It looks like you're new here. If you want to get involved, click one of these buttons!
Did this website help you fix your computer? Please consider making a donation so I can make the site better!
Hi guys,
I recently brought a lovely example of the modern classic -- The PowerBook G4.
Sadly, this machine has both a PRAM and Open Firmware lock making it extremely locked-down.
I contacted the eBay seller and the reply basically was this is just a random machine they picked up at a trash site and mildly restored so the history behind it to our knowledge doesn't extend much beyond that at the moment.
I've tried all of the tricks like removing a stick of RAM, trying the reset the PRAM after etc etc to no avail. I've also tried to put a fresh version of Tiger on the machine by taking the HDD out of the PowerBook and installing Tiger on it using an iBook but the PowerBook just sits there going between a happy mac and a question mark folder, refusing to do much else. I know the drive works, as it works fine in the iBook, and I know it's the right drive as it brought me to a login screen before I wiped the drive to do a fresh install meaning it also works fine in the PowerBook so, it's just being annoying.
Any other thoughts or solutions? I've basically done everything public online under the sun to no avail so I'm hoping for a technician or someone who's familiar with these and just hasn't published a guide on how to properly remove this yet to come through. I did also watch John's video but that didn't do much either sadly.
Thanks, much appreciated, Profington.
*I should clarify this is a 15" 2003 Backlit Keyboard model, would help somewhat lol.
Did this website help you fix your computer? Please consider making a donation so I can make the site better!
Comments
Hi!
You're seeing the padlock on the screen when you power on holding down the option key, right?
The good news is absolutely all aluminum powerbooks are 100% capable of having a firmware lock removed by changing the amount of RAM and IMMEDIATELY resetting the PRAM 3 times.
If it's not working, you may be doing it wrong, you may be applying the key combination too slowly once it powers on after the RAM change, you may have a bad RAM slot, or you might have a bad keyboard. Try an external USB keyboard. Try the other RAM slot. Try a bigger or smaller RAM module instead of removing one (the amount of RAM simply has to change -- a module does not have to be pulled).
But it should work. Out of thousands of powerbooks I have never encountered one that was not unlockable via this method. Many powerbooks have a bad lower RAM slot that is not registering, so it's best to test with the upper slot.
Hey John!
Thanks for the reply!
So, I only have one 1GB stick that came with the machine and as the machine was already a pretty penny I'm not exactly looking to dish out more cash for RAM (as cheap as it may be).
Both slots seem to work, and yes, the padlock when I press alt is very much there and the Open Firmware password locks seem to be on. I've tried a couple of basic password combos, so I've already crossed that well off the list.
The PRAM battery in the machine is also dead, and just for the sake of double checking I took the battery out and left it for a day or two along with unplugging the PRAM battery but that did literally nothing.
Do you know wether it still works with one stick of RAM and somehow swapping it between the two slots? If so, is there a specific method as the stuff I've tried seems to be doing nada.
Are there any Open Firmware hacks or anything else you know of directly that can help? Also remembering that Open Firmware requires a password to do literally anything 🙄
I'm a bit stuffed in a sense as I have no blank CD's, Firewire drives or anything other than a another iBook with the same IDE interface that works fine & a few USB sticks at the ready.
I've already tried wiping the drive that booted to a leopard login screen for the old user and that seems to've just worsened things as Apple must put some sort of kext or verification file on the drive to allow it to boot in Open Firmware and once you wipe that it doesn't want to know about it and just sits at the blinking folder and happy mac icon even if you're using the same drive, just different files.
It's going to be a rabbit hole trying to hack the machine.
No, there's nothing you can do with only one stick of RAM. I just checked and you can get a 1GB RAM module for $7 shipped off eBay -- it's well worth it.
Aww man, alright.
If I wanted to go down that rabbit hole are there any guides or anything you know of?
All the guides say go buy a stick of RAM for $5
Fair enough. Will have to bite the bullet on that if I want an open & working machine I guess.
You need to have more RAM anyway
Hey John!
Just updating ya about the PowerBook G4!
The RAM trick works beautifully. I can't lie, I was a little skeptical at first but it works almost flawlessly at removing both the PRAM and Open Firmware password.
PowerBook now works absolutely fine with Tiger on it.
Thanks a bunch.
Good to hear! Yeah I've unlocked 1000s of them, and it's super easy, so it's definitely the way to go. You might be able to unlock by spending 30 hours exploring open firmware, but why?
There were some articles explaining an exploit found in Open Firmware version 4.3.something that could crack the password, but I'm on 5.1 and you're right, the RAM was a bit of a blow to my wallet, but a tiny one and works like a charm.