I have mint18 cinnamon installed on my Toshiba Satellite C850 and can remember the password but can't remember the username.

stringybark · 12-20-2017, 06:59 PM

Hello all, I have mint18 cinnamon installed on

my Toshiba Satellite C850 and can remember the

password but can't remember the username. Is

there any way to either retrieve or set up a

new one, your help would be much appreciated,

cheers.
stringybark

hydrurga · 12-20-2017, 07:31 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by stringybark

Hello all, I have mint18 cinnamon installed on

my Toshiba Satellite C850 and can remember the

password but can't remember the username. Is

there any way to either retrieve or set up a

new one, your help would be much appreciated,

cheers.
stringybark

Is the username, or a list of usernames, not shown on the main login screen? It should be.

stringybark · 12-20-2017, 07:45 PM

No, when I switch on it requires me to put in a password then it does its magic and a new page comes which requires me to press f1 which then brings up a username log in window and when I get it wrong a message in red at the top right of the page tells me to select the correct caps, and on it goes.

Emerson · 12-20-2017, 07:48 PM

You may need to boot in single user mode or from live CD. Then you can do

Code:

ls /home/

and you'll see the home directories, named after users.

stringybark · 12-20-2017, 07:55 PM

Is that, Is /home/ can I use any live cd or does it need to be mint?

TheEzekielProject · 12-20-2017, 11:12 PM

Any live cd should be fine. You just need to see the name(s) listed under /home

stringybark · 12-21-2017, 01:17 AM

Sorry I'm a bit slow to pick up here, where do I type /home when I start fatdog?

_roman_ · 12-21-2017, 08:50 AM

open a shell. also called terminal sometimes. this needs a basic knowledge on how to work with a linux shell. usually around 10 pages to read in any linux book. This usually also covers also /etc/passwd /etc/shadow. how a user is created, deleted and such.

mount your linux partition => e.g. gentoo wiki / arch linux wiki on how to do that

ls -alh /home

--

you can also look into

cat /etc/passwd

or

cat /etc/shadow

DavidMcCann · 12-21-2017, 11:44 AM

Using a live disk, mount the first partition of the hard drive and then use the
cat /etc/passwd
in the terminal emulator. The last entry is usually the one you want, so mine has
david:x:500:501:David McCann:/home/david:/bin/bash
My user name, IDs, real name, home directory, and choice of shell. The only thing you don't get in passwd is the password!

jefro · 12-21-2017, 02:48 PM

I'd use a modern live cd and use file manager to access the original drive. Then navigate to /home and see what users exist there.

stringybark · 12-21-2017, 05:19 PM

Thanks all for your suggestions, this will take me a while, win or lose I'll get back and let you know. Cheers, and all the best for Christmas!

stringybark · 12-29-2017, 07:20 PM

Thanks for all your help, I was unable to find a way in, probably my ineptness so I installed SYLVIA which seems to be running ok, didn't have too much to lose so life's good. Cheers and all the best for New Year!