Installation broken after update (13.1)

So I noticed this evening that I couldn’t log in to YaST with my root password. Interestingly enough, there was a security update that just popped up, so thinking I had a bug, I installed that. It was an update for bind and some security update. It wants me to restart, so I do.

System boots, enter LVM password as usual, system refuses to start X, and I still can’t log in as root in the console. I am running 13.1 and I use LVM encryption.

I don’t really have many other details to give, I am very frustrated though because I have an assignment due tomorrow and this is the last thing I need.

Any ideas?

This could be caused by strange characters in the password, like quotes f.e.

Try to add “init=/bin/sh” to the kernel boot oprions and change the root password with “passwd”. (press ‘e’ at the boot menu, search for a line starting with “linux” and append “init=/bin/sh” at the end, then press ‘F10’ to boot)
Can you login then?

Regarding X, there was a kernel update.
If you use a proprietary graphics driver installed “the hard way” (i.e. by downloading it from their website), you have to reinstall it.

Try to select recovery mode in the boot menu (under “Advanced Options”), you should get to a graphical session then.
Or remove/rename /etc/X11/xorg.conf if it exists.

On 2014-02-07 07:16, NeoTerra wrote:
> System boots, enter LVM password as usual, system refuses to start X,
> and I still can’t log in as root in the console. I am running 13.1 and I
> use LVM encryption.

Does it allow to log in text mode as user, then “su” to root?


Cheers / Saludos,

Carlos E. R.

(from 13.1 x86_64 “Bottle” (Minas Tirith))

No it does not. I can log in via console as a regular user but using su to access root does not work. It will not accept my password either.

Re: the password, I do have a password with special characters in it (#, $, !, *, ( etc.), but I didn’t know this could cause trouble. I tried to log in via the recovery console, yet X didn’t work either.

On 2014-02-07 17:06, NeoTerra wrote:

> No it does not. I can log in via console as a regular user but using su
> to access root does not work. It will not accept my password either.

Well, try what wolfi323 said. If not, try here:

SDB:Recover
root password

But as you are using an encrypted LVM, that’s a complication.

Perhaps:

View this thread:
http://forums.opensuse.org/showthread.php?t=494797
http://forums.opensuse.org/showthread.php?t=495141


Cheers / Saludos,

Carlos E. R.

(from 13.1 x86_64 “Bottle” (Minas Tirith))

I reset my root password as wolfi323 suggested, and all is well now. Thankfully this wasn’t a LVM issue, as that would have been a real headache.

Thank you all for your help.