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I bought an Asus 900HA Eee PC a while ago, and when I went to turn it on I discovered it had Ubuntus GRUB version 2.02 installed and password locked (I do not know the actual software version). There was nothing indicating what the password was, and I have no idea how any of Ubuntu works. Am I able to bypass or reset the password? Do I have to swap drives and RAM? What can I do?

Rinzwind
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Dev
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  • I don't know what Ubuntu 2.02 is, but you should be able to do it without swapping hardware. – Irsu85 Aug 15 '22 at 06:50
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    Ubuntu releases are year.month in format, so 2.02 would represent a 2002-February release; which does not exist. You'll have to clarify your details; as it's likely you're asking about a grub version 2.02 You can't easily bypass or reset the password without the password (that would defeat the reason it exists!) but you can re-install another Ubuntu release over it easily if you don't care about any data on the device. – guiverc Aug 15 '22 at 06:51
  • FYI: I used a asus eepc 1000HE (intel atom n270, 1gb, intel mobile 945gse integrated), wireless RT2790 device for QA-testing purposes (ie. Quality Assurance testing) of releases up to 19.04 (ie. 2019-April release), however it was 32-bit x86 only thus won't use modern releases. Ubuntu 18.04 LTS is still supported for i386 (32-bit x86) but support is more restricted as flavors of 18.04 are now EOL. My last QA-testing with that device & Ubuntu was 2020-August (18.04.5 respins) – guiverc Aug 15 '22 at 06:55
  • Another FYI: If you don't know the password, and your machine does not use encryption, you can re-install Ubuntu (and flavors) rather easily and not lose any data files, nor whatever packages were manually installed (ie. added to the system post-install) and thru that cause a new password to be entered.. but I'm assuming here a desktop system (not server) – guiverc Aug 15 '22 at 07:07
  • How could I re-install Ubuntu on it? Also yes it is GRUB 2.02, Thats my bad. Also, is there any way I could reach out to you privately to show what the main screen shows? – Dev Aug 15 '22 at 07:07
  • Does this answer your question? How do I install Ubuntu? – guiverc Aug 15 '22 at 07:51
  • I'm betting the machine is i386 (how Debian & Ubuntu refer to 32-bit x86) so you'll need to download a version of Ubuntu 18.04 LTS if you want a Ubuntu system. Flavors can be found here (https://ubuntu.com/desktop/flavours) but note as 18.04 is EOL as regards flavors many sites won't offer a download for it. You didn't provide details of how much RAM it has (you may note mine had 1GB) so for Lubuntu the download will come from https://cdimage.ubuntu.com/lubuntu/releases/18.04.5/release/ (if you wanted Xubuntu instead, just replace the lubuntu with xubuntu). Also consider Debian – guiverc Aug 15 '22 at 07:56
  • All docs apply equally to i386 or 32-bit versions, eg. https://ubuntu.com/tutorials/try-ubuntu-before-you-install https://tutorials.ubuntu.com/tutorial/tutorial-how-to-verify-ubuntu#0 (though I find Lubuntu's docs easier for ISO verification; https://manual.lubuntu.me/stable/1/Installing_lubuntu.html) https://ubuntu.com/tutorials/tutorial-create-a-usb-stick-on-ubuntu#1-overview https://ubuntu.com/tutorials/tutorial-create-a-usb-stick-on-macos#1-overview https://ubuntu.com/tutorials/tutorial-create-a-usb-stick-on-windows#1-overview – guiverc Aug 15 '22 at 07:59
  • Please note I'm using Lubuntu as an example; yes it's the lightest flavor which can matter on low-powered devices (ie. n270 cpu), but it wouldn't be my key choice for what is best, as I'd largely decide on how & what you'd use the device for, ie. a desktop & end-user apps should align for best performance. – guiverc Aug 15 '22 at 08:01
  • seems like you try to use this Security feature. you can remove PBKDF hash password contents in 40_custom. or you need add --unrestricted to all menuentry that you shall be able to boot. – abu-ahmed al-khatiri Aug 15 '22 at 09:50
  • Does this answer your question? How do I reset a lost administrative password? – karel Aug 15 '22 at 12:23
  • Reinstall grub ( using Ubuntu 18.04 32bits on a usb stick ) if you mean that grub is password-protected. – Joepie Es Aug 16 '22 at 20:17

1 Answers1

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I'm gonna assume you have some Ubuntu version between 18.04 and 22.04 (see my comment why).

While booting, you can force shutdown (using the laptop's power button) and reboot. You should enter the GRUB now, and you select Advanced Options for Ubuntu. Select the second option (counted from top) and then select the root prompt. Then press enter to enter the command line.

I should give you a warning here, with this command line, you can do everything with your computer, including bricking Ubuntu fully (I did that once just to try it out, my VM that ran Ubuntu was bugging afterwards and would not shutdown because the shutdown command was also deleted)

After that, you can use the command passwd <yourUserName> and it should be able to reset your password. After that, use the command reboot now to reboot and try to login again. If the GRUB comes up again, just press enter

Irsu85
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  • This didn't work, I worded the version wrong. It's GRUB 2.02, Im not sure what the actual version of Ubuntu is. I do know that the laptop itself is from 2008 but idk if that's any help – Dev Aug 15 '22 at 07:10
  • This can't work because grub is password protected. Reinstalling ( latest 32 bit ) Ubuntu will work. – HomerSimpson Aug 16 '22 at 20:11