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Locked Out Of Osx Cant Boot From Cd To Reinstall

G

gosicangel

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Jul 25, 2010
11
0
Hi sorry if this is the wrong forum in advance.
Im pretty new to mac and have a dual core 27" imac.

Long story short i made one acc on my mac and forgot the pass for that account.
I can seem to boot from the install disk that came with my imac.

If I hold down the option key i can see to boot osx, windows or the istall disk.
aiaf I select the install disk i just get the white screen, apple logo with the never ending spinning bar.

The exact same happens when i hold down c on reboot. When I hold shift down what appears like an update bar starts loading but goes straight back to installed os on hd.

I can even boot from a windows cd holding down c but cant access that either.

Really at a loss:confused: The data is not vthat important as its just some site backups i have and their content and I can always recover them later.

Many thanks for any input or help in advance:)
 
gosicangel said:
hi spinnerlys
is that link to the blog post he same as http://www.creativetechs.com/iq/reset_a_lost_m
ac_os_x_password.html
? cant see main post on that link could be ps3 browser
because the mac install cd just hangs when trying anything with it

also thanks TheBritishBloke i may have to try that
Click to expand...

Did you set up a normal account password or a Open Firmware Password? If it's a Open Firmware Password that pretty much locks down the Mac unless it can be remembered. This Apple doc explains more about Open Firmware Password:

:apple: Setting up firmware password protection in Mac OS X

and here's a Apple doc for:
:apple: Resetting your Mac's PRAM and NVRAM
 
gosicangel said:
that sounds exactly like what i did was off me face p and paranoid set up a big huge encrypted pass.

:(
Click to expand...

Since I posted that response, I've learned (thanks Hrududu & 666sheep)that apparently if you change the RAM configuration (remove a stick, add a stick, etc.) and then follow it with a triple PRAM reset, it will reset the Open Firmware Password and allow you to access the Mac.
 
very simple fix for a forgotten password: boot into single-user mode with Cmd+S at the chime, then enter the following
Code: 
/sbin/fsck -fy
/sbin/mount -uw /
launchctl load /System/Library/LaunchDaemons/com.apple.DirectoryServices.plist
passwd <your_account_name_here>
reboot
 
phatqao said:
very simple fix for a forgotten password: boot into single-user mode with Cmd+S at the chime, then enter the following
Code: 
/sbin/fsck -fy
/sbin/mount -uw /
launchctl load /System/Library/LaunchDaemons/com.apple.DirectoryServices.plist
passwd <your_account_name_here>
reboot
Click to expand...


Just get permissions denied. thanks for your input

DewGuy1999 said:
Since I posted that response, I've learned (thanks Hrududu & 666sheep)that apparently if you change the RAM configuration (remove a stick, add a stick, etc.) and then follow it with a triple PRAM reset, it will reset the Open Firmware Password and allow you to access the Mac.
Click to expand...

Thanks
DewGuy1999 I may give that a try later or in the morning.


Many thanks again to anyone replied
 
phatqao said:
you mean your permission to edit the password is denied when you try these steps? if so, sorry - i didn't realize that could happen as root. i guess there's a first time for everything though.
Click to expand...

In the case of the OP he's set an Open Firmware password, I think the method you posted only works for user account passwords.
 
can't you reset the firmware password by changing the amount of RAM in the machine?

sort of a pointless password protection method these days, since you can change the RAM, reboot the machine, boot into single user, then delete the AppleSetupDone file

All this without ever touching a DVD.
 
Sun Baked said:
can't you reset the firmware password by changing the amount of RAM in the machine?

sort of a pointless password protection method these days, since you can change the RAM, reboot the machine, boot into single user, then delete the AppleSetupDone file

All this without ever touching a DVD.
Click to expand...

Supposedly so. I posted that earlier in the thread.
 
phatqao said:
very simple fix for a forgotten password: boot into single-user mode with Cmd+S at the chime, then enter the following
Code: 
/sbin/fsck -fy
/sbin/mount -uw /
launchctl load /System/Library/LaunchDaemons/com.apple.DirectoryServices.plist
passwd <your_account_name_here>
reboot
Click to expand...

DewGuy1999 said:
Since I posted that response, I've learned (thanks Hrududu & 666sheep)that apparently if you change the RAM configuration (remove a stick, add a stick, etc.) and then follow it with a triple PRAM reset, it will reset the Open Firmware Password and allow you to access the Mac.
Click to expand...

Sun Baked said:
can't you reset the firmware password by changing the amount of RAM in the machine?

sort of a pointless password protection method these days, since you can change the RAM, reboot the machine, boot into single user, then delete the AppleSetupDone file

All this without ever touching a DVD.
Click to expand...

Your all ********* epic.
Thanks a million got back into me mac.

Took out a stick of ram done a triple pram reset, booted into single user and had root:D

Many Many Many Many Many Many thanks guys:D:D
 
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