LiveCD Boot, HDD Wipe, and Reseting CMOS RAM Memory

My dad had an old computer he kept from a prior job .  It's a J7F2 custom made computer for embedded engineering applications.  The CPU is a 1.5GHz VIA C7-series x86-instruction set 90nm chip designed by Centaur Technology and sold by VIA Technologies.  You can check out the specs some more if you're interested; it does have some enhanced encryption acceleration hardware which would make it ideal to encrypt HDD's or USB's with important information.

Here's a couple pictures of the inside of the computer:

Well, some of my family members (I'm sure some of you out there can relate), no matter how much you lock down a computer, somehow, someway they will get a nasty virus on the computer.  This particular nasty has disabled a lot of USB ports (thankfully not all) and within the Windows XP OS I couldn't even see the Device Manager in the Control Panel.  Programs would crash randomly too and there still may be some nastiness lurking somewhere in RAM (a scan mentioned an error at address 00010dbd010) or even still in the HDD (hard disk drive) since there are ~3.5GB unaccounted for after wiping.  I will update this post if I find more infections.

So, my dad asked me to get this computer back to somewhat normal operation.  The god-send here?--Live USB sticks.  If you have never played with any of these neat software hacks, you should.  Used with malice, of course you can do many bad things, like reset passwords on BIOS and OS-logon, encrypt a HDD and throw-away the key rendering it a worthless mess, etc.  But you can also attempt recovering from viral infections, even if they write over the entire HDD, you can boot up in RAM via a USB stick.  In my case, I still had functioning ports and a BIOS so I had a minimally invasive way in.  What's weird though, is I was only able to boot on the backside, bottom USB port.

So that's the background, now for an easy to follow tutorial.  You need an internet connection for some downloads.

1)  On a Windows or Apple machine (if you're already on a Linux/Unix machine here then you don't need to read this most likely); download an ISO burner, most likely your computer has one already, but there are others.  BurnCDCC is one, google to find/try whichever one you want.  There's a list of LiveCD's, go there and there's plenty to choose from and try.  Now depending on your PC, you can opt for a CD or a USB stick, choice is yours.  The one we're going to use for this tutorial is the Ultimate Boot CD.  Download it, and burn it onto the disk or USB stick.  You shouldn't have any problems with having to open the file and putting the inside ISO file onto the disk, it should just work.  Use the comments sections if you have problems here (or for any questions, for that matter).

2)  Now, more likely than not, your computer BIOS is set to boot up the HDD before other devices.  You need to change that.  So, your mileage may vary, as far as what version/type of BIOS you have, but they're pretty similar.  When you initially power on the computer, you'll see buttons to push for BIOS settings.  You have to push whatever they are quickly before it boots up the HDD with the virus.  My BIOS version is AwardBIOS, by Phoenix, V6.00PG.  I have to push the <DEL> button to get into more settings.  Go to Advanced BIOS Features.  Make sure the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd boot devices are USB (or CDROM).  Ok, and another trick I found out after while was to go into the Integrated Peripherals section and then to OnChip Device Function.  Within there make sure USB Host Controller, USB 2.0 Support, and USB Device Legacy Support are all enabled.

This should be the screen before you get into BIOS settings:

3)  Now this should be enough to get working.  You power down, put in the USB stick, then power up.  You'll likely go to BIOS screen first or it'll boot up the LiveCD/USB.  However, in my little learning experience, after I messed around with some of the jumpers on the motherboard, because I saw "USB-Enable/Disable" and thought that it was causing the other USB ports to fail.  Well, it turned out to be for Power on USB, as in not using the power from the power supply.  And I also messed with the "Reset CMOS" jumpers too; and was only getting the most annoying non-stop beeping from the speaker on the motherboard.  Looking up the beep codes (since this is a kind of old, not very common PC, it took me a little), long beeps in an endless loop meant "No DRAM installed/detected".  That didn't make sense since I had 512MB or DDRII plugged in the appropriate place.  It was because I messed with the CMOS jumpers.  Luckily I found how to properly reset them.  On the first website I linked above, at the bottom are a lot of document downloads, the Manual 5.0 zip file is what you want to look at if you have this computer.

4)  So, to reset the CMOS RAM memory, a battery must be used to retain the motherboard configuration.  Default is leaving JBAT 1-2 pins shorted to store CMOS data.

