Password reset for the user name "User"

[marypoppins]

Dear Linux Mint Developers!

When I tried to install my HP printer, I recognized that due to my password the installation is SLOW. Therefore I went to the Linux support blog, and looked for a process how to delete my password.
Unfortunately my main user name is "User".
So when I wanted to reestablish my password in the GRUB, and edited the lines, so added rw ..... et cetera as described, the UNIX told me, the "User" user does not exists.
So I can not go and change my password for the main user, because the main user name is "User" and the program starts a loop, and only can reestablish the password for unix itself.

Would you please

Instruct me, how can I recover the password for my main user named "User", because the reinstallation of linux mint is also not working, and I need to use my computer as Guest.

Please also provide a tool - so probably change the mandatory character number required for a password from 1 to ZERO - that if I do not want to use passwords on my laptop, I should not be forced by the program.

Thanks a lot. in advance

my email address is: [removed because we have a PM system and we don't want you to get spammed] and I will be happy if I can receive instructions and bug solution
Thanks!

Mary Poppins

[Moem]

Please also provide a tool - so probably change the mandatory character number required for a password from 1 to ZERO - that if I do not want to use passwords on my laptop, I should not be forced by the program.

That jumped out at me because it's a really bad idea and I hope no one here will help you do it.

[Cosmo.]

Your user name is definitely not "User". It is possible to set it to be like that as display name, but for the technical user name no capitalized letters are allowed. So it may be possible, that it is "user". You can find this out by entering in the terminal ls -l ..; the actual used name will be displayed here.

Changing the password is easy, you have possibly a simple graphical tool to do this. But the problem is, that you did not give the least system specs.
What is your version of Mint and what is the desktop environment? If you don't know open a terminal and enter:

Code: Select all

inxi -Sz

Paste the output here.

You need to give this information for every help request in every thread.
Do not forget this in the future.

You addressed your post to the developers. You can be sure, that the developers will not even think one second about removing the need for a password. The security of Linux systems is based on a (good) password. (And you can also be sure, that by providing your e-mail address you will get nothing else than spam; not by the Mint people, but by spammers.)

[marypoppins]

Thanks a lot. My username name was User. And út worked perfectly when I deleted my password ín the command line.
Ín the meantime I logged into grub tó try to recover my password. Linux Mint 18 Sylvia.
None of the command worked! None of them.

So now I even do not have internet connecting on my laptop.

Linux Mint is creepy full of bugs, full of errors so I Will just forget it and go for Debian.

Linux mint is betatesting, and I paid for it legally for a creepy Samsung deploy file, legal version and it socks. It's just an advertisment.

Best regards
Etelka from Hungary, Europe.

[Flemur]

Your user name is definitely not "User".

??

Code: Select all

$ sudo adduser User        
adduser: Please enter a username matching the regular expression configured
via the NAME_REGEX[_SYSTEM] configuration variable.  Use the `--force-badname'
option to relax this check or reconfigure NAME_REGEX.
$
$ sudo useradd User
$ sudo grep User /etc/passwd
User:x:1001:1001::/home/User:
$
$ sudo passwd User
...
$ su User
Password: 
$ whoami
User
$ 

adduser doesn't like "User" but
useradd likes it OK.

[Cosmo.]

If you delete something, than you are the bug.

And even if you repeat it: Your user name is with guarantee not "User". No Linux would accept this.

[Cosmo.]

I consider this as a bug, at least as bad design. You could do the same with adduser by using the option in the error message (I do intentionally no repeat t by word here). Using something wrong does not get better, if there is some way to do it wrong.

adduser is a frontend for useradd (see man adduser). If a user uses the not recommended backend directly, he cannot expect, that he can later use any other frontend for proceeding

[Flemur]

If you delete something, than you are the bug.
And even if you repeat it: Your user name is with guarantee not "User". No Linux would accept this.

