Hi - recently upgraded my PPC Powerbook to OS 10.5.4 from 10.4. Somehow what was formally my administrator account is a "standard" account. I have no administrator account. I cannot unlock any of the system preferences panes. I cannot start-up from the OS Install disc.
I'm stuck. The computer will not let me do anything, moving in finder, deleting, etc.
Any suggestions?
Thanks,
Tom Nelson
PowerBook, Mac OS X (10.5.4)
Hi Tom, what happens when you try to start from the Install Disc?
Boot up while holding the Option/alt key down until you see the boot manager, do you see this...
Firmware password protection in Mac OS X ...
http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1352
It would block usage of all the startup keys, like C, N, T, D, CMD+s, CMD+Option+p+r, CMD +v, Option, and Shift, as well as booting from anything but the Hard Drive.
Yes, thanks for your reply. That's exactly what I get if I try to boot the powerbook from any other means than the internal HD system. Since I somehow lost the administrator access to my system, what can I do? My administrator account is now listed as "standard.".
How can I remove the firmware password protection? I've tried remote install of OS 10.5.5, remote desktop, remote start from USB, everything I can think of.
Since the machine sees no admin, I am locked out of the computer. Any suggestions?
Thanks,
Tom Nelson
Force Removing Password Protection
1) Add or remove DIMMs to change the total amount of RAM in the computer.
2) Then, the PRAM must be reset 3 times. (Command + Option + P + R).
os 10.5 has not admin account
