Cannot type password to logon

[aval]

I’ve just installed Suse Linux Standard Server version 8 on a Compaq Proliant ML330 server. All seemed to go well during the installation.

However, when I try to log on I can type root but…

I cannot type the password!

I can type “root” in the user name box.

I can type the password in this box.

But the password cannot be entered in the password box.

This is the case with the GUI as well as the command line in safe mode.

Only clue that I can see is “unrecognized character set” entry in log below logon box.

Any ideas?

(Yes, I’m new to Linux)

Aval

[smolloy]

During the installation you should have been given a chance to create a new (non-root) user. Did you do this? You should try to avoid logging in as root, and stick to logging in with regular users.

[smolloy]

I should have added that a lot of distributions have disabled graphical logins by the root user, and only allow logins by normal users.

[gogalthorp]

I’ve just installed Suse Linux Standard Server version 8 on a Compaq Proliant ML330 server. All seemed to go well during the installation.

However, when I try to log on I can type root but…

I cannot type the password!

I can type “root” in the user name box.

I can type the password in this box.

But the password cannot be entered in the password box.

This is the case with the GUI as well as the command line in safe mode.

Only clue that I can see is “unrecognized character set” entry in log below logon box.

Any ideas?

(Yes, I’m new to Linux)

Aval

Try this.

Press CTRL-ALT-F2

this will pplace you in a console

enter user name as root

it will ask for password

type this there will be no echo ie when you type you will see nothing on the screen.

Be sure that the case is correct Linux is case sensitive.

This will tell you if you remembered your password right

[aval]

OK

I did what you suggested.

No error messages at least.

Now I'm at a command prompt that looks like this:

"MyServerName":~#

Now what? How can I get back into a GUI?

I realize that you should generally avoid logging on as root or as admin. I avoid this obsessively on my Windows system, using lesser accounts or the secondary logon option runas.

I don't THINK Suse disabled root logons at the GUI. While it's exact that I'm new to Linux I had experimented with the desktop version and was able to do so there. Also, the GUI in the Suse server version has the orchestra conductor (?) icon in the top left hand corner which leads me to believe, perhaps naively, that this should be possible.

I don't recall being asked to create a new user during setup.

In any event, thanks for the tip.

[devils casper]

type 'startx' at command prompt.
GUI/Command Line 'root' login is not disabled in SuSe.





casper

[aval]

Caspar,

Thanks for the rapid response.

This is what happens:

I type startx

The following message(s) display(s):

Fatal Serve Error:
Server is already active for display 0.
If this server is no longer running, remove /tmp/.X0-lock and start again.

When reporting a problem related to a server crash, please send the full server output, not just the last messages. Please report problems to feedback@suse.de

Xlib: connection to ":0.0" refused by server
Xlib: Invalid MIT-MAGIC-COOKIE-1 key
giving up
/usr/X11R6/bin/xinit4: unable to connect to X server
/usr/X11R6/bin/xinit4: No such process (errno 3): Server error

I tried this:

remove /tmp/.X0-lock

Which gave me this:

-bash: remove: command not found.

Any ideas?

[devils casper]

boot up in single user mode and try startx again.
in GRUB screen, select SuSe title and press 3, press 'Enter' key. SuSe will boot up in Single User Mode and drop you at command line prompt. login as root and type 'startx'.





casper

[gogalthorp]

OK

I did what you suggested.

No error messages at least.

Now I'm at a command prompt that looks like this:

"MyServerName":~#

Now what? How can I get back into a GUI?

I realize that you should generally avoid logging on as root or as admin. I avoid this obsessively on my Windows system, using lesser accounts or the secondary logon option runas.

I don't THINK Suse disabled root logons at the GUI. While it's exact that I'm new to Linux I had experimented with the desktop version and was able to do so there. Also, the GUI in the Suse server version has the orchestra conductor (?) icon in the top left hand corner which leads me to believe, perhaps naively, that this should be possible.

I don't recall being asked to create a new user during setup.

In any event, thanks for the tip.

If you have a GUI running press CTRL-ALT-F7

You might notice a pattern here. CTRL-ALT-Fx will take you to a shell x. 7 is reserved for the GUI

You can stop the GUI from the command line by typeing init3 you can restart it by init5 or startx

from the command line you can start a text based version of Yast and add a user by logging in as root and typing yast2

good luck

[aval]

OK, I'm in. I ended up at my original starting point after a reboot, had the same problem, restarted Suse (entire server didn't start, just the Suse portion, didn't go through the BIOS, firmware portion), then typed in root, password, and I was in.

At that point, I got some error message about a certificate (?).

I did a complete reboot and had no problems since.

Thanks to all.