January 6th, 2010 by shiraj

How to troubleshoot a computer with Open Firmware Password enabled If you cannot access the Open Firmware Password application and need to troubleshoot your computer by:* resetting the PRAM * starting up in Single-user mode * starting up in Verbose mode * starting from CD-ROM

Then follow these steps:

1. Start up into Open Firmware by pressing and holding the Command-Option-O-F key combination during startup.
2. At the Open Firmware prompt, type: reset-nvram
3. Press Return.
4. When prompted for your password, enter it and press the Return key. It responds OK.
5. At the Open Firmware prompt, type: reset-all
6. Press Return.
The computer restarts and you are now be able to reset the PRAM and startup in Single-user mode, Verbose mode, or from CD-ROM.

April 26th, 2008 by shiraj

So you and your friends have a wild party and you wake up in the morning to realize someone has changed the admin password on your beloved mac and you can no longer access your computer. No problem, you can just pop in the OS X DVD that came with your computer and reset the password….but wait, that’s missing too.

Here’s how to reset your OS X password without an OS X CD. You need to enter terminal and create a new admin account:

1. Reboot
2. Hold apple + s down after you hear the chime.
3. When you get text prompt enter in these terminal commands to create a brand new admin account (hitting return after each line):
   • mount -uw /
   • rm /var/db/.AppleSetupDone
   • shutdown -h now
4. After rebooting you should have a brand new admin account. When you login as the new admin you can simply reset the old account password or delete the old one and you’re good to go again!