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-   -   toshiba satelite, failed attempt at kali, lost xp, cant get past password (https://www.linuxquestions.org/questions/linux-laptop-and-netbook-25/toshiba-satelite-failed-attempt-at-kali-lost-xp-cant-get-past-password-4175560177/)

ninjaman 11-29-2015 05:37 PM

toshiba satelite, failed attempt at kali, lost xp, cant get past password
 
hello
i have a toshiba satelite. i had xp on there and tried to install kali. i am new to this and seem to have made a mistake as i cannot login. i have changed the password by going into safe mode when booting and changing the ro to rw and init=/bash/bin (or something like that) and then i can change my password. i change the password and try again with no luck. "authentication failed" comes up(or something similar). i then try to boot from a usb and cd but that doesnt work. i have tried to change the boot order which looks like it works but the usb and cd are not touched. instead it goes to a netword boot, pxe appears with a check cable message and something about a failure.
what i would like to know is,

"is my laptop buggered? or can i save it? if so, how?"

i have looked around and cant seem to find the answer. probably looking with the wrong search terms. could someone offer some good search terms.
any help or advice would be great!

thanks
simon

yancek 11-29-2015 06:42 PM

Kali Linux is designed specifically for computer forensics and is a very poor choice for a Desktop distribution. If you wanted to use it to learn about computer forensics, you would be better off using a DVD or a flash drive.

So what actually happened when you tried to login? Why did you think you needed to change the password?
What happens when you try to boot from a CD or flash drive? "Doesn't work" is pretty vague, more details.
If you can't change the BIOS to boot from a CD or flash drive, that is a totally separate problem.

ninjaman 11-29-2015 07:21 PM

hello yancek,

i can change the bios but it seems to make no difference. the removable devices and cd/dvd drive seem to get skipped and boot goes to network. that is if i switch off the hard drive in bios boot order. i put removable device first, switch of hard drive, put in flash usb with a linux distro and restart. boot goes through the initial screen that says f2 to setup, then black and some writing appears saying about check cable and pxe failed.
when i boot with hard drive switched on it goes to kali, two options, one is normal the other recovery mode. recovery mode is where i changed the password, i changed the password as i thought that may help. it didnt, normal mode goes to the kali screen where you choose user and then put in password. when i enter the password it says authentication failed. i have tried user "me" and "other", with "other" i tried root and toor as they seem to be default passwords. they did nothing. the screen seems to freeze and then say authentication failed.

thanks for the reply yancek

simon

guzzi 12-02-2015 12:29 PM

I have Slackware running on a older Toshiba Satellite M115-S3154.

Until very recently this was my travel/work pc, and works perfect for me.

You mentioned that you are new to this. Meaning linux in general, or just installing linux?

ninjaman 12-02-2015 01:05 PM

hello guzzi,

im new to linux and installing. i dont know what i can do to get kali off and something else on the laptop. any suggestions would be great!

thanks

simon

guzzi 12-02-2015 02:45 PM

Do you still have XP on the hard drive? If so do you want to be able to dual boot it plus some Linux distribution? If you intend to dual boot, do you have enough space on your hard drive for both operating systems?

Do you have another computer that's working so that you can download some Linux distribution and burn it to a CD/DVD?

I recommend that you download Slax 7.2.8 and burn it to a CD. Then use that CD to boot your Toshiba. If this CD boots, and things work, you can pretty well bet that a distribution such as Slackware will work for you.

If you would like to try Slackware, you are already logged onto the best place to get help and more information as you progress.

I'm trying to ease you into this with making any assumptions.

ninjaman 12-02-2015 02:54 PM

hello guzzi,

the problem that i have is i cant get the laptop working properly, no i dont think xp is on the hard drive anymore.
i cant get the laptop to start properly, it gets to the password and then says authentication failed. i change the password as i think i may have forgotten it. i enter the new password and still authentication failed.
i cant get the usb or cd working. no matter what i do in bios it doesnt work.
i dont know how to get into the computer and remove kali, i have tried a rescue disk but the cd drive is not working for some reason.
any suggestions would be great!

thanks
simon

colorpurple21859 12-02-2015 02:55 PM

what command did you use to change the password?

yancek 12-02-2015 02:57 PM

Quote:

i put removable device first, switch of hard drive, put in flash usb with a linux distro and restart. boot goes through the initial screen that says f2 to setup, then black and some writing appears saying about check cable and pxe failed.
Did you do this install as a network install? If you see this then the changes are not being saved when you select to boot from a flash drive. Not sure why this would happen since you indicate you can change to boot from the hard drive.

ninjaman 12-02-2015 03:01 PM

hello,

thanks for the replies, i have read about the network boot problem and other people are having similar issues though i cant find any response that solved the issue. when in bios i selected hard drive and changed its boot status so an exclamation mark appears next to it. i did this again with network boot and cd/dvd so the only option left is the usb boot. i saved and pressed f10 to boot. again it goes to the network boot page, all black with some writing stating check cable, pxe failed and some other stuff.
not sure what to do next.

does it matter what i change the password too?

any suggestions would be great!
simon

TxLonghorn 12-02-2015 05:18 PM

This might help.

How to boot your Toshiba PC from CD-ROM, LAN, or diskette

ninjaman 12-02-2015 05:28 PM

hello,

thanks for that txlonghorn, but unfortunately i know that and that is what i have been trying to explain.
it doesnt matter which order i put the boot setup of if i exclude anything from the boot options or if i leave something until last. it still gets to boot in kali and password authentication fail.
what i would like to know is how can i get rid of the kali os and replace it with something else, considering that i can not get passed the password screen.
again, any suggestions would be great!

thanks
simon

ninjaman 12-03-2015 10:30 AM

i have now been able to get past the login screen but i have a problem. the laptop keeps freezing. the only way to get it to unfreeze is unplug the power supply or plug it back in, it freezes both ways and unfreezes both ways. this unfreezes it for a little while. when ever i try to do something the laptop freezes. i tried to open an install cd with xp on. the laptop freezes. and sometimes for no reason the computer locks and i have to unlock by putting in the password again.
this is agravating.

any suggestions of where i could go from here.

thanks
simon

guzzi 12-03-2015 08:39 PM

Your laptop freezing takes this out of my realm of experience.

However, if it were mine, this would be a invitation to take it apart.

NGIB 12-03-2015 09:06 PM

Might be time for a new laptop, sounds like hardware issues as well as a bonked install. If CD and USB are not working, this is not software issues...


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