How to login if I didnt set a root password and no user?
 

I installed suse 10.1 and at the very end, something went wrong with the install. Anyways, now the system boots but I had not set any root password, and no user. How the hell am I supposed to log in now?? Hope I dont have to install the system over again....:(

Hopefully this is an easy question for you guys...

Cheers!

what stage does it get you too when you boot the system up ?

Because you can usually get into a system in single user mode, though when I've been meddling before, just because I didn't make a root password or user, it (mandrake, ages ago) would still log me into root, even though I didn't set the pword.

If it's the only thing it can log you into, then normally it would/should go there - hence first question.

If it won't start graphically, but opens at a # prompt then great, thats in root. You could just add a password for root and then create a user account. If it starts graphically, still do the same i.e. the root password then user and user password.

regards

John

p.s. Whats the problem with just doing a re-install ? If nothing else, it will familiarise you with the install proceedures. Sure it's not necessarily the correct way of doing things, but hey! if it works, then just do it!

No I get to the usual graphical login prompt... When I type root, and password root, it doesnt let me go through....

How about logging in as root, but without a password?

Since you did not create a root/password, nor a user/password, try just tabbing through the login and password.

If that doesn't work, try booting from the installation cd, and select anything that has to do with system rescue or system repair. Then work your way through to the part about setting up users and passwords.

If that doesn't work, bite the bullet. Then re-install.

If you have a live CD like Knoppix, you should be able to boot into that and then edit the /etc/shadow file on your installation's disk to remove the passwords on any accounts that were set up (they are the random characters that will appear between the first and second colons ( : ) on each line -just delete those characters and leave the two colons in place).

I was able to use this approach to gain access to a Sun JDS Linux installation on a co-worker's laptop for which we didn't have any of the passwords (the first owner had left the company). Sun's JDS Linux is based on Suse, so I expect the approach will work fine for you. You can then log in to any of the accounts using a blank password (just hit enter) and subsequently use the passwd command to set real passwords for each.

Why bother trying to fix a bad "fresh" install? Sounds fishy to me. I say your SOL and just re-install.

If you can't do a re-installation then it only makes it seem like your trying to get around the root login security.

KC

It was my MD5Sum that wasnt correct, so the installed crashed. I re-burned the ISO and everything works magic now ;)