forgot passwd, cannot login, [rd]init=/bin/sh don't work

forgot passwd, cannot login, [rd]init=/bin/sh don't work

[jidanni]

Gentlemen, last time I forgot my password and couldn't log into my
machine here on my far away rural mountaintop, I ended up digging up an
old Debian "potato" CDROM and installing it into some free space on my
disk, from which I could edit /etc/passwd and zero out the password.
These days that would no longer necessarily work, see man mkfs.ext3 -I.
> Presuming Linux, you can add "init=/bin/sh" to the kernel command line.  This
> will give you a shell without asking for a password.  From this shell you can
> edit your password file.
Didn't work.
>Initrd scripts might change everything.
OK, I then tried linux-doc-2.6.26/Documentation/kernel-parameters.txt.gz:
  rdinit=  [KNL]
   Format: <full_path>
   Run specified binary instead of /init from the ramdisk,
   used for early userspace startup. See initrd.

So in grub2 I chose "e" to edit, and changed the lines to
 linux	/boot/vmlinuz-2.6.26-1-686 root=UUID=... rdinit=/bin/sh
 initrd	/boot/initrd.img-2.6.26-1-686
hit ESC then RET, and alas it was like I didn't type anything at
all but just hit RET, booting proceeded as usual, and /proc/cmdline
shows that my changes to that command line were thrown away.

Re: forgot passwd, cannot login, [rd]init=/bin/sh don't work

[walt]

jidanni@jidanni.org wrote:
 > ...
> OK, I then tried linux-doc-2.6.26/Documentation/kernel-parameters.txt.gz:
>    rdinit=  [KNL]
>     Format:<full_path>
>     Run specified binary instead of /init from the ramdisk,
>     used for early userspace startup. See initrd.
>
> So in grub2 I chose "e" to edit, and changed the lines to
>   linux	/boot/vmlinuz-2.6.26-1-686 root=UUID=... rdinit=/bin/sh
>   initrd	/boot/initrd.img-2.6.26-1-686
> hit ESC then RET, and alas it was like I didn't type anything at
> all but just hit RET, booting proceeded as usual, and /proc/cmdline
> shows that my changes to that command line were thrown away.

The only reason to use a ramdisk during boot is if your kernel
doesn't have any support for your root filesystem (unlikely) or
for your hardware (much more likely).

If the disk controller on your motherboard isn't too exotic you
could probably boot the kernel directly, i.e:
/boot/vmlinuz-2.6.26-1-686 init=/bin/sh root=whatever
Note the use of *init* instead of rdinit because you aren't
using the initial ramdisk this way.

May or may not work, but it's worth a try.

Re: forgot passwd, cannot login, [rd]init=/bin/sh don't work

[Niels Böhm]

On Wednesday 08 October 2008, jidanni@jidanni.org wrote:
>
> So in grub2 I chose "e" to edit, and changed the lines to
>  linux	/boot/vmlinuz-2.6.26-1-686 root=UUID=... rdinit=/bin/sh
>  initrd	/boot/initrd.img-2.6.26-1-686
> hit ESC then RET, and alas it was like I didn't type anything at
> all but just hit RET, booting proceeded as usual, and /proc/cmdline
> shows that my changes to that command line were thrown away.

That's normal behaviour, if you press ESC all your changes are gone.

The solution is not to press ESC, but Ctrl-x instead. There's also a hint 
about that in the online help below the editor frame.


Niels Böhm

Re: forgot passwd, cannot login, [rd]init=/bin/sh don't work

[jidanni]

Ah, no wonder. These need rewording:

 Use the %C and %C keys to select which entry is highlighted.
 Press enter to boot the selected OS, 'e' to edit the
 commands before booting or 'c' for a command-line.

 Minimum Emacs-like screen editing is supported. TAB lists
 available completions. Press C-x ('x' with Ctrl) to boot,
 C-c ('c' with Ctrl) for a command-line or ESC to return menu.

Here, I have reworded the latter, preserving terseness, and fixing grammar:

 Minimum Emacs-like editing is supported. TAB lists available
 completions. Press C-x ('x' with Ctrl) to boot, C-c for a
 command-line or ESC to throw away changes and return to menu.

