Trouble!

[grandad]

Hi Guy's. Guess I am in trouble this time and no mistake. Walted to remove Debian from my two boot system (shared with XP) made a hash of deleting Grub and ended up not being able to access anything. Fortunately I have the Knoppix Live CD and loaded it in. Need to use the Root terminal but for some reason I cannot remember the password. I have tried all those I use on Debian but to no avail. I have tried typing init=/bin/sh at boot but it does nothing just stops. I need to get into Root to do anything and without being able to bypass the password am truly stuck. Can anyone help me out? Many thanks for all and anything that can be done. Grandad

[krishna.murphy]

Hi Guy's. Guess I am in trouble this time and no mistake. Walted to remove Debian from my two boot system (shared with XP) made a hash of deleting Grub and ended up not being able to access anything. Fortunately I have the Knoppix Live CD and loaded it in. Need to use the Root terminal but for some reason I cannot remember the password. I have tried all those I use on Debian but to no avail. I have tried typing init=/bin/sh at boot but it does nothing just stops. I need to get into Root to do anything and without being able to bypass the password am truly stuck. Can anyone help me out? Many thanks for all and anything that can be done. Grandad

Knoppix does not have a root password unless you set one. If you boot the CD/DVD and then wait until you can type (before it finishes booting, big penguin still on screen) try this:

knoppix 2

This will give you a root terminal command line. Another option is to let it boot all the way to the desktop, then click (Main menu)-Accessories-Root Terminal. You probably will want to mount the filesystem you are trying to work on, which can be done by clicking the partitions' icon in the file manager (folder icon on the toolbar.

Cheers!
Krishna
p.s. You might want to make a GRUB boot disk to fix the problem; Knoppix will allow you to search the web for more information and write/burn a disk.

[Capricorny]

I think this is a problem "naturally" occurring often when we start restructuring a multi-boot system without a good master plan. It would be nice if you, grandad, come back and tell us how you fixed the problem. If I had run into such a problem today, I think I would have tried booting a USB harddisk/stick with GRUB installed and Knoppix, made a small boot partition on the HD and reinstalled GRUB there, with the chainloader+1 trick to start WinXP.

[grandad]

Hi Guy's. Yes, I made a right old mess of things and hadn't a clue as to how to rectify it. With hindsight I would have made a back-up pf my MBR, Grub, Lilo or whateverbefore I started. But in my haste I didn't. After I made my request for help I checked in, but there were no replies and I put it down to being Saturday. I don't know why, but I just got this mad impulse (dangerous thing at 77 years of age) and dug out my Debian disks. Placed disk one in the drive and switched on. Would you believe it, Debian came up and began to install the software. I let it run though to where it was partitioning the hard drive. Made a right mess of partitioning, as I knew I would and switched off the computer. Switched it back on again and.....Hey Presto.....there was my Win XP in all it's glory. Checked it all out and as far as I can see everything is fine. Fortunately I had copied over all my important web addresses. All I have lost are a few hundred personal address in my e-mail set-up, but this is a small price to pay. You guy's are a great encouragement and I want to thank you all for being there, ready to help in time of need. Many many thanks. Grandad.