On November 22, 2004 15:38, Lanman wrote:
> Ron Hunter-Duvar wrote:
...
> > Just a wild guess, but it sounds like there might be something in the
> > BIOS or the drive (or something to do with the BIOS/motherboard/drive
> > combination) that's preventing writing to the MBR. Perhaps something
> > intended to prevent boot sector viruses (someone with the Windoze only
> > mindset might have decided that you don't need to ever change the MBR;
> > the same "we know best" mindset that keeps them from letting you turn off
> > the abs brakes or the air bags in your car, and keeps pilots from taking
> > evasive action in fly-by-wire planes).
> >
> > Try looking for an "MBR write protect" BIOS setting or drive jumper.
> > Maybe even a motherboard jumper.
> >
> > Or maybe it has some of the new DRM ("Denial of your Right to Modify")
> > technology from M$. You might have to go to Redmond on bended knee and
> > kiss Gates' ring for permission to install non-M$ software. Google
> > "Trustworthy Computing" for details.
>
> Ron, Nice try, but I don't DO Windows here at my shop except for clients
> who are emotionally dependant or otherwise addicted to a lack of
> imagination.I didn't mean to imply that you would ever dirty your hands with Windoze :^). I just mean that many (most?) hardware manufacturers are so smitten with/cowed by/beholden to M$ that they refuse to even acknowledge the existence of real operating systems such as Linux, and actively participate in the interference with said operating systems. Winmodems are an obvious example of this. In fact, I could be wrong, but I'm pretty sure it was Asus that was in the news recently for breaking the ethernet on their motherboards in a way that makes it only work with Windoze but not with Linux, and responding to complaints with "we don't support Linux on our motherboards". The whole "Trustworthy Computing" initiative is an attempt by M$ and the cooperative hardware manufacturers to make it both illegal and technically impossible to run any OS other than Windoze. They are planning to build strong encryption into hard drives, cd drives, etc., with M$ holding the private keys, to prevent the booting of any other OS. With the DMCA, it will be a criminal act in the US, earning you jail time, to make any attempt to circumvent these controls. Sounds very paranoid and 1984'ish, but it's true. Of course, given their track record building new versions of Windoze, we might never see this in our lifetimes :^). > Speaking of Windows, my new HP ZD7000 laptop (for example),was quickly > de-loused using Mandrake 10.1 and except for the typical Winmodem > uselessness and a laptop that sucks battery power (due to the Intel > P4-3.2Ghz CPU and 17" display) faster than the TGV in France, it's been > sweet. Ya gotta love this stuff. I'd rather go without a modem than run > Windows. Couldn't agree more. My employer still forces me to work on Windoze, but is sluggishly moving toward Linux desktops (lots of Linux servers). And I had to hold my nose and set up a dual boot of Win98 on one machine, to run one obscure Windoze only app (don't ask), but I unplug the ethernet cable before I boot into it, and I don't allow any new software to be installed on it. > I'm going to check the owners manual for the motherboard to see if there > is a write protect jumper but there's definitely nothing in the BIOS > that mentions a boot virus protection option. Only one to allow > automatic BIOS Updates and I tried that both on and off to see if it was > responsible. > > Either it's a jumper, it was never there in the first place or Asus > forgot to include it in subsequent BIOS updates. As previously > mentioned, I am keeping a large hammer nearby in case of emergency or > extreme frustration. I can't remember who said this, but "if it sticks, force it; if it breaks, it needed fixing anyway". -- Ron ron dot hunterduvar at shaw dot ca Opinions expressed here are all mine. Rights to have the same opinions are granted under the GNU GPL :^)
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