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Old 02-21-2017, 09:53 PM   #1
ProleX
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Exclamation Huge problems with windows & arch! Need help!


Hello! I'm new to this forum so bare with me.

There are a string of problems that i tried to fix but the solutions i googled won't help.

So first of all i have windows 8.1 installed in my ssd (250gb) and arch installed in my hdd (2tb). I have made the arch partitions with cgdisk 1 for boot 1 for root and 1 for home. And installed it correctly with grub.

The first problem is that i was on my xfce4 gui on arch and had installed all the correct drivers and programs like steam, razer synapse, etc.. and than i rebooted my pc and tried to login using the same root password as before but this time it says that it's incorrect. I've checked if i typed it wrong but i am 100% sure it's something else. Than i booted on my usb where i have the arch.iso and tried a method that i found by googling where i mount the root partition on my hdd (arch) and do arch-chroot and type passwd to change my password but apparently after booting on arch it's still incorrect. (It didn't probably even change it) So now i need a way to recover/reset my root password.

The second problem is that i can't boot up my windows 8.1 (ssd) anymore. I wen't on my bios bootmenu and clicked my ssd to manually boot up windows but it showed a blackscreen with _ on the top left corner for a second and came back to my bios bootmenu. I have tried booting on my windows 8.1 installation cd and fixing the boot from cmd but it didn't help.

I'm also 100% sure that windows is still in my ssd because when i was booted on my xfce4 gui i could browse my windows files and see the bootfiles etc..

So i need help getting my windows to bootup again. I don't mind removing arch as long as i don't need to format my ssd and reinstall windows..

Sorry if this is hard to read. (Which it probably is) I typed this on my smartphone.

I can provide more information if needed.
 
Old 02-22-2017, 09:14 AM   #2
M3A2NwLcizG6Kxn4a1GXYBMz
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The only time I could notice this happening was when I set the password for the user while "num lock" was powered off.

I needed to check if it was working first, sometimes it is actually off when the led says otherwise.

And if you type when login as root, it will say it is wrong password no matter what.

Last edited by M3A2NwLcizG6Kxn4a1GXYBMz; 02-22-2017 at 09:16 AM.
 
Old 02-22-2017, 09:54 AM   #3
BW-userx
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you could get you windows install boot into recovery mode fix your mbr and boot for windows to et windows back then re-install you Linux if you cannot get back in, then do that half over again reinstalling grub to pick up linux and windows but it I bet is booting efi so your bios and it dealing with how to boot is out of my knowledgeable configuration within my brain.

But I'd still look into boot and mbr / efi repair for windows to see if you can get that to use the sdd (sda) mbr / efi part to boot into windows again.
 
Old 02-22-2017, 11:19 AM   #4
ProleX
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I've typed my password in the username section to check if i'ts typed wrong but nope.

I've also tried to fix the boot files using the windows install CD method but no luck. I will try it once again and tell the results here. I have launch csm enabled in bios and secure boot in other OS when i try to boot in to grub and it was on windows UEFI mode when i tried to boot into windows. That was also the default settings which i had when arch didn't exist on my PC.
 
Old 02-22-2017, 11:27 AM   #5
BW-userx
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if you can do this, downloads supergrub2

install it to USB STICK (usually the dd if= of=) read instructions. then boot that follow the prompts that will at least get you into windows. If all else fails.
 
Old 02-22-2017, 12:16 PM   #6
ProleX
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Update:Apparently my ssd which contains my windows 8.1 installation doesn't show up in my bios bootmanager. I tried repairing my windows 8.1 boot from the installation cd but after giving it the command bootrec /rebuildbcd it said found 1 windows installation C:/Windows and i typed yes to add in to bootlist but than it gave me this error: The requested system device cannot be found. So i guess if this gets resolved i get windows to bootup. Any advice?

Update2: I fixed my Windows bootloader. Apparently bcdboot.exe C:\Windows /s C: command fixed it.

So now i need help recovering my root password on arch.

Last edited by ProleX; 02-22-2017 at 12:24 PM.
 
Old 02-22-2017, 12:57 PM   #7
snowday
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How do you log in to Arch? Are you logging in through the console, or have you installed a "display manager" (DM) such as GDM or LightDM?

The reason I ask is this: Most modern DM's will not allow you to log in as "root". This is a security feature, by design.

Instead, try logging in to the DM as your user (you did create a user, right??) and then use "su" or "sudo" when you need admin rights. There is no good reason to run Steam and play games as the root user!

In other words, it is possible that your root password is totally fine, but rather that, by installing a DM as the Arch wiki recommends, you took away your direct root login ability.
 
Old 02-22-2017, 01:47 PM   #8
ProleX
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Quote:
Originally Posted by snowpine View Post
How do you log in to Arch? Are you logging in through the console, or have you installed a "display manager" (DM) such as GDM or LightDM?

