Am 27.09.2005 um 13:04 schrieb Mitja Podreka: > I have a big problem. I have six new computers running Mandrake. I would like > to migrate them to Debian, but everything is password protected and the people > who installed the original OS forgot all the passwords. > I tried today to boot from a live CD, but found out that BIOS is set to boot > from hard disc and access to BIOS is password protected. > What can I do?
So you have two problems: A locked BIOS and a Mandrake installation of which you do not know the root password. Regarding the BIOS: Many motherboards have a CMOS reset jumper, which resets all changes the user made -- including the password. On other boards it may help to remove the CMOS battery for a certain time. Find out the manufacturer and model of your board and read the documentation. Most manufacturers make it available on-line. Regarding the locked Linux system and the Debian installation: It is _not_ necessary to be able to boot from a cdrom to install Debian onto the hard disk. You can simply put that disk into another system, and do what you want with the disk. No one hinders you from installing Debian onto that disk on another computer and put it back when you're done. You won't need to have access to the BIOS for that. Another option is a networking card with a bootrom. You can boot a linux system, or even a Debian PXE installation image via network, effectively bypassing the BIOS. An alternative to the Debian net installer is Knoppix, which makes it easy boot another system via PXE. It also allows you to install a complete Debian system with "debootstrap". Regards, Dennis -- Send personal mail to [EMAIL PROTECTED] only. Off-list mails to [EMAIL PROTECTED] will not reach me. -- To UNSUBSCRIBE, email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with a subject of "unsubscribe". Trouble? Contact [EMAIL PROTECTED]
