Login/Password problems
 

Hi! I'm having trouble logging into my Linux machine. It's not taking any ID/Password. I'm getting a message that the password is incorrect. The only way that I can get in is to create other ID's and get in, but I can't log back in as that person. Reinstall? Any ideas? Thanks!

I had the same problem. What distribution/version are you using?
With Mandrake 9.1 you specify the root password and add users in the install process, so if that's what you've got I'd try reinstalling.

Actually, reinstalling is probably your best bet whatever distribution you're using.

Then again, I'm kinda new at Linux myself so there might be an easier way.

First, you need to take a look at the /etc/passwd and /etc/shadow files. They may have gotten corrupted.

You may try booting the system into Runlevel 1, and fix the problem from there.

Thanks but how would I fix this if the file's corrupt? (Newbie question, I know, but any advice or direction would help).

Wait...

If you get a message that the password is incorrect, how are you able to login and create a new user account ?
Which user account are you using to login?

Also,
Which Linux distribution (RedHat, Mandrake, SuSe, etc)
and which bootloader (Lilo or Grub) are you using ?


P.S. I may have misunderstood your question... I'm currently tired.:o

I'm using Red Hat and it's a single boot. The deal is that I can't get Root! The only way that I could get in as root was to keep trying for 30 minutes or so of trying to login and then rebooting and doing this over and over. I was able to get in and I created a few accounts but I can only get into one. I could get in as root when I originally installed it and once afterwards (mentioned above). I'm using 6.2 (that's the only thing I had at home) but I'm getting RH 9 today and maybe this will fix this problem...