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I was given an old toshiba laptop by a friend, who has no idea what the password is or was. Is there a way in Linux Ultimate Mint Live V1.5 for a 32bit, to completely bypass an old unknown password and to create an entirely new one?
I appreciate the responses. I have looked at both places you've both directed me to....and I can not locate the kernel..??
I don't know what the user name or password ever was. On install, it never asked me for it, then when I go and try to use it, it keeps asking me for the old user and password?
You can try booting it into single user mode where you'll be able to reset the root account password.
Hold down "Shift" as as it boots and you should see the GRUB menu appear (eventually)
In the terminal-esque display the grub provides youyou should see something like...
Quote:
linux /boot/vmlinuz-X.X.X-X-generic root=UUID=someendlessstring\
more-endlessString ro quiet splash
initrd /boot/initrd.img-X.X.X-X-generic
Press 'e' to edit
Modify the middle line by appending 'single' to it i.e.
Quote:
more-endlessString ro quiet splash single
Press Ctrl + x or F10 to reboot with these kernel options.
Change the password. Reboot. Repeat the process again only this time remove the word 'single' from the middle line (it may not be there on reboot but better to check). Reboot one more time to check the changes remain persistant and...
Welcome to Linux!!!
Post any questions you have along the way, we're happy to help
Is there a way to post a screen shot to your forum?
I am still having trouble, do I hit enter after I type e for edit?
then, do I just arrow up to the ro quiet splash part, put a space and then type single?
Or do I have to type the whole second line over?
I tried to put the word single at the end of the strand....
and then reboot...
when it finally came up again, it asks for a user name?
do you guys think I should do a new install off one of the suggested sites one of your guys mentioned? media slacker?
what exactly is it refering to when it mentions the kernel?
what exactly is it referring to when it mentions the kernel?
The Linux Kernel. A glob of compiled C++ code that translates everything else in the operating system into machine readable instruction sets or data.
Quote:
do you guys think I should do a new install
If you don't need any data on the laptop, that would be an excellent idea.
Quote:
sorry to be such a uneducated pest
You're fine, it's just getting late on the East Coast of the US where a lot of us live. notKlatuu is in New Zealand, so he probably had to go to work.
The people who have been helping you are pretty well known on this board, they're very nice folks, just sleepy most likely, so no worries.
I would recommend getting a bootable image of Mint from https://distrowatch.com/, then simply booting off of it and following the prompts; it should be relatively straightforward.
Don't bother trying to fix-up the old install; it's not worth it.
If you need to ask more qns, please use normal font, not bold.
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Its vitally important to post them exactly, even if you have to type them in by hand; please do not just 'describe' them - minute details can be crucial.
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