How can I add a boot up password to my Intel Mac?

Question

Back in the PowerPC days, you used to be able to use OpenFirmware to set a boot up password. This would prevent someone from being able to use, for example, single user mode or target boot mode without a password. Note: I'm not talking about the usual username/password prompt from MacOS X.

Now that I have an Intel MacBook Air running MacOS X 10.5 (10.6 soon) I can't use OpenFirmware. Does anyone know how to use a boot up password on these Macs?

Answer 1

Guide from Apple.com - http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1352

You can use the Open Firmware Password application to set up low-level password protection with Mac OS X v10.1 and later.

Apple Open Firmware Update 4.1.7 and later provide the groundwork for password protecting computers at a low level (Open Firmware Password Protection). This feature is off by default. Apple provides the Open Firmware Password utility for use only with Mac OS X v10.1 and later. Apple does not endorse or provide technical support for this feature when used with earlier versions of Mac OS or with any third-party software utilities.

Intel-based Macintosh computers can be protected by firmware passwords as well. The firmware in an Intel-based computer uses Extensible Firmware Interface (EFI) technology—Open Firmware is used in computers that use PowerPC processors.

Warning: Attempts to use firmware in a manner that is not explicitly endorsed by Apple may damage your computer's logic board. Any repairs that are necessary because of this damage will not be covered under the terms of the Apple One-Year Limited Warranty, AppleCare Protection Plan, or other AppleCare agreement.

How to enable the Open Firmware

Password On any computer capable of firmware password protection (including Intel-based Macintosh computers), follow these steps:

For Mac OS X v10.1 to v10.3.9, download and install the Open Firmware Password application, which you can get here.

For Mac OS X v10.4.x, you must use the updated version that can be copied from the software installation disc (located at /Applications/Utilities/ on the disc).

For Mac OS X v10.5.x, start from the Leopard Install DVD and choose Firmware Password Utility from the Utilities menu, then skip to step 5.

Open the Open Firmware Password application.

Click the icon to authenticate. Enter an administrator username and password when prompted.

Click Change.

Click to select the checkbox for "Require password to change Open Firmware settings", as shown below.

Type your password in the Password and Verify fields.

Click OK. A confirmation appears.

Click lock icon to prevent further changes.

Choose Quit from the application menu.