i wouldn't hold my breathe but it is a good alternative for binning them.

if it is locked the eng code won't reset and you need a new MOBO PCB.

there is equipment available to get the code from the PCB but can't remember if it is worth of buying one in case you only need to default one panel.

What kind of equipment and can buy such from whom?

I kinda of got the same situation, only ADT was paid for the equipment (around $2,000) and yet now ADT is keeping the system hostage from our switching to a different monitoring company.