I got in right away with an ssh client (Putty) and user "root" and pswd "rootme" - I may have install becomeroot first - can't remember, but I don't think it would have anything to do with ssh. I did install open-ssh first.

BTW another trick I use is to add the line:
to the /etc/sudoers file. BEWARE bad syntax in this file can brick your ability to get root access - or at least make it more difficult! Most linux systems have a special utility for editing the sudoers file (visudoers?)- I haven't found it on the Nokia IT yet.

After that you can just "sudo ash" in xterm - a bit less typing.