MRT

Another newbee finger problem, i forgot the root password for my debian install. (LILO 22.5.7.2 Debian GNU/MORPHEUS) how can i recover it?


Help help

lakerdonald

you can't just magically read the password from the password file anymore. all new systems use shadowed passwords, which means that when you enter your password, it encrypts it with a one-way algorithm and compares the passowrd to the encrypted password stored in the password file. this is why sysadmins can't usually tell you your password anymore if you forget it , but rather end up having to reset it for you.

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you can however backup all of your important files before you reinstall even without the root password. boot up from a linux floppy (tinfoil hat, floppy-fw) or cd (install cd, knoppix) and mount your linux partition and copy the files to a zip disk or cd etc.
replacing hda1 with wherever your linux partition is and fstype with whatever filesystem type your linux partition is (i.e. ext2, ext3. reiserfs)
-lakerdonald

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the lost art of found sound

MRT

so how do i reset it given that i can only get to the boot LILO screen and the password screen (i think i got too fancy too soon)(window brain now trying Debian linux)

Pleease explain!

lakerdonald

i dont think you can reset it cos you are not root and can't get into root. the simplest way to solve this problem is to back up the files, and reinstall (and then write down your password! lol)

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the lost art of found sound

kkubasik

no, not nessicarly, there just was a post on this, download the gentoo livecd and boot that, then mount the drive and chroot into it, use the passwd util to change your password.

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Avoid the Gates of Hell. Use Linux
A Penny for your Thoughts

Formerly Known as qub333

MRT

Whilst sending e-mails i remember a user password and got into the system to the morpheus prompt, can i raise this user profile to root and then use this login, if so how do i do that? :o

lakerdonald

sorry for the bad information. its my hands' fault for typing it! bad hands! bad hands! lol i never thought of that qub! good idea

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the lost art of found sound

MRT

thanks for your advice, now that i am in the system i can see the home directory of the file i want but it is under the root can i create a copy of that /home directory giving it another name to access the files i need, if so can you give me an indication

kkubasik

whoa buddy, that made no sense. Are we just restoring your root password? insert the live cd, boot type

mount /dev/hda /mnt/gentoo
chroot /mnt/gentoo /bin/bash
passwd

then enter a new password, thats all....

__________________
Avoid the Gates of Hell. Use Linux
A Penny for your Thoughts

Formerly Known as qub333

MRT

After getting in with a user name and password i thought that i could change the permission of root so that this user become the super user or root. because i do not have a boot disk or a pc with enought disk space on it i looked for and found some other information which said when booting into lilo type Linux single at boot and it will let you in as root so that you can change the password with the command passwd, however that caused an inexpected inconsistancy in /dev/hda it asks that i run fsck manually without a or p options and put the system in read only and do not allow any keyboard input except ctrl-d which simply goes through bootup and back to the same screen, so i am screeming so once again an ex-windows newbee ask how do i get out of this mess. HELP I CAN'T TAKE ANYMORE.