On Wed, 13 Jun 2007 20:05:33 -0600, D.J wrote:
>
> Is there another way to reset the root password ?

boot a linux OS from a live cd/diskette

mkdir /junk
mount -t auto /dev/hdXY /junk # you solve for X and Y
chroot /junk
passwd root
flowerpot
flowerpot
exit
exit
shutdown -r now

Pop out diskette/cd

On Wed, 13 Jun 2007 20:05:33 -0600, D.J wrote:
>
> I got my linux computer to localhost login: and tried ESC linux 1
> ESC linux single TAB linux 1 TAB linux single.
>
> None of those worked.

My SWAG, you changed the label. It might work if you use the label you
see in lilo's boot menu.
Example, My lilo.conf has
label="/2007_1"
label="/2007_0"
label="/fc7"

so I would have to use /2007_1 single,....
Now that I think about it. I wonder if my / in the label will break
the single boot method.

On Wed, 13 Jun 2007 20:05:33 -0600, D.J wrote:

>
> I was going to work on my old mandrake 7.02 computer. I couldn't
> remember any of the passwords, its been years since I powered it up.
> Mostly I wanted to check for files I wanted to keep, and maybe
> reinstall or get a newer version. But the computer is 500MHz with a
> 2 gig hard drive. So I don't know if a software upgrade would be
> worth it or not.
>
> Since I recently moved, relatives helped pack, I have no idea where
> my original CDs or the install floppy might be. I remember seeing
> them as we packed, but the boxes aren't marked.
>
> I checked the online faq via another desktop computer.
>
> I got my linux computer to localhost login: and tried ESC linux 1
> ESC linux single TAB linux 1 TAB linux single.
>
> None of those worked.
>
> Is there another way to reset the root password ?
>
> Thanks,
> JimP.

One way - boot a Live CD 'chroot' to the partition where your root (/) is
located and run 'passwd' as root.

On Wed, 13 Jun 2007 21:16:02 -0600, ray wrote:
]One way - boot a Live CD 'chroot' to the partition where your root (/) is
]located and run 'passwd' as root.

I'll keep looking for my cds.

Thanks,
JimP.
--
http://www.linuxgazette.net/ Linux Gazette
http://crestar.drivein-jim.net/blog/ June 12, 2007 1E AD&D blog
http://www.drivein-jim.net/ June 11, 2007: Drive-In movie theatres
http://poetry.drivein-jim.net/ poetry blog June 1, 2007

D.J. wrote:

> I got my linux computer to localhost login: and tried ESC linux 1
> ESC linux single TAB linux 1 TAB linux single.
>
> None of those worked.
>
> Is there another way to reset the root password ?

At boot, from the LILO prompt, type: 'linux single' or 'linux init 1' on
the command line.

or

From within a running system (as 'root') enter the command 'init 1'
and press enter.

Once you're in single user mode, you should be able to set the
root password with the 'passwd' command.

On Thu, 14 Jun 2007 09:54:20 -0600, D.J.
wrote:
]I'll keep looking for my cds.

I found 1 and 2 of the original 4. I managed to change my password
via the 'install/upgrade' as passwd command wasn't available when I
tried to change the root password.

Anyway, it started acting flaky, the right arrow keys on the
original keyboard wouldn't select things I wanted to work on and
several other things. So I formatted and reinstalled.

Now it wont send video to my lcd monitor except during the install.

Thanks for the help.

I guess I'll have to go over to the local bookstore and see what
they have in the way of linux.

JimP.
--
http://www.linuxgazette.net/ Linux Gazette
http://crestar.drivein-jim.net/blog/ June 14, 2007 1E AD&D blog
http://www.drivein-jim.net/ June 15, 2007: Drive-In movie theatres
http://poetry.drivein-jim.net/ poetry blog June 14, 2007

D.J. wrote:

> I guess I'll have to go over to the local bookstore and see what
> they have in the way of linux.

