PowerPC :: Reset Firmware And Admin Password On EMac?
Jul 25, 2010
I recently bought a cheap eMac which used to be a networked terminal at a university. I am hoping to do a clean reinstallation of Tiger but the computer seems to be tightly locked down. I am able to log in because I have a local username and password, but I do not have administrator privileges. There is also a firmware password so I am unable to boot from the installation DVD. When I insert the Tiger DVD, I am unable to restart the computer and start the installation because it requires administrator authentication. Is there any way to disable the firmware password and the admin password so I can basically remove everything and start with a fresh copy of Tiger?
I just picked up an old eMac today that I'm trying to get it working. The problem is the open firmware password is set, and I have no idea what it is. If the open firmware password is set, it prevents you from doing anything without it including booting from a CD and zapping the PRAM. I changed the ram, removed the internal battery and hit the PMU reset button expecting this to clear the password, but it didn't work. Removing the internal battery did reset the system clock to 1/1/1904, but didn't change anything else.
Also aside from the practical question about resetting the password, I'm suddenly left wondering where the system stores the open firmware password. If it isn't stored on the hard drive, and it doesn't depend on the internal battery, then how is it saved? Just for clarification I have no idea who the original owner was or where it came from. So there is no chance of just finding the correct password.
I have an old IMac G3 graphite running 10.2.8 - I haven't turned it on in a couple of years and have no clue to what my password used to be - question #1 Do I have unlimited chance to try a password or is it going to lock up on me? and #2 are there any alternatives to resetting the admin password without the startup disk - I cant find the startup disk at the moment and have to use this computer before I am gonna get a chance to look for them.
My father has an eMac desktop computer running OSX 10.2.4 We finally hooked him up on DSL, and are now trying to update some of his software through downloads. His system asks us for a User and Password. The User it recognizes is my mom, now deceased 4 years, and we have no idea what password she might have set up. It also recognizes "Administrator" in the User field, so is there a standard password that goes with that?
Is there a way for us to change the User and Password? The computer's Help section recommended reloading the OSX software, but the OSX came loaded on the computer when we bought it, and there doesn't seem to be a CD of the system software in the house.
My friend bought a 13" MBP (April 2010) from someone at a cheaper price, but that person didn't provide the original installation disks. I have a Snow Leopard Disc which I bought for $50 as an upgrade from Leopard. Any chance that can be used to reset the password?
I have a PowerPC G3 iBook, running OS X 10.4.11, which I bought a couple of years ago from a work colleague. It works great, but I want to change my broadband provider software, and need to input the Admin password to have the software installed. I have forgotten the Administrator password, so after trawling the internet I have tried to use the install disc that came with the iBook to reset the Admin password.
The install disc is version 10.2.1, and it lets me start (by pressing the C button on restart) and access the Change Password facility. I have changed the password, saved the changes and restarted the iBook. But when I then try to install the new broadband software, the new Admin password I've just set is not recognised! I have seen posts on the internet giving instructions on how to 'hack' after restarting and pressing the Command and S button, but I'm not confident in doing this because I've also seen posts on forums where people with 10.4.11 have had LOADS of issues after doing so! Do I need to try and get a new install disc nearer to 10.4.11, or is there another solution?? I don't want to damage a perfectly good iBook!
I forgot the Firmware Password, and want to reset it. How can I do it? No DVD included when I bought it. All the startup keys, like C, N, T, D, CMD+s, CMD+Option+p+r, CMD +v, Option, and Shift, does NOT work. To add or remove DIMMs does not work.
I have an old 333mhz iMac with os 10.1.5 that I need to reset the administrator name and password on. I am trying to install 10.3 on the Mac but when I put disc 1 in it asks me for the admin. name and password. I got the iMac on craigslist about 6 months ago and can't get a hold of the seller now. I want to go to 10.3 so I can use a printer I have.
Problem arose when backing up hard drive in process of upgrading current 80 gb drive for 250gb drive. Put new 250gb in usb caddy to copy/clone old drive but wouldn�t mount on my powerbook. It did however mount on my G4 tower! Booted powerbook in firewire mode and picked it up on G4 tower. Used disk utility disc restore to put the old powerbook hard drive onto the new one in the usb caddy. This copied over but then when I restarted the powerbook it asked me to log on as user which it never used to do. As it didn�t accept the password I reset the password using the install disc.
