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I installed Ubuntu 16.04, encrypted home directory. Jotted down system info including password, etc., in a document which will presumably be in /home/mike/somewhere. Hadn't printed the file to hardcopy yet. Installed steam, which when executed hard-crashed the machine, no jumpout to F1, no ssh'ing in from local machine, nothing. Rebooted, and realized I cannot remember my robust password nor had I printed out my file.

How do I reset the password is the question?

Before you answer, here's what I've tried and does NOT work in Ubuntu 16.04 under these circumstances:

  • Booting in to recovery mode, dropping to command line gives "Give root password for maintenance"
  • Booting and pausing at grub stage, editing the boot line by changing ro to rw and add init=/bin/bash, (also deleting the splash text, i can't remember the exact words), hitting F10 to boot with new options, results in blank screen, then the regular GNOME GUI log-in. Tried a few variations on this.
  • Booting from live USB stick, dropping into terminal with F1, I can log in, and sudo. Hope is born! I mounted /dev/sdb2 (my Linux installation) to /mnt, sudo chroot /mnt. I change to /mnt. I successfully change mike's password. Reboot: rejects the new password.

I had made a second user on the machine to run a process, and that home directory is not encrypted. I did the live USB stick boot, dropped into terminal, changed password on the second user, and promoted him to a sudo-er as well. Rebooted normally, logged in as him, am able to change password for mike, sudo into mike: all variations on this theme result in asking for passphrase to unencrypt the home directory.

Is this hopeless or is there a back door I don't know about?

muru
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Mike
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    Without the passphrase, the home folder is essentially lost. – muru Jun 06 '16 at 18:45
  • Thanks...that at least helped me head down a different path. I had not yet thrown away the scratch paper I used when I installed. Saved by the gods. Now I know the encrypted home directory is pretty robust security. – Mike Jun 11 '16 at 19:17

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