Kindly integrate it into your next version. Thank you.

(There is also a grub screen with its several lines of help text
enclosed by "[  ]". Might as well chuck them too.)

By the way, I indeed now could login now without remembering the password. Use
 linux	/boot/vmlinuz-... root=... rw init=/bin/sh
 initrd	/boot/initrd.img-...
The key is the "rw init=/bin/sh". (And after editing /etc/passwd to change
root's :x: to ::, be sure not to just exit the shell, but hit
CTRL-ALT-DEL, else one has to push the reset button.)

Re: forgot passwd, cannot login, [rd]init=/bin/sh don't work

[jidanni]

Can somebody please integrate my patches? For the parent article and
the "grub-install message should mention --recheck" article.

I am a mere "apt-get install" user. I fear if I learn your whole
source code system, and finally make an official patch, it too will
fall on deaf ears.

As I expect I will only have one patch per three years, please
integrate it for me. Thanks.

[PATCH] menu.c clearer instructions

[jidanni]

diff -C 1 menuO*.c menu.c
*** menuORIG.c	2008-12-27 02:42:57.000000000 +0800
--- menu.c	2008-12-27 02:53:49.000000000 +0800
***************
*** 84,87 ****
        Minimum Emacs-like screen editing is supported. TAB lists\n\
!       available completions. Press C-x (\'x\' with Ctrl) to boot,\n\
!       C-c (\'c\' with Ctrl) for a command-line or ESC to return menu.");
      }
--- 84,87 ----
        Minimum Emacs-like screen editing is supported. TAB lists\n\
!       completions. C-x (\'x\' with Ctrl) to boot, C-c for command-line,\n\
!       or ESC to throw away changes and return to menu.");
      }

cmdline.c: ESC at any time exits: only mentioned once

[jidanni]

Gentlemen, there is a serious usability problem with cmdline.c.

At the very start the user sees the message made by

  grub_printf ("\
 [ Minimal BASH-like line editing is supported. For the first word, TAB\n\
   lists possible command completions. Anywhere else TAB lists possible\n\
   device/file completions.%s ]\n\n",
	       nested ? " ESC at any time exits." : "");

The problem is, just let him type "help" just once...

The note about "ESC at any time exits" is now gone from the screen.

He now faces a list of the help commands, with NO "exit" or "quit"
choices.

No. Not even the tiniest hint left about how to get back out.

> If he is smart he would have remembered "ESC at any time exits".

But he is just average, not smart.

He ends up choosing "reboot", the only choice that seems like it will
get him BACK.

Therefore, please add
"ESC at any time exits" to the bottom of the help list.

No, I don't know how to make this patch.

You will have to do it for me.

Also note the help list must still fit on one screen after the patch.

Thank you.

Re: cmdline.c: ESC at any time exits: only mentioned once

[Vesa Jääskeläinen]

jidanni@jidanni.org wrote:
> Gentlemen, there is a serious usability problem with cmdline.c.
> 
> At the very start the user sees the message made by
> 
>   grub_printf ("\
>  [ Minimal BASH-like line editing is supported. For the first word, TAB\n\
>    lists possible command completions. Anywhere else TAB lists possible\n\
>    device/file completions.%s ]\n\n",
> 	       nested ? " ESC at any time exits." : "");

This is kinda problem for translations anyway. So it would be preferable
to have static text there...

What is the overall gain for having nested to control output of that text?

> The problem is, just let him type "help" just once...
> 
> The note about "ESC at any time exits" is now gone from the screen.
> 
> He now faces a list of the help commands, with NO "exit" or "quit"
> choices.

Now the question is, should we provide an exit command? Bash basically
supports that so it could be a good idea.

Re: cmdline.c: ESC at any time exits: only mentioned once

[Carles Pina i Estany]

Hello,

On Jan/24/2009, Vesa Jääskeläinen wrote:
> jidanni@jidanni.org wrote:
> > Gentlemen, there is a serious usability problem with cmdline.c.
> > 
> > At the very start the user sees the message made by
> > 
> >   grub_printf ("\
> >  [ Minimal BASH-like line editing is supported. For the first word, TAB\n\
> >    lists possible command completions. Anywhere else TAB lists possible\n\
> >    device/file completions.%s ]\n\n",
> > 	       nested ? " ESC at any time exits." : "");
> 
> This is kinda problem for translations anyway. So it would be
> preferable to have static text there...

