james@osi3b2.UUCP (James R. Van Artsdalen) (09/29/86)
As the posting system name should indicate, we have and use a 3b2. We are quite pleased with it. I would certainly agree that it is overpriced at list, but we bought ours used for a good deal less than list. It supports about 12 people total, with 5 on-line at once (averaging three or four throughout a day). In article <305@pinney.munsell.UUCP>, pac@munsell.UUCP (Paul Czarnecki) writes: > I have some friends with an ATT 3b2 that has a firmware password in it. > They'ld like to rebuild thier kernal but they can't because a previous > and long gone engineer changed this firmware password. > > The documentation seems lacking (for obvious reasons) about how to > defeat this protection scheme. > > (Why don't they call ATT and ask them? Well, you see, they don't quite > actually own the machine. Soon after they bought it they discovered > that it was a much better space heater or boat anchor than a computer. > They notified ATT that the machine did not satisfy them and to please > come take it away. Much letters and lawyers later, ATT cancelled the > bill but never picked up the machine. This was over a year ago. Now > they actually have a need for it.) The 3b2 runs extremely cool. It is shaped like a small box. It would make neither a good space heater nor a good boat anchor. :-) Seriously it sounds like these people had no business buying a computer if they needed something bigger than a 3b2 but didn't realize it until _after_ taking delivery. Be serious folks and hire a good consultant when you spend lots of money on things you don't understand (obviously this audience doesn't need this reminder, but some people still do). > (I knew it wasn't a computer when one day, frustrated beyond belief at > it, I reached around and powered the beast off. On my screen flashes > the words, "System shutdown in 5 minutes." I sprinkled some holy water, > drew a pentagram around it, and cut the main power switch to the > building.:-) DEFINITELY hire a consultant to select your computer! Just what did you expect to happen when you pulled the power cord? Did you expect it to get better??? Did you disbelieve that in fact the computer would be off in five minutes? The 3b2 is like any other computer: software problems are best solved with the power on... > If anyone knows how to do this please send me mail. PLEASE DO NOT POST > SUCH AN OBVIOUS SECURITY HOLE NOR WILL I SUMMERIZE TO THE NET. No hole exists of that form: physical access is required to defeat the firmware. And in any case the answer is rather obvious: disconnect the battery for a little bit. Once the battery is reconnected the firmware will default to the original password. This is no less a security hole than with any other computer: once you have unimpeded physical access by someone who knows the hardware & software (as is required to break security in this manner) you have the computer and its data. I realize I've sounded a bit heavy-handed in this article, but you gave several misleading impressions in your article. The 3b2 is not junk: were you expecting a VAX or something? It's a fairly reliable machine that runs 5 people very well to my experience (albeit that it's a bit overpriced). Secondly there is no real security hole with the firmware password: Simple physical security will prevent someone from changing the password in this manner. And finally, shutting off the computer out of frustration, especially arbitrarily removing power when the system would clearly complete the cycle on its own, it rather poor technique. One should never risk the file system(s) by simply removing power. At one point I had our 3b2 up for 5 continuous months without a reboot, and without a glitch. Turning off power nightly simply isn't the way to run a unix system... I've cross-posted this article to net.micro.att: you should be able to get other questions answered there. -- James R. Van Artsdalen ...!ut-ngp!utastro!osi3b2!james Live Free or Die
root@killer.UUCP (Admin) (10/03/86)
The original poster indicated a lack of either understanding of the
system or Unix in general. There is no need for a firmware password just
to simply rebuild the kernel - a caveat - unless a kernel is built that
will NOT boot the system and cannot run. Simply make the desired changes
to /etc/master.d/kernel (tunable parameters), cd to /boot, mkboot -k KERNEL,
touch /etc/system. Then cd /, type in shutdown -y -i6 -g0 and the system
will autoreboot and generate a new /unix - just like magic. My system runs
news, heavy uucp (feeding four other sites), usually runs with 4-6 users
and does it well.
Disconnecting the power on a Unix system like that is also a good way
to create a neat-looking "desk-ornament" by corrupting the operating system
files. Maybe this is why a new kernel needs to be rebuilt ???
Charlie Boykin
...ihnp4!killer!rootpac@munsell.UUCP (Paul Czarnecki) (10/03/86)
As the originator of the request I think I can shed some light on this
matter and then let it die.
The 3b2 my friends have was first purchased over a year and a half ago.
The machine was very new then. I have been assured by some people at
AT&T that the problems which caused our disatisfaction (none of which
were mentioned in the article, nor are they germane to the issue here
(It wasn't not powerful enough, just buggy)) have been fixed by later
software releases. From talking with satisfied users, it appears that
any problems it once had have been fixed. I can't currently reccomend
the machine because I have not played with it recently, but it does
warrent a second look.
Now about that powerswitch... Did *anybody* see the ":-)" at the end of
the paragraph? The joke, you see, involves considering the power switch
to actually be a power switch even though it is plainly labeled ON and
STANDBY. After a frustrating session it is somewhat satisfying (in an
immature yet humanistic sense) to "kill" the machine by turning it off.
Having this not work is the punch line to the whole affair.
For a machine that just might wind up on a computer naive user's desk,
an ON/STANDBY switch IS A GOOD IDEA. The problems that such a switch
can cause by not shutting down the machine in the case of fire, flood,
nuclear winter are sufficiently rare and the savings here (no munged
filesystems) are tremendous. Good Idea ATT.
As an aside, I learned two things this week. Satire and Humor just
don't work in written correspondence. You must label them properly.
Also, never respond to personal hate mail with personal hate mail. Go
get a cup of coffee or watch MTV or something, wait 4 hours (or 4 days)
and then respond. Let cooler head prevail.
Fingers still smoking...
pZ
--
Paul Czarnecki -- Eikonix, Corp. -- Bedford, MA
{{harvard,ll-xn}!adelie,{decvax,allegra,talcott}!encore}!munsell!pz
-- USENET, too much is never enoughjames@reality1.UUCP (james) (10/14/86)
In article <309@pinney.munsell.UUCP>, pac@munsell.UUCP (Paul Czarnecki) writes: | As the originator of the request I think I can shed some light on this | matter and then let it die. | Now about that powerswitch... Did *anybody* see the ":-)" at the end of | the paragraph? The joke, you see, involves considering the power switch | to actually be a power switch even though it is plainly labeled ON and | STANDBY. After a frustrating session it is somewhat satisfying (in an | immature yet humanistic sense) to "kill" the machine by turning it off. | Having this not work is the punch line to the whole affair. I honestly did not see the smiley face. I thought I looked for one, particularly given theh kind of reply I was preparing to post, but I guess I didn't look hard enough. | For a machine that just might wind up on a computer naive user's desk, | an ON/STANDBY switch IS A GOOD IDEA. The problems that such a switch | can cause by not shutting down the machine in the case of fire, flood, | nuclear winter are sufficiently rare and the savings here (no munged | filesystems) are tremendous. Good Idea ATT. | As an aside, I learned two things this week. Satire and Humor just | don't work in written correspondence. You must label them properly. | Also, never respond to personal hate mail with personal hate mail. Go | get a cup of coffee or watch MTV or something, wait 4 hours (or 4 days) | and then respond. Let cooler head prevail. Again, sorry for misinterpreting the message. I guess it did come across pretty badly... *sigh* In face to face communications there many clues to satire and humor, and even verbal communication rarely seems to have this problem. Oh well, I'll look harder next time. | Fingers still smoking... | pZ | Paul Czarnecki -- Eikonix, Corp. -- Bedford, MA -- James R. Van Artsdalen ...!ut-ngp!utastro!osi3b2!james "Live Free or Die"