Lost disk password - how to re-install OSX?
We have a mac mini in the office I desperatly need to get working so we can start developing an IOS app.
When you switch on, it asks for a "disk password". The guy who set this up has left, and we dont know what it is.
We have no other macs.
There is only one partition.
We tried booting with cmd-S to go into single user mode, but it doesnt.
We found an old Snow Leapard disk, and we can boot with this (by holding down option), it then works for a bit, then says you need to restart your computer. When we do this, and restart, it says "your computer was restarted because of a problem" then it just goes back to the "enter disk password" again. I.e it doesnt seem possible to re-install OSX from snow leapard DVD.
There seems to be no way to purchase a bootable/installable version of mountain lion, as we have no other macs to go to the appstore. Even if we bought or borrowed a second mac, just to be able to download mountain lion, We do not know if it is possible to convert it from the downloaded format (which is presumably is DMG ) into something bootable, and if this bootable image will work to recover our bricked mac mini.
We dont care about the data, we just want to wipe it and reinstall, which so far seems imposisble. Opening the mac to take out the disk, format it with a PC, then put it back in looks too risky, and we dont have the special screwdrivers, and we dont know if this will help solve the problem and allow us to install Snow leapard, then upgrade through app store.
We dont know what version of OSX is installed, but its probably 1-2 years old. We dont know what kind of mac mini it is, but it is metal, with a DVD slot, and a plastic round base which can unscrew, HDMI and displayport. It doesnt say on it which version it is.
So do we need to throw it away, or is there a way to get this machine working agian?
Any help greatly appreciated.