It almost seems that starting just after I received my PineBook Pro in the second quarter of 2020, it has be plagued with log-in and password problems. At present, I am trying to reinstall the current version of the Manjaro operating system on the laptop. It will boot and get to the login screen, then the first problem arrives: the USERNAME is correct, but the PASSWORD always seems to fail. Earlier, can't remember exactly when, there were some instructions on how to find and/or reset the initial passwords that are set during the first boot process. I remember seeing, and using, those instructions once. But right now, I can't remember the key combinations required to interrupt the boot process and get badk into the install process. Any help would be welcome.
Thank you.
James Good
11-13-2020, 02:48 PM
(This post was last modified: 11-13-2020, 02:52 PM by wdt.)
This not at all clear,, are you trying to boot emmc or SD, do you have some boot at all?
Some generalities
1) check that what you are typing is what you are getting, type password in 1st field
Don't hit enter, backspace it away, also check root password
2) if you remember root password, that is the easiest. root can change any password,,
passwd $USER and follow prompts
3) the nuclear option, blank password by editing etc/shadow (on right device)
field separators are ":" (colon),, make 2nd field blank (ordinarily 40-60 chars, hashed password)
as so,,,,,root::more fields OR $USER::more fields
(11-13-2020, 02:48 PM)wdt Wrote: This not at all clear,, are you trying to boot emmc or SD, do you have some boot at all?
Some generalities
1) check that what you are typing is what you are getting, type password in 1st field
Don't hit enter, backspace it away, also check root password
2) if you remember root password, that is the easiest. root can change any password,,
passwd $USER and follow prompts
3) the nuclear option, blank password by editing etc/shadow (on right device)
field separators are ":" (colon),, make 2nd field blank (ordinarily 40-60 chars, hashed password)
as so,,,,,root::more fields OR $USER::more fields Actually, there are at least two problems I am having with the laptop that you have mentioned: eMMC and the passwords (both root and user). When I ordered the PBP, it came standard with 64GB of eMMC installed but with a 128 eMMC module available as an option. I ordered that option, but have not yet installed that module. The passwords are a more pressing issue for me. Simply because I am not able to get to a terminal screen on the laptop to make the changes you suggest. At one time in the past, I thought there had been a key or key combination that could be pressed at power on that would bypass the login screen and restart the initial 'first boot' sequence where you (the user) would set the time zone information, the keyboard layout, the desired language, then the username and the user password. The original password, if memory is correct, was 'root' but even that does not help getting into the laptop. Thank you for the suggestions here. I will print them for future help if needed again.
James Good
11-13-2020, 03:22 PM
(This post was last modified: 11-13-2020, 03:27 PM by wdt.)
Maybe you mean"esc" when you see "spinner" on 1st boot
But now, it's installed, all that setup is for 1st boot only, if you could bypass login it would not be secure
So, I'm guessing that you are trying to boot emmc, do you have a bootable SD?
boot SD, mount emmc 2nd partition, edit /mountpoint/etc/shadow (as root/sudo)
I'm also guessing that you don't remember passwords, not a character mapping issue
(11-13-2020, 03:22 PM)wdt Wrote: Maybe you mean"esc" when you see "spinner" on 1st boot
But now, it's installed, all that setup is for 1st boot only, if you could bypass login it would not be secure
So, I'm guessing that you are trying to boot emmc, do you have a bootable SD?
boot SD, mount emmc 2nd partition, edit /mountpoint/etc/shadow (as root/sudo)
I'm also guessing that you don't remember passwords, not a character mapping issue Yes, I have a bootable SD and that is how I have been trying to log in. I have been wanting to make sure the OS was not going to 'act up' before taking the SD card out.
11-15-2020, 07:37 PM
(This post was last modified: 11-15-2020, 07:47 PM by wdt.)
