Disable hard disk access

[jdharap]

Hello all,
I am a newbie to Knoppix. What i want to do is get a knoppix distribution that can be booted up via the CD but will not see any of the local hard disks and will not
be able to read/write to the disks.
Any ideas how this can be achieved? I realize that there is probably no easy way to achieve this without customizing and remastering the standard Knoppix distribution?
Any tips? Has anybody else already tried this?
Thanks.

[Harry Kuhman]

Yea, to get exactly what you write about would likely require a remaster, and might be pretty tricky to be sure that you had closed all the options that a skilled user might be able to exploit. But it might help if you told us what you are trying to acomplish. i assume that you know that Knoppix defaults to read only dsk access, so you could read but not accidently write. Rather than a Live CD that can't access the hard disk option, if you are in a sensitive environment (such as concern about students), I would consider other options rather than a crippled disc: Perhaps unplugging the hard drives, or better yet mounting them in removable drive trays (these have become quite inexpensive for decent quality metal trays with fans and keys switches, although the keys are usually cheep generic keys that anyone can get a hold of) You could completely remove the drives easily if needed.. Another opion would be to disable the hard drive in the BIOS and then password protect the BIOS. Remember, if you just cripple the Knoppix CD and let other users use it thinking the hard drives are safe, you better consider that some abuser may just swap in their own Live CD (even Knoppix) and have all the access that you think you are preventing.

[jdharap]

Harry,
Thanks for your response.
You guessed exactly right. I am going to be operating in a sensitive environment ( a lab) where i am introducing students to Linux and other open source softwares.
Unfortunately, I have no control over the hardware and as a result cannot really unplug disks or disable disks through BIOS etc.

The only option I have is really to use Knoppix and disable hard disk access. As you said, this isnt going to stop somebody who is really bent on hacking the machines.
But the school lab guys want me to at a minimum disable hard disk access in the Knoppix CDs that we hand out.

[jdharap]

I should add that what I am reallly trying to protect is the NTFS partition on the machine.

[Harry Kuhman]

Well, good luck then although I think the BIOS would be the safest and least invasive approach. I suggest you might want to target your next post to the remastering forum (http://www.knoppix.net/forum/viewforum.php?f=2), although I myself don't have enough skill with this to help you.

[slvrldy17]

Sounds like what you are after is a Kiosk type setup. Can't help you with the remaster but can point you at a version of Puppylinux that may suit your needs and/or serve as an example for a DIY project. It's been stripped of all hard disk tools and is meant for library or lab use. It was/is called iPup and was availble from www.toddrichardson.com - a note to him on his website should net you more info. Hope this helps.