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Firmware Lock Question

kagharaht

kagharaht

macrumors 68000
Original poster
Oct 7, 2007
1,878
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Hi all. So my late 2013 iMac, 16gb RAM, 1TB HDD is really struggling with FileVault enabled. I mean literally struggling specially with at least 2 or 3 apps running and Safari just kills it. So if I turn off FileVault which will take several days to finish, and just enable Firmware lock, that will prevent anyone from bypassing my login screen to access the iMac right? Even in recovery mode or booting on external drive? I have a Time Machine backup that is encrypted enabled. I can still use that TM hard drive to restore my files on a different Mac or a new Mac right? Also what if the old iMac HDD finally dies and I need to boot on external HD, can I still do that with Firmware lock enabled?
 
FileVault will take some time to encrypt the data on the drive (and decrypt -- hopefully you have your Recovery Key). Once encrypted, FileVault should not be a performance drag at all. Is your 1TB HDD a Fusion drive? If so, the performance issue could be a failing Fusion drive and not related to FileVault.

When you set a firmware password, users who don't have the password can't start up from any disk other than the designated startup disk (internal or external) currently selected in Startup Disk settings. This includes Recovery. Once booted, you'll get the login screen. If your 10 yr old iMac is not in a public space, I personally would not worry about a Firmware password. I would just always require account login on boot and password on wake from sleep.

Firmware passwords have nothing to do with Time Machine backups, encrypted or not.
 
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I would advise you NOT to enable a firmware password.
This has been a source of trouble for many users.

The problem with the iMac you have is the platter-based hard drive.
No matter what you do, it's going to be... slow.

Do you want a faster iMac?
There's a quick, easy and relatively cheap way to do this.

Buy an external USB3 SSD, plug it in, and set it up to be the new boot drive.
ANYONE can do this.

I'd recommend THIS drive:
www.amazon.com

SAMSUNG T7 Shield 1TB, Portable SSD, up to 1050MB/s, USB 3.2 Gen2, Rugged, IP65 Rated, for Photographers, Content Creators and Gaming, External Solid State Drive (MU-PE1T0R/AM, 2022), Blue

Samsung T7 Shield Portable SSD delivers high performance on-the-go, not matter the terrain. It has an IP65 rating for water1 and dust2 resistance, with Dynamic Thermal Guard to manage heat control. Transfer huge files instantly. USB 3.2 Gen 2 and PCIe® NVMe achieve soaring sequential read/write ...
www.amazon.com

You didn't tell us which version of the OS you're using.

You could use SuperDuper (free) to "clone" the contents of the hard drive to the SSD.
Then set it to be the new boot drive using the startup disk preference pane.

If you do this, I predict you will be very pleased with the results.
You'll come back here and post "I didn't think it could be this easy..."
 
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Bigwaff said:
FileVault will take some time to encrypt the data on the drive (and decrypt -- hopefully you have your Recovery Key). Once encrypted, FileVault should not be a performance drag at all. Is your 1TB HDD a Fusion drive? If so, the performance issue could be a failing Fusion drive and not related to FileVault.

When you set a firmware password, users who don't have the password can't start up from any disk other than the designated startup disk (internal or external) currently selected in Startup Disk settings. This includes Recovery. Once booted, you'll get the login screen. If your 10 yr old iMac is not in a public space, I personally would not worry about a Firmware password. I would just always require account login on boot and password on wake from sleep.

Firmware passwords have nothing to do with Time Machine backups, encrypted or not.
Click to expand...
OH its just a standard HDD drive not fusion. It's really struggling after all these years. Literally minutes to switch between apps. I just plan on using this as a dedicated media server once I buy the new iMac. If they come out with one lol.
 
Fishrrman said:
I would advise you NOT to enable a firmware password.
This has been a source of trouble for many users.

The problem with the iMac you have is the platter-based hard drive.
No matter what you do, it's going to be... slow.

Do you want a faster iMac?
There's a quick, easy and relatively cheap way to do this.

Buy an external USB3 SSD, plug it in, and set it up to be the new boot drive.
ANYONE can do this.

I'd recommend THIS drive:
www.amazon.com

SAMSUNG T7 Shield 1TB, Portable SSD, up to 1050MB/s, USB 3.2 Gen2, Rugged, IP65 Rated, for Photographers, Content Creators and Gaming, External Solid State Drive (MU-PE1T0R/AM, 2022), Blue

Samsung T7 Shield Portable SSD delivers high performance on-the-go, not matter the terrain. It has an IP65 rating for water1 and dust2 resistance, with Dynamic Thermal Guard to manage heat control. Transfer huge files instantly. USB 3.2 Gen 2 and PCIe® NVMe achieve soaring sequential read/write ...
www.amazon.com

You didn't tell us which version of the OS you're using.

You could use SuperDuper (free) to "clone" the contents of the hard drive to the SSD.
Then set it to be the new boot drive using the startup disk preference pane.

If you do this, I predict you will be very pleased with the results.
You'll come back here and post "I didn't think it could be this easy..."
Click to expand...
Oh Late 2013, Catalina is the highest it can get. I did that and the Mac started to get that Kernel Panic because it started to ignore the boot drive. Even when not sleeping it would disconnect the SSD drive randomly. I even reformatted the SSD drive and reinstalled the OS. Started to ignore the drive attached to it. So this guy is really struggling. I'm hoping it can be at least a media server with the internal drive when I buy the new iMac coming out.
 
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It finished Decrypting FileVault and the performance is like night and day. LOL Anyway why would Firmware Lock be a problem? I mean if I forget the password, I can always bring it to Apple Store with the receipt to unlock it. I have the receipt still. What else could be bad? I have iMac (21.5-inch, Late 2013), 2.7 GHz Quad-Core Intel Core i5, 16GB RAM, 1TB HDD. Catalina 10.15.7 (19H2026).
 
kagharaht said:
It finished Decrypting FileVault and the performance is like night and day. LOL Anyway why would Firmware Lock be a problem? I mean if I forget the password, I can always bring it to Apple Store with the receipt to unlock it. I have the receipt still. What else could be bad? I have iMac (21.5-inch, Late 2013), 2.7 GHz Quad-Core Intel Core i5, 16GB RAM, 1TB HDD. Catalina 10.15.7 (19H2026).
Click to expand...
And the apple store will have to wipe out your computer so you will loose the data.
 
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Nguyen Duc Hieu said:
Don't worry about that much. Firmware password deleting service is 150$~200$ at any Mac repair shop (not the Apple center)
Click to expand...
Ah that's true, there are 3rd party authorized service people that can work on old Macs still. If I still have to rely on this old guy, I would do it and get it unlock. I hope today they announce a new iMac and I can finally retire this guy to just sit there as a media server. It should be fine doing that even with just Catalina.
 
Purchased my iMac from Best Buy online store Sept of 2020, new.



One day it the screen tells me to enter a 6-digit passcode which I never recall making.



Apple Store says they cannot resolve the issue because my receipt for my online purchase from Best Buy does not have the serial number on it.



Best Buy’s geek squad cannot resolve the issue because they do not have the tools to override a bios lock.



Long story short don’t buy a Apple product from Best Buy.
 
I replaced the old iMac and retired it. Catalina just had so much issues sync with iCloud services. Got a new iMac M3 and have no need to turn on Firmware Lock on these guys.
 
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