Konboot vs. Arch [Solved]

logd · 2010-06-28 22:20:24

Does anyone know if Kon-boot officially works against Arch? I am having issues using Kon-boot to get into my own box. I'm trying to verify I did the extra instructions to make it boot off USB and against Linux the right way., but am having problems. My understanding is it doesn't work against some distros.

Last edited by logd (2010-07-07 03:00:49)

tomk · 2010-06-28 22:53:33

Some info, links, whatever about Kon-boot might help people answer your question. In their absence, you're either assuming everyone knows what you're talking about or expecting potential helpers to do additional research on your behalf.

logd · 2010-06-28 23:04:53

You've tainted my post now Nope, im asking people who are familiar with the program. I used the older Kon-boot when they had v1.0. It's been awhile, but I thought I remember it working against my Arch box then. What im asking is if there are any members who have Kon-boot and have succesfully used it against Arch. I'm pretty sure I have things set up on my end correct, it would be nice to get some sort of verification. If you don't already know what Kon-boot is, then I don't believe you will be able to help me. Further, i'm trying to boot off USB, which I haven't done before; but have added the altered syscfg file as per irongeeks suggestions.

If you have ever tried to boot this from a USB, then you will surely be familar with my problem as i've spent a fair amount of time configing and rebooting trying this out on 2 seperate Arch machines. But like I was saying, I think I have it all right, is Arch just a distro that it won't work on; as mentioned in their docs it doesn't work on all distros. Can anyone confirm this?

Here's a link:
http://www.piotrbania.com/all/kon-boot/

Last edited by logd (2010-06-28 23:29:32)

logd · 2010-07-07 03:00:32

Just as a follow up for this problem, yes it will work with the earlier Linux version of Konboot. Will it sometimes not work with some configurations or security measures? Absolutely. The newest version of Kon-Boot, which happens to be a paid version, will only do Windows machine; just so you all know. However, this is knowledge I have already known. So when it comes down to it, just pack a live CD for things like this as well as a prog like Kon-boot so you won't run into any unlocking problems. Lesson learned with all this: there really isn't a one-for-all solution for un-locking. And it sure as hell wouldn't be kon-boot. Login bypassing is sometimes situationaly dependant on a machines configuration, and don't you forget it.:)

EDIT: One thing I forgot to mention, what was tripping me up originally was that on the "free" Kon-Boot site, that have a v1.1 download that is called "free". This is actually v1.0. And from my experience, you really only want to use an early for-Linux version of Kon-Boot against Linux. If you have a copy of the paid version that does Windows machines only, then good for you.

Last edited by logd (2010-07-07 03:12:32)

hunterthomson · 2010-07-07 04:13:00

Well, really there is no need for Konboot on a Linux box. Just edit the GRUB kernel line and add single to the end. Then it will boot up and you will have Root. You can even change the Root password at that point and boot up normal.

I also never really could see the practical point in Konboot for windows ether. I mean just boot off of a BackTrack USB which has the ntfs-3g driver installed by default. Other then that I find it more useful to "change" the admin password on a windows box as appose to bypassing it.

But do I still have a Konboot CD around ?, Sure

Like lets say I show up at a small office and they have an IT guy that is gone. I get to the desktop and the user doesn't know the root password but I need to install some software on it. Instead of changing the admin password which could cause problems latter on. I just use Konboot. However, running AV and stuff I just boot from a live CD anyway.

Last edited by hunterthomson (2010-07-07 04:26:48)

logd · 2010-07-08 01:49:44

hunterthomson wrote:

Well, really there is no need for Konboot on a Linux box. Just edit the GRUB kernel line and add single to the end. Then it will boot up and you will have Root. You can even change the Root password at that point and boot up normal.
I also never really could see the practical point in Konboot for windows ether. I mean just boot off of a BackTrack USB which has the ntfs-3g driver installed by default. Other then that I find it more useful to "change" the admin password on a windows box as appose to bypassing it.
But do I still have a Konboot CD around ?, Sure
Like lets say I show up at a small office and they have an IT guy that is gone. I get to the desktop and the user doesn't know the root password but I need to install some software on it. Instead of changing the admin password which could cause problems latter on. I just use Konboot. However, running AV and stuff I just boot from a live CD anyway.

Yeah the GRUB line tricks work well usually, although not always it seems. I either add 1 or add on /bin/bash and chroot change the root pass. Originally I was looking to see if Kon-Boot could be a one all unlock disk. I do some computer repair and odds and ends on the side in a rough neighborhood and I get a lot of people with locked boxes. I don't ask questions. This d00d has bills to pay Yes, im aware Kon-boot doesn't give the pass. Yes, I know how to dump it once in. But perhaps your right, it's be easier to just change things anyways.

All in all, I think i'll just stick with what you said about backtrack and grub editing. It seems to be the best and/or most reliable combo to date. As every box is different, one must have a variety of trickery readily available. I still think it would be cool if someone made an attempt at making a all systems login bypasser/pass dumper/whatever. Perhaps this is a project for me...hrm....

And actually adding a shell command to GRUB for an older Arch box I had seemed to be the only thing that worked on that one. Even then it didn't want to go to the shell on the 1st boot. But did on the 2nd try. As a prevention thought, pass protect your BIOS to try and prevent this.

Last edited by logd (2010-07-08 01:56:39)

hunterthomson · 2010-07-08 07:38:40

Ya, there is certainly a place for Kon-boot. I don't know why I refuted that. Even after I thought of it I remembered times it helped me out no other way could have. There is certainly a need to have multiple options.

Ya, the BIOS password is a tricky one. I know the standard way with that is it stores the password in the CMOS chip which gets cleared if you remove the battery. However... I seem to remember reading about new motherboards with more secure BIOS chips that store the password on flash memory... Okay, I checked and it seems that is the case with new motherboards. I bet mine stores the password in non-volatile memory.

.......Owe wait you know you could still take the hard drive out and mount it externally on another computer then edit the menu.lst

If you encrypt the hhd one can still put a custom Kernel in the /boot directory with a key-logger and email the encryption password to you. Then they could come back and steal the computer the next day.

The closest thing to physically secure is to do full-disk encryption and then use the TPM chip to verify the sha1sum of all the files in the /boot directory. So this way, everything is encrypted and if they changed the files in the unencrypted /boot You would know and it would not boot-up. Then you could take out the drive and mount it externally on a clean computer to copy off the important data. You could also lock the HHD to computer with the TPM key. The TPM will also not let it boot if they modified the hardware.

Also, HHD passwords are surprisingly effective. You can overwrite it but it is fairly tricky and varies form brand to brand.

Last edited by hunterthomson (2010-07-08 07:53:33)

Arch Linux

#1 2010-06-28 22:20:24

Konboot vs. Arch [Solved]

#2 2010-06-28 22:53:33

Re: Konboot vs. Arch [Solved]

#3 2010-06-28 23:04:53

Re: Konboot vs. Arch [Solved]

#4 2010-07-07 03:00:32

Re: Konboot vs. Arch [Solved]

#5 2010-07-07 04:13:00

Re: Konboot vs. Arch [Solved]

#6 2010-07-08 01:49:44

Re: Konboot vs. Arch [Solved]

#7 2010-07-08 07:38:40

Re: Konboot vs. Arch [Solved]

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