Root account Missing

[italy]

Hi there I got an old box for sco unix and I am an IT person but not too much with unix ,I dont have any inforamtion about any account in this box and of course there is no root account information could you please advise me about what needs to be done to recover this account I am familiar with NT I thought I can for example boot from the boot disks and do some thing but the problem I dont have even boot disks if this good procedure could you please tell me how can I create an start up disk and is linux boot disks are useful in this senario .??

Many thanks in advance

 

[abovebrd]

Do you know what version of SCO unix you have.


-Danny

 

[italy]

I think is 2.5 or something

 

[KenCunningham]

Post up the output of a 'uname -a' command, this wiil tell us the OS details.

 

[edfair]

Power it up. Version should display 3 or 4 lines after the boot.
Without root access , shutdown may be unavailable, so powering it off will leave corrupted files that probably will clean on bootup.
Be prepared, recovery from this problem is a real pain. It will require install disks, an emergency boot disk set, or another computer to mount the drive to gain access to the password file. Ed Fair
efair@atlnet.com

Any advice I give is my best judgement based on my interpretation of the facts you supply.

Help increase my knowledge by providing some feedback, good or bad, on any advice I have given.

 

[italy]

thanks for the response this what I got when I started up

SCO Unix system v/386 Release 3.2 v4.2 operating system

and when goas further it run fsstate command and giving the message

Type control-D to proceed with normal start up or give Root password for system mentenence.?


but it doas not except the CONTROL-D and keep giving me incorrect password for any other input.

thanks

 

[edfair]

[CTRL]+d at the same time. And the root password that you don't have is the one required for system maintenance.
Looks like you will need to rebuild a system on another hard drive to get access. And this will require an install set of floppies.
The OS is available on e-bay and several places have legitimate packages for sale.
Do you have any other SCO installations nearby? SCO hardware support available? This isn't a big deal when support is available, about an hour worth of time, but you have to have the tools too. Ed Fair
efair@atlnet.com

Any advice I give is my best judgement based on my interpretation of the facts you supply.

Help increase my knowledge by providing some feedback, good or bad, on any advice I have given.