If there is SD card in, likely that is what it booted from (well, uboot from emmc)
Check with lsblk, will show where / and /boot are,,,,, boot0 and boot1 are on emmc
If the etc/shadow (on emmc) is edited, there will be no password, just hit enter (twice)
example, not exact since I don't have manjaro booted (18NNN,, the N stands for number)
root::18NNN:::::: ---,,, this is as I remember, this is with NO password
What you will find when you start is
root:40-to-60-semi-random-chars:18NNN::::: --,, the semi random chars are your hashed password
no spaces
And do make a copy, just in case you screw up, when you have a copy, it ends up that you don't need it,,
and when you don't, often you go "shit, why didn't I make a copy"
(11-15-2020, 07:37 PM)wdt Wrote: If there is SD card in, likely that is what it booted from (well, uboot from emmc)
Check with lsblk, will show where / and /boot are,,,,, boot0 and boot1 are on emmc
If the etc/shadow (on emmc) is edited, there will be no password, just hit enter (twice)
example, not exact since I don't have manjaro booted (18NNN,, the N stands for number)
root::18NNN:::::: ---,,, this is as I remember, this is with NO password
What you will find when you start is
root:40-to-60-semi-random-chars:18NNN::::: --,, the semi random chars are your hashed password
no spaces
And do make a copy, just in case you screw up, when you have a copy, it ends up that you don't need it,,
and when you don't, often you go "shit, why didn't I make a copy" For whatever it might be worth, this morning I attempted to turn the PineBook Pro on after removing the SD card. All prior attempts were with the SD card in the slot on the right side of the keyboard. The net results of the attempt, or test, today was that the power LED does change from RED to GREEN but the screen remains black with nothing visible on the screen. There is no splash screen, no log-in screen, no error message, nothing. I made additional attempts (or tests) first by pressing and holding the Left Shift button while turning the power on and holding the Left Shift until the power LED turns green. This test was repeated twice, the first retest by holding the Ctrl key and the Left Shift at the same time then turning the power on, and the second time by holding the Alt key and the Left Shift then turning the power on. The results in each attempt were the same: Power LED green, screen blank with no splash or log-in screen and no errors. All of these attempts were made with the SD card removed from the computer. To me, this could indicate that either the software is not, or did not get, written to the eMMC and the PBP had in the past been booting from the SD card only. Since I have not been able to do a complete boot, and I am not able to use a USB cable to connect the PBP to a desktop computer running Ubuntu 20.04.1 LTS to try to look at the eMMC and the general file structure on the PBP. Even that attempt failed. The software version on the SD is Manjaro KDE Arm 20.04. Once a few weeks back I attempted to load Ubuntu Cinnamon 18.01, again with no success.
What should I look for and try now? Thank you.
I am a bit confused, so some questions
When you had a login screen with refused passwords that was with no SD card, only emmc?
You have an OK boot with SD?
Do you have a card with mrfixit? (& updated?)
Do try the long presses, hard power off (8+s),, hard reset (20+s)
I am unaware the control, alt, shift have any effect on booting,
maybe you know something I don't??
You should be able to boot from SD, then mount the eMMC and look around on it to see if it's blank. Something like
mount /dev/mmcblk1p2 /mnt
in some terminal emulator, then look in /mnt. Remember to umount /mnt after.
Not to discourage you but there's a big learning curve and learning from mistakes is how I often do it. If there's nothing on the eMMC you should be able to download an image and write it to eMMC. I still use the mrfixit Stretch. Something like
dd if=yourfile.img of=/dev/mmcblk1 bs=1M status=progress
when it finishes shut down and take out the SD. It should boot from the eMMC. Username and password are both rock I think.
If there's anything on the eMMC you want to save, copy it off to the SD while you have it mounted before you overwrite it with the image.
11-17-2020, 08:28 AM
(This post was last modified: 11-17-2020, 08:37 AM by motezart.)
(11-13-2020, 03:06 PM)James Good Wrote: (11-13-2020, 02:48 PM)wdt Wrote: This not at all clear,, are you trying to boot emmc or SD, do you have some boot at all?
Some generalities
1) check that what you are typing is what you are getting, type password in 1st field
Don't hit enter, backspace it away, also check root password
2) if you remember root password, that is the easiest. root can change any password,,
passwd $USER and follow prompts
3) the nuclear option, blank password by editing etc/shadow (on right device)
field separators are ":" (colon),, make 2nd field blank (ordinarily 40-60 chars, hashed password)
as so,,,,,root::more fields OR $USER::more fields Actually, there are at least two problems I am having with the laptop that you have mentioned: eMMC and the passwords (both root and user). When I ordered the PBP, it came standard with 64GB of eMMC installed but with a 128 eMMC module available as an option. I ordered that option, but have not yet installed that module. The passwords are a more pressing issue for me. Simply because I am not able to get to a terminal screen on the laptop to make the changes you suggest. At one time in the past, I thought there had been a key or key combination that could be pressed at power on that would bypass the login screen and restart the initial 'first boot' sequence where you (the user) would set the time zone information, the keyboard layout, the desired language, then the username and the user password. The original password, if memory is correct, was 'root' but even that does not help getting into the laptop. Thank you for the suggestions here. I will print them for future help if needed again.
James Good Quote: I thought there had been a key or key combination that could be pressed at power
Do U mean the TTY? Doesn't look like this was already responded to but maybe? This might not be what U mean as there is no setup guide here just a terminal, and U need to know U're PW to login here too. U can get there with meta (Pine key) + f1 (or f2,f3,f4...) just in case this what U meant.
When I first booted my PBP it went through the setup sequence which is different from this. I don't know how to get back to that setup sequence, which I prob what U are actually asking about.
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