Lost Password Mac Mini

Question

Mike Th Author

Level 1

8 points

Lost Password Mac Mini

Mac Mini (late 2009) - inherited at work

Have original boot disk

Tried:

* Starting in safe mode (still goes to password screen)

* Starting in single user mode (still goes to password screen)

* Resetting NVRam (still goes to password screen)

* Start up from OS X recovery (still goes to password screen)

* Start up to Start Up Manager (goes to grey screen with lock). My understanding is that Mac Minis of this vintage don't even support firmware passwords.

Mac mini, Mac OS X (10.6.2)

Posted on Sep 20, 2016 1:50 PM

Reply

Answer 1

Sep 20, 2016 1:52 PM in response to Mike Th

"inherited from work" ...

So the Mac is still associated with the prior Apple ID.

Help here > Changing ownership of a used Mac | Communities

Reply

Answer 2

Mike Th Author

Level 1

8 points

Sep 20, 2016 8:48 PM in response to Carolyn Samit

@Carolyn Samit - Thanks, that seems to require a reboot while holding command-option-r, which I already tried, but which simply brought me to the regular log in screen.

Reply

Answer 3

lllaass

Level 10

210,519 points

Sep 21, 2016 1:05 AM in response to Mike Th

Command+Option+R is for INternet Recovery with the 2009 Mini does not have.

What password are you getting?

If this:

Lock icon

If you set a firmware password on your Mac, you might see a lock icon at startup if you try to start your Mac from another volume like an external drive or OS X Recovery. Enter your firmware password to continue starting up.

That is firmware PW. On your old Mac you can bypass it using these instructions

http://osxdaily.com/2009/10/19/bypass-mac-firmware-password/

Reply