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From: rronkko@csc.fi
Newsgroups: comp.sys.amiga.tech
Subject: How to LOCK your Amiga?
Message-ID: <1991Jan6.233133.1@csc.fi>
Date: 6 Jan 91 23:31:33 GMT
Sender: usenet@nic.funet.fi
Lines: 40

I would like to find an efficient and relatively cheap way to prevent 
'unauthorized' use of my Amiga. Because there is no hardware-based locking 
mechanism in A2000/A3000 itself, not even optional (BTW why, Commodore?!), 
I have to find some other solution. I have been thinking about two tricks, 
both of which are probably needed:

1) A 'special' diskette, which can be locked into the diskette drive 
(I suppose the ones sold for PC:s can be used also in Amiga?). There is, 
however, a couple of problems: IF the lock-diskette is non-bootable, then 
the machine will boot from my autobooting Hard Disk, and the lock-diskette 
is useless. On the other hand, IF the locking diskette is bootable, a
skilled 'unauthorized user' would eventually find his way to my auto-
mountable HD from the cli prompt, which he will reach with the Ctrl-D, even 
if I use some password software on the lock-diskette.

So, my question is: Is there any way to make this lock-diskette to crash or 
lock the machine BEFORE the startup-sequence is executed and the CLI prompt
is available with Ctrl-D?  

2) Because it seems this Ctrl-D is a major problem here, what if the initial 
keymap would not recognize the Ctrl-key... It is possible to edit the keymap 
files located in the devs:keymaps, but where does the initial keymap (before
you use the setmap command to select your national keymap) come from? Is it 
in the Kickstart rom? Would it be in that case possible to get a modified 
Kickstart? And how about A3000, which has the 2.0 Kickstart still on HD... 
Has anyone tried to make this kind of change him/herself? 

Of course you need the Ctrl-key later, but if the first line of your startup-
sequence would be "Some-password-program-which-locks-your-machine" and the 
second "Setmap normal-keymap", there should be no problems. But maybe there 
is some good reason which prevents this kind of tricks...  
 

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  Reijo Ronkko     University of Helsinki, Dept. of General Microbiology,
                   Mannerheimintie 172, 00300 Helsinki, FINLAND
                   Fax +358-0-4735426
  
                   Ronkko@cc.helsinki.fi
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