Received NeXTStation Today: Login Name and Password UNKNOWN

Hello to all: My first post because I got a nice NeXTStation TODAY (for free) and it is complete. Keyboard, monitor, two mice, NeXTStation slab, and it looks like everything is clean and works properly. The fellow who had it did not use it (impulse buy) and he gave it to me with no idea of what the login ID and password might be.  I have no software for this computer and nothing in the house that can burn floppy disks. Is there any way to reset BOTH the User Name and the Password without spending a lot of money on bootable system disks ??  I am located in Oshawa, Ontario, Canada.



https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/4370787/NeXT%20%2016.40.20.jpg

https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/4370787/NeXT%20%2016.40.53.jpg

https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/4370787/NeXT%2016.39.05.jpg

How to reset the root password:

First boot into single user mode
ROM> bsd -s

Start the services:
# sh /etc/rc &

Reset the root password
# passwd root

Quote from: "barcher174"How to reset the root password:

First boot into single user mode
ROM> bsd -s

Start the services:
# sh /etc/rc &

Reset the root password
# passwd root

Thanks for the reply.
Will this allow me to reset BOTH the User Name AND the Login Password ??
As it is now, I do not know either !!

Mike

Also....

My only experience with computers has been with Macintosh computers.

Is there a keyboard command to execute during StartUp that will get me into Single User Mode ??

Thanks !!

command ~  immediately after testing system goes to loading from disk
also we have the system administration manual here
http://www.nextcomputers.org/NeXTfiles/Docs/NeXTStep/3.3/nsa/ page 299

Quote from: "Rob Blessin Black Hole"command ~  immediately after testing system goes to loading from disk
also we have the system administration manual here
http://www.nextcomputers.org/NeXTfiles/Docs/NeXTStep/3.3/nsa/ page 299

Thank you for your information, patience and advice:

And using this procedure will I be able to create a new login NAME and a new PASSWORD ??  

I need to know that I will be able to create BOTH of these because at this point I have neither....

Also...... When I called the fellow who gave me the computer to ask about the forgotten Name and Password for it he also mentioned that he believed that there was very likely a hardware password, but, of course, he did not remember what that was either.

He seems determined to make this difficult.

It appears that resetting the root password properly requires that I have the hardware password as well, and I do not have this and neither does he.

Is this process of resurrecting the NeXTStation possibly more trouble than it is worth ? I do not have any software diskettes for this machine and its is starting to look like I might need a bootable installer set of floppies to get ahead of this problem.



Mike

Hello Mike : I'll help you get through it  for a hardware password , you need to pull the battery . To open the case a single screw holds the cover on located center back and hinges forward. It will then default boot from network so you change it back under parameters to boot from the drive. I'm willing to help get you into the system. By phone 303 741 9998 best regards Rob

The game has changed...

I read over the information from the links you sent. Thanks for that. You are a prince !!

On a hunch I hoped for the best and put in "root" as the NAME and ran through his children names for PASSWORD and suddenly I got a Desktop.... and everything simply works.



I have a System installed but no programs, so its time to start filling in the blanks.

Thanks !!!

Quote from: "Mike"
On a hunch I hoped for the best and put in "root" as the NAME and ran through his children names for PASSWORD and suddenly I got a Desktop....

THAT is how you get into an old computer.

If you delete the NetInfo db, the system reverts to a no-password "me" account. Then you set a password for "me", and log out. You can then login as root with an empty password. This is the recommended procedure.

The hard drive died. I'll see what I can do once I get it up and running again....

Thanks for the tip.

Mike

Rob Blessin helped me reset the password on my NeXTstation Color Turbo with ADB keyboard. I got to the ROM monitor by pressing <left-alternate>+<command bar>+<~> (without the shift key) right after the Testing System window changed to Loading from Disk. From there I used the instructions above.