Tell me more ×
Ask Ubuntu is a question and answer site for Ubuntu users and developers. It's 100% free, no registration required.
up vote 0 down vote favorite

Possible Duplicate:
How do I reset a lost administrative password?

I just installed Ubuntu 12.04 from USB (new install, new partition) and used special characters in my password, as suggested in another post on askubuntu:

  • Lowercase Alphabetical (a, b, c, etc.)
  • Uppercase Alphabetical (A, B, C, etc.)
  • Numerics (0, 1, 2, etc.)
  • Special Characters (@, %, !, etc.)

The installation finished correctly (good job by the way, much impressive), and upon reboot, the username/password didn't match.

I tried Camelcase my username and lowercase username. I tried different combinations of "maybe sticky/faulty keyboard". Fail.

I tried login from tty. Fail.

The installation was very basic using defaults (when available). English US install, English US keyboard, etc.

Just before I re-install, and out of curiosity, did I do something wrong ? Is it a bug ?

share|improve this question
Thanks, @Web-E, your link "How do I reset a lost admin password" helped. It's still weird, I used the same password I have on another Windows machine. The difference is that it's a tiny netbook on a stool, I probably entered the same mistake twice when I created the password in the first place. When creating an account, would a "show password" button help? Thanks anyhow. – Patrice Calvé Sep 20 '12 at 18:27

marked as duplicate by Web-E, Mik, Call me V, Jorge Castro, Tom Brossman Sep 20 '12 at 19:12

This question has been asked before and already has an answer. If those answers do not fully address your question, please ask a new question.

1 Answer

up vote 1 down vote

That's typical. Apart from the fact that one forgets such password easily, they can cause problems when keyboard layout changes.

Please read this comic. Passwords that only contain easy to remember phrases without any special characters need not be easy to break -- if they are long enough.

Through 20 years of effort, we've successfully trained everyone to use passwords that are hard for humans to remember but easy for computers to guess.

share|improve this answer

Not the answer you're looking for? Browse other questions tagged or ask your own question.