USER MANUAL

EFI BIOS Master

(Version 1.2.2)
Table of Contents
Warnings and Limitations ..................................................................................................................... 3
Introduction ............................................................................................................................................ 4
User and Hardware Interface................................................................................................................. 4
Getting Started ....................................................................................................................................... 5
EFI chip, SPI and Probe locations ........................................................................................................... 6
LED Info ................................................................................................................................................. 19
Troubleshooting ................................................................................................................................... 20

EFI BIOS Master v1.2.2 Page 2

Warnings and Limitations
Before starting please check the batteries of the EFI BIOS Master (unlocker) are powerful
enough for the process. For best result, one must obtain new “Energizer Ultimate Lithium”
battery as shown in the photo below, which can be ordered them from eBay, Amazon or local
shops. To make sure measure their voltage so each battery should not be less than 1.7 volts
(please check the “Troubleshooting” page). For the 2015 A1534 or newer models, the voltage
probe (+3.3V) should not be used. For these models, battery and charger must be
disconnected to be safe. If not successful, please contact us. When the unlocker is connected
to the logic board and turned on, please check the LED indicator. If there is something
wrong, the LED will be off even if the device is on, in that case immediately disconnect the
flex or SOIC8 cables from the logic board and turn off the device. When the unlocker is not
in use, please turn it off from the On/Off switch.

When the flex cable needs to be used, please do not apply too much pressure to the flex
connectors while connecting or disconnecting which might damage the flex cable: just use a
single fingernail to lift the connector from each side but slowly and carefully.

Macunlocks does not warrant that the operation of the unlocker will be uninterrupted or error-
free. Macunlocks is not responsible for damage arising from failure to follow instructions
relating to unlocker’s use. Macunlocks is also not responsible for the damages caused by
accidents, misuse, abuse, neglect, misapplication, fire, water, lightning or other acts of nature;
incorrect electrical voltage or surges; damage caused by improper installation; product
alteration or modification; improper or unauthorized repair; cosmetic damage. By using the
unlocker device, you confirm that you have read the above warnings and limitations, that you
understand them and that you agree to be bound by them.

EFI BIOS Master v1.2.2 Page 3

Introduction
The purpose of this user manual is to help users to operate the EFI BIOS Master (unlocker) to
unlock or remove the Mac EFI firmware password. The interfaces of the device will be
described and the methods will be demonstrated by showing the interfacing to the logic
board. In the “Getting Started” section the user will be assisted to connect the unlocker using
the provided cables and clips and start unlocking. In addition, most of the SPI connector and
probe point locations on the logic boards will be displayed and explained. At the end of the
user manual, the LED indicator functions will be described. The troubleshooting page helps
the user in case if the unlocker does not detect the EFI chip while the mac battery
disconnected.

User and Hardware Interfaces

RGB 10 pin IDC On/Off

LED Connector Switch
Indicator (Pin 1 CS)

SPI (Flex)
Connector (New)
(2010 - 2011) (Pin 1)

SPI (Flex) SOIC8 Clip

Connector (Pin 1 red)
(2015 - 2016) Voltage Probe
(Pin 1) +3.3V

SPI (Flex)
10 pin SPI (Flex) Connector
Connector (New) (2012 - 2014)
(Pin 1 CS) (Pin 1)

EFI BIOS Master v1.2.2 Page 4

Getting Started
1- Turn on your mac and immediately hold the Option(alt) key to verify or check if there is
EFI BIOS firmware password. It looks like a padlock screen and a textbox to type the
password so if you see this, which means the mac has this password enabled.

2- Turn off the mac by holding the power button around 5 - 7 seconds, disconnect power
sources including battery, magsafe adapter and/or power cable.

3- You need to access the logic board to start the unlocking. For Macbook, Macbook Pro and
Air, you need to remove the metal cover at the bottom. For the iMac you need to remove the
screen for the most models. For any other mac models, you can find the dismantling guides at
https://www.ifixit.com

4- When you access the logic board, you should find the corresponding location to connect
the flexible SPI cable or the SOIC8 clip. If the connection of the flexible SPI cable required,
the probe connection is also required for 2010 – 2015 models to supply +3.3V as the flexible
SPI cable only carries data (For the most 2016 or newer models, the probe connection is not
needed). In the manual, we provide some of the SPI and probe locations and more will be
added in the future.

5- After connecting the clip or the SPI cable and probe, turn on the unlocker device using the
on/off switch. The LED indicator will be blinking red couple of times to start detecting the
chip. When the unlocker detects the chip, the LED indicator will be solid yellow and it will
start the unlocking process (if the LED is off please check the “LED Info” page). This
process will take around 15 seconds and finally the four flashing green LED means the
unlocking has been completed successfully. If the flexible SPI cable and probe used for the
process, the cable should be connected and the probe should be hold in position carefully
steady at all times until the four flashing green LED indicator. Otherwise the unlocking
process will be interrupted and unsuccessful. (Warning: If you are using SOIC8 clip for the
process, do not use the voltage probe as the SOIC8 cable has its own power pin, sole purpose
of the voltage probe is to be used with flexible SPI cable as a supply voltage for 2010 – 2015
models)

6- After four blinking green indicator, if you used SPI flex cable, you should first take the
voltage probe off the board carefully, turn off the unlocker and remove the SPI flex cable. If
you used the SOIC8 clip, turn off the unlocker and remove the clip from the board.

