Need Help With Clamshells....... Reward

Hey folks, i'm in a real pickle right now. i bought 25 clamshell 466mhz graphite ibooks and whenever i put the HD in and put a disc in the drive to try to install an OS nothing happens, so i pressed the option key and this blue screen with a lock on one side and an arrow on the other, with a space to write in, in the middle. now what i need to know is what should i do? i can put these things together like no one else but when it comes to software i'm lost. i'm going to try to attach the picture of what the screen looks like but i'm not too good at that either. but if someone can get these things up and running i'll give you a complete (no power cord) graphit clamshell for free. basically what i'm trying to say is I NEED HELP ASAP.

What do you mean 'nothing happens'? Press C during startup with OS X DVD/CD in.

Looks like the person before you had the system pass word protected.

Have you tried like Rob suggested? Reboot the system insert the install media (CD) and hold the C key.

already done that, and nothing happens. i can hold down the "c" key until the cows come home and still nothing happens. I can hear the dvd spinning and when i manually eject the cd it's still spinning.

Ah ha! Found what you are looking for!
http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=106482

basically what does that mean?

That mean he put a 'Open Firmware password' on the computer.

IIRC, you have to change the amount of RAM in your computer, then boot up and immediately reset PRAM by holding the Command-Option-P-R key combination, that should reset the password.

Rob i'll try that in the next few days (i have to work tonight, tomorrow all day) and if it works then you just may have gotten yourself a ibook.

Just make sure you boot with a different amount of RAM other wise it won't work!
and just out of curiosity, why did you buy 25 iBooks? lol

ok i tried it because i was very excited about getting these thing started. nothing worked, i tried it with a 256 ram chip and with a 64 ram chip. i'm using 10.3, not sure if i have to use os9. also the function key is key with an apple and a symbol right? if so then no dice. i'm giving a friend of mine one to see if he can get it done, but i'm still looking for some help. oh, rob i bought them on ebay, they seemed like a good deal but they are more of a headache.

Just looked it up, this is excatly what you have to do:
1. Change the amount of RAM installed be removing or adding a chip. Don't remove ALL the memory, as you can't boot, of course.
2. reboot holding the Command-Option-P-R key combination. Hold the keys until you've heard at least two successive startup sounds.
3. The Open firmware password will now absolutely be disabled, and you can shut down and return your powerbook to its normal RAM setup.
Boot to your OS X installer CD, and at the first screen, go the the Installer menu, and click on Change Startup Disk, and change to your normal boot drive.
4. That should do it, and you can exit from the installer, unless you need to do that, too.
or
1) Install or remove a stick of ram.
2) Zap the Pram 3 times in a row.
3) your done.

As I don't have a "real" Mac, I can not try this, sorry, but this is what I have come across and people said it worked so...

Rob i appreciate all of your help, I gave one of these to a friend of mine down here and he did what you said and he got the password changed, but now it won't boot from the dvd rom, so now i have to check some other ibooks optical drives to see if it's the drive or just plain ol' bad luck that i have.

God, I'd kill for an iBook. If you can get one to work right, I'd be thrilled to buy one. Send me a PM.

Well you can't boot from a DVD or CD when passwords are enabled.
Do this is disable them(After you change the password of coarse. )
1. Start up into Open Firmware by pressing and holding the Command-Option-O-F key combination during startup.
2. At the Open Firmware prompt, type: reset-nvram
3. Press Return.
4. When prompted for your password, enter it and press the Return key.
5. It responds OK.
6. At the Open Firmware prompt, type: reset-all
7. Press Return.
The computer restarts and you will now be able to reset the PRAM and startup in Single-user mode, Verbose mode, or from optical disc.