Do you have a broadband 'net connection? Or a friend with one? You can
download most distros (free, except for the media you burn the ISO images
on to). You can easily try out several different distros until you find
the one that suits you. That's what most folks do.

Chris

On Sat, 16 Jun 2007 07:00:22 GMT, Christopher Hunter
wrote:
]Do you have a broadband 'net connection? Or a friend with one? You can
]download most distros (free, except for the media you burn the ISO images
]on to). You can easily try out several different distros until you find
]the one that suits you. That's what most folks do.

That did cross my mind, but the pc I was going to install on, I had
forgotten how low end it was. 64 megs of ram, 550MHz. Hard drive is
an okay size of 9.6 gigs. I have a win98se computer I can pull the
hard drive from that has 500 megs of ram, and is about the same cpu
speed that would likely work better. It certainly has a faster cdrom
drive along with a dvd player. The 64 meg machine has a dialup modem
card and a very slow cdrom drive. It originally was more of a
'install linux and try it out' computer than me actually doing much
with it. So, I'll probably pull the hard drive out of the 64 meg
machine and donate the rest of it to someone I know who would have
more fun than I would upgrading it.

I found a copy of Ubuntu and a book I could afford. I'll probably be
able to install that next week. It has both a 'live cd' and an
install version on it.

JimP.
--
http://www.linuxgazette.net/ Linux Gazette
http://crestar.drivein-jim.net/blog/ June 14, 2007 1E AD&D blog
http://www.drivein-jim.net/ June 15, 2007: Drive-In movie theatres
http://poetry.drivein-jim.net/ poetry blog June 14, 2007

D.J. wrote:
> That did cross my mind, but the pc I was going to install on, I had
> forgotten how low end it was. 64 megs of ram, 550MHz.

Note that Mandriva 2007.1 requires a minimum of 256 MB RAM. Other
distros are probably more friendly with limited address space, but
Mandriva continues its tradition of demanding more recent hardware
than most (i586 cpu rather than the ancient i386, etc).

Cheers!

jim b.

--
UNIX is not user-unfriendly; it merely
expects users to be computer-friendly.

D.J. wrote:

> On Sat, 16 Jun 2007 07:00:22 GMT, Christopher Hunter
> wrote:
> ]Do you have a broadband 'net connection? Or a friend with one? You can
> ]download most distros (free, except for the media you burn the ISO images
> ]on to). You can easily try out several different distros until you find
> ]the one that suits you. That's what most folks do.
>
> That did cross my mind, but the pc I was going to install on, I had
> forgotten how low end it was. 64 megs of ram, 550MHz. Hard drive is
> an okay size of 9.6 gigs. I have a win98se computer I can pull the
> hard drive from that has 500 megs of ram, and is about the same cpu
> speed that would likely work better. It certainly has a faster cdrom
> drive along with a dvd player. The 64 meg machine has a dialup modem
> card and a very slow cdrom drive. It originally was more of a
> 'install linux and try it out' computer than me actually doing much
> with it. So, I'll probably pull the hard drive out of the 64 meg
> machine and donate the rest of it to someone I know who would have
> more fun than I would upgrading it.
>
> I found a copy of Ubuntu and a book I could afford. I'll probably be
> able to install that next week. It has both a 'live cd' and an
> install version on it.
>
> JimP.

If you want to run Linux on a machine with only 64 Megs of RAM, you're
either going to have to obtain more RAM or use a distro designed for
machines with limited resources. You'll find that these "mini distros" are
quite limited, but they will at least give you an idea of the operating
system. Take a look at DSL ("Damn Small Linux") or Puppy Linux. There are
many others that allow the use of aged hardware.

Modern distros are quite resource-hungry (though nowhere near as greedy as
Windows!), but you get a huge "bang for the buck" - the facilities offered
and the range of software available will astonish you - and it's all *free*
(except for a little effort on your part to learn how to drive it). You'll
rapidly discover that it's really pleasant to use a computing environment
that's stable, secure and really fast!

Chris