6 ms·
Ask HN: Cannot Login to My Machine With The *Correct* Password [Solved]
I have posted this issue on ServerFault[1] and AskUbuntu[2] but got closed or no answer so far (~18 hours ago)
Here are the facts:
* I ran some stress-tests last night.
* I forgot to reset the logs to minimal.
* When I got this morning, I saw that hard drive is full /dev/sda1.
* Cleaned up the large file (350GB).
* I experienced the machine being a bit slowlier than usual.
* I rebooted the machine.
Since then, when I try to login, the computer shows as if it let me in, and yet, prompt for login again.
If I provide the wrong password on purpose, it shows the usual error. When I provide the right one, it is like an infinite loop.
When I hit Ctrl+Alt+F1 and login at tty1, for instance, all works fine.
From tty1, I tried to setup auto-login as follows:
sudo vim /etc/lightdm/lightdm.conf
autologin-user=<username>
autologin-user-timeout=0
Yet, it doesn't perform the auto login for some reason.
I also tried `startx` from tt1, re-installed `gdm`, `lightdm` but with no help.
All I see is an error at /var/log/lightdm/lightdm.log that the process gdm-greeter get killed
[1] http://askubuntu.com/questions/256344/cannot-login-to-my-machine-using-the-right-password
[2] http://serverfault.com/questions/479126/cannot-login-to-my-machine-using-the-right-password
- hosay123 14y agoSo login succeeds but it kicks you out again immediately? Check /var/log to ensure authentication succeeds. If it does, then something is broken with your X session. Start reading from ~/.Xsession and work outwards. Try replacing your homedir with an empty directory temporarily and see if the X session succeeds. If it does, you know its something in a ~/.dot file, otherwise some recent upgrade has probably broken some system package.
- tzury 14y agomoving home dir shall have the same effect as creating new user and trying to login with it, right? anyway, I just posted, all logs at https://gist.github.com/anonymous/4964986 https://gist.github.com/anonymous/4964986
- hosay123 14y agoFailed to create random directory /tmp/pulse-CcctT9RwKSB1: Permission denied Looks like something bad has happened to file permissions? As root, "chmod 4777 /tmp" and reboot. If a recursive chmod has gone awry and messed up permissions everywhere, that might not be enough.
- tzury 14y agoYOU SAVED MY DAY! that chmod 4777 worked. Thanks a million!
- lutusp 14y ago> If I provide the wrong password on purpose, it shows the usual error. When I provide the right one, it is like an infinite loop. Meaning what? Does it prompt for a login name and password again? Have you tried to enter runlevel 1 and edit the system files? Runlevel 1 basically logs you in as root but without any login required. If the above isn't practical. have you tried to boot from a bootable CD or DVD and edit the system files from the CD/DVD hosted session?
- tzury 14y ago> Meaning what? Does it prompt for a login name and password again? Yes. I get Password Incorrect message immediately. Unlike the other case, which the the screens goes blank fore few seconds before I get the login again without any error messages. I can edit all my system files right now, either locally (on tty1) or from remote using ssh. But have not idea which files I should be editing and to which values.
- lutusp 14y ago>> Meaning what? Does it prompt for a login name and password again? > Yes. I get Password Incorrect message immediately. So boot from a bootable CD or DVD and edit the system files to remove the offending password. Detailed instructions: http://www.cyberciti.biz/tips/what-is-the-best-way-to-edit-etcpasswd-shadow-and-group-files.html http://www.cyberciti.biz/tips/what-is-the-best-way-to-edit-e... Or, enter runlevel 1 and reset your password directly using "passwd". No editing required in this case. Detailed instructions: http://www.debuntu.org/how-to-recover-root-password-under-linux-with-single-user-mode/ http://www.debuntu.org/how-to-recover-root-password-under-li...