Difference between revisions of "DMS Locking FAQ"
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'''Well, the 2.5" harddrive found in the DMS is someway signed preventing the users to upgrade/replace it. |
'''Well, the 2.5" harddrive found in the DMS is someway signed preventing the users to upgrade/replace it. |
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This is what we know about that "issue"''' |
This is what we know about that "issue"''' |
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| + | Specifically, the boot loader queries the drive for its model number and serial number on startup, compares that to the [[signature]] stored on the drive, and gives you the Blinking Green LED Of Death if they don't match. |
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| + | There are a number of vital bits at the beginning of the drive that you need to be careful to not disturb if you repartition or in any other way manipulate the drive. |
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| + | * Bytes 0x1b0-0x1ff: The drive's [[partition table]] |
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| + | * Bytes 0xe0000-0xf13c7: 100 1024-bit RSA '''private''' keys, of unknown purpose |
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| + | * Bytes 0xf13c7-0xff5f3: Unknown binary data. It's either compressed, encrypted, or both. |
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| + | * Bytes 0xffe00-0xffeff: The drive [[signature]]. |
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| + | The rest of the first megabyte of the drive is all zeros. |
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| − | * HDD Firmware Serial Number |
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| − | * HDD Model Number |
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| + | It should be noted that the [[partition table]] can be modified, but the start of the first partition should not be moved. |
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| − | * HDD Controller Revision Number |
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| − | * Any other information an individual HDD might reveal |
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| − | The size of that data chunk is supposed to be around 130k. |
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| + | If this data becomes corrupt, you could put the drive in your laptop, but it will be useless to use with the PhatBox. For this reason, if you are worried, it would be a good idea to back up the first megabyte of your hard drive. In linux, this command would do the trick: |
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| − | '''At the moment the following information could be verified for a 10GB DMS only!'''<br> |
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| + | dd if=/dev/sda of=backup.img bs=1024 count=1024 |
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| − | It should be noted that the partition table can be modified, but the start of the first partition should not be moved. The key is stored in absolute sectors 1792-2047. So, if you DO repartition... do NOT change your first partition to start anywhere before absolute sector 2048. Keep in mind that most partitioning software won't give you this kind of control and will most likely change where the first partition starts, overwriting the key. |
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Latest revision as of 13:02, 29 March 2006
Well, the 2.5" harddrive found in the DMS is someway signed preventing the users to upgrade/replace it. This is what we know about that "issue"
An RSA signature block is stored on the hard drive which contains information identifying the actual hardware.
Specifically, the boot loader queries the drive for its model number and serial number on startup, compares that to the signature stored on the drive, and gives you the Blinking Green LED Of Death if they don't match.
There are a number of vital bits at the beginning of the drive that you need to be careful to not disturb if you repartition or in any other way manipulate the drive.
- Bytes 0x1b0-0x1ff: The drive's partition table
- Bytes 0xe0000-0xf13c7: 100 1024-bit RSA private keys, of unknown purpose
- Bytes 0xf13c7-0xff5f3: Unknown binary data. It's either compressed, encrypted, or both.
- Bytes 0xffe00-0xffeff: The drive signature.
The rest of the first megabyte of the drive is all zeros.
Changing the partition layout (partition table) doesn't affect the protection, hence is not used for calculation/encryption.
It should be noted that the partition table can be modified, but the start of the first partition should not be moved.
If this data becomes corrupt, you could put the drive in your laptop, but it will be useless to use with the PhatBox. For this reason, if you are worried, it would be a good idea to back up the first megabyte of your hard drive. In linux, this command would do the trick:
dd if=/dev/sda of=backup.img bs=1024 count=1024