Unable to disable Lost Mode in ios12

[luke_reagor]

Over the last few days, we've had two iPads have an issue with disabling Lost Mode. Both are on WiFi and are communicating with Jamf and fail on the DisableLostMode command with "MDM Lost Mode could not be disabled on this device." We are able to play a sound on the iPads, but cannot get location. We were also able to remotely upgrade them from lower ios12 versions to the latest. These are both iPad 5th Generations. I'm suspecting they are having the same issue as the one described on this page, https://forums.developer.apple.com/thread/90049... only resurrected for ios12. I've seen one other issue with Lost Mode in our environment... same ipad model... same ios version... slightly different symptoms. On that iPad, Lost Mode would give the same failure messages, but would actually turn off. That allowed us to watch the console logs and see it complain about a BiometricKit error, which is also shown in the article I listed above. Unfortunately, I can't verify that error on these specific iPads, as I can't get out of Lost Mode to trust them to view their console.

Has anyone else seen similar issues in Lost Mode on ios12?

[luke_reagor]

Update: We have confirmed this is the same issue as in the posted link. The console shows a BiometricKit error. The issue is caused by sending the Update Location to the iPad in Lost Mode. If you do not send the Update Location command, Jamf will still report errors when enabling and disabling Lost Mode, but the iPad will still process the commands correctly. So, the Lost Mode bug is still active on some iPads with iOS 12 and BiometricKit. The kicker is that it is only a few of our iPads are doing it. So far, we have found 3. I suspect it's going to be an Apple hardware issue, but in case anyone else is seeing this random issue, you're not alone.

[Tolandese]

Was anyone able to get these devices out of lost mode? We have one right now I am working on.

[SMG2009]

Same here. We also have one. Disable command immediately goes to fail.

[luke_reagor]

I'm waiting on a discussion with Apple about ours. But, we have 5 that give the fail message. They all show a BiometricKit error in their logs when enabling or disabling Lost Mode. They all fail to configure TouchID if we try to turn it on. Also, intermittently, if you touch their home button, it will be extremely hot to the touch.

[SMG2009]

I have an update of sorts.

We discovered that wiping the device and then turning off lost mode via the JSS will take the device out of Lost Mode.

It's far from ideal, but it is a way to get the device back to the student.

[luke_reagor]

@johnnyg08 That is our "fix" too right now. We just wipe it and give them a new one. I'm hoping Apple will replace these faulty ones.

[Tolandese]

So far the only option then is for students to lose any data they may have. Less than ideal, however I realize this is how apple works and any fix won't reach this device anyway. It's unfortunate that now lost mode has become a liability, though it does highlight the importance of having a functioning and enforced backup solution in place for all our users.

[luke_reagor]

Well, after working with Apple Support, they agree that it our issue a hardware issue with the Touch ID and are repairing the iPads.

[rickgmac]

Hey All,

I know this is an old post. But we just came across this with iPad Pro on iOS 13.3.1.

Had many Failed Commands “MDM Lost Mode could not be disabled on this device”

However I managed to resolve the issue by putting the device into recovery mode. https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT201263
Then used Apple Configurator using the Actions > Advanced option to revive the device.

Once it had revived and had updated iOS on. The command to disable lost most worked and I had a operational iPad.

Hopefully this may help someone in the future

[Xaviermlp]

Hi ! This was indeed helpful on an iPhone 11 with a broken screen and back.The screen was replaced to get access to the data and then we were unable to put it out of (misery) lost mode. Following the steps you described worked and I discovered a new feature ! Thanks !