System Lock on MacBook Air

Hello Students,

Recently some students have had their school issued computer locked down remotely due to one violation or another.  When this happens, the Tech Department staff sends out a command that locks the laptop screen similar to this image.

System lock PIN screen

When this happens, there are a million different combinations that can be tried but only one combination that will work.   DO NOT TRY GUESSING the combination, because after three wrong guesses, you will have to wait.  Each time your computer reboots, you will have to wait a longer time before you get three more tries.  After a while, you end up caught in a vicious loop.
Once caught in that loop, even our local tech support can rescue this Mac.  It will need to be sent out to the Repair Depot and they have to replace the logic board (motherboard) of the computer.  This is a costly and unnecessary expense.

From this point forward, if you see this screen you should report to the Tech Office immediately.  Anyone who has to have their machine sent out unnecessarily for this issue will be responsible for paying the bill to replace the logic board on their machine.

The vast majority of our students follow the rules and will never see this screen.  If you do, you should "face the music" and get the issue resolved before making it any worse.  As always, please see us if there are any questions.

Vincent Vanier & Paul Chasse
Tech Department Staff