Gaining access to a FileStore

EEA index

FileStore
Description
Hardware
Error codes
NVRAM
Disc format
Accessing
Password file
E01 vs E01S
Rescuing

Intro
MDFS
Others
Clocks
Bridges
Interfaces
Misc h/w
Testing
Misc info

Introduction

If you forget your Syst password, or are otherwise locked out of the server, you will be pleased to know that is isn't overly secure.

Here are two methods that you can try:

Insert a floppy disc that is formatted and contains a null Password file with only Syst on it (no password) and log into that disc.
If you are wondering how to make such a disc, this is the situation that the server leaves the disc in should you *FSFormat a disc, and then do nothing else with it.

If you have no such disc, then switch on the server with the front door open so that it enters maintenance mode.
Log onto the server using the *FSUser name (this is Syst by default).
If you have successfully logged in, your network name should change to the station number of the server prefixed with an exclamation mark (ie: !254).
Proceed to format a disc for a blank Passwords file to log in as above.

It is perhaps worth pointing out for foreign readers that a large number of Acornites prefer to use the antiquated phraseology "pling" to describe the '!' character; hence you may come across references to "pling Run" or "pling Boot" (that, actually, being the name of a program too!).
On this website, the exclamation mark is called an exclamation mark. Or sometimes simply "exclamation" if necessary, though it is often easier to just write stuff like "!Boot" and let you read it however you like.
The secondary use of the exclamation mark is to denote inverse logic signals, such as !ACK and !STROBE in the hardware description. This follows the C style of using '!' to mean "not".

Accessing other devices

It appears that once you are logged into the server, you are logged in. You can access any of the files on any of the discs using the privileges to which you are granted. In the case of a system manager (i.e. the Syst account) you have complete access. For regular users, much stuff outside of their own URD will be either read-only or inaccessible.

Therefore, it should not be too traumatic an event, should you take delivery of a FileStore from, for example, eBay - to get yourself in and then access the passwords file on the harddisc in order to blank it and create your own.

Sometimes it just ain't that easy!

If you are supplying somebody with a device that contains built-in security, then basic etiquette requires that you remove such security as a matter of good faith. Or, at the very least, that you supply the manager password.
The sad reality of the matter, these days, is that you may be offered the FileStore by somebody who 'inherited' the thing, found it in a cupboard, etc, and simply doesn't know what the heck it is - if for no other reason than I guess they never thought to Google and find my EEA! ☺

Imagine, if you will, if *FSMaxDrive has been set to 3 (disabling floppies) and *FSUser has set a custom non-Syst default user.

Now what? The answer is simple. You cannot log into the server. It is inaccessible.

Getting in, the brute force method

It has always been said that no matter how many layers of security you provide, nothing can keep a determined person out once they have physical access to the server.
This scenario is the one that faced Mark Ferns, and now he shall describe how he got into the server:

If you get a Filestore which will not allow you to login either as Syst (or, sometimes, Boot) it is possible that the accounts have been locked or deleted. If the administrator really wanted to make life difficult he could have also set *FSMaxDrive 3 which would disable both floppy drives and prevent you booting from a formatted floppy disc. The only way around this problem is to either get hold of a second E01 (E01S) and connect the hard disc to that and boot off floppy or "break-in" to the Filestore and either remove or short the CMOS memory!

To short the CMOS memory, open up the E01/E01S and locate IC2 (under floppy disc drive 4). There should be an HD146818P (or xxxx6818 equivalent) Real-Time Clock chip in the socket.
There is no built-in battery in this chip which means that CMOS RAM can be cleared on this chip by just removing it from the socket for a few seconds and replacing it.
To reduce chances of damage to the chip, it is preferable instead to short pins 12 and 24 for a few seconds (with the server powered off!).

Rick's note: I've seen those NiCad batteries pack a punch and burn out tracks so you short at your own risk.
Me? I'd prefer to whip the chip out, you can do this with a blunt knife, and a whole lot of care. Lift each side a millimetre or two at a time. If you try to prise out one side, then the other, you'll end up with bent legs. Never good.
Anyway, your server, your choice...

Here is a diagram of the 6818 chip:

              __    __
        1   -|* \__/  |-  24  5 volts DC
        2   -|        |-  23
        3   -|        |-  22
        4   -|        |-  21
        5   -|        |-  20
        6   -|        |-  19
        7   -|        |-  18
        8   -|        |-  17
        9   -|        |-  16
        10  -|        |-  15
        11  -|        |-  14
Ground  12  -|________|-  13

If you removed the chip, re-insert it now (otherwise the FileStore will not boot) and power-on with your boot floppy inserted in drive 4. If the CMOS has been successfully cleared, it will now check the floppy drives for discs.
Login as Syst, it will take a while as it will load the account info off the floppy. You are now in a position to reset the passwords on the FileStore hard disc.

