Difference between revisions of "DMS Locking FAQ"

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(update with more detail)
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* HDD Controller Revision Number
 
* HDD Controller Revision Number
 
* Any other information an individual HDD might reveal
 
* Any other information an individual HDD might reveal
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  +
''Note: It's currently my belief that only first two items are used --bushing''
 
 
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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.
The size of that data chunk is supposed to be around 130k.
 
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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.
 
 
Changing the partition layout (partition table) doesn't affect the protection, hence is not used for calculation/encryption.
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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.
   
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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:
'''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
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.
 

Revision as of 14:31, 16 June 2005

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"

Some data seems to be stored on the HDD which contains encrypted information identifying the actual hardware. This is possibly done by using:

  • HDD Firmware Serial Number
  • HDD Model Number
  • HDD Controller Revision Number
  • Any other information an individual HDD might reveal

Note: It's currently my belief that only first two items are used --bushing

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