quint Posted May 30, 2003 Share Posted May 30, 2003 Hi all,Have a very strange problem that just started last night, for no apparent reason; after playing around with a few of the "Live CD's", went to boot into Mandrake - the login screen came up, selected the user, typed the correct password, and it would not accept it. Tried logging in as Root, same story, tried it several times, making absolutely sure I was typing accurately, no go. Then rounded up the "Lost Password" tips that I had printed out, followed to the letter, but at the "save" part for the "shadow" file, it said: E45: read-only, cannot change. Well I tried to save it anyway, re-booted, came to login, selected root, didn't enter any password, pressed enter, got in as root. Whew! Changed all passwords, all were accepted, was beginning to be , rebooted, tried again, nothing doing . Tried this drawn-out procedure 4x, and still no luck (on the second trial, I did open a console, type "su", and fill in the root password, and it DID accept it , so I chose a user to login without needing a password typed in). Lucky I did that, for now I can at least get into Mandrake. But would like to know what, if anything, I can do to correct this? Any advice / suggestions are most welcome. TIA. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BarryB Posted May 30, 2003 Share Posted May 30, 2003 I think you can do a rescue with the Mandrake CD and rebuild the MBR..I'd check with Bruno first..But I think that is correct. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
teacher Posted May 30, 2003 Share Posted May 30, 2003 And you wanted to play multiple OS! Easy solution. Reformat and start over. I know, that is not what you wanted to hear. I'll leave it to the experts to give you a real answer. Guess I won't try a Live CD. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bruno Posted May 30, 2003 Share Posted May 30, 2003 Very very strange, never happened to me, I´ll have a look into this . . . . give me some time . . . . but at the "save" part for the "shadow" file, it said: E45: read-only, cannot change I suppose you were root at the time ? Strange.Sorry Barry rebuilding the MBR would not help. And Julia, the Slackware Live CD can not have anything to do with this. Bruno Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BarryB Posted May 30, 2003 Share Posted May 30, 2003 Yeah, I wasn't sure in this case..That's why I said check with you..Thanks !! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
quint Posted May 30, 2003 Author Share Posted May 30, 2003 BarryB, thanks, but tried the "rescue" part, as per the"Tips". Didn't want to mess /w MBR. ;)That's cute - like you - Teach, but really don't think the "Live CD's" did it; as long as I have this "work-around", will wait to do the format/reinstall tango. Bruno, you're like a "Great-White", when someone's in trouble, you appear - though for obviously different reasons. Been racking my brain, thinking if I did something else, but I did not. Have been reading up on passwords, etc., but not found anything that addresses this issue. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
quint Posted May 30, 2003 Author Share Posted May 30, 2003 Could it be some sort of "Tux-parasite"? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BarryB Posted May 30, 2003 Share Posted May 30, 2003 LOL...May be..Not sure what I was thinking though..Geezz (MBR)..(Heading to corner with head down!) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bruno Posted May 30, 2003 Share Posted May 30, 2003 Could it be some sort of "Tux-parasite"? No worries ! Bruno Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
quint Posted May 30, 2003 Author Share Posted May 30, 2003 LOL...May be..Not sure what I was thinking though..Geezz (MBR)..(Heading to corner with head down!)Trying to help someone can never be bad - thanks. As for MBR, you were just opining: MajorBobRetired. (Bevelacqua). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
quint Posted May 30, 2003 Author Share Posted May 30, 2003 Could it be some sort of "Tux-parasite"? No worries ! Bruno Thank the Magician! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bruno Posted May 30, 2003 Share Posted May 30, 2003 Can´t find any info on this Quint, looks like a unique problem.Anyway, what I understand you can boot up in Mandrake and log in as normal user. Also as you type ¨su¨ in a console you can give your rootpassword and it accepts it. So the system is functional again . . . ?In that case let´s just hope this does not happen again before I find something on this . . . . Bruno Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
quint Posted May 30, 2003 Author Share Posted May 30, 2003 Can´t find any info on this Quint, looks like a unique problem.Anyway, what I understand you can boot up in Mandrake and log in as normal user. Also as you type ¨su¨ in a console you can give your rootpassword and it accepts it. So the system is functional again . . . ?In that case let´s just hope this does not happen again before I find something on this . . . . BrunoYes, I can login, as long as I don't have to type a user password. Will keep searching also, it must have happened to someone else? Thanks to all, and if anyone has any ideas...I love to "tinker" - maybe that's the problem, although I am innocent in this case. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bruno Posted May 30, 2003 Share Posted May 30, 2003 You could try to give yourself another user password like descibed in the Tips and try to login again after removing the ´passwordless-login¨ entry in the login-manager. ( I always have it on autologin because I´m the only user ) BrunoPS: If you like to tinker this must be the ultimate challenge for you Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
