The Pandora is made to be "unbrickable", which means that you can basically do about anything software-wise and yet will always be able to completely reinstall the system.
Compare it to a mainboard which has a backup BIOS that can be restored in case the BIOS gets broken/corrupted and you get the idea. It's basically the same with the Pandora, you can reinstall the original operating system (or any compatible operating system) at any time via an external (optical) USB drive or an SD card. You can also install an the operating system to an SD card and run it from there if you want to do so. But you likely won't have to do so, because as _Sterling said:
_Sterling said:
If you stick to using .pnd files to install most of your programs, you won't experience the slow, inexorable failure of registry creep or its equivalents in the *nix arena. The install scheme is designed to leave no trace in the base operating system. So unless you're planning on using the Pandora as a sub-netbook, you shouldn't have those problems. To be honest, I think this concern is a little unfounded even if you do install software on the NAND. Kruft in the linux filesystem from uninstalled programs really doesn't affect performance that badly -- certainly not like registry creep on a Windows box; I've never had to reinstall a linux system simply because it got bogged down.
Unlike with Windows machines, I also never had to reinstall any Linux machine because it got bogged down (because so far, that did never happen to me). But just as _Sterling said, making a backup is always a good idea, you never know what may happen.
DroneB Dev said:
btw, i waas wondering if theres some sort of bios key lockdown for the system?
hobbyman II said:
the operating system is Linux , so you need a password by default, if you want more security then use an encrypted file system on top, although, to be honest, most IT people I speak to think any PC that has physical access can be owned to some extent, though if you use an encrypted file system they might need a few centuries to hack it.
A BIOS password is not really increasing security, it's very easy to find a suitable password. Also, it's indeed true that as soon as an attacker gains physical access to your machine, he basically won. To take the BIOS password as an example, with physical access to a machine it would be pretty easy for an attacker to just open up the machine (if it's not physically locked, but that wouldn't really be physical access then) and reset the BIOS so the password is gone.
However, as there's no "100% secure", you can always only rely on making something "secure enough", so that breaking the security measures needs more effort than the potential attacker would be willing to invest. If you had some important corporate documents on your Pandora, an attacker who knew this and would be interested in these documents would likely try quite some things to get them (but that doesn't only include cracking, an extreme case could even include torture to get the password/authentication from you, so at some point you need some REALLY good security policies).
If you want to prevent people from using or selling your Pandora in case they stole it,
you're likely out of luck:
- I assume that people who steal electronic devices to sell them usually steal devices that "mainstream people" like and are able to use, like iPods and other MP3 players, Gameboys and other popular gaming consoles.
- Furthermore, I assume that people who steal things to use them mostly steal things they already know and would like to have.
- Additionally, people who would buy a stolen Pandora would only do so if they knew what it is and how to use it.
Thus, I come to the conclusion that chances are high that people who steal a Pandora do exactly know what it is. This would mean that the people who would get your stolen Pandora in the end (may that be the thief himself or one of his "customers") would know how to reinstall the operating system, making it usable again. If you encrypt the flash (if done right) it might not be possible to get your personal data without enormous effort. But making a locked Pandora usable again will always be possible pretty easy due to its unbrickable design and physical access by the attacker.
If anything in my post is unclear to you, don't hesitate to ask. I always try to improve, so feel free to criticize me and point out any unclear passages.
