Member Avatar for dre501

I Have Recieved A G4 From My Late Aunt But Now Cant Get Into Mac Osx Or Even Get The Cd Out Of The Drive. Is There Anything I Can Do Because I Dont Stay Near Any Mac Dealers And I Would Really Like To Use The G4. Please If You Know How I Can Get Passed The Password Let Me Know.
My Email Is <removed-by-moderator>

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Short, practical follow-up to the helpful replies from and — two approaches that commonly solve a locked PowerPC Mac without the need to wrestle the stuck disc free.

If you have access to another Mac and a FireWire cable: use Target Disk Mode. Connect the G4 to the other Mac, boot the G4 while holding the T key, and its internal drive will mount on the host Mac as an external disk. From the host you can copy personal files, run Disk Utility to erase/repair the drive, or run the PowerPC installer on the host and choose the G4’s drive as the installation target. This completely bypasses the login password (but not disk encryption).

If you do not have another Mac, you can create a new admin account using Single-User Mode. Restart and hold Command+S, then at the prompt run the commands below (type them exactly):

/sbin/mount -uw /
rm /var/db/.AppleSetupDone
shutdown -r now

On reboot the Setup Assistant will run and let you create a new administrator. Use that account to reset other user passwords or to back up files before erasing.

Warnings and troubleshooting: if the machine refuses to enter Single-User Mode or Target Disk Mode, it may have an Open Firmware (firmware) password or the drive may be hardware-failed or encrypted with FileVault — in those cases you will need professional service. If you are unsure or uncomfortable with the command line, or if data is important, a local repair shop or Apple-authorized technician can extract the drive or remove firmware locks safely.

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Member Avatar for kc0arf

Hello,

I removed your email address as it is against policy to have questions here, and answers sent off to you. Please keep answers on-site, so that the next person with the same question can see the answers.

It also helps reduce spam.

To answer, you have a G4 computer with OS X installed on it. If you have the System CD stuck in the drive, and it is working, I think there is a way to change the password with that CD.

To be honest though, unless you need to access your late aunt (sorry to hear that by the way, deaths in the family are hard to deal with), you should format that drive, and start it cleanly over with your information. That is the best way to eliminate ghosts and other crumbs from previous users.

Christian

Member Avatar for yellow

kc0arf is correct on both accounts.

To get the CD out of the drive, either boot holding down the mouse button until it ejects, or wait until it boots and click the eject button on the keyboard.

You can reset the admin passwords with the installer CD/DVD. You can see how to .

And, you really should consider initializing the drive and starting from scratch.

And finally, you can always pull the hard drive from it and pop in a fresh new one. I suggest not putting anything larger then 120GB unless you know that the model is a Quicksilver '02 or later.

Member Avatar for dre501

thanks alot for the help but for some reason i cant get the cd that is in there out. any ideas on getting it out. you can hear it wants to put it out but does not. thank you
dre

Member Avatar for kc0arf

HEllo,

Good to see you again.

There is a TINY hole along the CD-ROM drive that you can put a paper-clip into and use that as a mechanical ejection device. Your pin will be pushing a lever to mechanically pop the disk out.

IF that doesn't work, you could have something really mechanically wrong in the drive, and your only avenue then is to remove the CD-ROM DRIVE, and that is not an easy procedure. UNless you are trained, the iMac is a closed case computer. Meaning don't open it, as you risk breaking something.

Christian

Member Avatar for dre501

thanks alot Christian i have heard you can do that but did not see any little hole. i suppose i just over looked it i will check this evening again.
you see i need to get the cd out in order to reload mac osx to get passed the password and start with no history on the lap top

dre

Member Avatar for dre501

:lol: I AM SO GLAD I FOUND THIS FORUM BECUSE IT IS VERY HELPFUL TO SOMEONE LIKE ME THAT IS NOT TO TO GOOD WITH ALL THIS STUFF. YOU GONNA BE HEARING FROM ME VERY OFTEN ABOUT MY G4. THANKS AGAIN
:cool:

Member Avatar for dre501

I Checked And My Laptop Does Not Have A Manuel Ejection Hole. Any Other Ideas.

Member Avatar for yellow

Yes, as noted previously:

To get the CD out of the drive, either boot holding down the mouse button until it ejects, or wait until it boots and click the eject button on the keyboard.

Also, boot holding down option. Once you get to the blue screen, and you have a cursor, eject with the eject button. It looks like the icon in the following image, and it's on the upper-right-hand of the keyboard.

[IMG][/IMG]

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