Password...again (ahrrrg!!!) [SOLVED]

[tomboy]

This is really the stupidest thing I can imagine!!! At work I got a new PC which a guest of the institute had used before. Now no one knows his login (normally "guest-PC's" have generic logins) because he changed it.
The admins where able to create a new user but they couldn't give me sudo privileges - I have to talk to them tomorrow how they did it - anyway...

The problem is since I'm not a member of admin I can't even set the clock or do anything because my user password doesn't give me administrator rights. So I checked /etc/group and under admin it says his username (like admin:111:username)
If I understand it right all I have to do is to change his name into mine, right?

So I tried to boot failsave because I hoped I would get a root login without doing anything, but instead it prompted something like "Give root password for maintance" - which I don't know....

Then I tried to modify the boot parameters with something like

rw init=/etc/bash

which kinda worked because I got

root@(none):#

But guess what?! Now the keyboard doesn't work I figured it is because I have a USB-keyboard and maybe the deamon hasn't been loaded yet. So I found an older PS/2 version and tried to connect it but that freakin DELL PC doesn't even have an PS/2 keyboard connector....

If anyone has an idea I would be very pleased!!!

Regards,
Thomas

[jankushka]

Re: Password...again (ahrrrg!!!)

boot it with a live (desktop) cd, become root, mount your file system, change the sudo thing and away you go.

[tomboy]

Re: Password...again (ahrrrg!!!)

Now that was fast (zooooooooooooooom)!

Will do and tell if it worked

[tomboy]

Re: Password...again (ahrrrg!!!)

So I tried booting with a live-CD on my home PC and everything worked fine... and at work I tried to do the same but when I boot up the screen with the progression bar is really messed up so one can't read a thing (it was like this the whole time but I never payed too much attention to it because when the X-server starts everythings fine).
Now this is where it gets wierd because instead of starting the X-server I get a blue screen with a grey dialog box (can't really tell because it's very de-synced). I was too afraid to press something so I stoped at this point...
Could it be that it was the X configuration dialog?

[jankushka]

Re: Password...again (ahrrrg!!!)

ok, let me see if i got this alright.

the no admin user issue you have is on the pc@work.
you booted your pc@home with the live cd to sort of practice the recover procedure.
now you need to do the actual work on your pc@work.
but by booting it with the live cd you have this screen issue.
is this it?

one could work without the x server.
it's not be a big deal, actually.
but you need a stable enough "picture" that you can work with...

Could it be that it was the X configuration dialog?

i'm not sure about what you're doing...but...yeah...it rings a bell.
blue screen and grey box could well be the x server configuration procedure.

to sum up, i'd need you to clarify the situation for me.
getting older, you know, and...thicker

cheers

[tomboy]

Re: Password...again (ahrrrg!!!)

Thank You for your reply!!!

You got it all right! The thing is if I boot from harddrive the screen with the progression bar (how d'you call that anyway?) before the login is messed up and so is when I boot with the LIVE cd. When it starts the X-server (while booting from hdd) the screen becomes usable.

[jankushka]

Re: Password...again (ahrrrg!!!)

a quick step back

So I tried to boot failsave because I hoped I would get a root login without doing anything, but instead it prompted something like "Give root password for maintance" - which I don't know....

this means the root account has been enabled on this kubuntu system.
otherwise, it wouldn't ask for the password: it would go straight in as root.
to restore the default (and silly, in all honesty) *ubuntu behaviour, this needs fixing too.

The thing is if I boot from harddrive the screen with the progression bar (how d'you call that anyway?)

it's, yeah, the thing with the progress bar you get when you boot your box...
you can also get boot messages if you remove the quiet options from the boot lines.

When it starts the X-server (while booting from hdd) the screen becomes usable.

on the contrary, when you boot the live cd, you get to that blue/gray dialog.
which is very funny (funny as in weird).

it was like this the whole time but I never payed too much attention to it because when the X-server starts everythings fine

still, to use a typical british understatement: something's wrong with your setup, mate.
i assume this is not a lcd, so...
isn't there an "auto adjust" or "auto sync" button somewhere on it?
or isn't there some sort of "screw" on the back that you can use to adjust the sync?

anyway:
even if your monitor is a total mess...
can you identify the menu that comes up when you boot the box with the live cd?
there's 4 or 5 options and a count down that will autoselect the 1st option.
can you try and see if you can pick the 2nd option, boot in safe graphics mode, instead?
and see if that changes anything?

the other thing you can do is get hold of a more reliable healer live cd.
the most popular probably being: knoppix.
and see if that manages to start the x server allright?

cheers

[tomboy]

Re: Password...again (ahrrrg!!!)

there's 4 or 5 options and a count down that will autoselect the 1st option.
can you try and see if you can pick the 2nd option, boot in safe graphics mode, instead?
and see if that changes anything?

Now that's a good idea!!! I didn't thought of that because I was so dissapointed...

i assume this is not a lcd, so...

Well, guess again!

The most exasperating thing is - the monitor issue I'm pretty sure how to fix it because I haven't seen such a crappy xorg.conf period. But first things first - hehe

Ah, and:

still, to use a typical british understatement: something's wrong with your setup, mate.

wasn't particularly helpful, but I had a good giggle so thanks for that, too

[jankushka]

Re: Password...again (ahrrrg!!!)

Well, guess again!

The most exasperating thing is - the monitor issue I'm pretty sure how to fix it because I haven't seen such a crappy xorg.conf period. But first things first - hehe

i think, this issue with your monitor is not caused by the x server.
the x server doesn't get started until a lot later.
and, in fact, when the x server finally starts up, it fixes the problem (at least when you boot from hdd).
so, no, this is not the x server's fault.
it's still funny it doesn't start up when using the live cd, though...

wasn't particularly helpful, but I had a good giggle so thanks for that, too

well, your monitor issue is kinda funny too...

another thing that just cropped up and that you could try:
a) at the live cd start up screen, hit f4 to pick a (supposedly) suitable vga mode
b) on that same screen, hit f6 to edit the boot options: remove quiet and splash
if you get to the same blue/gray screen, try hit ctrl-c and see if it bails out to a command prompt...

