Bob's Notepad

Notes on projects I have done and things I have learned saved for my reference and for the world to share

Tuesday, November 28, 2006

VNC and SSH Tunnel on OSX (and other unix)

The problem was that I could not access my parents computer because for whatever reason, their router refused to forward a connection for port 5900 (VNC). I was, however, able to SSH to the linux server in their basement and doing a "telnet ip.address 5900" showed that their VNC client was responding fine. Of course it's always better to use SSH for VNC anyway so I figured this was a good time to learn how. On my iBook it was a very simple command in the terminal window and this should be the same for any version of UNIX/Linux as well. The solution is the -L option for SSH.

Here was the command that I issued:

ssh -L 5900:192.168.1.75:5900 admin@parents.house.net -p 222

The 192.168.1.75 address represents what my parents computer's IP address is on THEIR local LAN. The first 5900 represents the port that my local computer will respond on and the second 5900 is the port that the linux server at their house will forward traffic to. The parents.house.net address is the (fictional) dynamic host name they are using and the 222 is the port that the linux server is responding to ssh requests on.

Once you issue that command, it asks for admin's password and then takes you to a shell on the linux server.... the difference is that now your computer is responding to 5900 locally and sending all the data directly to 192.168.1.75:5900 on their local LAN.

Just open up Chicken of the VNC or other favorite VNC client and connect to "localhost:5900" and all your traffic is headed directly through the SSH tunnel.
Reference Link


Monday, November 06, 2006

iBook - Open Firmware Password Reset

So the problem is you get an iBook used and you replace the hard drive which means there is now no OS on the computer. You want to boot the cd-rom but it doesnt boot.... why? Well, someone has set an Open Firmware password which means you are locked from ANY boot up options unless you have that password. Apparently, this can only be done on the correct phase of the moon and it must be raining and also it will not work on Sundays. Joking aside, here is what needs done:


You need to change the RAM. Either remove or add a stick, so the previous RAM amount is altered. Then ZAP the PRAM - hold down - command+option+P+R on reboot. Wait for at least 3 "chimes", then let go. In other words, it's not just a matter of changing the RAM, but changing it, then immediately zapping the PRAM.

After that, shut down the machine, reset the RAM to it's default slots, and try booting from the install CD (ie. hold down the "C" key on startup).

Hopefully that will let you get into the OS installer, and you can choose an "erase and install" to perform a fresh, clean install.
Reference Link