u/Sallyann2021

I'm trying to get access to an older relative's 2015 Macbook Pro and so far have tried the following:

All known passwords.
Booting into recovery mode to unlock with AppleID. the AppleID/password is current and works with other devices, but after going through that process we get an error that says the iCloud account is not associated with the device.
I was able to get to a terminal and reset passwords when this happened before but that was years ago and it no longer works on this device.
Tried booting into Target Disk mode while connected to a newer Mac (Macbook Air M2). I don't have a Thunderbolt cable and the USB-3 to USB-C data cable didn't work. I did check that this was a data cable, but when connected the 2015 Macbook just showed a thunderbolt on the screen and there was no indication of any connection on the M2 Mac.

Any ideas? We don't want to erase the 2015 Mac because there are files he wants to recover on the HD.

Thank you in advance for any suggestions.