ACER Aspire One single user boot

geopilot5200 · 12-26-2008, 07:25 AM

I have received an Acer Aspire One that has already been used. The root password has already been set but I have no idea what it is or how to find it out. Looking through the forum there are some suggestions to boot the PC in single user mode and from there see about removing the root password from the /etc/passwd file.

First thing is, how do I boot this PC in single user mode?

Thanks

Brian1 · 12-26-2008, 09:01 AM

If it has grub boot manager installed then hit ' e ' to edit the boot option for the distro. Then goto the line that has vmlinus in it and hit ' e ' again. Goto the end and add the number ' 1 ' to the end.

Example of one. Yours may differ.
kernel /vmlinuz-2.6.19-1.2911.fc6 ro root=LABEL=/ rhgb quiet 1

Other option is boot with a USB live boot stick which can be made easy and placed on a usb flash drive and boot from that. Or if you have a USB cdrom then boot into rescue mode or just boot into a command prompt. Mount the partition that has /etc/passwd and modify with an editor program, unmount and reboot.

Brian

geopilot5200 · 12-26-2008, 09:25 AM

I can't tell what the boot loader is, Grub or LILO. The only items displayed on the screen before the main desktop flashes up is <<press F2 to enter setup>> (the BIOS) and <<press F12 to change boot order>>. Pressing 'e' or ctrl-'x' at this point does nothing.

I guess I'll have to go the route of the live USB stick.

Although, having just looked at the BIOS boot settings, the only options are the hard drive and a PCI network device. Hmmmm.

Thanks.

Brian1 · 12-26-2008, 10:02 AM

I would think it would support USB boot. Thought that was what many others did on their Acer Ones from the many post one this model from the forums. Might search here to read the many post on these small netbooks. Been looking and getting a few myself. Use one as a DMZ firewall with some Wii Lan Adapters for addtional network interfaces. The other for a web, dns, mail, and ssh services. Maybe another as a large storage area with connected USB drives. Just waiting till they drop in price.

Brian

tredegar · 12-26-2008, 10:04 AM

Quote:

I can't tell what the boot loader is, Grub or LILO.

It's probably a "hidden" grub.
Keep pressing <ESC> as the PC is starting to boot - you should see the grub boot menu displayed.
Then follow Brian1's advice.

geopilot5200 · 12-26-2008, 10:46 AM

I've tried hitting <esc> as the machine boots but I do not see any signs of a grub menu. The usual Acer Aspire desktop comes up.

The only USB device I have to hand is in NTFS format, and the Acer Aspire tells me that it cannot mount it as ntfs is an unknown format.

I have a memory stick lying around that I can afford to experiment with. What file format does Linpus/Fedora use? ext2/3?

Thanks

tredegar · 12-26-2008, 11:17 AM

Quote:

I do not see any signs of a grub menu

Oh.

I know little about the ACER Aspire One, what version of linux is it running, as supplied?

I found this thread http://www.aspireoneuser.com/2008/07...npus-mode-hack
and maybe you already have the "root" password - it's yours, as this version of linux maybe uses sudo
Boot to your desktop

Quote:

<ALT><F2> to run a terminal

type

Code:

sudo -i

(Thats "sudo minus eye")
Give your password
Maybe you are root? (Has your prompt changed?)

Code:

exit

Note: On my KDE desktop <ALT><F2> opens a "Run command" window. NOT a terminal window.
If you get that try typing xterm or even terminal in as the command to run.
An X terminal may open where you can type the above commands.

Otherwise we'll have to think again.

[This http://www.aspireoneuser.com/forum/ looks like a good source of information for you, have you seen this link?]

Edit:

Quote:

I have a memory stick lying around that I can afford to experiment with. What file format does Linpus/Fedora use? ext2/3?

A standard linux distro will always recognise ext2 or ext3

geopilot5200 · 12-26-2008, 04:15 PM

Ok, thanks.

When I opened the xterminal and typed 'sudo -i' the prompt changed to a hash (#).

I entered 'passwd' and i was asked to enter a new UNIX password. It looks as though the new password was accepted. So it looks as though the problem has been overcome.

Thanks for the assistance.

theacerguy · 02-05-2009, 05:32 AM

i would re-install through the restore cd or install a different distro

farslayer · 02-05-2009, 10:11 AM

To answer a couple of your other questions..

File system if that devie has a SSD drive would probably be EXT2.. you wouldn't want to have journaling enabled on a SSD drive.

When you hit F12 to get to the boot menu there WILL be other options there if you have a External USB CDROM attached or a Bootable USB flash drive. the options to boot from them will show up.

Enjoy your AspireOne !!

Links in my sig for Linpus Lite AAO tweaks, and install guides for other Linux OS's if you so desire.
My AAO is running Debian amazingly well..

smiltilverden · 03-09-2009, 11:16 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by farslayer

When you hit F2 to get to the boot menu there WILL be other options there if you have a External USB CDROM attached or a Bootable USB flash drive. the options to boot from them will show up.

Press "F12" for a list of available boot-devices.

"F2" takes you into the bios setup, which would be overkill if all you want to do is set up the machine to boot from some USB device.

farslayer · 03-09-2009, 11:25 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by smiltilverden

Press "F12" for a list of available boot-devices.

"F2" takes you into the bios setup, which would be overkill if all you want to do is set up the machine to boot from some USB device.

Err.. ouch I'm gonna say that was a typo, yeah.. I must have missed the '1'.

Let me fix that..