Can't log in... "Usage: login [-p][name]"...

arfon · 02-12-2009, 03:38 PM

We've got a Debian box and we can log in okay in single user mode but not multi-user mode.

After it boots, we get the normal login prompt-

mybox login:

...but when we put a user name in and hit enter, this message appears instead of the password prompt:

Usage: login [-p][name]

login [-p][-h host] [-f name]

login [-p] -r host

and it goes back to-

mybox login:

Any ideas???

alan_ri · 02-12-2009, 04:21 PM

Try to change tty with <Ctrl> <Alt> F1,F2,F3 and so on.You have to be in the default tty for the certain user to be able to login,otherwise you'll see the error,of course the user needs to have an account on the system.

arfon · 02-12-2009, 05:41 PM

ALT-F2, F3 & etc... No dice, it just blinks at me...

I'm going to wipe the machine and re-install. :-/