After boot up has finished i get the user name to enter, which i do (root), i
then press enter and type in the password and press enter and it isnt
recognised.

N.B: I am using devfsd.

I am using mingetty for the login binary in the inittab like so:

::respawn:/sbin/mingetty tty1

also tried:

::respawn:/sbin/mingetty vc/1

and these are the log messages when i try to login:

Jul 20 15:28:39 (none) user.info init: Starting pid 69, console /dev/console:
'/sbin/update'
Jul 20 15:28:39 (none) user.info init: Starting pid 70, console /dev/console:
'/sbin/mingetty'
Jul 20 15:28:43 (none) authpriv.notice login: LOGIN FAILURE ON vc/1, root
Jul 20 15:28:45 (none) authpriv.notice login: 2 LOGIN FAILURES ON vc/1, user

this is my /etc/securetty file:

tty1
tty2
tty3
tty4
tty5
tty6
tty7
tty8
vc/1
vc/2
vc/3
vc/4
vc/5
vc/6
vc/7
vc/8

This is what my password file looks like, and i havent altered this one as i
know it works in a different distribution. I dont use shadow passwords
either. note that 'user' at the bottom doesnt have a password and that doesnt
work either.:

root:ZG8ktsa6QRw36:0:0:root:/root:/bin/sh
bin:*:1:1:bin:/bin:
daemon:*:2:2:daemon:/sbin:
adm:*:3:4:adm:/var/adm:
lp:*:4:7:lp:/var/spool/lpd:
sync:*:5:0:sync:/sbin:/bin/sync
shutdown:*:6:0:shutdown:/sbin:/sbin/shutdown
halt:*:7:0:halt:/sbin:/sbin/halt
mail:*:8:12:mail:/var/spool/mail:
uucp:*:10:14:uucp:/var/spool/uucp:
operator:*:11:0perator:/root:
ftp:*:14:50:FTP User:/home/ftp:
nobody:*:99:99:Nobody:/:
gdm:!!:42:42::/home/gdm:/bin/sh
user::501:501::/home/user:/bin/sh

Anyone got any clues as to why it wont log in? bare in mind can only mount
the filesystem that these files are on so performing create user accounts and
trying to reset the passwords isnt, afaik, just a simnple command line job. i
dont have single user mode either.

I have a similar problem. I installed LFS and then added devfsd - the way described with the IBM tutorials. And after doing so, I had the same problem - root password not recognised anymore. I would suggest to disable devfsd - you probably will get it back. May be, devfsd is setup wrong that the device files aren't in the proper places or not recogniced anymore.
I would be interested to hear a workaroung without disabling devfsd

why do you think it maybe devfs being a problem. of course you cant just disable devfsd as there are files that search on a devfsd path, such as filesystems.

Why don't you just boot it from a floppy and remove the passwd from passwd and shadow files and try again?.
--Sarin

Ok, My friend sitting close to me just asked "idiot, when they can't login, what the differance does booting from the floppy make?". For a moment I didn't have the answer. And then I started thinking why I wrote that. Seems that I know it now. I some times use boot and root files systems that come with RH5.2 mount the root dev and fix problems. I think what made me write that.
So to fix the problem, just mount the partition on your existing linux distro. ( You must be having one since you compiled all these once ). And then you can do any thing to your passwd files.
--Sarin

Thanks for taking the trouble to reply Sarin. If you read the starting comment you will see that i already have access to the passwd file, in fact i have shown the passwd file there, also i think i mentioned that the way i alter these aforementioned files is to "mount" them. Another thing, if i already have access to my passwd file, which i do, what "anything" would you suggest i do to it?

Please read the questions that people put to you, rather than assume that you know what the question is going to be about as it will just waste time if you dont.

p.s. i dont have a floppy drive and dont have the option of attaching one either, i can only mount the filesystem in question on my main box.

p.p.s I forgot to say, i dont use shadow passwords. so therefore i dont use a shadow password file.

I am sorry about that worthless reply. But I just don't understand what else you need to have If you have access to root dev. Delete passwds, remove scripts that start devfs and just have a /dev/ directory with a new kernel, See your devfs configuration or change it, or see the perms and what not?.

Again, sorry for the last post.
--Sarin

dont worry about the last post, i appreciate you trying to help.

anyway i fixed the problem:

/bin/login version was, though not confirmed, probably looking for a shadow file OR it was pam enabled (i dont use pam), see man files that come with different versions login (i used a precompiled login that was made from dietlibc). anyway i downloaded the latest tinylogin and used the login that comes with that and it works.

again thanks to you two that tried to help.