I have acquired an old Unix system, and do not have the administrator password. It will not boot all the way up, and I cannot get to a login. I understand that there is a way to use a bootdisk to boot to single user mode and reset the password, and fix the boot problem. It is on an older system and is running System V 3.2v4.2 Unix. It has some data on it that the old owners would like to have transfered, but alas, they do not have the admin password either. Can someone help me out with this?
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System V 3.2v4.2 Boot Problem
- Thread starter kzinti
- Start date
Keep the name aplawrence in mind. He has a unix site that contaings some great help. You can find it with a google search. Or search for pcunix, his other identification.
If you had the emergency boot set you could boot to single user and mount the drive to get access to the password file.
But to get an emergency boot set you probably would need to install a dummy hard drive and do an install to have the capability to make the set. And if you don't have the installation media set that option doesn't work.
You could try booting off an earlier kernel. When it says boot: type in unix.old and see if it can boot to that version. Probably will have some hardware that doesn't work, or possibly some drivers missing. If it gets to the single user password this way the problem is in the kernel. This isn't going to help you, but at least you'll know what you are fighting.
Ed Fair
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.
If you had the emergency boot set you could boot to single user and mount the drive to get access to the password file.
But to get an emergency boot set you probably would need to install a dummy hard drive and do an install to have the capability to make the set. And if you don't have the installation media set that option doesn't work.
You could try booting off an earlier kernel. When it says boot: type in unix.old and see if it can boot to that version. Probably will have some hardware that doesn't work, or possibly some drivers missing. If it gets to the single user password this way the problem is in the kernel. This isn't going to help you, but at least you'll know what you are fighting.
Ed Fair
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.
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