From owner-freebsd-questions@FreeBSD.ORG Fri Oct 3 10:08:50 2014 Return-Path: Delivered-To: freebsd-questions@freebsd.org Received: from mx1.freebsd.org (mx1.freebsd.org [IPv6:2001:1900:2254:206a::19:1]) (using TLSv1.2 with cipher AECDH-AES256-SHA (256/256 bits)) (No client certificate requested) by hub.freebsd.org (Postfix) with ESMTPS id 2848265F for ; Fri, 3 Oct 2014 10:08:50 +0000 (UTC) Received: from mx02.qsc.de (mx02.qsc.de [213.148.130.14]) (using TLSv1 with cipher DHE-RSA-AES256-SHA (256/256 bits)) (Client did not present a certificate) by mx1.freebsd.org (Postfix) with ESMTPS id E016761D for ; Fri, 3 Oct 2014 10:08:49 +0000 (UTC) Received: from r56.edvax.de (port-92-195-26-235.dynamic.qsc.de [92.195.26.235]) (using TLSv1 with cipher DHE-RSA-AES256-SHA (256/256 bits)) (No client certificate requested) by mx02.qsc.de (Postfix) with ESMTPS id 19AC027749; Fri, 3 Oct 2014 12:08:40 +0200 (CEST) Received: from r56.edvax.de (localhost [127.0.0.1]) by r56.edvax.de (8.14.5/8.14.5) with SMTP id s93A8e4V002007; Fri, 3 Oct 2014 12:08:40 +0200 (CEST) (envelope-from freebsd@edvax.de) Date: Fri, 3 Oct 2014 12:08:40 +0200 From: Polytropon To: allen harris Subject: Re: log in and password. Message-Id: <20141003120840.348155b6.freebsd@edvax.de> In-Reply-To: References: Reply-To: Polytropon Organization: EDVAX X-Mailer: Sylpheed 3.1.1 (GTK+ 2.24.5; i386-portbld-freebsd8.2) Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=US-ASCII Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Cc: FreeBSD Questions X-BeenThere: freebsd-questions@freebsd.org X-Mailman-Version: 2.1.18-1 Precedence: list List-Id: User questions List-Unsubscribe: , List-Archive: List-Post: List-Help: List-Subscribe: , X-List-Received-Date: Fri, 03 Oct 2014 10:08:50 -0000 (Re-including list, hoe that's okay.) On Fri, 3 Oct 2014 00:29:06 +0000, allen harris wrote: > ive understood your reply and am now on top of what needs > doing but it still keeps asking me for a login which wasn't > set by me and am unaware of how to get around this, thankyou > for your patience I await your response. Please first make clear if you're missing a _user_ password or the _root_ password. There hasn't been a definite mentioning in your initial post. Having to deal with a system where someone else has set passwords that you don't know is always a bit problematic, but not impossible to solve. It requires that you try to tell as precisely as possible what's actually going on. When you enter single user mode, no password should be required. At the boot prompt, enter "boot -s", and then confirm /bin/sh as the default shell. Enter the command "mount -uw /" to access the root partition (where the password is stored). Then enter "passwd" (or "passwd root") to change root's password. You will not be asked for the previous password. Allow me to point you to the FAQ entry again, and check /etc/ttys if your console has been marked "insecure" which _might_ be a reason for still being prompted for the root password in single user mode: https://www.freebsd.org/doc/faq/admin.html#idp59717152 Do you have a FreeBSD live system (installation CD or DVD, or USB stick) available? You can use that to access the system's partitions and make changes independently from passwords restricting access therein (e. g., change "insecure" to "secure" console in /etc/ttys, if it should be needed). Is it possible for you to provide a screen transcript or screen capture of what you see? Please try to describe what steps you have taken and what results they ended in. This will make troubleshooting easier. At this time, it's just a WAG. ;-) -- Polytropon Magdeburg, Germany Happy FreeBSD user since 4.0 Andra moi ennepe, Mousa, ...