password problems (i've read the sticky)

Quote:

i've tried using "knoppix".

It isn't "knoppix". Forget that. That's folklore, and I don't know where it started - possibly with other distros. Unfortunately, I've seen it posted before, and well-meaning people like you who are trying your best to help yourself before you ask others for help stumble across it. But, since I'm not a mod, I can't edit or destroy those errant posts. Hopefully, someone who is will.

Quote:

i havent been offered to create one during startup

Knoppix will not prompt you to change or define the root password during boot from a CD. It isn't designed to do that, so the fact that it doesn't holds no diagnostic value.

Quote:

The passw command mentioned in the sticky asks me for the current password.

The command is "passwd", not "passw". You must invoke it as root (stands to reason that you have to be logged in as root to change the root password, right?). So, you need to type "sudo passwd" at a console command prompt ("sudo" being the command allowing an ordinary user to invoke a root command, such as passwd). The terminal will ask you to type the root password - meaning the new one that you select. No characters will appear as you type it. You then hit Enter, and it will return exactly the same prompt, and you type it again. If you do it right, it will say password successfully changed, or words to that effect.

I understand your confusion, because the way the terminal prompts for the password seems to suggest that it wants the old root password, which is typically the way passwords are changed in Windows, websites, and many *nix installations. Then, when it doesn't echo the characters you type, or print asterisks, and asks the same exact question again, it almost seems as if you did it wrong. It's not wrong - it's just that the UI stinks for this function, but it isn't a big priority, because it's assumed that anyone needing to change the root password will be accustomed to this quirk, and it serves as kind of a barrier against people who shouldn't be messing with root passwords.

HTH, jd