[Bug 456183] [NEW] Kubuntu won't accept my password

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Binary package hint: gdm

I'm new to Linux (this is my 4th or 5th day, and my first operating
system other than what Microsoft puts out), so walk me through any fixes
nice and easy.

Using Ubuntu 9.10 beta Karmic Koala with the EXT4 un-encrypted file
system. Couldn't come up with a "package name", whatever that is . . . I
tried the 'apt-cache policy packagename' thingy, and it spat some kind
of error in my face saying it couldn't find a package name. If it's
important, let me know.

I have installed Karmic onto an SD card, and that system is running
flawlessly. So there's nothing wrong with the disc I have etc.

However, every time I install Karmic onto a hard drive, it won't accept
my password when I try to login or authorize something. I have tried
about 16 complete installs to date, and this happens every time.

I'm using the option to use the whole hard drive; not sharing with
another OS. I thought the problem might have been the SATA hardware RAID
setup I have for my Windows install, because GRUB (versions 1 and 2) was
throwing a temper tantrum and refusing to install unless there was only
one drive in the system (separate problem, I know . . .). But
disconnecting/disabling the entire RAID array didn't change anything.

Everything installs okay, but when I go to log-in to the graphical
interface, it won't accept my password. Once, I tried the shell-based
(text-only, whatever you call it) login, and there was no difference in
behavior. As you can imagine, over the course of 16 installs, I've
become very careful about writing the password down and entering it
verbatim, so please don't flood me with spam about Caps-Lock or a bad
memory.

Oddly enough, sometimes when I enter the password very slowly, it works.
Once I'm signed in, whenever I would try to do something that required
root privileges, it would ask for the password again, and it would be
the same story: enter it very slowly, and sometimes it would work.

I've tried a couple different IDE hard drives (old stuff that I had
lying around), and they all do the same thing. I have not tried to
install on any other kind of hard drives (SATA, SCSI, etc.). As I said
before, I have had no trouble with my SD-card-in-a-USB-reader
installation.

I've tried changing the password using the install/boot CD. All seems to
work well at first, and it tells me that the password has been changed.
But when I try to log in, the new password doesn't work either. Once the
password has been changed, I can no longer get through by typing slowly
- the account is completely locked. In order to log in, I have to go
back out to the install/boot CD and create a new account, then go back
to typing the password slowly on the new account.

On a couple of the installs, I tried having Karmic log in automatically
on boot. This works perfectly. However, when I do something which
requires root (drivers, etc.), it of course asks me for my password, and
we're back to square one.

I suppose a guy could enable auto-login and use the install CD to assign
his username admin and root, and then he'd never have to worry about
passwords. But it doesn't address the problem, and doing this is a
security/stability nightmare.

Thanks for any help you can give me.

ProblemType: Bug
Architecture: i386
Date: Tue Oct 20 03:14:07 2009
DistroRelease: Ubuntu 9.10
Package: gdm 2.28.0-0ubuntu8
ProcEnviron:
 LANG=en_CA.UTF-8
 SHELL=/bin/bash
ProcVersionSignature: Ubuntu 2.6.31-11.36-generic
SourcePackage: gdm
Uname: Linux 2.6.31-11-generic i686

** Affects: kdebase-workspace (Ubuntu)
     Importance: Undecided
         Status: New


** Tags: apport-bug i386
-- 
Kubuntu won't accept my password
https://bugs.edge.launchpad.net/bugs/456183
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