I'm reading it and I don't see any problem for translation. Should be
like:

grub_printf (_("\
[ Minimal BASH-like line editing is supported. For the first word, TAB\n\
lists possible command completions. Anywhere else TAB lists possible\n\
device/file completions.%s ]\n\n"),
	nested ? _(" ESC at any time exits.") : "");

Or I'm wrong?

-- 
Carles Pina i Estany		GPG id: 0x17756391
	http://pinux.info

Re: [PATCH] menu.c clearer instructions

[Carles Pina i Estany]

Hello,

Again: I'm not a Grub expert/mantainer, but I have been reading some
emails here and I will wear the police hat for this email:

On Dec/27/2008, jidanni@jidanni.org wrote:
> diff -C 1 menuO*.c menu.c

Could you send using diff unified format, with 3 lines of context?
(default one)

I think that people here is used to receive this diff's, not the
not-unifed format that you sent.

I suggest download from the SVN and use svn diff :-)

Also, and before somebody else will tell to you, could you write a
Changelog entry for your patches? (take a look on the current Changelog
to know the way that should be written), so you can attach the patch
(not in the mail inline) and copy in the email the Changelog entry.

Thanks,

-- 
Carles Pina i Estany		GPG id: 0x17756391
	http://pinux.info

Re: [PATCH] menu.c clearer instructions

[jidanni]

2008-12-27 jidanni@jidanni.org

	* normal/menu.c: print clearer instructions on the screen

--- menuORIG.c	2008-12-27 02:42:57.000000000 +0800
+++ menu.c	2008-12-27 02:53:49.000000000 +0800
@@ -82,8 +82,8 @@
     {
       grub_printf ("\n\
       Minimum Emacs-like screen editing is supported. TAB lists\n\
-      available completions. Press C-x (\'x\' with Ctrl) to boot,\n\
-      C-c (\'c\' with Ctrl) for a command-line or ESC to return menu.");
+      completions. C-x (\'x\' with Ctrl) to boot, C-c for command-line,\n\
+      or ESC to throw away changes and return to menu.");
     }
   else
     {


"No name needed".

Re: [PATCH] menu.c clearer instructions

[Pavel Roskin]

On Sat, 2008-12-27 at 06:54 +0800, jidanni@jidanni.org wrote:
> -      available completions. Press C-x (\'x\' with Ctrl) to boot,\n\
> -      C-c (\'c\' with Ctrl) for a command-line or ESC to return menu.");
> +      completions. C-x (\'x\' with Ctrl) to boot, C-c for command-line,\n\
> +      or ESC to throw away changes and return to menu.");

How about "Ctrl-x to boot, Ctrl-c for command line, or ESC to abandon
changes and return to the menu"?

We don't need to use the "C-" notation at all if it needs explanation.
"Ctrl-x" should be clear to most users (everyone knows "Ctrl-Alt-Del").
"abandon" sounds better than "throw away" in this context.

-- 
Regards,
Pavel Roskin

Re: [PATCH] menu.c clearer instructions

[jidanni]

OK, Pavel Roskin's suggestions sound great. I leave this in your hands.

Re: [PATCH] menu.c clearer instructions

[jidanni]

>>>>> "j" == jidanni  <jidanni@jidanni.org> writes:

j> OK, Pavel Roskin's suggestions sound great. I leave this in your hands.

However, will these patches I sent this week be used, or
   slowly
      forgotten
         ?

Re: [PATCH] menu.c clearer instructions

[Jerone Young]

[-- Attachment #1: Type: text/plain, Size: 709 bytes --]

I'll track your patches. If everyone comes to a consensus on them in a week
I'll commit them to the repo.

I agree with Pavel also that using "Ctrl-<key>" is more descriptive then
what is there now.

What other patches where you going to submit like this?

