I had to reinstall FC2 after trying unsuccessfully to install Debian. After FC2 was installed the first time I had to add some 20 users, I did this by hand through the GUI, then I saved a copy of the file to avoid having to retype it all if another install was necessary.
After this last install, I copied the backup file to /etc/passwd and ran "pwck", "grpck" and "pwconv" thinking everything should now be OK but I can't log in as any user at all, only as root.

Could someone point me to the correct procedure in such a situation and how to solve my problem now?

Thank you for your help.

Hello,

I think you needed 2 files to be copied /etc/passwd and /etc/shadow
You need both to work correctly.
Root passwd is working because you created a new root account on the system.
--
free_ouyo

Hello from a Belgian in Australia.
I can't figure out what's going on, even a fresh install doesn't allow me to boot as a user immediately after the install. I tried to add new users and log in as this new user but I invariably get "Authentication failed"

I had one CD of my original FC2 CDs set explode inside the drive some weeks ago and I have lately used a spare set of FC2 CDs that came in a book I bought a couple of years ago but had never been used, maybe there is something wrong with these.

An oddity I should perhaps mention, with my original FC2 CD set (4 CDs) I spent some considerable time trying to have the screen turn off after a period of inactivity and never succeeded, with the second set of FC2 (also 4 CDs), it works "out of the box". These 2 sets were created about the same time.

"/etc/passwd" and "/etc/shadow" are OK

I don't think it's worth spending more time on this problem because I'm going to install Debian in a few days. I still have RH9 and will use that or run as root for a few days.

Thank you for your assistance.