lost root password

[tripolar <tripolar@comcast.net>]

while installing sarge on my parents pc using new installer ( sweet!!) when it 
came to typing in root password I typed it twice in same line but didnt 
notice until it came for me to verify my typing again. I left the second line 
blank thinking when i rebooted there would be no password and could easily 
add root password then.
No suck luck. rebooted and tried one instance of root passwd and two instances 
of root passwd. no luck. cant log in.
I rebooted there machine with a knoppix cd, mounted the harddrive read-write, 
used vi to edit /etc/shadow & /etc/passwd
to reset root password.
still no luck
what am i missing?
Thanks