I aquired an old power mac G4 with an old account with 10.3.9 and an old administrator account. It seems that procedures to remove the account start in Single user mode. The computer won't start when holding down system - s. The drive clicks a few times but the display goes to sleep from no video signal. So How can I get to single user mode when the usual way don't work?
PowerMac, Mac OS X (10.3.x)
The hard drive's directory may be dead, or it may have last been booted into Mac OS 9. IF you are lucky, they did install Mac OS X on it, and that can be determined either through an Option key boot, or through an X key boot on a wired (not wireless) USB Apple compatible keyboard. X key booting will only work if the X operating system is on the same partition, whereas Option key boot will reveal the Startup Manager, where you select the drive and hit the right pointing arrow for the drive partition that has Mac OS X. Note this will not work on an original PCI PowerMac G4. You may also need to replace the PRAM battery, a 1/2 AA 3.6V battery from Radio Shack before any boot sequence will work. Once it boots into Mac OS X, Single User Mode should work.
How to get to single user mode
