MacOS Big Sur none of the start up keys are working

We are working on a Mac Mini running Big Sur and the customer got locked out and does not know the password. Normally I would boot with CMD R and run resetpassword, but when you power it on, it ignores any keyboard combinations that you hold down. I tried two different Windows keyboards and a known good well tested wired Mac keyboard. None of them worked, just boots to a login screen like you never pressed anything. Even tried holding the keys down a little before and a little after the Mac start up sound. It acts like the keyboard does not work, but at the login prompt if I click "Other User", I can type and see that all the keys are working. FYI, tried all the key combos I know and none work. I would rather not reinstall, so any ideas would be appreciated.

Solution 1:

You likely have a Mac Mini with an Apple silicon (M1) processor. Per Apple's startup key documentation, the key combinations (including ⌘+R) apply only to Mac computers with an Intel processor.

Rather, a different process is used to reset the password on M1 based Minis. This Youtube video has an overview of the process, and to summarize it:

1. Ensure the Mini is off for at least 15 seconds.
2. Press and hold the power button until you see startup disks and Options appear on the screen.
3. Click Options -> Continue to proceed to the Recovery screen.
4. Click on Forgot all passwords?
5. Authenticate using your Apple ID.
6. Click Exit to Recovery Utilities.
7. Recover as desired.