Preventing Optical Disc Ejection

Thread View: comp.sys.next.sysadmin

3 messages

[T] Back to Threads [V] Tree View [G] Group Articles

3 total messages Started by William Alves Fri, 22 Jan 1993 23:40

#2233

Author: William Alves
Date: Fri, 22 Jan 1993 23:40

14 lines
1135 bytes

I teach a class for which we have a single stand-alone NeXT running
OS 2.1. Security in the room with the NeXT is handled through a key
sign-out procedure. Otherwise the students are unsupervised. Because
of disk space limitations, I would like to have an optical disc mounted
at all times. But because of the size, portability, and (now) expense
of the optical discs, I am afraid that a student could easily walk out
with it. So:

Is there any way to prevent disc ejection for users without root access?
Preferably, I would like to prevent it both from the Workspace menu as
well as the Terminal. If not, is there something that can be done to
physically prevent the disc from ejecting? Thanks for your help.

Bill Alves

Re: Preventing Optical Disc Ejection

#2276

Author: Paul S. Sears
Date: Sat, 23 Jan 1993 17:45

29 lines
1945 bytes

In article <1jq0lqINN15h@calvin.usc.edu> alves@calvin.usc.edu (William  
Alves) writes:
#I teach a class for which we have a single stand-alone NeXT running
#OS 2.1. Security in the room with the NeXT is handled through a key
#sign-out procedure. Otherwise the students are unsupervised. Because
#of disk space limitations, I would like to have an optical disc mounted
#at all times. But because of the size, portability, and (now) expense
#of the optical discs, I am afraid that a student could easily walk out
#with it. So:
#
#Is there any way to prevent disc ejection for users without root access?
#Preferably, I would like to prevent it both from the Workspace menu as
#well as the Terminal. If not, is there something that can be done to
#physically prevent the disc from ejecting? Thanks for your help.
#
#Bill Alves

Yes.  Have unix mount the drive during the boot process.  You can do this  
by placing the proper information about the disk in the file /etc/fstab.   
Please see an earlier article "Re: hard drive mounting" that I just  
posted.  It should also apply to Optical disks.

--
Paul S. Sears                *  sears@uh.edu (NeXT Mail OK)
The University of Houston    *  suggestions@tree.egr.uh.edu (NeXT
Engineering Computing Center *  comments, complaints, questions)
NeXT System Administration   *  DoD#1967 '83 NightHawk 650SC 
          >>> SSI Diving Certification #755020059 <<<
"Programming is like sex: One mistake and you support it a lifetime."

Re: Preventing Optical Disc Ejection

#2282

Author: Mike Matthews
Date: Sat, 23 Jan 1993 22:13

19 lines
1416 bytes

In article <1js071INN4gk@menudo.uh.edu> sears@uh.edu writes:
>Yes.  Have unix mount the drive during the boot process.  You can do this  
>by placing the proper information about the disk in the file /etc/fstab.   
>Please see an earlier article "Re: hard drive mounting" that I just  
>posted.  It should also apply to Optical disks.

This is good only from the logical standpoint.  All it takes is a long, thin
object and the OD can be made to eject physically.  Same goes for CD ROMs,
which I found out much to my dismay (the NeXT gets *really* *confused* when
you eject a disk without telling it).  Plugging the appropriate hole/button
with some key-based removable object is the only way I can think of to do
that.  Either that or something similar to fire alarms -- you can pull it,
but you get sprayed with lots o' nasty white stuff too. <evil grin>

>Paul S. Sears
------
Mike Matthews, matthews@oberon.umd.edu (NeXTmail accepted)
------
To err is human, to moo bovine.

Thread Navigation

This is a paginated view of messages in the thread with full content displayed inline.

Messages are displayed in chronological order, with the original post highlighted in green.

Use pagination controls to navigate through all messages in large threads.

Back to All Threads