 

Turn off computer and unplug AC power.  Remove ATX power cable from its connector.  Locate JBAT and short pins 2-3 for a few seconds.  Return JBAT pins to default setting of shorting pins 1-2.  Re-connect ATX power cable to its connector.--And that's it.  Pretty simple, eh?  After doing this and then resetting the BIOS settings again, I got the single beep on start up which means no error during POST (Power On Self Test).  The BIOS runs an auto diagnostic test called POST for all necessary hardware, detects all available devices, and configures parameters of the hardware syncronization during that time.

5)   Now this should be the screen you get when you get the Ultimate Boot CD up and running:

From here there are *a lot* of tools you can choose to run.  To finish the tutorial, go to the HDD option.  Next choose Disk Wiping option.  Again, you have choices, I chose to use "Darik's Boot and Nuke 2.2.8".  It's pretty easy and intuitive, and you can choose just how hard you want to wipe the HDD.  I chose the DoD 5220.22-M method, and opted for 4 rounds, so medium security.  It took all night (around 10-15 hours, forget precise time) to complete.  Also MAKE SURE YOU SELECT ONLY THE HARDDRIVE AND NOT THE USB STICK TO WIPE because it will wipe that as well and I'm not sure what will happen; unless you want to try don't do it.

And that's it.  Be sure to try out the other tools on the LiveUSB.  PartedMagic is a GUI Linux OS that has a lot more tools on it; mostly to partition up a HDD and maybe encrypt it with Truecrypt.  Have fun and ask if you have trouble.

Morse Keyboard

So my first post is a Morse Code Keyboard.  Simple, yet cool and useful project.  For one thing, you can use it (if you know the keys on a keyboard) to learn Morse code.  To make my keyboard, I used an Arduino Uno (quite the fun toy and there will be more projects using this awesome tool), a Mikroelektronika PS/2 keyboard connector board, an 8-Ohm speaker, a 220-Ohm resistor, a Compaq Presario PS/2 keyboard, a breadboard, and some (7, to be exact) jumpers.  Below is a visual circuit of the Morse keyboard, to give you an idea of what it looks like.  One picture should suffice, as there's not much to this project, but what I call the "visual schematic" at the bottom should give you a pretty clear idea of what it looks like if you need pictures.

 1) First you need to get an Uno and download the IDE from their website.  This post assumes a little bit of knowledge of the C-programming language, if you are familiar with it then you should have little problems understanding my code.  If you are totally new to Arduino then pull up some of the example programs and get them running (yes, we all have done the blinky LED).  Point is, I want to make this easy.

2) Now assuming you got the connector board linked above (or you can take one of the USB-PS/2 converters, cut it open (carefully) and there should be 4 wires; from there you "Ohm-it-out" to find out the identities of the wires), you can decide which way to solder the pins (up or down).  Now attach some jumper cables (they should be female) and note CLK, DATA, VCC, and GND.  Use other jumpers (males) to connect to those, then you will put those in the Arduino board.  DATA goes to Digital Pin 4.  CLK goes to Digital Pin 3.  VCC goes to Power Pin 5V.  And GND goes to Power Pin GND.

3) Next, to continue Pin assignments, put a jumper in Digital Pin 8 to a breadboard.  Put your 220-Ohm resister in series with that jumper.  On the other side of the resister, use another jumper to connect to the VCC of the speaker (it's the RED wire).  And finally, use another jumper on a GND Pin on the Arduino to the GND wire of the speaker (it's the BLACK wire).  Now you're almost done.

4) Take the connector to the PS/2 keyboard and plug into the connector board.  Now if you have flashed the code (as well as downloaded and "imported" the PS/2 library below) into your Arduino, you should be set.  You can use the USB-power or once you've flashed you can use another power supply (I used an old router power supply) that needs to be greater than 7V and less than 20V (7V-12V is recommended).

5) Now you should be go to go!  Write a comment if you have any problems.  You can speed up the send speed by using the UP-arrow or slow it down with the DOWN-arrow.  There are unassigned keys which you can add whatever you want, look in the PS/2 library for other keys.  Pressing the ESC-key will play the James Bond theme song.  You can also change the Morse Code within the IF-ELSE-IF statements to other versions of Morse Code (it's on the international, most popular version now).  Enjoy, and let me know if you add any cool features!

