Re: Sarge system now refusing all login attempts

[Kent West <westk@acu.edu>]

Carl Fink wrote:

> I apt-get updated the system this morning.  I now find that I can't
> do anything that requires login authentication.  I noticed it when a
> sudo attempt just hung forever.  Checking discovered that I can't
> sign on as either root or a user, at any prompt including VT's (which
> would rule out an X problem).  Any such attempt just hangs
> indefinitely.
>
> Everything else works fine.  I can open new xterms in my current X
> session, for instance.  Load is low.
>
> I'm afraid to reboot, because I might be permanently locked out.
>
> Any suggestions?  I'm downloading a current Knoppix CD right now to
> use as a boot disk if I can't get it bootable again, but that would
> be very annoying.
>
> Thanks.
>  
You might try to ssh in; if the problem is in PAM, I believe different 
modules are used for ssh authentication than for console authentication. 
This won't really gain you anything except perhaps a new clue or two.

--
Kent