Reset password?

I have an old Zorin install on sdb5 and have not remembered the login password. Can I delete this from my working install Zorin with sudo?

Are you wanting to reset the password or delete the old install? For resetting the password, boot the older install into safe recovery mode, select Terminal with Root permissions then:

mount -n -o remount,rw /

Then press Enter, then:

passwd your_username

Then enter new password, shut down and reboot.

2 Likes

Thanx, I will give it a go.

I actually found the password and was able to start the version 17.1 again. Had troubles updating and it is slow, so I do want to delete it. The new version is fast and working.

My boot has the old install which was an upgrade from V.16, never was a happy chappy. It is on sdb5. I must admit, I get confused with sdb and sda but thought they maybe devices on a or b drives?

The way the Linux kernel allocates drive letters relates to physical hardware. So the primary drive will be sda and partition numbering can vary (from experience) such as sda1, sda2, sda5, sda6. sdb indicates a separate drive which will also have numbers assigned to each partition. CD/DVD drives get labeled sr0.

Thank you, that makes sense. Is it possible to delete /dev/sdb5 from the sudo terminal in the other installation I have on same PC?

Personally I prefer to use GParted when deleting partitions.

Is that an App I can download onto Zorin?

Yes, it is present on the iso when you install Zorin, but gets removed from the installed Zorin. You should be able to find it in Software, or you could install via terminal with:

sudo apt install gparted

Alternatively you could download the live .iso of GParted and boot off that to edit partitions.

https://gparted.org/livecd.php

And as in all situations, before doing anything:

  1. Backup your system first with Rescuezilla.

  2. Backup your /home folder, including hidden files (Ctrl+ H) will reveal them if not showing, separately so you can readily access your Data.

I found and installed, many thanks.

My issue now is that grub boot says the version I want to delete is /dev/sdb5
However, GParted only shows sda? I will include a screenshot.

On the screenshot of GParted you will notice a down arrow next to sda. Click on it to see what other drives it has picked up and take a screenshot of sdb.

I see it. Thanks.

I have deleted the OS on sdb5. However, my preferred OS Zorin 17 I cannot still start correctly. The screen goes into text with a "kernel confusion" type msg wth no escape. I have to reboot into recovery mode to start correctly, do some work, and then after shutdown it is not solved. Cannot screenshot.

Can you not screenshot with phone then use Zorin connect to transfer picture? I would be tempted to backup your data and start afresh.

Solved yes.