In the future I will get better at documenting my projects, in the mean time, this list of links are all good to read if you would like more juicy details on the project:


•http://www.pjrc.com/teensy/td_libs_PS2Keyboard.html
•http://www.computer-engineering.org/ps2protocol/
•http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Morse_code
•http://arduino.cc/en/Main/arduinoBoardUno
•http://garagelab.com/profiles/blogs/how-to-use-tone-function-arduino-playing-the-james-bond-theme
•https://code.google.com/p/rogue-code/wiki/ToneLibraryDocumentation#Ugly_Details
•Klotz, Leigh. Ham Radio for Arduino and Picaxe. 2013. The American Radio Relay League, Inc.

Arduino Code (BTW, the notes and James Bond song isn't necessary, just a fun addition, you could make your own music!):

#include <PS2Keyboard.h> //Calling PS2Keyboard library

//These are notes for a melody, not needed for Morse Keyboard

#define NOTE_B0  31
#define NOTE_C1  33
#define NOTE_CS1 35
#define NOTE_D1  37
#define NOTE_DS1 39
#define NOTE_E1  41
#define NOTE_F1  44
#define NOTE_FS1 46
#define NOTE_G1  49
#define NOTE_GS1 52
#define NOTE_A1  55
#define NOTE_AS1 58
#define NOTE_B1  62
#define NOTE_C2  65
#define NOTE_CS2 69
#define NOTE_D2  73
#define NOTE_DS2 78
#define NOTE_E2  82
#define NOTE_F2  87
#define NOTE_FS2 93
#define NOTE_G2  98
#define NOTE_GS2 104
#define NOTE_A2  110
#define NOTE_AS2 117
#define NOTE_B2  123
#define NOTE_C3  131
#define NOTE_CS3 139
#define NOTE_D3  147
#define NOTE_DS3 156
#define NOTE_E3  165
#define NOTE_F3  175
#define NOTE_FS3 185
#define NOTE_G3  196
#define NOTE_GS3 208
#define NOTE_A3  220
#define NOTE_AS3 233
#define NOTE_B3  247
#define NOTE_C4  262
#define NOTE_CS4 277
#define NOTE_D4  294
#define NOTE_DS4 311
#define NOTE_E4  330
#define NOTE_F4  349
#define NOTE_FS4 370
#define NOTE_G4  392
#define NOTE_GS4 415
#define NOTE_A4  440
#define NOTE_AS4 466
#define NOTE_B4  494
#define NOTE_C5  523
#define NOTE_CS5 554
#define NOTE_D5  587
#define NOTE_DS5 622
#define NOTE_E5  659
#define NOTE_F5  698
#define NOTE_FS5 740
#define NOTE_G5  784
#define NOTE_GS5 831
#define NOTE_A5  880
#define NOTE_AS5 932
#define NOTE_B5  988
#define NOTE_C6  1047
#define NOTE_CS6 1109
#define NOTE_D6  1175
#define NOTE_DS6 1245
#define NOTE_E6  1319
#define NOTE_F6  1397
#define NOTE_FS6 1480
#define NOTE_G6  1568
#define NOTE_GS6 1661
#define NOTE_A6  1760
#define NOTE_AS6 1865
#define NOTE_B6  1976
#define NOTE_C7  2093
#define NOTE_CS7 2217
#define NOTE_D7  2349
#define NOTE_DS7 2489
#define NOTE_E7  2637
#define NOTE_F7  2794
#define NOTE_FS7 2960
#define NOTE_G7  3136
#define NOTE_GS7 3322
#define NOTE_A7  3520
#define NOTE_AS7 3729
#define NOTE_B7  3951
#define NOTE_C8  4186
#define NOTE_CS8 4435
#define NOTE_D8  4699
#define NOTE_DS8 4978

/*********************************************************************************************************
Defining variables
*********************************************************************************************************/

const int DataPin = 4;               //Sets digital input pin # 4 to receive data from the keyboard
const int IRQpin =  3;               //Sets clock pin # 3, needed for PWM (Pulse Width Modulation)
const int Digital_Output_Pin = 8;    //Sets digital output pin # 8 for relaying signals to the speaker
unsigned int Error_Frequency = 300;  //Sets error tone frequency to 300 Hz (basically all keys that haven't been assigned to do something yet are defined in PS2Keyboard.h)
unsigned long Error_Duration = 300;  //Sets duration of error tone to 300 milliseconds
byte element_wait=100;               //Sets arbitrary time (100ms) for speed of the Morse code and how long pauses are, modifying speeds or slows down all Morse code
unsigned int Frequency = 700;        //Sets frequency for Morse code keys coming out of speaker at 700 Hz (average range for humans is between 20-20,000 Hz)


