set root password

[Tom Deblauwe <tom.deblauwe@telenet.be>]

Hello,

I was using a script to set the root password, it just contained this code:

echo "mypassword_\$123" | chpasswd

Now the problem is that now I can login as root with multiple passwords:

mypassword_$

works, and

mypassword_$123

works, and

mypassword_$12345

works. So anything I put after the $ sign is ignored by the login prompt 
it seems, and it allows me access in the console.

Is there another way, or maybe I should just drop the dollar sign 
altogether?

Best regards,
Tom,