I've done the NVRAM reset, but don't have a boot floppy!

If you do not have a boot floppy, then start the server with the flap open. Count to fifteen slowly, and then try to log in as Syst. Once you are logged in, pop a fresh disc into the left-hand drive and type *FSFormat 4 FSdisc to get yourself a nice blank floppy with default password file.
When the format is complete, close the front flap and if necessary issue the command *FSMode U to cause the server to start up (you don't need to switch it off and back on again).

I still can't get in! Is the password still needed?

You mean like what if you can log into the server using a blank password file (Syst with no password), while the harddisc's password contains a password such as fluffy?

I just tried this with two floppy discs. One had no password, the other had the password quoted above. Here is a transcript:

*I Am Syst
*SDisc FSDisc
*Access Passwords RL/
*DumpTop Passwords

Address  : 00 01 02 03 04 05 06 07 08 09 0A 0B 0C 0D 0E 0F :     ASCII data

00000000 : 53 79 73 74 0D 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 : Syst............
00000010 : 00 00 00 00 0D 00 00 00 00 FF FF FF 0F 00 C0 52 : ..............@.
00000020 : 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 : ................
00000030 : 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 : ................

*Access Passwords L/
*SDisc Userdata
*Access Passwords RL/
*DumpTop Passwords

Address  : 00 01 02 03 04 05 06 07 08 09 0A 0B 0C 0D 0E 0F :     ASCII data

00000000 : 53 79 73 74 0D 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 : Syst............
00000010 : 00 00 00 00 46 4C 55 46 46 59 55 17 02 00 C0 00 : ....FLUFFYU...@.
00000020 : 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 : ................
00000030 : 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 : ................

*Access Passwords L/
*Bye

Logging in to the fileserver, with the default FSdisc disc in drive 4 allows me access to the server and to files on both discs.
Had I swapped the discs around, I would have needed to give the password.

It's that last sentence that is the big clue here. Read it again, and then observe the following, scanned from the Level 2/3 user's guide:

This raises one rather large question. If the harddisc is a lower disc number than a floppy, and the discs are checked in order, surely you will require a password to log in as Syst as it will read the details from the harddisc in preference to the floppy?

This would seem to be indicated by the above text and also by my small test with the floppy-swap. However this does not seem to be Mike's experience; though I wonder - as Mike seems to have obtained his server from somebody worried about security - if the previous owner removed all trace of 'Syst'? Or maybe he used the Desktop?
Unfortunately I do not have an operational FileStore harddisc so I cannot say for certain what would happen in this instance.

Fear not! For even in the face of this adversity, there's a way around it!
(though you may like to try the advice in the following chapter first...)

Ready?

Switch off the FileStore and remove the harddisc.
Just unplug the SCSI connector from the back of the server.
Now switch the server back on, let it start up and log in , using your floppy disc, as Syst.
Create a new user account...
*NewUser Amelie
Make her a system manager...
*Priv Amelie S
Log off, switch off.
Reconnect the harddisc. Power up, yada yada yada.
*I Am Amelie
Bingo! You're in! System level access.

Oh my... Is all that necessary?

No. If you are using a RISC OS machine, the NetFS permits you to log in to a specific server disc - but it only works from the Desktop. I could not get this to work from the command line, hence the above chapter.

Simply click Menu on the network icon, then choose the FS List option:

You should see your newly formatted disc listed. In the picture below we have two discs. The FSDisc one has no password and is in drive :5, while UserData has a password and is in drive :4. Attempting to log on from the command line always seems to try to load the account in drive :4, regardless of whether or not a disc name was specified.
Anyway, click Menu on the server that you wish to log in to (here, I choose FSdisc as it has no password). In the menu that pops up, go down to Logon and across to call up the logon dialogue. Type in the user name Syst and then press Return twice.

These screenshots were taken from my RISC OS 3.11 A3000. Doesn't it look old-fashioned?!?!

The server should read from disc, and before you know it the icon bar should change to look like this:

I know, I know. It doesn't look terribly inspiring. There were no bells and whistles and "PROTECTION BREACHED" messages all over the screen, along with klaxons and flashing red lights. Sorry, that sort of stuff only happens in really bad movies.
In the real world, what you wanted was exactly what you just got. You are logged into the FileStore, from the disc named "FSDisc" (or whatever, in your case), with system manager privilege.

It seems only fitting to end this chapter like I ended the previous:

Bingo! You're in! System level access.

(see? nothing is insurmountable)