Password recovery

[Tony Rivera]

I'm with Durham Public Schools and I have a location with a Tandberg C-series  codec c20. Someone set a password and no one can remember what it is. It's for the soft pad that connects to the VC system and not the system itself although I understand they don't have that info either.

I've tried to connect via SSH, Telnet and the Web and all 3 require a username and password. Unfortunately I don't have this info. ANyway to get around this and reset the password?

[Patrick Sparkman]

The touch panel that connects to the C20 uses the admin account of the codec, from what you say, you don't know the details of that account.  Depending on the software version of the codec you can do one of the following.

For all C-series codec on release TC6 or earlier perform the following process to reset the password:

1. Connect a serial cable to the system at 38400, 8, N, 1
2. Reboot the system
3. Log in with the user "pwrec". This user is only available a short period of time after reboot. Logging in with this user will reset the password of the root user.
4. The above steps will set the password to the system default password

For systems on TC7 the pwrec password recovery user has been removed due to security considerations.

The process to factory reset via the serial com port:

1. Connect a serial cable to the system at 38400, 8, N, 1
2. Reboot the system
3. Log in with the user "factoryreset". This user is only available a short period of time after reboot (in TC6 it is always available). When logging in with this user it is possible to do an xCommand SystemUnit FactoryReset Confirm: Yes
4. Do a reboot: "XCommand boot"
5. The system is now factory reset. 

The process to factory reset via the physical power button, for C20 and SX20 only:

If running TC5.0 and earlier.

1. Press and hold the on/off button for 10 seconds, LED does not light up.
2. After 10 seconds the LED starts blinking (1 second ON, 0.5 seconds OFF).
3. Within the next 2 seconds press twice on the on/off button.
4. Call LED lights up continuously while “factory reset” is being performed (minimum 3 seconds).
5. System boots up as normal.

If running TC5.1 and later.

1. When the unit is off, press and hold the power button.
2. Wait until the power LED goes dark and then light up again (approximately 10 seconds).
3. Then release the power button and press it twice within 4 seconds.
4. The system boots up and display a confirmation message on the video screen if the process was successful.

[vcwarehouse]

I have tried everything mentioned here but seem to have a fully locked down system - if I power down via the front button a few seconds later it powers back on by itself, pwrec and factoryreset logins are not recognised.  Is there any way to break the boot sequence so that I can login as factory reset?

[Wayne DeNardi]

Tha factory reset process with the power button can be a bit fiddly with respect to the timing - you may need to try it a few times before you get it right.

Note: the C20 devices are now past their End of Support Date (31 August 2018), so it would be recommended that you consider replacing them with something a little more current and supportable.