I downloaded and installed hundreds of KDE and GNOME programs yesterday evening.

A password was called for and rejected because it was too short. A new password was provided but it was not written down or saved on anything. I am now locked out of linux for want of a working passwd.

There is a way to recover a lost password. Would someone please tell me what it is? I do not want to have to re-install everything again.

TNX,

ken

It would probably help if you would identify which distribution you are using and take your question to the forum for your distro.

Login password requirements tend to very distro-specific.

and next time you will not do that .

please list the " hundreds of KDE and GNOME" and HOW you installed them and where you got them .

Depending on your distro (eg works on RH derived systems), you may be able to boot from the install media and enter

linux rescue

at the initial text prompt. This will mount the HDD without running the system and you can fix the passwd if it's a Linux one.
Note that Unix passwds use a one-way encryption, so you can't recover it, you just create a new one over the top.

Chris,NX but it didn't work. The system kicked "rescue" out and would not accept it. Do you have any other ideas?

ken

Frankbell and John,

I run ubuntu lucid. My programs came from repositories in gnome. I used system software to download and install 600 KDE and 450+ gnome programs. At a certain point in the program a change of passwords was called for but, unfortunately, I failed to jot it down and I do not remember the schema behind it.

There is a way, I am sure, of getting into the boot up telemetry. It exists, because I found it today. If you can give me straight ubuntu line coding, maybe then we can mark this thing as 'SOLVED'.

from the last post( above)
it looks like you "upgraded" and not updated
from ubuntu 9 to 10
i have never had a FULL KDE and Gnome install update that many packages at one time


if this was an upgrade from one version to the next you might be out of luck

reinstall and then reinstall your important data from your SAVED back ups

I can get into GRUB. How do you bypass the installed passwds ans get to a place where you can change and set new passwords?

Would someone mind answering my questions in my 01:10 post today? I can get into command line coding if someone will tell me what to say.

OR, how about GRUB? Can you boot into the operating without worrying about passwords using GRUB?

Please let me know one way or the other about both the above questions.

TNX,

ken

You have at least two options:

1. Boot into single-user mode. To do this, you have to edit the grub boot instructions and add the word "single" (no quotes) at the end of the kernel line. For detailed instructions, we need to know if you have grub-I or grub-II.

2. Boot from a Linux liveCD, mount your hard drive, and edit the /etc/passwd file to remove the first "x". This allows you to log in with no password required.

BUT: I have trouble seeing how installing a bunch of SW would disable your password.....??

pixellany

At some point in GENing the system, I was told to provide a passwd before continuing on. I tried using my usual passwd's but the system rejected them for one reason or another.

The SW I downloaded and installed did not change my passwd ...

You did not respond to my 2 suggested solutions.....

What is "GENing the system"?

How many passwords did you have? (There can only be one for each user name.)

Pick Ubuntu <whatever> (Recovery mode) from the GRUB prompt. Pick "root" from the menu. Type . Enter your new password.

Booting Single-User Mode

If you are using GRUB, use the following steps to boot into single-user mode:

If you have a GRUB password configured, type p and enter the password.

Select Linux with the version of the kernel that you wish to boot and type e for edit. You will be presented with a list of items in the configuration file for the title you just selected.

Select the line that starts with kernel and type e to edit the line.

Go to the end of the line and type single as a separate word (press the [Spacebar] and then type single). Press [Enter] to exit edit mode.

Back at the GRUB screen, type b to boot into single user mode.

To Change the root password
sh-3.2# passwd
Changing password for user root.
New UNIX password: password
Retype New UNIX password: password
passwd: all authentication tokens updated successfully.
sh-3.2# exit

The OP has already told us he is using Ubuntu.