7- Now you can connect the battery if this is a Macbook Air or Pro and/or assemble the Mac.
To check the unlock result, turn the Mac on and hold Option (alt) key to access the startup
manager. If you don’t see a padlock screen then the unlocking has been completed. To
prevent re-locks in the future, you should do NVRAM reset and boot from an external USB
or DVD OSX installation media and from the disk utility, erase all hdd/ssd partitions then
start new OS installation. (For NVRAM reset details: https://support.apple.com/en-
us/HT204063 )

EFI BIOS Master v1.2.2 Page 5

EFI chip, SPI and Probe locations
General info for finding locations

For the Macbook Pro, Mac mini and iMac models 2010 – 2014, you usually see SOIC8 Serial
Flash Chips used to store the EFI firmware depending on the size. The picture below shows
typical SOIC8 EFI chip.

The hole or white dot on the chip shows the pin 1 so taking this as a reference helps to
connect the clip to the chip. The size could be 32 or 64Mbits and this size could be identified
by looking at the writing on the chip. 32 Mbit chip stores 4MB and 64 Mbit chip stores 8MB
firmware. The writing on the chip can be MX25L6406E, 25Q064A or W25Q64FVSSIG. As
you can see each chip has common parts like “25” and “64”, this helps us to understand that
this chip is a 64Mbit serial flash chip. If you see a chip writing MX25L3206E, this is a
32Mbit chip.

There are other types of serial flash chips such as WSON8, WSON8 (6X5) and WLCSP seen
in the pictures below. These chips are usually used in Macbook Air models and new models
of Macbook Pro and iMacs.

EFI BIOS Master v1.2.2 Page 6

There isn’t an easy way hook a clip on these chips as the pins are not exposed. Instead we use
a flexible SPI cable to connect to the SPI debug connector on the board. There are different
types SPI connectors as you can see the connector for 2010 – 2014 models:

For the 2015 – 2016 models, Apple uses a smaller connector as shown below:

As for the pin numberings, when you want to connect the flexible SPI cable to the connector,
usually the pin 1 of the SPI cable should point to the battery but not always (For A1534, 2016
and newer models, this is opposite so it should point to the back of the Mac). In the provided
locations and videos you can see that most of the time. To make sure connecting the cable
correctly, one should look at the logic board schematics and boardview to check the pin 1 of
the SPI debug connector therefore the pin 1 of the SPI cable and connector should match.

For the probe connection (2010 - 2015), we provided some locations. Basically, these probe
points are directly connected to the EFI serial flash chip’s +3.3 volts VCC supply voltage.
These points could be PP3V3_SUS, PP3V3_SUS_FET_R, P3V3_S5 or PP3V3S5_LL
depending on the connection to the EFI serial flash chip’s supply voltage line. To make sure
you can verify this by checking the logic board schematics and boardview before connecting
the probe. If you can’t find the schematics and boardview, you can connect the probe to the
pin 8 (VCC) of the EFI serial flash chip.

EFI BIOS Master v1.2.2 Page 7

Macbook Pro A1286 2011, 2012

c ks
lo
un
ac
EFI BIOS
Chip Pin 1
(SOIC8 Clip)
M

s
ck
lo
un
ac
M

EFI BIOS Master v1.2.2 Page 8

Macbook Pro A1278 2012

c ks
lo
un EFI BIOS
ac
Chip Pin 1
(SOIC8 Clip)
M

Macbook Pro A1398 2012, 2013, 2014

s
ck
lo
un
ac

EFI BIOS
Chip Pin 1
(SOIC8 Clip)
M

EFI BIOS Master v1.2.2 Page 9

Macbook Pro A1398 2015 (EMC 2909)

ks
SPI flex
connector

c
(2015 - 2016)
Pin 1

lo
un
ac
Voltage
Probe (3.3V)
M

s
ck
Macbook Pro A1398 2015 (EMC 2910)
lo
un

Only shown probe point, the

flex connection is same as
EMC 2909 (flex pin 1 points to
ac

the battery side)

M

EFI BIOS Master v1.2.2 Page 10

Macbook Pro A1502 2013, 2014

ks
Voltage
Probe (3.3V)

c
lo
SPI flex
connector
(2012 - 2014)
Pin 1 un
ac
M

Macbook Pro A1502 2015

s
ck
lo
un

SPI flex
connector
ac

(2015 - 2016)
Pin 1
Voltage
Probe (3.3V)
M

EFI BIOS Master v1.2.2 Page 11

Macbook Pro A1425 2012

ks
SPI flex
connector
(2012 - 2014)

c
Pin 1

lo
un
ac
M

Voltage
Probe (3.3V)

s
ck
iMac A1311 2011
lo

EFI BIOS
CHIP SOIC8
un

(Pin 1)
ac
M

EFI BIOS Master v1.2.2 Page 12

Macbook Air A1370 2011

c ks
lo
un
ac
M

s
ck
Macbook Air A1466 2012
lo
un
ac

SPI flex
connector
(2012 - 2014)
M

Voltage
Probe (3.3V)

