Cyber 910

From: Brian Roth <broth_at_heathers.stdio.com>
Date: Mon Apr 16 19:54:56 2001

Mark,

Mark Green wrote:

>
> This is a bit of a problem. My usual solution to this problem is
> to boot a mini-root and edit the password file. You will probably
> need to have an OS distribution in order to do this. What
> you can do depends upon how your machine has been configured.
> Start by getting into the PROM monitor, when you system boots
> you will get a message that asks you to press ESC for system
> maintenance. Press ESC, and then select option 5. This will get
> you into the monitor. At the monitor prompt type ls and tell
> me what you get. If you are lucky there might be a mini-root
> there. There usually isn't, since its a security hole, but some
> system admins back then were lazy and put a mini-root where it could
> easily be booted from the PROM (this is more likely on a tape
> based system).
>
>

I did get into the monitor and did a ? to check out the commands. I probably
won't get back to the box until later this week so I'll check for the
mini-root then. Will changing the /etc/passwd file take care of it or are
the passwords shadowed?

>
> I don't have any tapes handy that might have an OS on it, I probably
> won't make a trip back to Edmonton to check until August. Its
> much easier to do the install from CD. If you have a SCSI CD-ROM
> drive you are in business (the ones used by SUN are fairly common
> and easy to find). You can search eBay for IRIX 5.3 CDs, I've seen
> them there numerous times. Some of the other IRIX CDs might have
> a mini-root on them, depends upon how they are installed.
>

Excellent. I certainly have plenty of external CDROM drives around here.
I'll start combing Ebay for a dist.

>
> I hope this helps a bit.
>

More than a bit. Thank you.
Brian.


>
> --
> Dr. Mark Green mark_at_cs.ualberta.ca
> McCalla Professor (780) 492-4584
> Department of Computing Science (780) 492-1071 (FAX)
> University of Alberta, Edmonton, Alberta, T6G 2H1, Canada
Received on Mon Apr 16 2001 - 19:54:56 BST