quint Posted May 30, 2003 Author Share Posted May 30, 2003 You could try to give yourself another user password like descibed in the Tips and try to login again after removing the ´passwordless-login¨ entry in the login-manager. ( I always have it on autologin because I´m the only user ) BrunoPS: If you like to tinker this must be the ultimate challenge for you Bruno,Did try that three times, and in each instance, was not able to login; I then went back to "password-less" login, and so far that will let me in. Do love to tinker, but this is well beyond me right now...if I only knew why it happened, might be better able to correct it. I won't give up for awhile - there's lots to read and learn. Thank you for your continued help, as always. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mike180 Posted May 30, 2003 Share Posted May 30, 2003 .I love to "tinker" - maybe that's the problem, although I am innocent in this case. Let me see. Was it once or twice, no it was three times, this week. . We who love to tinker are doomed to tinkerś **** or is it tweakers mike180 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bruno Posted May 30, 2003 Share Posted May 30, 2003 As always: you´re welcome Quint !Geek and tinker away my friend. Bruno Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bruno Posted May 30, 2003 Share Posted May 30, 2003 .I love to "tinker" - maybe that's the problem, although I am innocent in this case. Let me see. Was it once or twice, no it was three times, this week. . We who love to tinker are doomed to tinkerś **** or is it tweakers mike180 Mike, tweakers, tinkers, geeks . . .we´re all family ! :DB) Bruno Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mike180 Posted May 30, 2003 Share Posted May 30, 2003 it must have happened to someone else?Yes! Yes! It was three times. Mike 180P.S. Teacher!With Mandrake you just have to reinstall and chose expert then format only the boot with out touching any thing else. That way you save all your personal files. Or you can clear all and resize to your own choosing, but you will loose everything! Sorry, you do that under custom partistioning. You can resize all but personal or /home and still be good. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
quint Posted May 30, 2003 Author Share Posted May 30, 2003 .I love to "tinker" - maybe that's the problem, although I am innocent in this case. Let me see. Was it once or twice, no it was three times, this week. . We who love to tinker are doomed to tinkerś **** or is it tweakers mike180 Have been guilty as charged in the past, but not in this instance...I'm innocent I tell ya'. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Agent007 Posted May 30, 2003 Share Posted May 30, 2003 Wait a minute......Is this happening only for Mandrake? Have u checked out the other distros?007 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
quint Posted May 30, 2003 Author Share Posted May 30, 2003 Wait a minute......Is this happening only for Mandrake? Have u checked out the other distros?007 Agent007,Very good point. But that was my biggest concern when this started; immediately I went to SuSE, RedHat, etc., and - thank goodness - all was OK, both quint and root. Whew! Thanks for the suggestion. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mike180 Posted May 30, 2003 Share Posted May 30, 2003 No. It happened last night in SuSE; while I was trying to make it connect to cable modem with DHCP. (Still not Working!!)Anyway, lost password and KDE at same time so now using Gnome and thorn180(go figure). mike180SuSE and DHCP at boot. Any Thoughts??Sorry, Quint, this should be another topic. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
quint Posted May 30, 2003 Author Share Posted May 30, 2003 No. It happened last night in SuSE; while I was trying to make it connect to cable modem with DHCP. (Still not Working!!)Anyway, lost password and KDE at same time so now using Gnome and thorn180(go figure). mike180 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
quint Posted May 30, 2003 Author Share Posted May 30, 2003 Just grasping at straws, completed a "rootkit" check: the results were 100% free and clear...glad of that. Can't remember who posted this link, but thanks. Rootkit check Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bruno Posted May 30, 2003 Share Posted May 30, 2003 Can't remember who posted this link, but thanks. Rootkit check I think our secret Agent 007 posted it Quint ! He´s great on security issues. Bruno Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
quint Posted May 30, 2003 Author Share Posted May 30, 2003 Can't remember who posted this link, but thanks. Rootkit check I think our secret Agent 007 posted it Quint ! He´s great on security issues. Bruno Right you are, Bruno. Thanks, Agent007. Very interesting and helpful. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Agent007 Posted May 31, 2003 Share Posted May 31, 2003 Bruno Right you are, Bruno. Thanks, Agent007. Very interesting and helpful. Ur welcome Quint! Btw, have u enabled password expiry for ur User accounts in Mandrake? U might want to check that out for all user accounts....Secondly, are the passwords alpha-numeric? and do they contain special characters?We need to cover all the possibilities here......007 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
quint Posted May 31, 2003 Author Share Posted May 31, 2003 Bruno Right you are, Bruno. Thanks, Agent007. Very interesting and helpful. Ur welcome Quint! Btw, have u enabled password expiry for ur User accounts in Mandrake? U might want to check that out for all user accounts....Secondly, are the passwords alpha-numeric? and do they contain special characters?We need to cover all the possibilities here......007 Agent007,Will check that out; alpha-numeric - yes, all lower case; no, no special characters. Thanks for the suggestions. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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