EFI BIOS Master v1.2.2 Page 13

Macbook Air 1466 2013, 2014, 2015, 2017

c ks
lo
SPI flex

un
connector
(2012 - 2014)
Pin 1
ac
M

Voltage
Probe (3.3V)
s
ck
lo
un
ac
M

EFI BIOS Master v1.2.2 Page 14

Macbook Air A1465 2013, 2014, 2015

c ks
lo
SPI flex
connector

un
(2012 - 2014)
Pin 1
ac
M

SPI flex

s
connector
(2015 - 2016)
ck
Pin 1
lo
un
ac
M

Voltage
Probe (3.3V)

EFI BIOS Master v1.2.2 Page 15

iMac A1419 2012, 2013, 2014

ks
EFI BIOS

c
Chip Pin 1
(SOIC8 Clip)

lo
un
ac
M

iMac A1418 2014

s
ck
lo
un
ac

EFI BIOS
Chip Pin 1
(SOIC8 Clip)
M

EFI BIOS Master v1.2.2 Page 16

2016 and Newer Models

ks
Warning: A1534, 2016 and newer models are still experimental and should usually work as
expected however enhanced tests have not been completed yet thus we do not guarantee if
it’s fail safe or free from side effects. Therefore Macunlocks do not accept responsibility if

c
the usage of the unlocker device causes any temporary and/or permanent damages on the Mac

lo
computers. Probe connection is not required for these models. Please also disconnect the
battery and charger adapters through the unlocking process for these models.

un
Macbook A1534 2015, 2016, 2017
SPI flex
ac
connector
(2015 - 2016)
Pin 1
M

s
ck
lo

Macbook Pro A1706 2016, 2017

un

SPI flex
connector
(2015 - 2016)
ac

Pin 1
M

EFI BIOS Master v1.2.2 Page 17

Macbook Pro A1707 2016, 2017

ks
c
lo
un
ac
SPI flex
connector
(2015 - 2016)
Pin 1
M

Macbook Pro A1708 2016, 2017

s
ck
lo

SPI flex
un

connector
(2015 - 2016)
Pin 1
ac
M

EFI BIOS Master v1.2.2 Page 18

LED Info
The RGB LED Indicator helps to understand the situation and to give information depending
on the color, blink count and the duration. The information below can be used as a reference.

Red(blink 1 times): Trying to detect the chip (the chip smaller than 32Mbits will not be
detected)

Red(blink 3 times): Incompatible firmware or chip

Red(blink 4 times): Not found(empty chip or corrupted firmware)

Green(blink 4 times): Successfully unlocked (verified)

Green(blink 3 times): AA battery low or incompatible (use new energizer ultimate lithium)

Green(blink 2 times): Already done

Yellow(Solid): Scanning in progress

Blue(blink 2 times) Light Blue(blink 1 times): Unlocker test (If the light is faint, the battery
should be replaced)

Warning: Indicator LED off or very dim (always): If there is something wrong, even if the
device is on, the LED might be off or dim (assuming the AA batteries are good), in that case
immediately disconnect the flex or SOIC8 cables from the logic board and from the device,
turn off the device, remove the batteries and contact us.

EFI BIOS Master v1.2.2 Page 19

Troubleshooting
Sometimes the EFI chip could not be detected, in that case there are couple of things can be
done:

1- Check the AA lithium batteries, measure their voltage, the voltage should not be less than
1.7 volts. Despite its 1.5v writing, measured voltage is always higher in new batteries (please
do not use zinc-carbon or alkaline types, instead use the “Energizer Ultimate Lithium” which
is at least 3x more powerful than standard batteries)

2- If the voltage is good, please do the following. (Warning: The steps below are only valid
for 2010 to 2015 models; do not try on newer models):

1-Connect the battery or magsafe or power

2-Turn on the Mac

3-Close the screen lid and flip the Mac so you can access the board but the Mac
should be working

4-Connect the flex cable to the connector

5-Touch the probe as soon as you disconnect the Mac battery to keep EFI chip active

3- If the SOIC8 cable used, do the following:

1-Connect the battery or magsafe or power

2-Turn OFF the unlocker

3-Turn on the Mac

4-Close the screen lid and flip the Mac so you can access the board but the Mac
should be working

5-Connect the SOIC8 cable to the EFI chip

6- As soon as you remove the power to the Mac, turn on the unlocker.

4- If you still have issues and questions, please contact us on macunlocks.com

EFI BIOS Master v1.2.2 Page 20