/*********************************************************************************************************
Unrelated to Morse Keyboard, just some fun
*********************************************************************************************************/
int melody[] = {NOTE_E4,NOTE_F4,NOTE_F4,NOTE_F4,NOTE_F4,NOTE_E4,NOTE_E4,NOTE_E4,
  NOTE_E4,NOTE_G4,NOTE_G4,NOTE_G4,NOTE_G4,NOTE_E4,NOTE_E4,NOTE_E4,
  NOTE_E4,NOTE_F4,NOTE_F4,NOTE_F4,NOTE_F4,NOTE_E4,NOTE_E4,NOTE_E4,
  NOTE_E4,NOTE_G4,NOTE_G4,NOTE_G4,NOTE_G4,NOTE_E4,NOTE_E4,NOTE_E4,
  NOTE_DS5,NOTE_D5,NOTE_B4,NOTE_A4,NOTE_B4,
  NOTE_E4,NOTE_G4,NOTE_DS5,NOTE_D5,NOTE_G4,NOTE_B4,
  NOTE_B4,NOTE_FS5,NOTE_F5,NOTE_B4,NOTE_D5,NOTE_AS5,
  NOTE_A5,NOTE_F5,NOTE_A5,NOTE_DS6,NOTE_D6,0
};

int noteDurations[] = {8,16,16,8,4,8,8,8,
  8,16,16,8,4,8,8,8,
  8,16,16,8,4,8,8,8,
  8,16,16,8,4,8,8,8,
  8,2,8,8,1,
  8,4,8,4,8,8,
  8,8,4,8,4,8,
  4,8,4,8,3
};

int pace = 1450;

/*********************************************************************************************************
Beginning Morse Keyboard
*********************************************************************************************************/



PS2Keyboard keyboard;                //Create the keyboard object. Even though you could create multiple objects, only a single PS2 keyboard is supported by this library.

void setup()
{
  delay(1000);
  keyboard.begin(DataPin, IRQpin);   //Begin the receiving keystrokes. DataPin and IRQpin are the pin numbers where you connected the PS2 keyboard's Data and Clock signals.
}

void loop()
{
  if (keyboard.available())          //Check if a keystroke has been received. Returns true if at least one keystroke.
  {
  
    char c = keyboard.read();        //Read the next keystroke. -1 is returned if no keystrokes have been received. Keystrokes are returned as ASCII characters.
                                     //Special keys are mapped to control characters.
   
    if (c == 11)
    {
      faster();
    }
   
    else if (c == 10)
    {
      slower();
    }
   
    else if (c == 'a')
    {
      dit();dah();
      letter_space();
    }
    else if (c == 'b')
    {
      dah();dit();dit();dit();
      letter_space();
    }
    else if (c == 'c')
    {
      dah();dit();dah();dit();
      letter_space();
    }
    else if (c == 'd')
    {
      dah();dit();dit();
      letter_space();
    }
    else if (c == 'e')
    {
      dit();
      letter_space();
    }
    else if (c == 'f')
    {
      dit();dit();dah();dit();
      letter_space();
    }
    else if (c == 'g')
    {
      dah();dah();dit();
      letter_space();
    }
    else if (c == 'h')
    {
      dit();dit();dit();dit();
      letter_space();
    }
    else if (c == 'i')
    {
      dit();dit();
      letter_space();
    }
    else if (c == 'j')
    {
      dit();dah();dah();dah();
      letter_space();
    }
    else if (c == 'k')
    {
      dah();dit();dah();
      letter_space();
    }
    else if (c == 'l')
    {
      dit();dah();dit();dit();
      letter_space();
    }
    else if (c == 'm')
    {
      dah();dah();
      letter_space();
    }
    else if (c == 'n')
    {
      dah();dit();
      letter_space();
    }
    else if (c == 'o')
    {
      dah();dah();dah();
      letter_space();
    }
    else if (c == 'p')
    {
      dit();dah();dah();dit();
      letter_space();
    }
    else if (c == 'q')
    {
      dah();dah();dit();dah();
      letter_space();
    }
    else if (c == 'r')
    {
      dit();dah();dit();
      letter_space();
    }
    else if (c == 's')
    {
      dit();dit();dit();
      letter_space();
    }
    else if (c == 't')
    {
      dah();
      letter_space();
    }
    else if (c == 'u')
    {
      dit();dit();dah();
      letter_space();
    }
    else if (c == 'v')
    {
      dit();dit();dit();dah();
      letter_space();
    }
    else if (c == 'w')
    {
      dit();dah();dah();
      letter_space();
    }
    else if (c == 'x')
    {
      dah();dit();dit();dah();
      letter_space();
    }
    else if (c == 'y')
    {
      dah();dit();dah();dah();
      letter_space();
    }
    else if (c == 'z')
    {
      dah();dah();dit();dit();
      letter_space();
    }
    else if (c == '1')
    {
      dit();dah();dah();dah();dah();
      letter_space();
    }
    else if (c == '2')
    {
      dit();dit();dah();dah();dah();
      letter_space();
    }
    else if (c == '3')
    {
      dit();dit();dit();dah();dah();
      letter_space();
    }
    else if (c == '4')
    {
      dit();dit();dit();dit();dah();
      letter_space();
    }
    else if (c == '5')
    {
      dit();dit();dit();dit();dit();
      letter_space();
    }
    else if (c == '6')
    {
      dah();dit();dit();dit();dit();
      letter_space();
    }
    else if (c == '7')
    {
      dah();dah();dit();dit();dit();
      letter_space();
    }
    else if (c == '8')
    {
      dah();dah();dah();dit();dit();
      letter_space();
    }
    else if (c == '9')
    {
      dah();dah();dah();dah();dit();
      letter_space();
    }
    else if (c == '0')
    {
      dah();dah();dah();dah();dah();
      letter_space();
    }
    else if (c == ' ')
    {
      word_space();
    }
   
