well, of course you can always put the drive in another machine, but that's rather indescrete in most office or public settings, and it's what the lock on the back of the machine is for, i.e. if you can't open the box, you can't move the drive.
trying to boot to the os cd does not defeat it, in fact it totally disables the "C" key trick! the only way i can boot off a cd is to select it as the startup disk in the finder, or to start up using the "opt" key. when you start with the opt key, it still demands a password before it even shows you your' boot choices, then it will let you boot to the cd if you select it, after entering the password and seeing the choices. if i boot to my normal volume after using the "opt" key to select the startup drive it demands the password a second time! it really, really does seem to be secure. now, i can boot into open firmware without the password, but as soon as i type "mac-boot" the firmware asks for the password. i suspect it might be defeatable by booting into open firmware if there are commands in it that let you modify or delete the password, but it should demand the current password first. i don't currently know enough about open firmware to try it. it is implemented IN the firmware, not the drives. i've also tried the internal hardware reset button (which of course you can't get to if the case is locked) and that doesn't clear the password either, it's burnt into the open firmware eeprom, never to be munged from outside! a very, very nice side benefit, if the machine is ever stolen, it's utterly useless to the thieves who's only profit option is to sell the peripherals. it also makes prooving that it's actually your machine allot easier if the police recover it if you haven't written down the serial numbers or they've been hopelessly defaced, although the serial number is also stored electronically, presumably in the eeprom since it relates to the order number so apple would need to be able to set it before shipping but after the logic board is built. it really does seem to be a very, very effective lock. Begin forwarded message: > From: Marc van Gemert <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > Date: Mon Dec 9, 2002 4:35:35 AM America/Denver > To: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> (G-List) > Subject: Re: Open firmware password > Reply-To: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> (G-List) > > mad scientist wrote: >> if you mean "Open Firmware Password.dmg" for instance, i'm using it on >> a g4, and it does lock it up nicely, even a logic board reset won't >> over ride it! don't forget that password! (reseting it to factory >> doubtless requires a trip to an apple shop at best). > > You can bypass it by booting from your OS X CD. Or put the HD in > another > Mac and you can access the HD also, but indeed do not forget your pass. > >> however, i don't >> think that or similiar activites will work on a g3 machine unless they >> have open firmware, which only started with the g4 if i'm correct. > > All new world Macs have Open Firmware (OF). In other words all iMacs > and > B&W G3's and up have OF. I have used OF on both a 333 MHz iMac and a > 350MHz B&W G3. > BTW I have not used OF password myself. > ------------- -- G-List is sponsored by <http://lowendmac.com/> and... Small Dog Electronics http://www.smalldog.com | Refurbished Drives | -- We have Apple Refurbished Monitors in stock! | & CDRWs on Sale! | Support Low End Mac <http://lowendmac.com/lists/support.html> G-List list info: <http://lowendmac.com/lists/g-list.shtml> --> AOL users, remove "mailto:"; Send list messages to: <mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To unsubscribe, email: <mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]> For digest mode, email: <mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Subscription questions: <mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Archive: <http://www.mail-archive.com/g-list%40mail.maclaunch.com/> Using a Mac? Free email & more at Applelinks! http://www.applelinks.com
