NeXT '040 Cubes

From: Lawrence Walker <lgwalker_at_look.ca>
Date: Tue Mar 20 03:18:18 2001

> Hi there, I have two cubes, both original 1988 boxes. One is a 25MHz '040 with a hard
> drive and an optical drive. The other is a 33MHz '040 (Turbo?) with just a hard drive.
> Both power on fine, do their system test and then say loading from network. The picture
> looks like a coaxial "T" connector with a cable that has "data" rolling through it. They
> will not do anything else. I've been going crazy looking on the internet for days, but
> have not found a way to bypass this. I know you can "boot" into single user mode and then
> reset passwords, but how? Anybody lend me some suggestions? Keyboard shortcuts, etc. Also,
> I have an external 4gb hard drive that I have tried to connect to a working NeXT slab that
> I have, but it always has a SCSI error - no matter the SCSI ID or with or without
> terminator. Shouldn't I be able to use this with a NeXT and build a disk? Then couldn't I
> boot from the external if needed and build the internals? Thanks for any help, they sure
> are cool systems, x!
> -N!
> ASA. Best, David
>
 Dug this out of an old newsgroup posting :

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Here is the procedure for breaking the password:

To assign a new root password when you're unable to log in as root, follow
these procedures:

1. Turn the computer off and then on, using the Power key.

2. During the boot process, immediately after the "Testing System"
message is replaced by the "Loading from disk" message, hold down the Command
bar and press the ~ key (without pressing Shift). On keyboards with two Command
keys, hold down the right Command key and press the ~ key. This displays the
ROM monitor window.

        Warning: If a hardware password has been set, you must supply
this password before you can boot the computer. If you don't supply the
hardware password, you'll be unable to complete the remainder of this
procedure. (For more information on the hardware password, see "The ROM
Monitor" in Chapter 9.)

3. Start up the machine in single-user mode by entering one of the
following commands at the ROM monitor prompt:

bsd -s (To boot from the hard disk)
bfd -s (To boot from the internal floppy disk)
bod -s (To boot from the optical disk)
ben -s (To boot from the Ethernet)

The system starts up, displaying a series of messages. When startup is
complete, you see the single user prompt #.

4. At the single user prompt, start up the system services by entering
the following command:

sh /etc/rc &

You see a series of messages appear on the screen as the rc shell script
executes. During this process, NetInfo is started. You won't see a shell prompt
after these messages unless you press Return.

5. Set the root password. Enter:

passwd root

You're prompted twice for the new password.

6. Turn the system off and then on again. After the system boots, you can
resume normal operation with the new root password.

        Warning: Don't try to continue the boot into multiuser mode. If
you do, you'll start duplicate system services, which will cause a number of
problems. You must halt the system and reboot.

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 As regards the 4gig HD, IIRC You are limited to 2gig or less partitions.

larry



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lgwalker_at_look.ca
Received on Tue Mar 20 2001 - 03:18:18 GMT