Unable to boot via CD/DVD or CMD+S to wipe

[Elisha]

Hi guys,

Need some help secure erasing a couple of Intel Mac Minis. However I can't boot via CD with the factory disks holding down the C key.
I can't boot with CMD+S either to wipe out the account.

These machines were set up by a technician in late 06 and unfortunately the Admin passwords are lost.

I was able to boot a Mac Pro with a CD and erase/replace password but these Mac Minis just won't boot with factory disks or a new 10.6.3 disk

Any help or suggestion is appreciated!

 

[flopticalcube]

To wipe an Open Firmware or EFI password, open up the computer and remove or add a stick of RAM. Restart while resetting the PRAM.

Not the easiest to do on a mini, I know.

 

[Elisha]

To wipe an Open Firmware or EFI password, open up the computer and remove or add a stick of RAM. Restart while resetting the PRAM.

Not the easiest to do on a mini, I know.

Sorry but how do I restart while resetting PRAM?

 

[flopticalcube]

After turning the power on but before the restart bong, hold down command-option-P-R all at once.

 

[Elisha]

But this won't work unless I change the RAM configuration physically first right?

 

[flopticalcube]

But this won't work unless I change the RAM configuration physically first right?

Correct.

 

[Elisha]

Didn't work :-(
Popped out the top stick and tried and no go.
Removed the bottom stick and placed it on top and still could not zap PRAM.

But both configurations booted fine and showed 1/2 the amount of ram.