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[Blandroid]

Hi Everyone and apologies in advance for this long(ish) first post,

I just found this forum on a Google search and really hope someone can help me.  I bought a Desktop cased Mini-ITX PC (4GB 250GB) from eBay recently which has Debian 7 on it and the seller didn't tell me was password protected.  I contacted him afterwards and because he wasn't able to help, he refunded my money and said I could keep it - which was good of him.  I have been on YouTube and found videos about how to reset the root password by typing in init=/bin/bash in the appropriate place, which I understand and am able to do without difficulty.  However, I've never been able to attempt the next step (typing in mount -rw -o remount) because at that point, my keyboard stops working completely as if the PC no longer recognises that it's attached via USB

I've ordered a USB/PS2 converter (stupidly didn't realise it's coming from China so it hasn't been delivered yet) and hope maybe that will help but if that doesn't solve my problems does anyone have any other ideas please that I could try or is there another way entirely to get round this password issue?

Thanks so much 

[Mark Greaves (PCNetSpec)]

Yes ..

a) boot to a Debian LiveCD/LiveUSB

b) mount your Debian partition with something like:

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mount /dev/sda1 /mnt
(where /dev/sda1 is the Debian / partition on the HDD)

c) chroot into it

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chroot /mnt

d) change your password

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passwd <username>
(where <username> is the username of the account who's password you want to change)

e) exit chroot (Ctrl+D)

f) reboot to the HDD.

[Blandroid]

Hi Mark - thanks for the reply.
I have another few issues - first of which is that I'm not really that familiar with Linux additionally, the PC doesn't have a disk drive at all.  I've already tried booting it from the USB to install W7 but it won't and now that option is no longer even showing in the boot options menu.
I think I'm starting to understand why the seller was glad to see the back of it and didn't demand it's return!

[Mark Greaves (PCNetSpec)]

You've lost me there...

Do you mean it has no CD/DVD drive ?

And do you mean you mean you had created a Win7 USB stick with something like:
http://www.microsoftstore.com/store/msusa/html/pbPage.Help_Win7_usbdvd_dwnTool (http://www.microsoftstore.com/store/msusa/html/pbPage.Help_Win7_usbdvd_dwnTool)
but it no longer shows as a bootable device in the boot device selection screen ?

Have you changed any BIOS settings ?

[Blandroid]

No, yes and no 

[Mark Greaves (PCNetSpec)]

Do you know how to add e kernel boot parameter ?

If so, try adding

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acpi=off
and see if your keyboard works now when you run:

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mount -o rw remount /

[Blandroid]

Thanks for trying to help me Mark - really appreciated.  But as I feared, it's all a bit too involved for someone like me who doesn't really understand Linux so I think I'm going to just give it to a charity shop.  I'm sure someone with the requisite skills etc will enjoy bringing it back to life.

Thanks again

[Mark Greaves (PCNetSpec)]

Okey dokey .. all the best

[SeZo]

Can you follow instructions?
If yes, then somebody will walk you through (step by step). No need to give up just yet.
What is your target?
a) Get the existing Debian 7 going
b) Install a Linux distro over the existing OS
c) Install Win 7 & a Linux  OS (dual boot)
d) Install Win 7 only

As for the fail to boot from the Win7 USB, is it actually bootable?
How are you trying to boot from USB, please describe.

[Blandroid]

Hi SeZo
Oh I follow instructions just fine and can flash roms on android devices etc (I've done about 7 so far) so not a complete tech newbie
I really wanted to put W7 on it but dual boot sounds cool and I keep thinking my android hacking life would be made easier if I were to learn more about Linux.....this could be the answer.
It's no problem at all for me to follow step-by-step guides as I do it all the time and if someone was kind enough to do that with me, I'd be over the moon!

[Mark Greaves (PCNetSpec)]

Have you got access to another Windows PC (to create a Debian LiveUSB if necessary) ?

If so, have you checked to see if the WIn7 USB stick is bootable on that PC ?
(just to check it's not corrupt)

Does the USB stick show up in the BIOS of the Debian PC ?

