🚀 go-pugleaf

In article <1904@riscy.enet.dec.com>, dbb@riscy.enet.dec.com (dave barrett) writes:
> --
> In article <11858@helios.TAMU.EDU>, andrewd@cs.tamu.edu (Andrew Ted
> Duchowski) writes:
> |> If the DECstation goes down, it goes to single-user mode and sits there,
> |> without prompting for superuser password or trying to get into multi-user
> |> mode.  

> Shutdown and halt your system, and at the prompt type:
                                                                         
> >> setenv bootmode a
                                                                         
> This will cause the system to autoboot into multi-user mode if it goes
> down.

First of all, I assume that you are talking about systems with the new
password protected ROMs in them.

With that in mind, do not be foolishly led into believing that these systems
are secure. They are not. They can be booted into single user mode by anyone
at any time without the password.

All you have to do is hit the reset button on the back, or better yet, the
power switch. The machine will then try to boot into multi user mode, but,
9 times out of 10 (particularly if it is on a network) when it tries to
fsck the disk, it will fail, and drop back into single user mode with
a message such as: Disk inconsistancy, Please fsck by hand.

Very quick, very simple. We have tried this many times here. We have found
the only way to make it secure is to have the password protected ROMs 
AND a password protected init.  Someday, DEC may also wake up to this fact.

--

Thanks,
Steve.                    sfreed@ariel.unm.edu