HMC Root access at boot time

• Procedure from IBM to allow update of Firefox configuration file to disable firefox proxy support. This is necessary when firefox will not start while connected to public network, and prompts for proxy userid and password but will not go past this.

• This procedure will get you to a root signon without starting any services and you must perform these actions at the HMC console, you must also use a PS2 keyboard so please ensure one is available before you go to site.

• Note: This process requires a PS/2 keyboard. If the HMC came with a USB keyboard, you must temporarily replace it with a PS/2 keyboard.

• 1. Power off the HMC.

• 2. Power on the HMC, and as soon as the “Loading grub” message is displayed, quickly press the F1 to get into grub. The Grub menu will show one line with the text “hmc”.

• 3. On the Grub menu, select “e” for edit. The next GRUB screen is displayed with two lines:

root (hd0,0)
kernel (hd0,1)/boot/bzImage root=/dev/hda2 vga=0x317 apm=power-off

Note: The root device can vary by model: hda2 C03, C04, CR2, and hdc2 for CR3.

• 4. Move the cursor down to the line starting with “kernel”. Select “e” for edit. Move the cursor to the right and append “init=/bin/rcpwsh” to the end of the string. The final string will vary slightly by model:

"kernel (hd0,1)/boot/bzImage root=/dev/hda2 vga=0x317 apm=power-off init=/bin/rcpwsh"
Press the "Enter" key to save the changes

• 5. Press “b” to boot the changed selection. This will boot to a bash shell: (none):/#.

• 6. Verify root is mounted read/write. Type the following command:

"mount -o remount,rw /dev/hda2 /"

Note: The root device can vary by model: hda2 C03, C04, CR2 and hdc2 for CR3.

• 1. Once you have gained root access:

"vi /home/browser/.mozilla/firefox/xxx.default/prefs.js" 
(where xxx is a random name for the profile)

• 2. Insert the following line at the end of the file to disable Firefox Proxy Support:

"user_pref("network.proxy.type", 0);"

Note: Regarding this issue, this line is probably already present. If so, then just replace the “1” by a “0”

• 3. Save your changes and reboot HMC

• 4. Once rebooted, you should be able to logon locally on your HMC