On Mon, Dec 29, 2008 at 8:09 PM, <jidanni@jidanni.org> wrote:

> >>>>> "j" == jidanni  <jidanni@jidanni.org> writes:
>
> j> OK, Pavel Roskin's suggestions sound great. I leave this in your hands.
>
> However, will these patches I sent this week be used, or
>   slowly
>      forgotten
>          ?
>
>
> _______________________________________________
> Grub-devel mailing list
> Grub-devel@gnu.org
> http://lists.gnu.org/mailman/listinfo/grub-devel
>

[-- Attachment #2: Type: text/html, Size: 1328 bytes --]

Re: [PATCH] menu.c clearer instructions

[jidanni]

>>>>> "JY" == Jerone Young <jerone@gmail.com> writes:
JY> I'll track your patches.
Thanks!
JY> What other patches where you going to submit like this?
There is a total of four issues,
[PATCH] grub-install message should mention --recheck
[PATCH] menu.c clearer instructions
[semi-PATCH] grub.texi: emergency booting without root passwd
cmdline.c: ESC at any time exits: only mentioned once

There won't be more soon as I now boot like a charm.

Re: [PATCH] menu.c clearer instructions

[Jerone Young]

[-- Attachment #1: Type: text/plain, Size: 1017 bytes --]

Committed a variant of this patch into the repository.

                      Thanks,

                                Jerone

On Fri, Dec 26, 2008 at 4:54 PM, <jidanni@jidanni.org> wrote:

> 2008-12-27 jidanni@jidanni.org
>
>        * normal/menu.c: print clearer instructions on the screen
>
> --- menuORIG.c  2008-12-27 02:42:57.000000000 +0800
> +++ menu.c      2008-12-27 02:53:49.000000000 +0800
> @@ -82,8 +82,8 @@
>     {
>       grub_printf ("\n\
>        Minimum Emacs-like screen editing is supported. TAB lists\n\
> -      available completions. Press C-x (\'x\' with Ctrl) to boot,\n\
> -      C-c (\'c\' with Ctrl) for a command-line or ESC to return menu.");
> +      completions. C-x (\'x\' with Ctrl) to boot, C-c for command-line,\n\
> +      or ESC to throw away changes and return to menu.");
>     }
>    else
>     {
>
>
> "No name needed".
>
>
> _______________________________________________
> Grub-devel mailing list
> Grub-devel@gnu.org
> http://lists.gnu.org/mailman/listinfo/grub-devel
>

[-- Attachment #2: Type: text/html, Size: 2127 bytes --]

Re: [PATCH] menu.c clearer instructions

[jidanni]

JY> Committed a variant of this patch into the repository.
OK, thanks. Say, three semi-patches of mine remain to be resolved. Their subjects were:
[PATCH] grub-install message should mention --recheck
[semi-PATCH] grub.texi: emergency booting without root passwd
cmdline.c: ESC at any time exits: only mentioned once

patches not acted upon

[jidanni]

I sent patches etc. last month, Subjects:
 [PATCH] grub-install message should mention --recheck
 [semi-PATCH] grub.texi: emergency booting without root passwd
 cmdline.c: ESC at any time exits: only mentioned once
but nobody acted on them one way or the other

Re: patches not acted upon

[Vesa Jääskeläinen]

jidanni@jidanni.org wrote:
> I sent patches etc. last month, Subjects:
>  [PATCH] grub-install message should mention --recheck
>  [semi-PATCH] grub.texi: emergency booting without root passwd
>  cmdline.c: ESC at any time exits: only mentioned once
> but nobody acted on them one way or the other

If you hide your messages to some threads don't expect that hurry people
will notice them. Just write a _new_ message and not a reply when
starting a _new_ topic.

Personally I can easily mark threads not within my interest area as
ignored or mark automatically as read.

This time I'll try to hunt your patches and comment on them if there is
something to be done...

Re: patches not acted upon

[Jerone Young]

[-- Attachment #1: Type: text/plain, Size: 1169 bytes --]

Next week I was going to hunt all the patches I personally missed or had not
been commited yet by someone else. Been so busy lately havn't had time. But
I did commit one of your patches.

1)[PATCH] grub-install message should mention --recheck
This one really isn't necessary.  Kind of agreed with the first commenter. I
don't have any strong feeling toward not including it. But it does seem like
something that users can easily find when using --help.

