how to wipe the hd:\ when the cd:\ is dead
p.la...@ieee.org
I want to try because a non-programmer technician at a public school
district of Washington state recently found us here with a search
like:
http://groups.google.com/group/comp.lang.forth.mac/search?group=comp.lang.forth.mac&q=wipe
The school has leftover iMac's with dead cd:\ that also do not boot
from USB, e.g., don't boot PPC Linux from a USB Flash Drive.
Googling then correctly suggests we could trivially modify my own:
http://members.aol.com/plforth/moforth/20020315/ofblock.txt
Anyone here want to help?
...
I haven't written any Open Firmware in years! I mis/remember that
wiping the first block after somehow loading ofblock looks like this:
0 to lba
block-size to data-length
dwr .
I guess what we really want is a couple of short programs.
One program to wipe the hd:\. preferably reprinting its progress in a
single line as it goes, like with a |/-\ progress wheel and bar or
percent or countdown.
A second program to scan the hd:\ and count where and how many nonzero
blocks found, again preferably reprinting its progress and cumulative
result as it goes.
Then we could run a scan and a wipe and a scan and be confident that
we have wiped all of what we care about.
Anyone here got a Mac you're willing to smash?
...
Me finding the guts to try running the code myself might be a little
difficult. I need to find my way to a Mac old enough to run Open
Firmware that is not now in service.
Probably my next first step will be remembering how to load ofblock.
I mis/remember the web nearby has instructions, either right there or
close by at my own patch to get ofpong running again to boot Pong in
place of Mac OS.
I could at least write and run the scan program, and I could debug the
wipe program by reading instead of writing so that then someone else
would just substitute write for read to try it.
I probably can do all this myself, it's just work enough that I'd
appreciate the help if by chance anyone here does want to help.
...
Thanks in advance,
pela...@gmail.com
is where I'll blog my progress if no one here jumps in to help me
think/ work thru this one. Google tells me we no longer speak often
here, so months will have to elapse before I can be sure no one here
is interested.
Fred McKenzie
<101561bb-d56b-4be7...@m36g2000hse.googlegroups.com>,
pela...@gmail.com wrote:
You may do better posting to one of the other Macintosh newsgroups such
as comp.sys.mac.hardware.storage or comp.sys.mac.system.
Unless you can use the Mac's open firmware, you will need some other
device that can boot and run Disk Utility.
Depending on the model, your Macintosh may be bootable in "Target Disk
Mode" by holding down the T key. If successful, it can then be accessed
from another machine via FireWire.
Fred
Mike Hore
> In article
> <101561bb-d56b-4be7...@m36g2000hse.googlegroups.com>,
> pela...@gmail.com wrote:
>
>> P.S. http://pelavarre.blogspot.com/2008/05/wipe-hd-when-cd-is-dead.html
>> is where I'll blog my progress if no one here jumps in to help me
>> think/ work thru this one. Google tells me we no longer speak often
>> here, so months will have to elapse before I can be sure no one here
>> is interested.
>
> You may do better posting to one of the other Macintosh newsgroups such
> as comp.sys.mac.hardware.storage or comp.sys.mac.system.
Also you could try comp.lang.forth where there might be some Open
Firmware experts. I've been in this group a long time but more with
Mops-related topics, and AFAIR there hasn't been any Open Firmware
discussion.
Also - just a suggestion - if you sign your post so we have a name to
call you by, people might be more inclined to respond.
Cheers, Mike.
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Mike Hore mike_h...@OVE.invalid.aapt.net.au
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