Lost admin password question
 

I managed to lose the password that allows app installs (OS is 12.04). I took over my wife's old Vaio and was trying to change her as admin to me. I am now only a guest user and the admin password she had will not work for me when I try to change user status or anything else for that matter. I was wondering if I could download a copy of 14.0 xxLlt and install it over the older OS. Would that allow a new assignment of a password?

You can also use recovery mode and set a new password. Here's a guide:


http://askubuntu.com/questions/24006...ative-password

Is your wife's user account still there? Can you log in as that user?

Just a side note that Ubuntu 12.04 is only supported until 16 April 2017.

You might consider installing a more up-to-date version (16.04 is recommended as it is the most recently released version with long-term support).

I have tried the askubuntu method of recovry with no joy. only allows changing standard users passwds.Anytime I try to install and app,update or edit users I get the Authentication token error. I still have the 12.04 lts CD. Could I do a reinstall with it to them assign a new addmin user?

The guest login is extremely limited and you won't be able to log in as a guest user and do much of anything. For example, logged in as a 'guest', you cannot switch to gain root/admin privileges even with the correct password. Additionally, any changes you make as a guest are lost on reboot by design. You indicate that your wife had admin rights and you know the password so just login in as the user your wife created and her password should work. If that user no longer exists, that's a different problem.

The link below gives some info on the Ubuntu guest account and it's limitations:

https://help.ubuntu.com/community/CustomizeGuestSession

Thanks hyd. I did download 16.04 and then found it was for a 64 bit machine...the older Sony Vaio I have is 32bit. Didn't see a 32bit version.

She is no longer a user. What happened was I signed in as her, changed her username to mine and then her password would not work any more. I used ask ubuntu method nad got a new password that will let me sign in as a standard user but still can't install anything

You can get a 32-bit version from here:

http://releases.ubuntu.com/16.04/ (1st "32-bit PC (i386) desktop image" down)

Thanks Hydrurga. I think I will try to use an ISO cd and see if it will run. I should be able to boot into safe mode and get the ISO to install. Need to save a few fills first then I will give it a shot.

Which is why you are having this problem. The process would have been to log in under your wife's user name, use her password with sudo/admin privileges and create another user (yourself) and give yourself sudo/admin rights.

In your initial post, you mention the 'old Viao'. How old is old? Ubuntu might not be a good choice. You should check the minimum hardware requirements for Ubuntu. The link below lists the absolute minimums.

https://help.ubuntu.com/community/In...emRequirements

1.5 core2 duo,2gb ram,160gb hd,dual layer dvd. Should be ok for 16.04 lts 32bit.

*IF* you want to 'get down&dirty' aka CLI (like *I* -love- such puzzles),
you might investigate (/fix) 'id' owner and/or the UID/GID *numbers* in /etc/passwd
There's some 'basic tricks' here, since -all- files are owned by a UID# (not name)
BUT directories are names. So, maybe, you can ?easily hack? it back into all working!
ForWhatIt'sWorth :D

You do need to install a currently supported version (16.04), and that will also solve the password problem.

Yes, you can. If the administrative user still exists (named "user1", for example), as "guest" you can open a terminal and enter , and then user1's password. At that point you have access to all sudo commands, using user1's password. I know, because I just did it.

Also, you can press ctrl+alt+F2, and log in as the administrative user.

All changes you make in the personal configuration for "guest" are preserved on reboot - except in the special case of "kiosk" mode.

It doesn't. Post 8 where the OP states he changed the name of the primary user to another name. Doesn't say how?

On default Ubuntu 16.04 and 14.04 versions I have installed, logging in as guest, no commands prefixed with sudo do anything nor do commands such as su user1 or su - user1 when user1 has root privileges. They all result in 'operation not permitted' messages. Ctrl+Alt+F2 does allow login to the account with sudo privileges.

The only way I've been able to save data from a guest session is as explained at the Ubuntu documentation site below, to a flash drive. Logging into an Ubuntu guest session pops a window every time stating no data will be saved on logout which is the default unless the guest user settings are modified as shown on the page at the second link below. Out of curiosity, which release of Ubuntu are you using? Based on the info at the Ubuntu sites, I'm surprised you are able to use sudo/su from the guest without modifications but then, I don't boot the Ubuntu system often.

https://help.ubuntu.com/stable/ubunt...t-session.html

https://help.ubuntu.com/community/CustomizeGuestSession