2) [semi-PATCH] grub.texi: emergency booting without root passwd
This patch isn't completed. Whould need to work on this more

3) cmdline.c: ESC at any time exits: only mentioned once
Not sure off head. Will check it though.

On Fri, Jan 23, 2009 at 2:05 PM, <jidanni@jidanni.org> wrote:

> I sent patches etc. last month, Subjects:
>  [PATCH] grub-install message should mention --recheck
>  [semi-PATCH] grub.texi: emergency booting without root passwd
>  cmdline.c: ESC at any time exits: only mentioned once
> but nobody acted on them one way or the other
>
>
> _______________________________________________
> Grub-devel mailing list
> Grub-devel@gnu.org
> http://lists.gnu.org/mailman/listinfo/grub-devel
>

[-- Attachment #2: Type: text/html, Size: 1650 bytes --]

Re: patches not acted upon

[jidanni]

OK, thanks for evaluating them, worthy or not.

[semi-PATCH] grub.texi: emergency booting without root passwd

[jidanni]

Please add this somewhere you feel comfortable with in grub.texi.

I looked, but cannot find the right place.

Thank you.

@Chapter Tips
@node Forgot the root password
One place when grub can come in very handy is when one forgot the root
password, and hence cannot boot or even shutdown the system. Use
@example
linux	/boot/vmlinuz-... root=... rw init=/bin/sh
initrd	/boot/initrd.img-...
@end example
The key is the "rw init=/bin/sh". (And after editing /etc/passwd to change
root's :x: to ::, be sure not to just exit the shell, but hit
CTRL-ALT-DEL, else one has to push the reset button.)

Re: [semi-PATCH] grub.texi: emergency booting without root passwd

[Carles Pina i Estany]

Hello,

(I'm not Grub expert)

On Dec/27/2008, jidanni@jidanni.org wrote:
> Please add this somewhere you feel comfortable with in grub.texi.
> 
> I looked, but cannot find the right place.
> 
> Thank you.
> 
> @Chapter Tips
> @node Forgot the root password
> One place when grub can come in very handy is when one forgot the root
> password, and hence cannot boot or even shutdown the system. Use
> @example
> linux	/boot/vmlinuz-... root=... rw init=/bin/sh
> initrd	/boot/initrd.img-...
> @end example
> The key is the "rw init=/bin/sh". (And after editing /etc/passwd to change
> root's :x: to ::, be sure not to just exit the shell, but hit
> CTRL-ALT-DEL, else one has to push the reset button.)

and I think that better type "sync" to synchronize the buffers.

Also, I'm not sure if this should be in the Grub "Chapter Tips" (because
it's half Grub related, half Linux related) (so, maybe would be
useful but I wonder if it's the correct place)

What other people thinks?

-- 
Carles Pina i Estany		GPG id: 0x17756391
	http://pinux.info

Re: [semi-PATCH] grub.texi: emergency booting without root passwd

[Vesa Jääskeläinen]

Carles Pina i Estany wrote:
> Hello,
> 
> (I'm not Grub expert)
> 
> On Dec/27/2008, jidanni@jidanni.org wrote:
>> Please add this somewhere you feel comfortable with in grub.texi.
>>
>> I looked, but cannot find the right place.
>>
>> Thank you.
>>
>> @Chapter Tips
>> @node Forgot the root password
>> One place when grub can come in very handy is when one forgot the root
>> password, and hence cannot boot or even shutdown the system. Use
>> @example
>> linux	/boot/vmlinuz-... root=... rw init=/bin/sh
>> initrd	/boot/initrd.img-...
>> @end example
>> The key is the "rw init=/bin/sh". (And after editing /etc/passwd to change
>> root's :x: to ::, be sure not to just exit the shell, but hit
>> CTRL-ALT-DEL, else one has to push the reset button.)
> 
> and I think that better type "sync" to synchronize the buffers.
> 
> Also, I'm not sure if this should be in the Grub "Chapter Tips" (because
> it's half Grub related, half Linux related) (so, maybe would be
> useful but I wonder if it's the correct place)
> 
> What other people thinks?

First of all it does not work with every Linux distribution and secondly
I do not see that we should take any side how to enter to Linux
installations without proper authentication...

So you are free to keep information like this on the web, but not as
part of official grub distribution...