I don't get it - I created a user called "User" in Mint 18.3.
Try it:

Code: Select all

sudo useradd User

Edit: our posts overlapped.

man adduser ->
"adduser and addgroup add users and groups to the system according to command line options and configuration information in /etc/adduser.conf."
but in adduser.conf the name check seems to be commented out, even though it seemed to work (or am I mis-reading the "#"?):

Code: Select all

# check user and group names also against this regular expression.
#NAME_REGEX="^[a-z][-a-z0-9_]*\$"

[Moem]

Linux mint is betatesting, and I paid for it legally for a creepy Samsung deploy file, legal version and it socks. It's just an advertisment.

I'm not sure why you paid for something that can be downloaded for free. And I disagree that Linux Mint is full of bugs. But we all like what we like and we all get to choose what we use.
Your computer is your castle, you can rule over it the way you want, and I hope Debian will make you happier.

[austin.texas]

Please do this.

What is your version of Mint and what is the desktop environment? If you don't know open a terminal and enter:

Code: Select all

inxi -Sz

Paste the output here.

[JerryF]

...
When I tried to install my HP printer, I recognized that due to my password the installation is SLOW.

The installation speed has nothing to do with your password.

...
Therefore I went to the Linux support blog, and looked for a process how to delete my password.
Unfortunately my main user name is "User".
So when I wanted to reestablish my password in the GRUB, and edited the lines, so added rw ..... et cetera as described, the UNIX told me, the "User" user does not exists.
So I can not go and change my password for the main user, because the main user name is "User" and the program starts a loop, and only can reestablish the password for unix itself.

You may have typed "User" when you created your user name, but in the system all usernames are recognized as lowercase.

...
Would you please Instruct me, how can I recover the password for my main user named "User", because the reinstallation of linux mint is also not working, and I need to use my computer as Guest.

You can change the password for "user" by using a Live Linux Mint DVD/USB.

Try this article on changing the password of any user:
https://mintguide.org/system/248-reset- ... -mint.html

Don't forget: use all lowercase for "user".

...
my email address is: [removed because we have a PM system and we don't want you to get spammed] and I will be happy if I can receive instructions and bug solution
Thanks!

If you want someone to contact you, they can do it through the forum. On the right-side of the screen, under your name, Level #, etc. there is a Contact icon that members can use to contact you securely.

[catweazel]

Linux Mint is creepy full of bugs, full of errors so I Will just forget it and go for Debian.

A bad plumber always blames his tools.

[jimallyn]

Probably no point in anybody commenting further. I think marypoppins is just one of those people who come here to grumble and promote some other distro. Sign up, make one or two posts, and move one.

[JerryF]

Probably no point in anybody commenting further. I think marypoppins is just one of those people who come here to grumble and promote some other distro. Sign up, make one or two posts, and move one.

We'll see...

[Flemur]

You may have typed "User" when you created your user name, but in the system all usernames are recognized as lowercase.

They're not all lower case:

Code: Select all

$ sudo useradd User
$ sudo passwd User
Enter new UNIX password: 
Retype new UNIX password: 
passwd: password updated successfully
$
$ su user
No passwd entry for user 'user'
$ 
$ su User
Password: 
User@machine $ whoami
User

[Cosmo.]

The option (for adduser) badname should be understandable. If you do this, you get it.

The Linux command line assumes, that the user is smart and that he knows, what he is doing. This includes the possibility to do something bad. The fact, that bad things can be done with the wrong command or the wrong option does not make things better.

But regarding the OP:

We'll see...

... or see not.

[Ozo]

Linux Mint is creepy full of bugs, full of errors so I Will just forget it and go for Debian.

Linux mint is betatesting, and I paid for it legally for a creepy Samsung deploy file, legal version and it socks. It's just an advertisment.

Best regards
Etelka from Hungary, Europe.

They use the word "creepy" a lot Hmmm. Betatesting? They say " I paid for it legally for a creepy Samsung deploy file" which makes me wonder. Also, no offense to honest citizens, but Eastern Europe is a little hinky at best for buying software even if you are paying for something that is normally free. Did that make any sense at all?