EFI lock and SSD upgrade

[Faloude]

I've attempted a SSD upgrade on an iMac 21.5" 2014 (A1418) (SATA HDD, non-fusion drive). Cloned all data (Catalina) from SATA HDD to SATA SSD using Carbon Copy Cloner 5. Process took a whopping 10 hours. I take out the mechanical drive and mount the SSD in it's place, boot up and get the infamous question mark folder icon (OS not found).

Bad clone? I thought maybe the clone failed so I installed Carbon Copy Cloner 6 instead and repeated the lengthy process. The result: exactly the same. So that's not it.

Bad SSD? hooked the SSD up with my macbook pro and booted to it without any problems. I got suspicious and mounted an SSD with High Sierra pre-installed into the iMac, exact same problem: folder question mark. So the problem is def not with the SSD.

I tried going into recovery mode on the iMac and there it was: EFI lock. Owner bought this brand new from a bankrupt computer shop chain 7 years ago and was never given the firmware password nor did he configure it himself.

I found out that EFI lock can prevent SSD upgrade, something that I never knew. Does anyone have a method how to get the SSD running in this machine other than desoldering and reprogramming the firmware chip?

 

[AlixSPQR]

Does anyone have a method how to get the SSD running in this machine other than desoldering and reprogramming the firmware chip?

Please see solution 2 here. Maybe it'll work.

 

[Faloude]

Please see solution 2 here. Maybe it'll work.

Unfortunately this model has non-removable RAM

 

[AlixSPQR]

Unfortunately this model has non-removable RAM

Sorry, didn’t think of that.

 

[Fishrrman]

"EFI lock" -- does that mean "firmware password"?

This wasn't "new" in-the-box.
My guess is it was stolen.

You're probably not fixing that without a new motherboard.

Suggestion:
Put the factory drive back in.
See if you can get it running that way.

If so, put the SSD into an external USB3 enclosure.
See if you can get an OS installed onto it, and create a bootable external drive.

If it will boot and run from the external SSD, just use it that way for the remainder of its life.

DON'T spend much money on this -- NOT worth it.

 

[Faloude]

@Fishrrman EFI lock = firmware password indeed.

Your guess that it's stolen is wrong. I've been shown the purchase receipt. In fact the owner is a medium sized business manager. I don't think the general manager bought this in a dark alleyway and forged a purchase receipt to fool me. It was bought from a computer nation-big computer chain that's bankrupt and not in business anymore for over 5 years.

The suspicious thing is that this salesman pre-configured the computer for the buyer and even went so far to ask what password he would like for macOS. I believe they put firmware passwords without notice for vendor-locked-in after service. Glad they went bankrupt for that matter.

Anyway I already gave up on this device. I don't think your suggestion of installing macOS on external drive would work by the way just a gutfeeling. Anyway, thank ya'll. I refered the gentleman to a shop that can reprogram the EFI chip.

 

[PaulD-UK]

If there's a purchase receipt then Apple can 'fix' the problem. Won't they?

 

[Bigwaff]

I don't think your suggestion of installing macOS on external drive would work by the way just a gutfeeling.

Your gut is mistaken. Installing macOS on external SSD and booting from external is a tried-and-true pattern that works with these models to give them more useful life w/out cracking them open. Many threads about this approach.

 

[laptech]

There are specialist tools that can remove EFI lock without the need to remove the bios chip. CMIzapper is one of the most popular that 3rd party Apple repair shops have. Contact your local or nearest 3d party Apple repair shop and ask them if they have a CMIzapper tool or something similar. If they say yes then take the machine to them because most other 3rd party Apple repair shops will just use a bios programmer to reprogram the bios chip.

 

[Faloude]

Your gut is mistaken. Installing macOS on external SSD and booting from external is a tried-and-true pattern that works with these models to give them more useful life w/out cracking them open. Many threads about this approach.

Eehrm also with a forgotten EFI password in place? I doubt it. Once you try to enter boot menu (option key on startup) you will be prompted for the firmware password.

There are specialist tools that can remove EFI lock without the need to remove the bios chip. CMIzapper is one of the most popular that 3rd party Apple repair shops have.

I actually know the person behind this thing. Will give him a call today and report back the info for people that fall in the same situation.

 

[Faloude]

Alright so the product @laptech is refering to is the Brutus. This one simply tries out password combinations until it unlocks. This works only well for short numerical passwords.

The other one is the "Medusa" which reprograms the EFI chip. However this one definitely requires desoldering the chip from the motherboard, at least for this model. The same product can be used on MacBooks without desoldering the chips but this won't be possible on thin iMacs (A1418 & A1419).

So getting your hands dirty is the only way!

Also @Bigwaff FYI: the man himself (owner of CMIzapper) confirmed me that the iMacs knows the fingerprint of the original drive (very low level, possibly HDD serial number) and will not boot to any drive (internal nor external) if it's not the original drive if there is a firmware password set and forgotten.

 

[laptech]

Alright so the product @laptech is refering to is the Brutus. This one simply tries out password combinations until it unlocks. This works only well for short numerical passwords.

The other one is the "Medusa" which reprograms the EFI chip. However this one definitely requires desoldering the chip from the motherboard, at least for this model. The same product can be used on MacBooks without desoldering the chips but this won't be possible on thin iMacs (A1418 & A1419).

So getting your hands dirty is the only way!

Also @Bigwaff FYI: the man himself (owner of CMIzapper) confirmed me that the iMacs knows the fingerprint of the original drive (very low level, possibly HDD serial number) and will not boot to any drive (internal nor external) if it's not the original drive if there is a firmware password set and forgotten.

The Medusa comes with an attachment that can clip onto some bios chips. Doesn't your imac have one of these bios chips? (see pic. the pic is only and example of what the chip would look like)

 

[Faloude]

The Medusa comes with an attachment that can clip onto some bios chips.

Correct! So it doesn't clip onto the thin iMac (A1418 & A1419) motherboards. It does do to macbook BIOS chips..

 

[laptech]

Correct! So it doesn't clip onto the thin iMac (A1418 & A1419) motherboards. It does do to macbook BIOS chips..

I just looked at an online pic of an A1418 motherboard and noticed where the bios chip is. I can see it is one of the flat chips that one would normally have to remove but I notice in the pic that the solder pads leading to each pin are accessible but it would need a special adapter to fit it. I know the guy behind CMIZapper made such an adapter for his own use but was planning to make them for sale but not sure if he has. Might be worth asking him if he has such an adapter available.

 

[Faloude]

@laptech so as promised letting you know how the meeting went. Turns out Medusa works perfectly well with this machine and removing the motherboard was not even necessary. The Medusa clamp hooks onto the BIOS chip and within 15 seconds the firmware was flashed. Problem solved.