    else if (c == 27)
    {
      jamesbond();
    }
   
    else
    {
     tone(Digital_Output_Pin, Error_Frequency, Error_Duration);      //Unused key at this time
    }
  }
}

void dit()                                        //"Dit" function, for Morse code
{
  digitalWrite(Digital_Output_Pin, HIGH);         //Voltage will be set to the corresponding value: 5V for HIGH, 0V (GND) for LOW; on the "Digital_Output_Pin" you set.
  tone(Digital_Output_Pin, Frequency);            //Generates a square wave of the specified frequency on a pin.
                                                  //A duration can be specified, otherwise the wave continues until a call to noTone().
                                                  //The pin can be connected to a piezo buzzer or other speaker to play tones.
                                                  //Only one tone can be generated at a time. If a tone is already playing on a different pin, the call to tone() will have no effect.
                                                  //If the tone is playing on the same pin, the call will set its frequency.
                                                  //It is not possible to generate tones lower than 31Hz.  (That explains some funky behavior when I tried it)
 
  delay(element_wait);                            //Waits for time specified with "element_wait".
  digitalWrite(Digital_Output_Pin, LOW);          //Setting output pin to LOW means 0V, turns it off.
  noTone(Digital_Output_Pin);                     //Stops the generation of a square wave triggered by tone().
  delay(element_wait);
}

void dah()
{
  digitalWrite(Digital_Output_Pin, HIGH);         //Same as above except 3X longer^^
  tone(Digital_Output_Pin, Frequency);
  delay(element_wait * 3);
  digitalWrite(Digital_Output_Pin,LOW);
  noTone(Digital_Output_Pin);
  delay(element_wait);
}

void letter_space()                               //Sets letter spaces after each letter, shorter than word spaces
{
  delay(element_wait * 2);
}

void word_space()                                 //Sets word spaces, are a bit longer to make it clear for receiver of Morse that it's a different word
{
  delay(element_wait * 6);
}

void faster()                                     //Speeds up Morse code sending by 10 milliseconds until element_wait = 40ms
{
  if (element_wait <=40)
  {
    element_wait = 40;
  }
  else
  {
    element_wait = element_wait - 10;
  }
}

void slower()                                      //Slows down Morse code sending by 10 milliseconds until element_wait = 225ms
{
  if (element_wait >= 225)
  {
    element_wait = 225;
  }
  else
  {
    element_wait = element_wait + 10;
  }
}


/*********************************************************
   Just some fun, wanted to add more but it can all be added easily on your own.  BTW, this was used from website below, all credit goes to that individual.
*********************************************************/

void jamesbond()                           
                                      //All credit for this goes to: http://garagelab.com/profiles/blogs/how-to-use-tone-function-arduino-playing-the-james-bond-theme
{
  for (int Note = 0; Note <54; Note++) {//counter of Notes (54 limit the array)
    int duration = pace/noteDurations[Note];//Adjust duration with the pace of music
    tone(8, melody[Note],duration); //Play note

// to distinguish the notes, set a minimum time between them.
    delay(duration*1.2);
  }
}