I had to reset my admin password. I am running 10.7 but had to use the snow lepard disc. i was able to re-set it. Now when i restart the comp, it shows my accounts with its picture, but when i click on an account nothing happens. The screen is showing my accounts, and the options to restart, turn off or put the computer to sleep. What am i doing wrong. I cant sign on to any of my accounts.
I forgot my admin password on my macbook pro which has the lion software. Is there anyway to reset it without bringing it in to the store, and getting charge too much money for it? I tried the steps that I found online and nothing seems to work!
I have forgotten my admin password. I have a Mac OS X Install DVD (version 10.6.2), but it doesn't appear ro have a reset password facility. The Mac has operating system 10.6.8. Any ideas please for resetting password?
I have an old Macbook and need to download some printer software. I have forgotten my admin password and no longer have the utility disk. How can I reset my password without the disk?
I have an old school Indigo IMac. It was my uncle's and unfortunately he just passed away. I am attempting to install software but it wants the password. Obviously I cant ask my uncle. If I can not install my apps then this Mac will be worthless to me.
I retired my old powerbook g4 when I got my MBP about a 1.5 years ago. Due to a fire at my storage unit I have lost all my OS disks except for Snow Leopard which I have here since I bought it recently. Anyway, I just moved and wanted to let my new room mate use the PB. I turned it on and it seems I forgot the password to the only account on the machine. It's kinda weird because I only have a few system passwords I generally use and I tried them all. I tried booting from my SL disk to change the password but the optical drive wasn't working.
I didn't know if that would work anyway since it is a much newer OS and a powerPC. So, I have a MBP with 10.6, a Dual G5 with 10.5 and this powerbook with 10.5. Anyway to get this password changed? Can I target disk mode this thing in anyway to either the MBP or the G5 and run the software that is on the SL disk to fix my problem? Do I have to do a fresh install? This comp was the first gen aluminums after the Ti's so I am not putting any money into this thing what-so-ever.
I'm having trouble trying to reset my admin password on my Leopard machine. I am current on all software updates. I purchased the system (desktop iMAC) last year from Apple with Leopard already installed. When I changed my password last week I failed to write it down and now for the life of me I cannot remember what I changed it to. Ok so no big deal (yeah right!) I'll just start up from CD and reset it that way. Well, I started feeling this wave of resistance unfolding and sure enough I run into my first instance of conflict when I hear the CD constantly spinning up and down for 5 minutes while I'm holding down the "C" key. Upon release of the C key the disk just kept on spinning up and down so I had no choice but to power it down using the on/off button in back. Upon restarting the system would not boot up as long as the CD was still spinning so I restarted again holding down the eject key then the CD ejected. So next I started up the machine normally and after it came up I inserted the Installation disk again and waited for it to appear on the desktop which it did. So I went into the start up control panel in system preferences and selected the OSX installation disk in which to reboot from. Same thing.
Disk kept on spinning up and down doing nothing. So I restart it holding down the option key and select the OSX disk and does the same thing spins up and down. I already repaired permissions and zapped PRAM and even looked for error messages when I started up using verbose startup. nothing looked unusual. Ok so now I am at the point to where when I insert the installation disk it shows up on the desktop I double click on the icon and it opens up to its content window but I get the error message: "You can't open the application "Install Mac and Bundled Software" because its not supported on this architecture". I'm not having trouble opening any other CD or DVD on my system. Heres my question other than the obvious one of not being able to run the installation disk to reset my password. I removed every language except the English language from each application the other day because I read that it would improve processing time so I removed every foreign language in my applications folder. Do you think thats the reason I can't start up because maybe at when booting up from CD it looks for one of the foreign languages?..I don't really think this would have any affect on my problem. But I can't think of anything I changed including my password.
So I had my Macbook repaired, the hard drive wiped clean and OS X snow leoprd reinstalled. When I arrived home I downloaded and installed OS X Lion. The Mac-authorized techy had left all of the passwords blank fo me to fill in. So how do I set the new Admin login pw?Â
On my old iMac with OS X 10.4.11 I forgot my admin password. I have the installation DVD, but it doesn't work like the Mac Support instructions seem to indicate. When I install the Mac OSX 10.4 DVD and choose utilities to change password, the only change password option is for the DVD itself...no icon for the associated iMac hard drive. I believe I'd be changing/using a root password rather than the Account Admin Password that I need to change. How can I get out of this situation and identify a replacement for the forgotten admin password on my Admin Account?
