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Date:      Mon, 10 Nov 1997 16:06:22 -0600 (CST)
From:      Jonathan Fosburgh <jef53313@Bayou.UH.EDU>
To:        Jeffrey VanderWal <jvande@cadvision.com>
Cc:        freebsd-questions@FreeBSD.ORG
Subject:   Re: Uninstalling
Message-ID:  <Pine.OSF.3.95q.971110160311.21751A-100000@Bayou.UH.EDU>
In-Reply-To: <01bcedba$48ab0a00$0e77e4cf@jvande.cadvision.com>

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> I am a system administrator at a school that has a server that once had
> FreeBSD on it.  Since our last administrator refused to part with his login
> password etc, we have formatted the HD and are attempting to install new
> hardware in the machine.  Unfortunately, we cannot seem to boot the machine
> any longer.  I realize that FreeBSD uses "unique" boot MBRs.  How do I
> completely uninstall it?  I have unplugged all extra cards in our server,
> unplugged the hard drive and only the FDD remains.  I have attempted to
> clear the CMOS, but the system still refuses to boot past the system config
> screen.  Is this a hardware problem or did FreeBSD encode the Bios to look
> at a different MBR in the FDD too?  Any help at all is appreciated.  Thanks.
> 
Please tell me I am reading this wrong or you chose your wording poorly,
but you formatted the hard drive? This is, certainly as far as I have ever
heard, a big no-no.  FIrst of all, why could you not log in as root and
newpasswd the account (can be done with the -s option at boot if you dont
know it) and set it to nologin? As to formatting the hard drive, well ...
I have no idea what, if anything can be done.

Jonathan Fosburgh, wotan@scientist.com , University of Houston Geophysics
http://www.geocities.com/vienna/1498

FreeBSD: Turning PCs into Workstations
http://www.freebsd.org
*******************************************************************************
                     We shall not cease from exploration,
                And the end of our exploring shall be to arrive
            Where we started from, and know the place for the first time.
                       --T.S. Eliot, The Four Quartets
*******************************************************************************




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