I have picked up a Mac Mini, which was described as lacking a hdd but otherwise stock from purchase. The owner used it once or twice then got an iMac and put it away. As it was shipped to me boxed and including its original external shipping package, I have no doubt that the seller was the original owner.
On trying to boot from an external drive, I was greeted by a padlock and password prompt. The seller said he had never put a firmware password on it and gave me the only password he had ever used, which didn't work. He has no idea how it got locked and doubts he can get his hands on the sales receipt for something he bought in 2013.
I don't want to pull it apart and try the RAM plus PRAM battery trick if this isn't going to work. Googling this I get a lot of links to Reddit and a lot of conflicting opinions. My guess is that the password is stored on a chip and only the correct password or Apple is going to remove the EFI lock without resorting to hacking into that chip's data. Can anyone give me a definitive answer on this?
On trying to boot from an external drive, I was greeted by a padlock and password prompt. The seller said he had never put a firmware password on it and gave me the only password he had ever used, which didn't work. He has no idea how it got locked and doubts he can get his hands on the sales receipt for something he bought in 2013.
I don't want to pull it apart and try the RAM plus PRAM battery trick if this isn't going to work. Googling this I get a lot of links to Reddit and a lot of conflicting opinions. My guess is that the password is stored on a chip and only the correct password or Apple is going to remove the EFI lock without resorting to hacking into that chip's data. Can anyone give me a definitive answer on this?
