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So, I have been learning PostgreSQL and messing around with creating DB's, users, and switching between both with Konsole. Last night, I shut down the computer with the command 'shutdown now'. After a while, the session appeared to have logged out and hung at a blank, black screen. After viewing this for a few moments, I think that something is wrong and go to turn off the computer using a hard shutdown. Once holding the power button for a second or two, I see the Kubuntu splash back on the screen, but by the time I let go of the power button, the computer is off.

Okay, flash-forward to this morning - I start the computer and the only login option available is Guest. My user account is simply not visible, only Guest. In 'User and Group Settings' my admin account is still there. I'm guessing that all of my files are still in '/home', but I cannot access the directory as guest. I cannot 'su' into my user either.

OH! Also, I have no grub screen. I accidentaly deleted a small partition that I believe belonged to Windows 8.1 while resizing for the Manjaro distro (which I started with a few weeks ago). That no longer allowed me to see my Windows partition on the grub screen. Then, when I deleted my Manjaro partition completely and moved to Kubuntu for better support/documentation/linux-noob-friendliness, the grub screen was completely gone.

How do I get access back to my admin account? I am doing a project for and need to be familiar with SQL/PostgreSQL in a few months, so I would like to get back to my learning endeavors.

Thank you all for your time and effort!

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  • I ended up reinstalling. Couldn't afford too much more time and I had everything backed up.
    – Brilliant Byrd
    Aug 4, 2015 at 15:49

1 Answer 1

Reset to default
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  1. Restart machine
  2. In grub menu choose advanced option
  3. Select "recovery" item
  4. In window menu choose "root"
  5. Type: passwd user_name
  6. reboot

Your grub menu is probably hidden - so you need to use keyboard (ESC) to see it :-)

You can also use live-cd distro to do this task. mount your "/" partition (let say: /media/sda1), and use chroot /media/sda1. Then type passwd user_name and done.

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  • Thanks! But, I forgot to mention that I do not have a grub screen, lol. I edited my question to reflect the steps that put me in this position.
    – Brilliant Byrd
    Aug 3, 2015 at 15:17
  • Okay, I used ESC to get grub and got to root. When I try to change the password I get an authentication error and the password remains unchanged. I reboot and 'Guest' is still the only visible iodine option. Any other suggestions? Thanks again.
    – Brilliant Byrd
    Aug 3, 2015 at 15:30
  • When you are logged as a root - try to use "passwd" (without user name) and set root password. That enable root account on your machine. Then run as normal, don't log in lightdm, but type: crtl+alt_f1, then log-in as a root with your new password, then passwd user_name MUST work.
    – iacobus
    Aug 3, 2015 at 15:43
  • I got through all of the steps, but I still only see the Guest account on the lightdm. Thank you for your effort and I welcome any other suggestions.
    – Brilliant Byrd
    Aug 3, 2015 at 15:59
  • Strange. Can you add new user as a root (adduser new_user_name) and try to login. As a root you can also check in command line if your data is still on hard drive and make a backup on USB.
    – iacobus
    Aug 3, 2015 at 16:04

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