• Please review our updated Terms and Rules here

The tragedy of password-protected old computers

M

Mr.Amiga500

Experienced Member
Joined
May 27, 2008
Messages
480
Location
Canada
I recently got an SGI Indy, NeXTstation and G3 PowerMac (with OSX) and was disgusted to find that they're all password-protected ...and I don't have the passwords. (d'oh! Most old computers I collect have no security.)

Is there any way to bypass these logins? (without reinstalling the OS)

I know that if there was a way, it would defeat the whole point of password security - but I thought that older systems like Indy and NeXTstation (back when people weren't so freakish about security) would have some workaround.

Any ideas?
 
On old PC's (actually up to recently), all you had to do was to pull the BIOS battery and boot off a floppy/CD to save the files you want to keep. Then reformat the harddrive and reinstall the OS.
 
As I said, I can't reinstall the OS.

The Indy and NeXTstation only have harddrives (no floppy, no CD-ROM) and the G3 Mac came without OSX install disc.
 
Mr.Amiga500 said:
I recently got an SGI Indy, NeXTstation and G3 PowerMac (with OSX) and was disgusted to find that they're all password-protected ...and I don't have the passwords. (d'oh! Most old computers I collect have no security.)
Click to expand...

All of those computers run unix-like operating systems. Get boot media for all of them, boot off of the boot media, mount the root drive, then go to /etc/passwd and remove the root password.
 
Trixter said:
All of those computers run unix-like operating systems. Get boot media for all of them, boot off of the boot media, mount the root drive, then go to /etc/passwd and remove the root password.
Click to expand...
----
I was going to suggest the same thing, but I think the problem is that there's no boot media...
 
I would put the harddrive in a PC with linux. Hopefully you can then mount the partition where /etc is and change /etc/passwd manually.

At least I think that linux can handle the OSX file systems, not so sure about the Indy. You can probably put the Indy disk in almost any other SGI machine if you can find one.
 
Found elsewhere:

To reset a password on an SGI:

1. Insert cd for Irix 6.5 "Installation Tools".
2. Click "Stop for Maintenance" button.
3. Click "Install System Software" button.
4. Click "Local CDROM" button then "Install" button.
5. Click "Continue" button that pops up.
6. Choose "3" admin mode.
7. Choose "7" Shroot.
8. At the prompt type "passwd" and then your new root password.
9. Then just type "Exit" then "Return" then "Quit" pressing enter after each.
10. Answer "y" for yes when asked to reboot.


course, we're back to needing boot media.
Not only media, but a SCSI CDROM. No just any - one of those goofy-@ss ones supporting 2048 bytes/sector.
I have media, but nowhere near the speed on my dsl to be able to upload anything!
Browse around, as I have downloaded some - check to see if HotLine is still up and running, as I downloaded a TON of stuff from there, as well as from eMule/eD2K.

T
 
MikeS said:
----
I was going to suggest the same thing, but I think the problem is that there's no boot media...
Click to expand...

Bingo! Give that man a... uh... a Bingo card.

That's right, no boot media. Even if I had the Irix install CD, I have no external SCSI CD-ROM drive (Indy has no internal drives besides harddrive). It would have been the same with the NeXTstation, but thankfully that has now been solved. The G3 PowerMac is relatively easy, but I'd need an OSX 10.2 disc. (10.2.8 is last OSX which supports the G3 Macs) Maybe I'll get one on eBay or something.
 
Easily solvable - get a Toshiba XM-3xxx external SCSI drive on fleaBay.
They show up by the tons. Those were OEM on Sun, SGI, IBM, etc...

T
 
Mr.Amiga500 said:
Bingo! Give that man a... uh... a Bingo card.

That's right, no boot media. Even if I had the Irix install CD, I have no external SCSI CD-ROM drive (Indy has no internal drives besides harddrive). It would have been the same with the NeXTstation, but thankfully that has now been solved. The G3 PowerMac is relatively easy, but I'd need an OSX 10.2 disc. (10.2.8 is last OSX which supports the G3 Macs) Maybe I'll get one on eBay or something.
Click to expand...

Actually, my G3 366MHz ran 10.3.9, which is the latest OSX supporting the G3.

I recall reading an article online about removing a password in OSX...let me look for it now...

Got it! Try this--Link

--Jack
 
Yzzerdd said:
I recall reading an article online about removing a password in OSX...let me look for it now...

Got it! Try this--Link

--Jack
Click to expand...

That is exactly the kind of thing I was looking for! Thanks!

Unfortunately, it seems my G3 PowerMac is now dead. I tried turning it on to fix the password problem and it wouldn't turn on. What a bizarre coincidence. I tried multiple outlets, opened it and checked all connectors and cards, but it is completely dead. It was working fine yesterday. Weird. Maybe my Mac knew what I was trying to do and killed itself.
 
Keep on working on that G3, the problem is probably simple. Try booting with nothing but power hooked up. Otherwise, use a different power cord. Also, check for any burnt items in the Mac. If all else fails, do not hesitate to drop-kick it while plugged in--that just might fix it.

--Jack
 
All the Unix machines you can boot in single user mode and change the password. On O2 I remember you have to boot it to SASH (stand alone shell).
 
There is a Linux Boot CD that you can use to reset Windows XP Passwords, I have a copy here. Since Linux is not unlike Unix, could you boot from this CD to reset the passwords on the Unix machines?
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top