Removing a lost firmware passsword

Hi Guys, and Gals
I read through a lot of posts, and found some info on the subject, but it was incomplete.
I bought an iMac 450 DV from a junk computer seller on ebay. The previous owner set the firmware password, and no one knows, even, who that was. I was going to wipe the drive, but I can't even do that. The kb article I read said you can clear it if you have access to the inside of the case, but it didn't explain how. It did say that after resetting the PRAM, you need to reset the password. So, I assumed I could physically reset the PRAM from inside the case. I opened it up, and pressed the ?CUDA? button, holding it down for about 30 seconds, but, no Glory, its still locked.
Anyone?

Hi Donna,
The firmware controls the boot process. A password can be set at that level that essentially locks the controls. With out knowing the password, you can't boot from a CD/DVD or into single user mode. You can't even reset the PRAM, or option boot to a different drive. You can boot into Open Firmware, but can't make any changes.
http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=106482
I know there is a way to disable it. I just don't know how, and am hoping someone here does.
Rick
DP1.2GHzDA, MaxRAM, SuperDrive, Zip250 Mac OS X (10.4.3) Too mudh to list

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Durzo wrote:
tomk wrote:Durzo, I'm sure you're delighted you got yaourt installed, and hopefully you learned something, but IMO you're getting off to a bad start. Others have already said it, but it's worth saying again - fi you're going to use the AUR, learn how it works first before you start using any helper application. Your self-confessed uber-noobiness makes this an even more crucial requirement.
As meph mentioned, I too intended on having Yaourt only install AUR packages keeping pacman the primary in package installation.
The point is to know how to use the AUR without relying on a helper, because yaourt is more than a 'helper'. Something like 'cower' is much more of a helper in that you still have to take care of the main steps yourself. Using yaourt instead of pacman for -Syu doesn't change much, its using it as a 'pacman for the AUR' which can cause confusion. Which is as well the only reason to use it....
Durzo wrote:"learn how it works first" ...do you mean download each tarball PKGBUILD from the AUR separately, and then install with the "makepkg -is" command?
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TS3554 Recovering a lost firmware password. I have this problem but I live in Argentina. How I can solve it. Thanks.

TS3554: MacBook Air (Late 2010) and later, MacBook Pro (Early 2011) and later, iMac (Mid 2011) and later, Mac mini (Mid 2011): Recovering a lost firmware password
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For Lion, Mountain Lion, or Mavericks
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Restart the computer and after the chime press and hold down the COMMAND and R keys until the menu screen appears. Alternatively, restart the computer and after the chime press and hold down the OPTION key until the boot manager screen appears. Select the Recovery HD and click on the downward pointing arrow button.
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    How to reset your Mac OS X password without an installer disc | MacYourself
    Reset OS X Password Without an OS X CD — Tech News and Analysis
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Removing a lost firmware passsword

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