Path: utzoo!mnetor!uunet!husc6!rutgers!ucla-cs!zen!ucbvax!CIRCUS.LLNL.GOV!BRAND%KEGGER
From: BRAND%KEGGER@CIRCUS.LLNL.GOV (Hal R Brand)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.xerox
Subject: Othello and "magic" passwords
Message-ID: <8801060106.AA05363@ucbvax.Berkeley.EDU>
Date: 6 Jan 88 00:53:00 GMT
Sender: daemon@ucbvax.BERKELEY.EDU
Organization: The ARPA Internet
Lines: 30

>To do a logical volume scavenge, you need to get into the Installer 
>(aka Othello) in "expert" mode.
>
>-  Crank up the Installer:  boot it from an installation floppy, or boot
>   it from the ethernet (it is F3 on an DayBreak, but I can't remember 
>   the relevant boot number for a DLion)
>
>-  When the Installer asks for a user name, type PROPS-C (Control-C)
>
>-  Type in the magic installer password.
>   
>Now run the Logical Volume Scavenger, giving it the LispFiles as the
>volume name.  It may take a long time to run if your LispFiles volume
>is large.

WHY DOES ONE NEED A "MAGIC" PASSWORD???? It seems to me that:
   1) Everybody using a Xerox 11xx machine knows enough CS stuff
       to use (or NOT use) such a powerful (and deadly) tool!
   2) It's "my disk" so I should be able to "go after it"
       in any way that is appropriate to retrieve my data!
Now, I know that many times because of these reasons, the password is
made known to users, but if this is the policy, why have a password??
I found all this especially frustrating when trying to help a friend with
his 1186 based upon my experience with my 1109 and we couldn't get to the
good stuff because we didn't have the 1186 password!

My point? If you don't know this password, I suggest you ask your Xerox
person for it ASAP before you really need it and have to wait N days to
track him down.
						Hal Brand