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I am trying to boot an operating system called MS106, which is an operating system used for ultrasound machines; however, the during the boot process I get the prompt: "give root password for maintenance or press CTRL + d...."
The OS is trying to run a fsck, but requires the root password. Not knowing such root password, I try to boot in single-user mode via LILO (MS106 single), which is a bootloader. Unfortunately, LILO is also password protected.
Are there any utlities to repair/clone this disk despite not having a generic operating system (Windows/DOS/Linux)? Maybe if a repair/clone were successful the OS wouldn't prompt for a file system check. Or Should I try to get through the password protected LILO?
A sidenote: I'm an engineering major fixing medical equipment in Tanzania. This hospital spent roughly $38,000 on this ultrasound (Sonoace R5 from Samsung), which is an unbelievable investment. I have contacted Samsung; however, I received an automated reply that the relevant associates are on vacation for a week.
I only have a little more than a week at this hospital. I can provide more technical details if this question gains further attention. Also, my optimism stems from the fact that the hard drive has a SATA connection.
UPDATE: I accidentally deleted the MBR from the disk via Testdisk on Knoppix. I'm having trouble recovering the MBR. Does this mean I need to put LILO back on the boot sector (Excuse my lack of knowledge)?
I need to mount the drive to do that; however, I don't know what filesystem type the disk is. I've tried ext2, ext3, ext4, etc.
I also need to mount the disk to reset the root password.
UPDATE 2: We were able to fix the ultrasound machine!
We used blkid to find the filesystem type of the partitions and then installed LILO to the boot partition to restore the MBR.
We then simply ran fsck via terminal on Knoppix on each of the partitions; We also changed the root password in the meantime.
Benson Wally Tran
Posted 2013-08-05T20:24:22.060
Reputation: 133
Lilo suggests that it is a Linux derivative and that standard Linux password reset procedures will probably work, either try booting from a live cd or put the hard drive into a Linux box and chroot into it and change the password. check the third section in this tutorial http://news.softpedia.com/news/Resetting-a-Forgotten-Root-Password-40544.shtml
– Mokubai – 2013-08-05T21:31:36.927Do you know what filesystem your OS uses? That might help to repair the corruption. – TSJNachos117 – 2013-08-06T00:26:27.427
@Mokubai. Thanks a ton for the reply. I'm in the process of downloading the knoppix .iso. I was thinking of using TestDisk (off of Knoppix) to see if I can make the unbootable disk bootable again.
I figured this would prevent the prompt for the generic fsck during bootup. If it doesn't work, I'll go about resetting the root password via the tutorial.
I'll keep you updated. – Benson Wally Tran – 2013-08-06T15:17:04.670
@Mokubai. I accidentally deleted the MBR from the disk via Testdisk on Knoppix. Do you know how to recover the MBR? Does this mean I need to put LILO back on the boot sector (Excuse my lack of knowledge)? I need to mount the drive to do that; however, I don't know what filesystem type the disk is. I've tried ext2, ext3, ext4, etc. Do you know how to figure out what filesystem type the partition is? I also need to mount the disk to reset the password. Lastly, do you know is there is an equivalent of a 'fsck' on Knoppix? – Benson Wally Tran – 2013-08-08T18:52:26.707
@TSJNachos117 Sorry no I don't. I'm booting off a LiveCD and need to mount the drive; however, I can't mount it if I don't know the filesystem type. – Benson Wally Tran – 2013-08-08T18:58:31.107
@BensonWallyTran I've never really had to go so far as repairing an MBR. I would recommend editing your question to add in details of things you tried and how they worked out (or not) so that a wider audience might be able to assist you. Your question will get bumped up when you edit, comments will not bump. As to detecting partition types this question might help.
– Mokubai – 2013-08-08T19:32:03.357"give root password for maintenance or press CTRL + d...." Definitely Linux. Use
blkidto try to identify the filesystem. – Ignacio Vazquez-Abrams – 2013-08-09T06:58:58.487It might be better to post that as an answer, rather than editing the question to show that. – Journeyman Geek – 2013-08-09T11:53:35.180