Mageia forum

Hey,

I've run into a problem. If I try to open Mageia Control Center or the Mageia Package Manager. They both ask for my Administrator password. Which I assume is my root password. I type it in, only to be told: 'Sorry that didn't work. Please try again.'

viewtopic.php?f=7&t=9994

I had hoped that the link above would help me, but it did not. It was suggested in a terminal to enter: "systemctl restart polkit", I typed the command then pressed Enter, only to have a window open asking for my Administrator Password, I enter my;
root password, and again with the freakin -sorry that didn't work, please try again-

mark91117, was having a similar problem:

"I've checked and double checked my root password. I can su to root in a Konsole window and invoke the Control Center with the "mcc" comand; the Control Center opens up just fine and I do what I need to do."

In a terminal I entered 'su' then tenuously entered my root password, and "Authentication Failure" It would appear that my Mageia has decided it is not going to accept my root password and is going to let me dangle until the crows have feasted on my eyes. Okay, a bit melodramatic.

I tried doing 'sudo' instead of 'su' and it did not accept my root password nor did it accept my regular, non root, password.

As it is presently I can not check in updater or install or remove packages/apps as long as this problem continues.

kadmus

Hi, firstly sudo isn't configured by default in Mageia (and I like that fact).

Second, I've had this a couple times myself, but after a reboot it has been ok. Have you tried to reboot?

Yes, i have and with the same dismal results.

Hi Kadmus,

Have you had a look here: viewtopic.php?f=41&t=6346&p=56141&hilit=reset+password#p56141,

I had something similar previously and this helped.

Thanks benmc, for the effort, I looked it over and found it a bit intimidating, at least for me and I certainly don't want to take a chance of messing things up any more than it already is, at the moment. I needed something relatively simple and I think I found it with this:

1. Entering runlevel 1
Some Linux distribution, such as Ubuntu for instance, offer a specific boot menu entry where it is stated "Recovery Mode" or "Single-User Mode". If this is your case, selecting this menu entry will boot your machine into single user mode, you can carry on with the next part. If not, you might want to read this part.
Using GRUB, you can manually edit the proposed menu entry at boot time. To do so, when GRUB is presenting the menu list (you might need to press ESC first), follow those instructions:
use the arrows to select the boot entry you want to modify.
press e to edit the entry
use the arrows to go to kernel line
press e to edit this entry
at the end of the line add the word single
press ESC to go back to the parent menu
press b to boot this kernel
The kernel should be booting as usual (except for the graphical splash screen you might be used to), and you will finally get a root prompt (sh#).
Here we are, we have gained root access to the filesystem, let's finally change the password.
2. Changing root password
As root, changing password does not ask for your old password, therefore running the command:
# passwd
will prompt you for your new password and will ask you to confirm it to make sure there is no typo.
That's it, you can now reboot your box and gain root access again.

It might have worked , if it was not for the simple fact, I did not know which line was the 'kernel' line, at whose end i was to enter 'single' ? Again, i was hesitant to place it in the wrong spot. There were two possibilities if you were in my predicament would you go short or would you go long? Almost sound like we're talking about 'futures'?

Resetting your root password is not that difficult as it sounds from the long description you posted. It works exactly as described in abovementioned thread: viewtopic.php?f=41&t=6346

In Grub bootmenu press F3 then select -> Default and then append init=/bin/sh in the input line that appears (that is referred to as kernel line).
Then you have a root shell, enter

Code: Select all

passwd

to set a new password. That's it.

What is intimidating about that? Do you want a usable root password or not? As your system does not seem to accept your root or user password, how worse can it get?

Hey,

It did not work out as planned. I opened the GRUB for my Mageia then pressed the F3 key, nothing happened. Even tried the (e) key and naught happened. It took me awhile, as my eyes have been not cooperating with me of late, but here is waht my Grub Screen looked like:

insmod pant_msdos
insmod ext2
set root=hd0.msdos 7
If (xfeature_platform_search_hint=xy): then search - - no floppy - - fs – uuid - -get root - - hint- bios=hd0.msdos 7 - - hint – baremetal=anci0.msdos 7 e593637-9245-4398-8864-96bfde5cc8
else
search - - no floppy - - fs - uuid - - set root e593637-9245-4398-8864-96bfde5cc8
fi
linux /boot/vm/linuz Boot_Image_Linux root = UUID = e593637-9245-4398-8864-96bfde5cc8 nokmsboot splash quiet noisu/md resume = UUID = 6c87372e-c93d-4596-a5d0-c5ecdfb 1236 VGA =788
initrd /boot/initrd.img

I could not find ' init=/bin/sh' anywhere, but then I was unable to select Default.
I don't know whether the fact I am 'mult-booting' would make any difference?

I am going to try it again, I had to have made a small mistake at the onset?

kadmus

You never mentioned that you use grub2. And you can't find 'init=/bin/sh' as you're supposed to add that to the kernel command line. In your case that is

Code: Select all

linux /boot/vm/linuz Boot_Image_Linux root=UUID=e593637-9245-4398-8864-96bfde5cc8 nokmsboot splash quiet noisu/md resume=UUID=6c87372e-c93d-4596-a5d0-c5ecdfb 1236 VGA=788

and you are supposed to append to the end of that line.

See the official documentation for more information on that: http://www.gnu.org/software/grub/manual ... try-editor

I was not aware I was using Grub 2, I did not think much of it, as long as it was working.
Now, at the end of:
"linux /boot/vm/linuz Boot_Image_Linux root=UUID=e593637-9245-4398-8864-96bfde5cc8 nokmsboot splash quiet noisu/md resume=UUID=6c87372e-c93d-4596-a5d0-c5ecdfb 1236 VGA=788"
I am to type in 'passwd'. Would I be correct that at that point I press the Enter key, or the F10 key?

In the end, I did not go into my 'Grub2' and make a change in the particular line. Instead I took the easy way out and reinstalled 'Mageia 5', and this time there is no problem with my Administrator password working. I am able to login to Mageia Control Center (MCC) and 'Add & Remove Software'.

I will keep the information given to me, in case i should happen to need it down the line...

kadmus

Back again; how does one mark this 'solved'?

Kadmus wrote:I was not aware I was using Grub 2, I did not think much of it, as long as it was working.
Now, at the end of:
"linux /boot/vm/linuz Boot_Image_Linux root=UUID=e593637-9245-4398-8864-96bfde5cc8 nokmsboot splash quiet noisu/md resume=UUID=6c87372e-c93d-4596-a5d0-c5ecdfb 1236 VGA=788"
I am to type in 'passwd'.

Nope, you are to type in ' init=/bin/sh' (without the single quotes). Then press F10 to boot.

That information tells the kernel do directly initialise a root shell. In that root shell you can then enter 'passwd' command to change your root password.

Kadmus wrote:Back again; how does one mark this 'solved'?

Please mark the thread accordingly by editing the topic of the first post and prefix it by [SOLVED], thanks