[SOLVED] why can't I set the password in Arch Linux?

SebazKun · 01-31-2018, 08:43 PM

Hey guys,

I'm really inexperienced with Linux in general but I somehow managed to install Arch Linux on my old Toshiba Satellite laptop (or almost managed..).

I created 4 partitions
sda1 for bios boot (512KiB),
sda2 for Linux swap (1024 MiB)
sda3 for Linux filesystem (512MiB)
sda4 for Linux filesystem (remaining space)

I set them up to be able to install the necessary packages using

Code:

pacstrap /mnt base

.

Then I installed Grub like this:

Code:

# pacstrap /mnt grub
# grub-install --root-directory=/mnt /dev/sda 
# arch-chroot  /mnt
# grub-mkconfig -o /boot/grub/grub.cfg
# exit

I generated fstab:

Code:

genfstab -U -p /mnt >> /mnt/etc/ftab

Last but not least I wanted to set up a password. So I followed the steps in the tutorial:

Code:

# arch-chroot  /mnt
# passwd

And it asks me to specify a password. But when I want to type, I can't!?
I won't let me input any characters (no letters, no number), the only key that works is the Return key. And when I press that it asks me to retype my password to confirm it...

But I really need to set a password (don't I?) in order to reboot without the installation disk and log in.

I don't know what's going on... Help would really be appreciated! ^^

Soitgoes · 01-31-2018, 09:42 PM

Just because you don’t see it doesn’t mean it isn’t working. Typically, you will not see your password(any characters being entered in the console). So chances are, if <enter> is working, and your keyboard is working, the password is being typed. You will be asked after typing to reconfirm and viola.. That’s it.

SebazKun · 01-31-2018, 09:56 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Soitgoes

Just because you don’t see it doesn’t mean it isn’t working. Typically, you will not see your password(any characters being entered in the console). So chances are, if <enter> is working, and your keyboard is working, the password is being typed. You will be asked after typing to reconfirm and viola.. That’s it.

Thank you for your reply.
I just figured it out on my own...

It was so frustrating not knowing how to proceed.

Unturned3 · 02-01-2018, 12:33 AM

instead of outputting a bunch of ******* when you type your password, programs like "passwd" just doesn't print anything.
I was quite confused by this "feature" when I first touched Arch. The graphical Debian installer didn't have this feature

SebazKun · 02-01-2018, 01:08 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Unturned3

instead of outputting a bunch of ******* when you type your password, programs like "passwd" just doesn't print anything.
I was quite confused by this "feature" when I first touched Arch. The graphical Debian installer didn't have this feature

Exactly. When I installed the whole thing without a break, I just needed to take a break to come up with the solution myself ^^
During installation, I've made countless stupid little mistakes but in the end, I learned from them. It stills seems (in comparison to Windows) complicated, but I'm up for the challenge