On Thursday 26 May 2005 07:56, Michael James wrote:

On Thu, 26 May 2005 03:26 pm, suse_gasjr4wd@mac.com wrote:

...

Problem box- Standard install...not too much funky but all suse stuff. 9.0

This is the third time I can't log in as admin on this box.

"admin"? Do you mean "root"?

...

During the installs, it asks me if I want to encrypt the passwords, I hit yes. Is that a mistake?

Linux always encrypts the passwords, choices for encryption are: crypt, md5, and blowfish. Which one you use doesn't affect reliability but crypt is probably a bit insecure these days.

...

I'm getting tired of doing reinstalls.

Hey, you're not running windows any more, the only reason I have EVER re-installed SuSE is to get the latest greatest version.

...

I'm running 9.0 on this box.

Not the LGV but fine fine.

...

Even sitting right in front of the box, my password doesn't work. (and yes, I checked caps lock) ;\

So are you trying to log in as root at the main login screen? or are you trying for a samba share (that's very different).

...

*Would changing keyboards and mice all the time affect it? I don¹t keep them connect until I need to... most of the time it's up and running... and I may not use the same ones.

If your keyboard switched into a different locale it could mean the keys aren't what is written on them. Try typing your password into the username space where you can see it, does it come out correct?

...

Anything before I reinstall the OS???

Plenty, it is possible you have lost control of the root password, ie; the encrypted string in the shadow file isn't anything you will ever guess.

As long as you have physical control of the machine you can boot a rescue system, mount the root partition and edit a new password into /etc/shadow.

The rescue system will be on CD1 from ANY version of SuSE.

If you need more instructions, ask, michaelj

-- Michael James michael.james@csiro.au System Administrator voice: 02 6246 5040 CSIRO Bioinformatics Facility fax: 02 6246 5166

Internet Explorer is fine for downloading Firefox, but after that.... Worst case senario boot single mode or init 1 and run passwd

-- Chadley Wilson Redhat Certified Technician Cert Number: 603004708291270 Pinnacle Micro Manufacturers of Proline Computers ==================================== Exercise freedom, Use LINUX =====================================

On 5/28/05 5:11 PM, "Anders Johansson" wrote:

As for the problem, I would ask: is there a y or a z in the password, or some special characters? A common bug is that the keyboard is set to German regardless of what is selected during installation.

I think that was the answer I was looking for... Yes, there are y's or z's and-or special characters in the password. Is there a work around for this? However, I have been able to log in for the past few months...so this is a sudden thing. Same bug? -- Thanks, George "...Linux, MS-DOS, and Windows XP" (also known as the Good, the Bad, and the Ugly)

On 5/29/05 1:15 AM, "Anders Johansson" wrote:

On Sunday 29 May 2005 07:01, suse_gasjr4wd@mac.com wrote:

...

On 5/28/05 5:11 PM, "Anders Johansson" wrote:

...

As for the problem, I would ask: is there a y or a z in the password, or some special characters? A common bug is that the keyboard is set to German regardless of what is selected during installation.

I think that was the answer I was looking for... Yes, there are y's or z's and-or special characters in the password. Is there a work around for this?

However, I have been able to log in for the past few months...so this is a sudden thing. Same bug?

Hm, suddenly I'm not so sure I understand the situation.

After I sent the mail I noticed your reply to Ken's mail, where you said you couldn't even log in through ssh. Your comment was "nothing", what exactly does that mean? Do you mean the password doesn't work, or do you literally mean you get nothing, not even a password prompt when you try ssh:ing to the machine?

I have two users...using the (only) KDE GUI. Both work fine. When I go to control center, either user tries to make changes that require a su login (admin or root password), the password doesn't work. It has worked fine for the past few months. In the past, I did a google for changing the password didn't find much that I could do (somewhat CLI challenged, but I'm in therapy) ;) Anyway, I just did a reinstall... My boot drive isn't the shared drives, so it isn't that big a deal. The first time I just figured I forgot it or something. (I really didn't think so, but...) Then the second install, I made it something easy. That worked for a few months, then the same thing as now. I did a reinstall. This time I wrote the password down ON the box. (still simple) this worked for a few months, till now. I don¹t' remember if I could ssh in via my OSX box with this latest build or not. (but yes, in the past I could) In the past, I didn't have a mouse or keyboard connected to it unless needed, and then I just grabbed what ever brand I had sitting closest. Now, I use a Iogear 4 port monitor USB-KVM switch. The USB didn't work...so I am just using the switch box for the monitor only...and have a separate keyboard (IBM brand, model KB-9910) and Microsoft mouse (basic optical mouse pn x09-13962) connected now. At first, I thought it was because I was trying to use a apple keyboard and Logitech mouse. I guess not. If I try to ssh in now, it tells me the password isn't correct. (same thing as using the GUI) I can connect fine using samba file sharing with normal uses. Both normal users have no problems. I haven't got the netatalk configured right yet...would like to, but would like to figure this out first. Sharing works fine, I just can't make any admin changes...(guess that's the good part)

Have you ever been able to log in through ssh?

See above

How do you log in when you are sitting by the machine? Through the graphical login screen?

See above

If you are, then try switching to a text screen by pressing ctrl-alt-F1 and try logging in as root there. As far as I know, the german keyboard bug is only in graphical mode. If that works you can edit /etc/X11/XF86Config and change the XkbLayout from "de" to whatever it should be in your locale

But if my assumptions are wrong then the problem is elsewhere. It would help if you explained exactly how you are trying to log in, and exactly how it fails ('it doesn't work' isn't good. 'the screen flashes and brings me back to the login' or 'I get an error saying user or password is wrong' or something equally detailed is better)

Not sure if I answered the questions...I think I did. I have not had a chance to try the other ideas yet...boot from the CD and change the password that way. (or changing the run level to 1 and doing it that way) But I would like to know why this is happening! and no, I didn¹t forget the password. Something is wrong and I hope I am explaining it right. -- Thanks, George "They that would give up essential liberty for temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety." Benjamin Franklin

On 5/26/05 7:25 AM, "Ken Schneider" wrote:

Try to ssh into the box first, just in case it is a problem with unplugging the keyboard.

Tried that - nothing- -- Thanks, George You do not merely want to be considered just the best of the best. You want to be considered the only ones who do what you do. Jerry Garcia

On Mon, 2005-05-30 at 10:14 +0200, Jonas Helgi Palsson wrote:

And then if you have problems with the password while using ssh, you could make ssh-keys to log in with:

as root on your box:

marvin:~ # ssh-keygen -t dsa Generating public/private dsa key pair. Enter file in which to save the key (/root/.ssh/id_dsa): Enter passphrase (empty for no passphrase): Enter same passphrase again: Your identification has been saved in /root/.ssh/id_dsa. Your public key has been saved in /root/.ssh/id_dsa.pub. The key fingerprint is: 09:37:6f:ba:d5:ab:8f:14:2f:c0:4a:2d:98:89:7e:24 root@marvin marvin:~ #

then copy the file /root/.ssh/id_dsa.pub to the other machine and store it as ~/.ssh/authorized_keys

If the file already exists then append it with cat id_dsa.pub >> authorized_keys otherwise you will loose any existing keys.

(where ~ represents your homecatalog)

Then you should be able to log in as root without giving any password. Note that I did not specify a passphrase. That is _not_ a good security practice...

-- Ken Schneider UNIX since 1989, linux since 1994, SuSE since 1998 "The day Microsoft makes something that doesn't suck is probably the day they start making vacuum cleaners." -Ernst Jan Plugge