'm not being very helpful, am i?

[tomboy]

Re: Password...again (ahrrrg!!!)

I can't thank you enough!!!!!!!
f4 did the trick so I could boot with the live cd and mount the hdd.
But as you've guess I have to take care of the root-thing since just adding me to the admin group only showed more apps und System, but the password isn't my user password.

So I'm thinkin of this and maybe you can correct me: What if I boot with the live cd again, mount the hdd and do a chroot to it. Then I should be able to change the root password right?

[jankushka]

Re: Password...again (ahrrrg!!!)

f4 did the trick so I could boot with the live cd and mount the hdd.

ah, ah, i was useful after all... 8)

alright, now, before going on to doing anything else...
pls, check that your own user be member of all the necessary groups, not only admin.
i don't know what your sysadmins have done when they managed to create your user account.
if they didn't set you up as a member of the admin group, they likely forgot the others too.
and access to different system functionalities is bound to groups membership.

the quickest way to do it is to edit the /etc/group file again and either replace all occurrences
of the guest's username with your own (you will chuck that user account in the bin after all this mess, anyway, right?)
or add your username where you find his/hers...

here's a list of groups you should be part of:
adm, dialout, cdrom, floppy, audio, dip, video, plugdev, scanner, netdev, lpadmin, powerdev, fuse, admin

But as you've guess I have to take care of the root-thing since just adding me to the admin group only showed more apps und System, but the password isn't my user password.

i think i can quite reliably say: no, the root password is not your own user's.
i hope it's not, actually, otherwise we've gone through all this mess for nothing

anyway...
you're now a member of the admin group.
so, unless the (in)famous guest, or your sysadmins, have screwed up the /etc/sudoers file, too,
then, whether or not you know the root password is now totally irrelevant.
because you can now gain root privileges through sudo with your own user's password.

what happens if you now boot your box and, on a terminal emulator (e.g. konsole), you issue:

sudo -i

and then type in your password?
you should now be the omniscient and omnipotent root user, are you not?

at this point you can:

passwd root

and change the root password to your liking

and/or:

passwd -l root

and disable the root account, thus restoring *ubuntu's default behaviour.

any issues...post back!
cheers

[tomboy]

Re: Password...again (ahrrrg!!!)

You're a genius, really!
As a matter of fact I am only a member of the admin-group... I wondered about that when I changed /etc/group

But what kills me is that my user password doesn't work with "sudo -i"
Another funny thing is that under Applications I can now see Adept and KUser which I couldn't see before I added myself to the admin-group...

Also I found that I have three /etc/group files:
/etc/group
/etc/group.org (no user in here)
/etc/group- (esentially the same as the first)

Meanwhile I will add myself to all the other groups and hopefully...

[jankushka]

Re: Password...again (ahrrrg!!!)

Your a genius, really!

yeah, right, thanks, mate, really...
i haven't yet got you out of all this mess, though, have i?

But what kills me is that my user password doesn't work with "sudo -i"

alright (well, it's not alright, really, but...)...
reboot your box with the live cd
become root again over there
check that the /etc/sudoers file be like this (which, by heart, should be the *ubuntu) default:

# /etc/sudoers
#
# This file MUST be edited with the 'visudo' command as root.
#
# See the man page for details on how to write a sudoers file.
# Host alias specification

# User alias specification

# Cmnd alias specification

# Defaults

Defaults    !lecture,tty_tickets,!fqdn

# User privilege specification
root  ALL=(ALL) ALL

# Members of the admin group may gain root privileges
%admin ALL=(ALL) ALL

if you're unsure, pls, post that file here.

Another funny thing is that under Applications I can now see Adept and KUser which I couldn't see before I added myself to the admin-group...

alright, well...let's skip this for now, shall we?

Also I found that I have three /etc/group files:
/etc/group
/etc/group.org (no user in here)
/etc/group- (essentially the same as the first)

/etc/group.org is unknown to me. remove it.
/etc/group- is a backup created by some users' mgmt utility. i have it too. remove it.
/etc/group is the right one you should keep!

cheers.

[tomboy]

Re: Password...again (ahrrrg!!!)

So it seems that we (as in YOU) are getting nearer!

Here's the /etc/sudoers:

# /etc/sudoers
#
# This file MUST be edited with the 'visudo' command as root.
#
# See the man page for details on how to write a sudoers file.
#

# Host alias specification

# User alias specification

# Cmnd alias specification

# User privilege specification
root  ALL=(ALL) ALL
ALL   ALL=(ALL) ALL
Defaults timestamp_timeout=0
Defaults rootpw

So I modified the file to look like yours (and the live-cd's) and now it seems to work!
Meaning I can start adept an it accepts my user-password. Now that would mean we (as in you) cleaned up this mess and my admins :-X well anyway.

I like to thank you for your tremendous effort - I really don't think I could have done it without your help!!!
If you're ever going to visit Heidelberg send me a note and I'll buy you dinner!

much regards,
Thomas

[jankushka]

Re: Password...again (ahrrrg!!!)

goood!!!
success, then!
8)

So it seems that we (as in YOU) are getting nearer!

I like to thank you for your tremendous effort - I really don't think I could have done it without your help!!!

you are most welcome.
luckily enough we (as in WE) sorted it out.

If you're ever going to visit Heidelberg send me a note and I'll buy you dinner!

very kind of you indeed

take care now.
cheers.