Imac os 9.2 reset password

[cpu2007]

Hello everyone
i hope you expert of mac can help me out with this dilemma
basically i have an old imac computer which doesnt come up with cd and i forgot the password, I have read some tutorial that tells how to reset the password by:

holding down the command +s key when we hear the tone of imac at the startup and then insert some command line.

The issue with me is that i tried it in mnay ways but i cant get to the terminal
everytime at the startup i use apple+s key ,nothing happens ,it loads normally and gets to the login screen, keys seems to be fine

what can be the issue and is it there any way to get to the terminal w/o having cd etc..?

thank you in advance

[spinnerlys]

I don't know Mac OS 9.2 that well, but I doubt it has something like a Terminal.

Which specific instructions did you follow? The ones for Mac OS X or ones for Mac OS 9?

[cpu2007]

i have read many tutorial giving the same instructions.
this is one of the tutorial which was one of the clearest
http://www.macyourself.com/2009/08/0...nstaller-disc/
if you read the third instruction with title "tricking your computer to make a new account" it will tell how to do it.


however i cant get to the terminal in order to input the commands line

[spinnerlys]

Originally Posted by cpu2007

i have read many tutorial giving the same instructions.
this is one of the tutorial which was one of the clearest
http://www.macyourself.com/2009/08/0...nstaller-disc/
if you read the third instruction with title "tricking your computer to make a new account" it will tell how to do it.


however i cant get to the terminal in order to input the commands line

But that article is called "How to reset your Mac OS X password without an installer disc", and if you imply to have an old Mac with Mac OS 9.2, then that will not work, because Mac OS 9 and Mac OS X differ in many, many ways. Mac OS X (Roman numeral for the number 10) is based on Unix, FreeBSD and NextStep and only looks like its predecessors with a visual upgrade (Aqua), thus Mac OS X rules, especially ones that specific, don't apply for Mac OS 9 (and any other Mac OS version, called Classic sometimes, coming before the X).

So either you don't have a Mac with Mac OS 9.2 and confuse something, or something else.

Mac OS 9


Mac OS X



Is it one of the following iMacs?

1.


2.


3.


4.


5.


or 6.

[cpu2007]

yeah i'm sorry, not a mac user so don't know how it works lol
but you have been really clear on showing all the pictures which is the best way to understand what a newbie like me is trying to say ahah

the imac i have is exactly like the first one, i dont the name of it, i just know its like a big screen with keyboard and mouse and when i turn it on it says mac os 9.2 on it.
so i dont know what is the model of that imac

[spinnerlys]

Originally Posted by cpu2007

yeah i'm sorry, not a mac user so don't know how it works lol
but you have been really clear on showing all the pictures which is the best way to understand what a newbie like me is trying to say ahah

the imac i have is exactly like the first one, i dont the name of it, i just know its like a big screen with keyboard and mouse and when i turn it on it says mac os 9.2 on it.
so i dont know what is the model of that imac

Then that is an iMac, it was the first one, released in 1997 and produced til 2002.

I don't know about Mac OS 9 though, my use of it was limited to an iBook and some playing around with the OS.

Maybe look on eBay for a retail installation CD (important, as non retail CDs are machine specific) to re-install Mac OS or reset the password.

Have you not found any guides on how to reset the password for Mac OS 9 without the CD?

[cpu2007]

yes the link i gave u show how to do it w/o the cd but the problem is that using those commands it doesnt let me go on the terminal and what i want to do is not to buy the cd .
i cant uderstand why in my case the command+s key doesnt work

[spinnerlys]

Originally Posted by cpu2007

yes the link i gave u show how to do it w/o the cd but the problem is that using those commands it doesnt let me go on the terminal and what i want to do is not to buy the cd .
i cant uderstand why in my case the command+s key doesnt work

Because the OS on that iMac is not the same OS as the guide you linked to is written for.
The OS on the iMac you have is called Mac OS 9.2, which came out in 1999 and lasted til 2001, the guide explains it for the OS called Mac OS X 10.5, which came out in 2007.

So those two Mac OS versions are NOT the same, just like a procedure to do something in Windows Vista (2007) will not be the same as in Windows 98 or ME, as they are different, but those Windows versions aren't as different as Mac OS 9 and Mac OS X 10.5.

So you either get on eBay, or a nice little Apple shop, and get an old Mac OS 9 RETAIL installation CD, or get a Mac OS X 10.3 / 10.4 (Panther / Tiger) RETAIL CD and install that OS, or you find out the password via other means, maybe there is a guide out there for Mac OS 9.

But again, the guide you linked to is NOT made for Macs running Mac OS 9, but for Macs running Mac OS X 10.5, an OS that came out eight (8) years after the OS which resides on that iMac.

Was that understandable?

[cpu2007]

Originally Posted by spinnerlys

Because the OS on that iMac is not the same OS as the guide you linked to is written for.
The OS on the iMac you have is called Mac OS 9.2, which came out in 1999 and lasted til 2001, the guide explains it for the OS called Mac OS X 10.5, which came out in 2007.

So those two Mac OS versions are NOT the same, just like a procedure to do something in Windows Vista (2007) will not be the same as in Windows 98 or ME, as they are different, but those Windows versions aren't as different as Mac OS 9 and Mac OS X 10.5.

So you either get on eBay, or a nice little Apple shop, and get an old Mac OS 9 RETAIL installation CD, or get a Mac OS X 10.3 / 10.4 (Panther / Tiger) RETAIL CD and install that OS, or you find out the password via other means, maybe there is a guide out there for Mac OS 9.