Has the USB stick EVER shown up in the boot device selection screen of the Debian PC ?

Can you get access to a USB CD/DVD drive .. even if it's only to borrow ?



Earlier, you said your keyboard dies when you attempt to enter the "remount" command .. is it dead BEFORE you enter that command, or does it die WHILST entering it ?

Have you got access to a PS/2 keyboard (not an adapter) ? .. even if it's only to borrow.

Does the USB keyboard allow you to access/edit the GRUB bootloader menu screen ?

Are you sure there's no BIOS setting to enable USB keyboard or "Legacy USB" or similar ?

[Blandroid]

Have you got access to another Windows PC (to create a Debian LiveUSB if necessary) ?  Yes I have - that's not a problem


If so, have you checked to see if the WIn7 USB stick is bootable on that PC ?
(just to check it's not corrupt)Yes - checked and fine....working correctly

Does the USB stick show up in the BIOS of the Debian PC ? No, not at all.  There's 7 ports (3 front, 4 rear) and I've tried every single one.


Has the USB stick EVER shown up in the boot device selection screen of the Debian PC ? Yes, the first time I tried to boot into it but not since

Can you get access to a USB CD/DVD drive .. even if it's only to borrow ?

I was going to buy one as they're not expensive - my concern was that the USB ports might be busted so it wouldn't work anyway?

Earlier, you said your keyboard dies when you attempt to enter the "remount" command .. is it dead BEFORE you enter that command, or does it die WHILST entering it ? The keyboard is absolutely fine and fully operational, until I try to enter that command and it's as though someone has plugged it out.  It then works perfectly well again afterwards.

Have you got access to a PS/2 keyboard (not an adapter) ? .. even if it's only to borrow. No.  Nobody that I know has one anymore

Does the USB keyboard allow you to access/edit the GRUB bootloader menu screen ? Yes - I've managed to do that in order to get as far as I have done

Are you sure there's no BIOS setting to enable USB keyboard or "Legacy USB" or similar ? Legacy device is showing and I tried to Google how that might be useful to me, but wasn't able to find anything that made sense to me.

[Mark Greaves (PCNetSpec)]

OK, in Debian when you access the GRUB menu is there an option to boot into (Recovery Mode) or similar ?

If so, use thed arrow keys to highlight it .. then hit the "Enter" key to boot into it

Hopefully you'll get to a screen with an option to "Drop to a root shell prompt" (or similar) .. select that and hit enter.

Hopefully you'll end up at an "#" prompt.

If so, enter:

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mount -o rw remount /
and hit enter.

If all goes well, enter:

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passwd <username>
(where <username> is the actual username of the user account who's password you want to change .. eg. 'passwd mark')

You will be prompted for the new password .. type it in and hit enter.
BE AWARE, when typing in the new password you will NOT see anything echoed to screen (not even ******) but it IS going in, so just type it in then hit enter.

You will be prompted to re-enter it .. type it in again and hit enter

It should tell you the password was successfully changed.



I don't think the USB ports are dead, particularly if you're using a USB keyboard.

Have you tried a different USB stick ?

[Blandroid]

Hi Mark,

I explained in my OP that I've attempted to type that command already, but the keyboard stops working at that point.

In any event, I've now invested just under £14.00 to get it up-and-running - I've ordered an external DVD/CD drive, a copy of Debian 7 32-bit and a PS2 keyboard.

I figured that it's a reasonable thing to do, given that the PC hasn't cost me anything (apart from time) and I can always resell the items on eBay if I don't  manage to get it working.

Thanks for all your help.

I'll try again once I've received all the bits 

[Blandroid]

Hi Anyone,

Me again - still not able to get around my password issue.

I now have a PS2 keyboard (which works fine and doesn't suddenly die) and I've gotten as far as typing the mount -o -rw remount / command but when I type passwd and get the Enter new UNIX password line (which I do) and then Retype new UNIX password (which I have) I get the following:

passwd: Authentication token manipulation error
passwd: password unchanged
[email protected](none):/#

and a flashing cursor at the end.

Any other ideas anyone?

Thanks