Hi Jason
Thank you for the suggestions. Yes, I interrupted the boot process but
there is no prompt when I do that, I basically get a prompt/text saying
something like "press any key to abort the boot process" and when I do
there is no further communications. I can try entering
characters/help/etc but no response -not even an error message. Then
after 20 seconds or so the system returns to booting and I get the
regular '>' prompt. I do not think it is a linux based unit - it is
possible to enter commands like "DIR" and see 3 empty directories (which
look more like DOS directories than anything). I've got a feeling that
if Spectracom get back to me they are going to want to reflash the
unit. Shame really - the manual clearly states that entering "defaults'
at a login prompt when connected directly to the serial port on the back
of the unit should clear the passwords - it clearly does not!
I'll post to the group should I find a solution - there is one other
member who is after a fix too.
With best regards
David.
On 2/10/2019 2:11 PM, Jason Rabel via time-nuts wrote:
Thank you for everyone's suggestions. I'm definitely connected to the
correct serial port for configuration and communication using com port
settings 9600,n,8,1. When power is applied I get various boot messages
before being presented with a ">" prompt whereupon I can enter "help"
and get some help text. During the boot process there is prompt
indicating there is a 2 second delay where sending any character will
interrupt the boot process - but when I do that the system goes quiet
and doesn't appear to do anything else.
The first ">" prompt sounds like it's BIOS related...
The 2-second delay is the one you want to interrupt and enter your own boot
commands.
It's been too long since I've had to do this and like an idiot I never wrote
down any notes. However just google something like "linux boot single user
mode" and look for OLD tutorials where you actually have to enter in text,
the newer guides all talk about menus and more modern bootloaders and such.
But basically it involves adding the word "single" or "boot -s" or similar
to the boot process which will eventually get you to the shell prompt. Then
you will need to remount the partitions read/write (important if you want to
save your changes). Check the manual too for how to change the passwords,
some have special commands that will copy the passwd file to a certain
location so that it survives across reboots.
BTW, for anyone interested, inside the unit, it is a custom PCB (fairly
large) with a GPS module (Motorola Oncore maybe?) and can be built with
either a small 10MHz oscillator or a much larger TCXO.
I've never seen inside that particular unit. A couple pictures would be nice
if you could post them online somewhere or shrink the file size enough to
attach to your message.
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