Unlocking a PC with Signet

When you need to unlock or login to a PC the Signet client is not available yet. The Signet firmware contains a feature however that allows it to type passwords before the client is run. Each password that can be accessed in this way is stored in a so called “password slot”. You should be aware the using this feature will allow anyone who get access to your Signet to discover these passwords. Despite this risk using password slots can still be a safer choice than using short or easily guessable passwords to systems.

Storing passwords in password slots

One you have unlocked your Signet go to the “Device->Password slots” menu. A dialog will open that will show the password slots and allow you to edit them. The name for each slot is only for reference when editing and you will need to remember the slot numbers for each password to use the feature.

Typing a password in a password slot

1. Ensure that the password slots feature is active. The password slots feature is active any time when the client is not running which will should be the case when unlocking a PC.
2. Press the Signet device button repeatedly to change the password slot selection. Your Signet will output a response character for each press to indicate which slot is selected. You can tell which slot is selected by observing how many response characters have been typed.
3. Type the password from the selected slot by long pressing the device button

Note, to type the password correctly your signet will first erase the selection feedback characters by generating backspace characters. If you don’t perform a long press after an idle time of several seconds the selection feedback characters will automatically be erased allowing you to attempt a selection again.