Re: Login help

[Angelo Bertolli <angelo@freeshell.org>]

Evan Storer wrote:

> Helpful folks,
> I just got a computer from work that was used by someone a few years 
> ago which runs Debian, and I can't do anything with it since I don't 
> know any usernames or passwords or anything. Is there some kind of 
> override to get past the login screen so I can set up my own account? 
> Any help would be great.
> It says I'm running "Debian GNU/Linux 3.0 ethel tty1" if that 
> information is necessary.

ethel?

Is it booting with GRUB or LILO?
You can send the kernel an argument for whatever init you want (e.g. 1) 
by just appending it to the argument list.  That will get you root 
access as long as GRUB/LILO isn't password protected.  If they are, you 
can try booting from a Debian CD (or Knoppix) and change the password 
for root.  That will work if the BIOS isn't password protected.  
Otherwise, you'll have to take the drive out, put it in another 
computer, and reset the password by hand.