Important notice for new customers: Due to design limitations in Companion 8.5, controllers that ship with newer builds of this operating system usually arrive with the manufacturer listed as owner. See step 2 in this guide for a quick remedy for this problem. We apologize for the inconvenience, and aim to have the matter resolved as soon as possible in the near future.

Once in a while, a misclick, abandonment, or property transfer to a new owner can result in dreaded "Forbidden" or  "Access denied" messages being presented to vital users. The following instructions can remedy the issue:

1. Instruct the unit to say the following: @safeword

This will immediately restore basic access to the system for the unit, overcoming any 'Forbidden' messages that may prevent basic access. When it is triggered, the unit's current owners will be notified. The unit will be added to its own keychain as a basic user.

Note: as of Companion 8.4, it is possible to disable the safeword command through a setting in the _oem notecard. If safewording is non-functional on your system, the only way to regain control is by logging in with RLV disabled, then altering the file and forcing a reload through a complete script reset. Do not disable this option unless you completely trust your operator.

2. If that does not solve the issue, instruct the unit to say the following: @keychain reset

This will remove all other owners from the system and set the unit as self-owned. You can then use the other keychain commands and/or the manage › users menu to set up the unit's user list as desired.

If either of the commands show up in white text instead of object text, then the unit's vocoder is currently bypassed. Units (running Companion 8.3.2 or later) can use /1capture to overcome this; older units must speak something on their speech channel, which is usually the last 3 digits of the serial, with 100 added if the number is below 100, e.g. /123test if the unit's serial number ends in 023.

3. If you see the message "User lock is engaged" when using the keychain command, then you must leave your domain before the above commands will work.

To leave the domain properly, type: @domain clear

If this command does not work, you do not have adequate user access to leave the domain. This can be overridden by resetting the Network Security Manager module with the @reset hierarchy command. Users of Companion 8.5 or later may need to follow this with a @module probe command.

Leaving a domain is a serious breach of etiquette and may void your warranty. Do not join a domain that locks the user list unless you are certain it is safe to do so.