The reason I ask is this: Most modern DM's will not allow you to log in as "root". This is a security feature, by design.

Instead, try logging in to the DM as your user (you did create a user, right??) and then use "su" or "sudo" when you need admin rights. There is no good reason to run Steam and play games as the root user!

In other words, it is possible that your root password is totally fine, but rather that, by installing a DM as the Arch wiki recommends, you took away your direct root login ability.
I`m currently running XFCE4 GUI but i login from the console as root than i type startxfce4 to enter the desktop enviroment. I`m actually not sure if i even have a dm. I recall installing GDM but i am not sure at all. Is there any way to check this? Also how could i make arch boot right into my desktop enviroment without having the console style login first? I recall using lightdm in my previous installation of arch and it brang me to a digital loginscreen instead of a console enviroment. Btw, I`ve tried logging in as user which has the same password as root but still no success.
 
Old 02-22-2017, 02:19 PM   #9
snowday
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It sounds like you may have glossed over the post-install recommendations about creating one (or more) user accounts. There is no reason ever to run Xfce desktop as root, and lots of reasons not to---it is a highly un-recommended practice! Often when users have trouble with Arch, it's because they didn't carefully follow the instructions step-by-step. I'd suggest to go back and carefully re-read the relevant section of the install instructions:

https://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php...ers_and_groups

(Your question about Display Managers is answered in Section 4 of that same document: "Graphical User Interface")

Last edited by snowday; 02-22-2017 at 02:21 PM.
 
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Old 02-22-2017, 02:27 PM   #10
ProleX
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Quote:
Originally Posted by snowpine View Post
It sounds like you may have glossed over the post-install recommendations about creating one (or more) user accounts. There is no reason ever to run Xfce desktop as root, and lots of reasons not to---it is a highly un-recommended practice! Often when users have trouble with Arch, it's because they didn't carefully follow the instructions step-by-step. I'd suggest to go back and carefully re-read the relevant section of the install instructions:

https://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php...ers_and_groups

(Your question about Display Managers is answered in Section 4 of that same document: "Graphical User Interface")
I have a secondary user account created. But i cannot access it too. It has the same password as my root account.
 
Old 02-22-2017, 02:28 PM   #11
BW-userx
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if it is booting and you're getting a gui login screen, and cannot get in. you could switch tty to get another cli login and try logging in as root, if Arch does that, or whatever user and password. if not user just to see if that user can in fact log in.

then it has to be root, if root logs in then you can create a user on the command line.

Code:
useradd username
or
adduser username
(depending on distro)
(than)
passwd username

exit
exit to logout of root, switch back to your gui login screen then log in your user you just created.

if Arch has xinit installed you could also while being logged in on the cli is run startx and hopefully the files needed will already be added in.

I do not know how Arch Linux does things. but if everything is setup properly then startx will/should give you whatever default DE/WM you have set up during the install.

but it is worth a try.

Last edited by BW-userx; 02-22-2017 at 02:34 PM.
 
Old 02-22-2017, 02:36 PM   #12
stanvan
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Quote:
Originally Posted by ProleX View Post
So now i need help recovering my root password on arch.
Have you tried this?
 
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Old 02-22-2017, 03:29 PM   #13
ProleX
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Quote:
Originally Posted by stanvan View Post
Have you tried this?
¨

Yes i have done this already and like i said in my earlier post it most definitely didn`t work :/

To make it clear for someone who didn`t understand. I`m attempting to login on tty1. I don`t have a login gui. I only have the desktop gui (xfce) which i access after logging on to arch on tty1 and typing startxfce4. My root account and user account both have the same password. I`ve tried to login on both in tty1 and the password is incorrect. Hopefully you can understand the issue now
 
Old 02-22-2017, 03:48 PM   #14
snowday
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Is English your one and only language, or might you have configured Arch to use a different language/locale? A fairly common cause of "I type my password but it doesn't work" would be if the keyboard language at the login screen doesn't match the keyboard language that was active at the time you set the password. This could lead to accidentally mis-typing the password, because the keyboard layout has changed.

Last edited by snowday; 02-22-2017 at 05:50 PM.
 
Old 02-22-2017, 04:03 PM   #15
stanvan
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Quote:
Originally Posted by ProleX View Post
I`m currently running XFCE4 GUI but i login from the console as root than i type startxfce4 to enter the desktop enviroment.
Quote:
Originally Posted by ProleX View Post
I only have the desktop gui (xfce) which i access after logging on to arch on tty1 and typing startxfce4
You're right, I do not understand. Sorry. I am reading your issue like this:

1. You log in on tty1 as root
2. You type startxfce4
3. You go straight to the desktop without another login prompt

Is this not the sequence of events?
 
  


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