I have managed to mount / read-write but when booting, the system is recovering the password for root even if i delete it.... I installed my linux from a friend's CDs and he is in another distant place. Any more hints please ... On Thu, 26 Apr 2001, Gerhard den Hollander wrote:

* Luckson Bwalya [Asst Head - System Dev & Sup] (Thu, Apr 26, 2001 at 05:16:15PM +0200)

...

Yesterday i sent a query on how to recover root password and i had several steps spelt out to recover the root passwd.

...

step 1 at lilo type linux init=/bin/sh this worked

...

step 2 change delete root passwd from /etc/passwd i could not achieve this. passwd file was read only.

...

step 3 what is the command for mounting / read-write ? I need this solution for without it i cannot change my /etc/passwd

mount -n -o remount,rw / (see /etc/init.d/boot)

How about booting from CD and using the rescue CD option ? Then mount your disks (mount /dev/hda3 / or mount /dev/sdb1 / or ..)

Kind regards,

Luckson

I have followed your steps as described below but the system keeps recovering the password for root and cannot access blank passwd.. Note: the password for root in /etc/passwd is equally unaffected. What else do i do... On Thu, 26 Apr 2001, Rafael E. Herrera wrote:

Follow this instructions:

1. at lilo type linux init=/bin/sh

2. Re-mount the root partition as rw:

# mount -n -o remount,rw /

3. Edit the file /etc/shadow, as I mentioned in my first email, NOT /etc/passwd. The entry for root looks like this:

root:f2xxDq3rv3SWo:10977:0:10000::::

Edit it so you delete the string between the first two colons. So, it should read:

root::10977:0:10000::::

4. Save the file and reboot.

Raf

Hey I've finally managed to get my box connected to the outside world (bit the bullet and bought an external modem), and now I'm looking to get an e-mail client set up the same way I use my "other" box. I've had a look at kmail, which appears to half of what I want. Basically as I use about 4 different accounts from home, I need to be able to use all these accounts, and that's fine under kmail, I can collect mail from as many different accounts as want, but when it comes to choosing which account to use to send mail, I'm pretty clueless, even just hitting the reply button sends it using the default account. I'm hoping someone can just tell me I'm being blond and have just missing a setting somewhere, or if not, maybe someone can point me in the direction of something else that can do what I need. Cheers, Alud

webmaster@newsfelch.com on Thu, Apr 26, 2001 at 06:57:13PM +0100 Organization: SET X-Operating-System: Linux friends 2.2.18 i686 Hi, Try using fetchmail it fetches mail form any number of pop accounts,then read ur messages with a email client like Mutt(rocks)/pine if ur using pine its simple but if u using mutt u will have to configure sendmail to send ur messages and procmail to filter messages. WWW.sendmail.org WWW.procmail.org WWW.fetchmail.org FAQ on sendmail,procmail and fetchmail can be found on accessing the above sites... Reg, - Pradeep. -- Pradeep Sangunni || pradeep@symonds.net || ICQ# 73495162 -- Powered by SuSE Linux 2.2.18

"Luckson Bwalya [Asst Head - System Dev & Sup]" wrote:

What i mean by recovery the password for root is that it is reverting to the old status as though i had not changed anything.. When in actual fact the saving is working ok.

That means you didn't remount your disk read-write properly.

To ensure that i have saved the changes i am editing the shadow file again and it shows it in an updated status.

Can you help with these clarification...

After you edit and save /etc/shadow issue a: # cat /etc/shadow | grep root so you can verify that your changes were saved. If you don't see your changes, that means that re-mounting your root filesystem did not work and you edited the file while the root fs is still read only. What does your /etc/shadow show after you edit and save it? Are you typing this? # mount -n -o remount,rw / This is assuming that /etc is in the same partition as /. What are the partitions and mount points of your system? You should check that you have re-mounted the filesystem rw before editing /etc/shadow? Use these commands: # cd /etc # echo writable > deleteme # cat deleteme # rm deleteme If you are able to create and delete the file, then you are in good shape. What editor are you using to edit /etc/shadow? are you proficient in it? Remember, the idea is to remove the password entry for root in /etc/shadow, just get that done. If you still have problems post detailed descriptions of what is happening and please answer the above questions. Rafael