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I recently bought a used Acer 514 Chromebook online but soon found out it was blocked by admin when I tried to create a new user (serial number blocked by admin of some company I believe not even existing in my country).

Seller not answering to my contact attempts and and so I am stuck with a thin brick.

I read a bit about the possibilities of unblocking the device and read about the screw one could remove to allow eventually change the serial number, clean the device and install Linux or Windows, etc.

Problem is where is the screw on the Acer 514. I have doubts it exists on this model as I removed all 4 screws holding the board, removed the wifi card and connectors next to it, flipped the board over to find there are no screws on the other side.

Removed the screw holding the battery and looked under it. There are 2 screws aligned and in the middle of those a hole, same size and look as the screw holes.

I can only see a QR code sticker through the hole and I don't want to take the risk of using a screwdriver on it to try if there is a screw under the sticker as I am afraid I can scratch any electronics instead.

So, any help will be welcome hence my question: is there a unblocking screw or am I screwed?

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    Did you purchase by Pay Pal? If so, ask Pay Pal about returning it. You purchased a lemon of sorts.
    – John
    Dec 30, 2019 at 16:16
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    You might have bought a stolen computer that was blocked by the owner. Try to get reimbursed, if at all possible.
    – harrymc
    Dec 30, 2019 at 16:21
  • Forgot to mention I tried the Acer 514 everytime I removed screws and still blocked. Dec 30, 2019 at 16:33
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    You need to get your money back, or at minimum inform the police you have stolen goods & are trying to trace the original owner. I hope you paid by PayPal or used eBay/Amazon or other reputable service, or your money is gone.
    – Tetsujin
    Dec 30, 2019 at 17:33
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    The S/N (Serial Number) is likely burned (tattooed) into the motherboard so even if you managed to reset/reinstall ChromeOS that S/N still exists phones home to Google, Google says the owner of that equipment wants it locked so it does that. Either someone forget to unlock when giving/selling it or you have stolen goods, either way everyone is pointing you to the best direction you have. If you don't want to listen you may be on your own of jailbreaking/rooting into it which it was designed to likely NOT let you do, especially if its admin-locked/marked-stolen
    – gregg
    Dec 31, 2019 at 14:29

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The process for disabling boot security in order to install Linux has nothing to do with removing the administrator control and unfortunately there's no way to do that. You've probably bought a model stolen from a school board and only they can remove the block.

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