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reynierpm

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Jan 3, 2021
24
2
Hi there,

So, long story short: I got an iMac Late 2013 like 3 years ago from a friend (and he get it before from another friend which I never get to know the original owner of the iMac). Everything has been working fine till today when I decided ?‍♂️to "erase" the iMac from my iCloud account and from Find My because I will sell it and I don't want it to have anything from me in there and apparently I did it in the wrong way.

The iMac was sitting in a corner in a room powered off. I did erase it days ago when I received my new MBP. Today I turned it on and turns out this "erase" thing started without any further questions.

Bottom line: each time I try to enter in Recovery Mode by pressing Command + R, I have a lock in the screen asking for a password (see attached image).

I have tried:
  • My current passcode
  • My current and previous password
  • I haven't erased the iMac completely from FindMyApp but still can't do anything with it
  • I tried to log in to my iCloud account following some docs from Apple The same situation can't do anything ....
Is there any way to remove this "lock" without the need to go to an Apple Store and ask for such thing? If so I may lost the ability to sell this antique for a few boxes :( because as I said I never knew the original owner and pretty sure if I get to him through my friend he'll probably won't know the password or passcode he used 4 years ago.
 

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reynierpm

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Jan 3, 2021
24
2
If you don't know the Apple ID email and password of the account used to access the Mac, it is a paperweight. Apple won't help since you are a third party and don't know the original owner.
But you mean the one from the original owner, right? Because ofc I know mine
 

Apple_Robert

Contributor
Sep 21, 2012
34,527
50,104
In the middle of several books.
But you mean the one from the original owner, right? Because ofc I know mine
The password "Find My" is looking for is the Apple ID password used to set up the Mac. If you are sure that you typed it in correctly, you can try the forgot the password option if you have another device logged into your Apple ID account. That may or may not work.
 

reynierpm

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Jan 3, 2021
24
2
The password "Find My" is looking for is the Apple ID password used to set up the Mac. If you are sure that you typed it in correctly, you can try the forgot the password option if you have another device logged into your Apple ID account. That may or may not work.
So basically you mean to change my Apple ID password? I can give it a try
 

reynierpm

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Jan 3, 2021
24
2
I would first see if you can log into your account on appleid.apple.com If you can't, there is a problem with your account.
I was able to enter without any issues. I did tried that same password on that lock screen and it did not work
 

reynierpm

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Jan 3, 2021
24
2
Maybe someone else has a good suggestion I am not aware of but, I don't think there is any way to install without that password.
Ok, gonna wait a little bit before taking out the memory, the SSD, and HDD and throwing the iMac into the trash. :|
 

cal1

macrumors member
Oct 8, 2021
41
47
There's YT videos on stuff like this. Just google for "how to remove iCloud lock from mac" or smth and you should find some. YMMV, tho.
 
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prime17569

macrumors regular
May 26, 2021
192
490
If you're seeing a padlock and a single password field when attempting to go into Recovery Mode, your iMac might have a firmware password set. This is not the same thing as iCloud Activation Lock. You'll most likely need to take it to Apple to get it fixed.
 

reynierpm

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Jan 3, 2021
24
2
If you're seeing a padlock and a single password field when attempting to go into Recovery Mode, your iMac might have a firmware password set. This is not the same thing as iCloud Activation Lock. You'll most likely need to take it to Apple to get it fixed.
Ok, I feel "dumb" after several tries and a lot of videos and stuff on the Internet (not helpful at all) I started trying with every single Pass Code I could remember and I get one of them working meaning I am able to pass the "Lock" status. I also thought it was an EFI lock but that is not the case indeed that is disabled because I double-checked in Recovery Mode. However, for some reason, I am unable to install macOS since is looking for Maverick and I don't know (yet) how to force Catalina or what I could be missing here.
 

reynierpm

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Jan 3, 2021
24
2
OK, I was able to bypass that lock thing and also to reinstall macOS Catalina, thank you all for taking the time and try to help me.
 
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