But again, the guide you linked to is NOT made for Macs running Mac OS 9, but for Macs running Mac OS X 10.5, an OS that came out eight (8) years after the OS which resides on that iMac.

Was that understandable?

mate there are three procedurs
the first one for 10.5
the second for 10.3
the third one with the title of"how to trick mac to create a new account"
if you check on the right side of it ,it says that it works on any mac

[spinnerlys]

Originally Posted by cpu2007

mate there are three procedurs
the first one for 10.5
the second for 10.3
the third one with the title of"how to trick mac to create a new account"
if you check on the right side of it ,it says that it works on any mac

I list the three procedures, maybe you notice something.

1. Reset 10.5 Leopard password

Power on or restart your Mac.
At the chime (or grey screen if your chime is turned off), hold down Command+S on your keyboard to enter single-user mode.
This step is optional, but it’s a good idea because it checks the consistency of the hard disk before moving on. At the prompt, type fsck -fy and press Enter/Return. Wait for the checks to complete before going to the next step.
Type mount -uw / and press Enter.
Type launchctl load /System/Library/LaunchDaemons/com.apple.DirectoryServices.plist and press Enter.
Type ls /Users and press Enter. This lists all of the usernames on the computer – helpful if you don’t know or remember what these are.
Type dscl . -passwd /Users/username password and replace “username” with one of the users displayed in the previous step. Replace “password” with a new password of your choice. Press Enter.
Type reboot and press Enter

.

2. Reset 10.4 Tiger password

Power on or restart your Mac.
At the chime (or grey screen if your chime is turned off), hold down Command+S on your keyboard to enter single-user mode.
Type sh /etc/rc and press Enter/Return.
Type passwd username and replace “username” with the short name of the user account for which you’d like to reset the password.
Type your desired password and press Enter. It won’t show itself on the screen, so be careful what you type. You will most likely have to enter it again to confirm.
Type reboot and press Enter.

3. Tricking your Mac into creating a new user account

Power on or restart your Mac (should work for any Mac OS X system).
At the chime (or grey screen if your chime is turned off), hold down Command+S on your keyboard to enter single-user mode.
This step is optional, but it’s a good idea because it checks the consistency of the hard disk before moving on. At the prompt, type fsck -fy and press Enter/Return. Wait for the checks to complete before going to the next step.
Type mount -uw / and press Enter.
Type rm /var/db/.AppleSetupDone and press Enter.
Type shutdown -h now and press Enter.

Procedure 1. and 2. are for resetting the password of a user account on either Mac OS X 10.5 (1. - released in October 2007) and Mac OS X 10.4 (2. - released in April/May 2005).
Procedure 3. is for "tricking your Mac into creating a new user account". It the states, in the next line though, that it "should work for any Mac OS X system", which indicates it should work for any Mac OS X system.
As pointed out earlier by myself and the links I gave, albeit on Wikipedia, Mac OS 9.2 is not the same as Mac OS X.

I don't want to sound rude, but as you already did, may I, or any reader of this thread perhaps, know, what kind of computer experience you have?

I'm not good with analogies, but the car ones seem to work fairly well, but I don't know as much about cars, as I know about computers.

Imagine you have a 1999 Ford T model (I know, that model does not exist), which still uses proper keys to start the engine and battery (in combination with the pedal, albeit I'm not a user of automatic gear, I do it manually, but that may be a perk of Europe) and have lost that key, but are able to get a key for a 2007 Ford T model, which is a bit different, as it does use another method to interlock with the lock, example images below, how will you be able to start the 1999 model with a key from 2007, which was introduced in 2001 (for example)?
You either upgrade the ignition to that new key system or you find the old key, or some place where you can get a replacement.

Key for the Ford from 1999:


Key for the Ford from 2007, although it is pimped up with a Mercedes logo:



So in short again, and please forgive me, for putting it in bold and a larger font:

Mac OS 9.2 is different from Mac OS X (10.0, 10.1, 10.2, 10.3, 10.4, 10.5, 10.6), It has more in common with Mac OS 8, than its successor Mac OS X.

Mac OS 9.2 ≠ Mac OS X


As this is repeated numerous times in this thread, you may also try to contact an Apple Retail Store or the Apple Customer Line and ask, if they are able to get you replacement installation/restore media for your Mac, for a small fee of 15 to 30 USD.
Or try eBay.

I'm a bit sorry if this all sounded a bit rude, but I hope you understand now. If you want to know the architectural difference between Mac OS 9 and Mac OS X, maybe have a look at the links I gave you in my second post.

Again, was that understandable?

[chown33]

Originally Posted by cpu2007

mate there are three procedurs
the first one for 10.5
the second for 10.3
the third one with the title of"how to trick mac to create a new account"
if you check on the right side of it ,it says that it works on any mac

Quoting from the page you linked:

Tricking your Mac into creating a new user account

1. Power on or restart your Mac (should work for any Mac OS X system).

Red hilite added to show crucially important information.

So no, that procedure will not work on a Mac OS 9 system.

[cpu2007]

@spinnerlys
I'm really sorry, I am the one who has to apologise and believe me you have not been rude at all, but patient in explaining in details( i wish there are more people who can explain that well withoth leaving those little things that they think are irrelevant but are the most important)
I know you explained it before that that X was stands for 10 in roman,i just didn realize it when i was reading that article. so i guess the only way is to use a cd and reset the password.

Thank you very much again