note that no password was ever asked at that stage or boot time with or without key options.
I unchecked the check box + reboot --> this made no difference :
Boot-C, boot-alt, boot + cmd-opt-P-R, etc., nothing is active.
Worse than that, I cannot change the hard drive !
What am I doing wrong ?
A

Yes, I physically changed the hard drive after opening the min.
Yes, all the disks I used are bootable. I connected them to the mini as external drives, installed SL from the DVD and checked that the mini can boot from each of these disks.
As soon that I installed one of these disk INSIDE the mini, everything is locked.
As soon as I reinstalled the original disk, everything is okay.
Because if so, that has nothing to do with a firmware password.
I read somewhere that setting up a firmware protection also forbid changing the hard drive.
Anyway, thank you very much for your interest in that strange problem. I discussed with two Mac-maintenance pros and they had no solution.
A

Firmware Password Removal - Details !

Hello again!
Now the complete situation is here as under:
We, at university have a lab having Sun SPARC stations, Ultras and ultras2. All these stations have been set to take authentication from NIS Domain, which currently is unavailable. So these stations after booting stuck to the point, from where onwards they need to contact the NIS Server. They just keep on repeating the error message, "hme0 Link down? Cable Problem?" Now we want that that either we install fresh copies of Solaris on them, or at least make these stations functional. This Lab has remained closed for more than 3 years. The previous Lab administrator had firmware and root passwords set on these machines, who has left the university. Now the passwords to these machines could not be found!
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Did you buy this Mac new back in 2010? If not then it was set by the previous owner.
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How can I remove an EFI firmware password in a 2012 MacBook Pro Retina?

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"YOU" CAN'T. You need to take the system to an Apple store or possibly an Apple Authorized repair center and ask them to remove it.
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How can I remove a firmware password?

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Only Apple can do this. Call in at your local Apple Store.

I have a macbook pro (13inch). I had a firmware password set on it and updated the firmware when apple update told me to. I cannot change the firmware password or remove it now.

Hello,
I have a macbook pro which had a firmware password set on it (security-mode = command).
Update asked me to install updates and one of them was an EFI update. I proceeded and the macintosh booted just fine.
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Help would be appreciated!
J

Apparently the newer macbooks use a different utility than the older macbooks.
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J

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Need to remove a firmware password on a G5 2.7 Powermac bought on ebay.
Have removed half of the ram and tried to reset pram no help. Removed battery, no help.
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Help Dan

PRAM reset, CMD+Option+p+r...
http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=2238

Remove firmware password by removing RAM which models are not effected?

One could reset in the past by removing the RAM etc. I heard this changed at some point.
From what model MBP is this no longer possible? Or is this still the case?
I have a MBPi5 and a MBPi7.

ChangeAgent wrote:
Thanks Csound1, good to know.
However, here, http://reviews.cnet.com/8301-13727_7-57520874-263/how-to-set-a-firmware-password -without-rebooting-in-os-x/ I found that it is since 2011 (4th Para). I had also found other dates in other articles, so confusing. or does somebody know better?
Message was edited by: ChangeAgent
Ignore cnet

Will restoring from time machine restore a removed firmware password?

Hi all,
I purchased a used Macbook Air a few months ago and recently tried to reset the pram but could not proceed because a firmware password had been set. The original owner did not remember what he used so I took it into the genius bar and they removed it. However, part of their work required that they reformat my computer so I was wondering, if I restored my computer using my time machine backup, would that restore the firmware password?
Thanks in advance.

It won't. Time Machine doesn't interact with the EFI hardware (the successor to the BIOS, if that helps), which is where Firmware Passwords are set up.
HTH.

Fix for RAM removable Open Firmware Password?

Hello people from Apple Discussions,
I have a burning question that has been tormenting me for years.
Mac OSX is branded as supposedly the safest operating system around today.
What completely astounds me though is that any user password can be quickly hacked, by booting into the Single User Mode where you immediately gain root access.
In my search for a fix I have come across semi-solutions like:
"install an open firmware password!"
I felt relieved, reassured and assumed my problem was solved.
Unfortunately this is bloody useless because one could remove a RAM module and voila! Gone is the Open Firmware Password.
What alternative (other than to permanently glue to ram module in place) is there to this security hole that exists today?
Thank you all very much for reading.
I hope this gets fixed, for the sake of all mac users.
Very Kind regards,
Luuc.

I don't believe Open Firmware passwords are stored in RAM. I believe it's an electrically programmable EAROM. Pulling a RAM module shouldn't affect the security of the computer.
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Removing open firmware password -- too easy?

I've had an open firmware password set on my computer for the last two years to provide some protection for client data stored on it. But last night I had to do some troubleshooting using startup commands, so I wanted to temporarily remove the password. I found instructions for removing it by booting into open firmware (command-option-o-f), but this startup sequence did nothing.
Eventually I booted from the Snow Leopard system CD and opened the Open Firmware Password utility. This utility had a simple checkbox that let me remove the password, without entering the current password. Is it really that easy to remove the open firmware password? If so, I don't think it's worth the occasional inconvenience of keeping it on there.

There's nothing you can do to prevent a determined hacker with physical access to your machine from getting access to everything on your hard drive. What you should do, however, is make sure that any information that is sensitive is encrypted. You could use an encrypted disk image made with Disk Utility for this purpose... many do. Also, note that your keychain is encrypted and thus passwords and other things stored there are safe... but only as long as you do not auto-login with an auto-unlocking keychain or leave yourself logged in with the keychain unlocked. Although your account password could be reset by someone with the right knowledge who wanted in, this does NOT affect the keychain password.

Removing EFI Firmware Password

When I bought my MacBook Air in February 2011, it came with OSX 10.6.6. Since then I have set the firmware password, and then upgraded to 10.7 and now 10.8. Currently at 10.8.2.
I now have to do something that requires me to boot in safe mode. To be able to safe boot I have to unset the firmware password (fortunately, I know the password).
But how do I go about removing the firmware password? Do I use the USB key with 10.6.6 software on it? Or do I use software from the Recovery partition on the HD?
Do I have other options?
Thanks for your comments.

You can use the one you want, but as you are running Mountain Lion, you can use Recovery HD.
1. Press Command and R keys while your Mac is starting to start into OS X Recovery.
2. When it has started, go to Utilities menu and select the option to set up the firmware password.
3. Turn it off and restart your computer

Can't remove firmware password

Hi Guys,
I have big time trouble with my first MacBook Pro(2011 i7 2.2ghz 8gb ram 6750m), i can't remove the firmware password(i need to boot up Apple Hardware Test because of problems with my HDD). I booted the Snow Leopard disc that came with my MacBook and opened the firmware password utility and pressed remove password but i doesn't remove it. PLEASE help me, i already have an broken screen(out of the factory is getting fixed soon) and it keeps hanging every day 4 times:(
So please tell me how i can i remove the password.
Greetings,
TNAJanssen

According to http://support.apple.com/kb/TS3554
"Only Apple retail stores or Apple Authorized Service Providers can unlock a MacBook Air (Late 2010), MacBook Pro (Early 2011), or iMac (Mid 2011) computer protected by a firmware password.
If you cannot remember the firmware password for your MacBook Air, schedule a service appointment with either an Apple Retail Store or an Apple Authorized Service Provider. If you plan to visit an Apple Retail store please make a reservation at the Genius Bar using http://www.apple.com/retail/geniusbar/ (available in some countries only)."

Firmware password Removal

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