This is a common question im sure... I bought a RS/6000 Model 240. Aix 4.3.3 loaded. No root password was supplied to me, but I do have the install media (4 disks). I want to drop into maint mode. So I place the cd into the drive, restart the box ( by pressing the power button, since i do not have a login id) Once I hear the double beep I keep pressing F1. All this does is bring me to SMS. I have no option to boot into maint mode, and choose the install path. Ive placed the cdrom at the top of the boot list, but same result. If I reboot and keep pressing F5 I get thrown into diagnostic mode, where I can enter a shell, but it prompts me for a password. At this point I'm guessing I can not boot from cd? These are valid disks from IBM(I'm attempting to boot from disk 1). Has anyone had this problem? Should I just try getting a new cdrom? Could I possibly transfer the files from disk 1 onto a floppy? Any help would be greatly appreciated.

You are right. It is a common question. Go here. These are the site technical FAQs. Look for the lost root password link there.

These links didnt help.. they basically just repeat what I am trying to do. Thanks though...

The only thing I can add, because it's happened to me a couple of times, is that the CD drive itself may be defective. I've encountered this situation with many a Sun workstation.