G4 Laptop bios password

if it was from an auction, like on ebay, send it back
not sure what else you can do..
at least, not without more info...

no way to disable it. You will have to replace the board or get the Pass. Hope you did not get it as an "as-is" basis

Are you sure that you don't mean the login window screen?

I just got a g4 laptop, and it has a bios password which i dont know. As soon as its turned on it goes to a password screen. does anyone have any idea how to get past this? Ive been told that its practically useless without the bios password. Id hate to believe it, im sure someone can help me, right?

My the bios password, I assume that you mean the open firmware password. Since we seem to be unclear on it, if you can take a photo, that'd be great.

If there's an open firmware password set, bypassing it depends upon the model of machine, IIRC. Any open firmware password should be able to be reset, but you'll probably need to open up the machine. Once again, it depends upon the machine.

You shouldn't need to send this back to the seller.

Since we are not exactly clear on what password you are referring to, I thought I would toss in my 2 cents worth.
Can you restart this laptop with your appropriate Mac OS X. . . install Disk?
If so, when the installer launches, go to the Installer's application menu and choose Reset Password. In the Password Reset application window, click the drive for which you want to reset the password and then choose the name of the user whose password you want to reset from the pop-up menu (it should be the one giving you the trouble).
Type your new password in the first field and naturally, verify it in the second.
Click save and then quit the application.
Quit the Installer and click Restart.
When you reboot, your new password should be in effect. I hope this helps.

trés simple, no?

google [url=http://www.google.com/search?q=bypass+open+firmware+password]bypass open firmware password[/url]

dan k

as soon as i turn it on, i see the apple logo, then it goes to a password screen. it has a user name and i need to put in that users password. ive never used or owned a mac so i dont know exactly what password im encountering but its the first and only screen i see.

Ok, you're just seeing the standard password dialog, not open firmware. If you've got your install discs, just pop them in, restart while holding down "c" to boot from them, and one of the menu options should be "Reset Password" or something like that.

Might be better to reinstall. Get rid of all the last owner's junk.

And if you don't have the necessary discs to reinstall the OS, you're illegally using the software anyway.

It's almost certainly legal, all Macs come with some version of Mac OS. Don't worry about DI's comment.

You do need to acquire a bootable Mac OS X CD or DVD though. One source is OWC, though I'm sure others will suggest alternate sources. OWC's price of $30 for Jaguar is (IMO) reasonable.

dan k

If you don't own a copy of the OS, you don't own the licence for it, so therefore it's probably an illegal copy.

It's possible that it has the OS/applications that the machine shipped with, which would make it OK, but that's not too likely.

DI, yer making assumptions here that I don't think are fair! Many things are possible, but why not start with the assumption the OP legally owns an Apple Mac with an Apple Mac OS (!) installed. Now are you suggesting that if the original install media are lost, the installed Mac OS cannot legally be used? That's absurd! Heck, why not just accuse them of stealing the Mac itself?!!? That'd be just as (NOT!) valid as assuming the OS isn't 'legal'!

In any case, the OP cannot currently use the Mac anyhow. Presumably they will buy a copy of OS X to reset the PW and that will resolve any potential legal issues.

dan k

If the machine is running its original software configuration, as shipped from the factory, it's technically legal.

If someone's just whacked an install of panther/tigger on it, it's not.

Great point Dan K! This is how i purchased the machine, so i dont really know where the software came from, but regardless, if i got it working i would use the software, if i dont get it working, ill just buy a new copy of os x.

From the sounds of it, you're going to need to buy a new copy of OS X. I've no idea if you're running the original software or not (If you are, of course it's perfectly legal. Because it's from Apple, they shipped it with a copy of the OS licensed for use with that machine. That software is licensed for use with /just that machine/, which is why the machines come with restore discs instead of OS install discs. You can only use the restore disc on a machine of the same model. But that's completely besides the point.)

Since you don't have a restore disc or an OS X disc from Apple, you'll need a copy of OS X (someone linked to a place to purchase 10.2 reasonably IIRC). Once you have that disc, you could reset the password, but you may as well just do a clean install and wipe all the previous owners information from the drive.

Without a software restore disc (for that machine) or an OS X disc, you're without the tools to reset the password anyhow.

Without a software restore disc (for that machine) or an OS X disc, you're without the tools to reset the password anyhow.

There is no security without physical security.

http://www.themacobserver.com/tip/2003/06/16.1.shtml

Single user mode, bring up netinfo, hack.

--Peace

Tigger, I like that.

ummm, there are some tricks Apple does not want you to know about.

Without a software restore disc (for that machine) or an OS X disc, you're without the tools to reset the password anyhow.

There is no security without physical security.

http://www.themacobserver.com/tip/2003/06/16.1.shtml

Single user mode, bring up netinfo, hack.

Thanks.

Learning stuff is cool.