bought Used MacBook but locked

[*Mitch*]

Is there a way to get around the password protection on a 2009 era split case MacBook?
I bought one on eBay from an estate sale. The description said they couldn't unlock iCloud but they meant the actual computer.
I didn't know it would arrive locked.

 

[honestone]

Via a google search, here is one "hit" I found:

"Start up the machine, and Press the Command and R keys at the same time when the grey screen appears and hold them until you see the Apple logo. A small loading bar will appear under the logo. Sit tight as your system boots into Recovery Mode. Click the Utilities tab in the top menu bar, select Terminal, type resetpassword and press Enter."

Then, enter a new password (make sure you remember it, so this does not happen again!). I'm assuming that will also show you the admin's user name (which will most likely be something "attached" to the prior owner).

 

[*Mitch*]

Via a google search, here is one "hit" I found:

"Start up the machine, and Press the Command and R keys at the same time when the grey screen appears and hold them until you see the Apple logo. A small loading bar will appear under the logo. Sit tight as your system boots into Recovery Mode. Click the Utilities tab in the top menu bar, select Terminal, type resetpassword and press Enter."

Then, enter a new password (make sure you remember it, so this does not happen again!). I'm assuming that will also show you the admin's user name (which will most likely be something "attached" to the prior owner).

Thank you for your reply. I tried that but I couldn't get it ti work. I may be timing it wrong. I have discovered there are different ways of doing this with different OS and I don't even know which one I have.
I found a way to go into the registry command prompt by holding option s.
but I messed up somehow changing the registry and it won't even boot up now.
Something about journal start / end pointers is what I think I messed up.
I am posting a pic of the screen in hopes someone can shoot mw how to undo what I did but I bet I will have to visit the Apple Store.

 

[Cory Cooper]

Hello and welcome,

Try powering it off, the power on and hold the Option key until you see the Startup Manager and select your internal drive. Upload a screenshot of what you see when not starting up from single-user mode (Command-S) as you did in this photo. We can then determine how the Mac is locked - iCloud, firmware password, FileVault, etc.

C

 

[*Mitch*]

It never gets past the spinning wheel since I somehow messed up the journal start/end pointers.

 

[Cory Cooper]

OK, thanks.

Do you have any data you need to save on it? If not, you may be able to restart from the Recovery Partition, wipe the drive, then reinstall.

C

 

[*Mitch*]

It is an estate sale item so there is nothing on the computer that is any of my business actually.
It would be fine to start clean. This all started by trying to get past the previous owners password.

 

[Cory Cooper]

Here's what you can try:

About macOS Recovery

Let us know how that goes,

C