From: chris@internal.net   
      
   On 21/10/2025 at 22:08, s|b wrote:   
   > On Tue, 21 Oct 2025 13:08:04 -0400, Paul wrote:   
   >   
   >> You'll need your USB LiveDVD stick, to boot off the stick   
   >> and reach in and repair it.   
   >>   
   >>       [Picture]  Select "Download Original" to get full resolution   
   >>   
   >>        https://i.postimg.cc/kgVTbLpY/Fixing-a-homedir.gif   
   >   
   > Tnx, Paul. I may use this for fun, just to see if I get it done, but   
   > since he also wants to learn how to install Linux Mint I might as well   
   > let him do it looking over his shoulder.   
   >   
   >> The Boss apparently used "sudo" to get into trouble :-)   
   >   
   > I guess that is my fault with the autologin with an admin account.   
      
   Never run X/Wayland as root!   
   Autologin should have been 'boss'.   
      
   Renaming /home/boss to /home/Boss does not change the login name, but it   
   does make the record in /etc/passwd point to a non-existant home   
   directory for user boss.   
   'Bad password' might easily be a red herring; trying to log in as Boss   
   (this user doesn't exist) will give the 'bad password' error.   
      
   None of these problems are fatal _if_ you can log in as root. Just   
   reverse the rename and make sure boss record in /etc/passwd is   
   consistent. If you can't log in as root, do as suggested - boot with   
   your install stick and do the rename from that. Remember to mount your   
   root device (/dev/sda1, perhaps) on (e.g.) /mnt and then make the   
   modifications in /mnt/home/ and /mnt/etc/passwd.   
      
   >   
   >> This is presumably the same recipe as the "pinnerite" AI recipe.   
   >> I just made pictures in a VM for fun. I wanted to test   
   >> and see if it worked or not. If the boss made any additional   
   >> changes (like some sort of UNIX veteran), then you would   
   >> need to counter those moves to fix it. The boss could further mess   
   >> up the directory with "chmod" or "chown", and you would have   
   >> to do the inverse of that. If the boss did that, you would   
   >> know that this exercise was "an exam" and not an accident.   
   >> This smells a bit suspect as it is.   
   >   
   > Well, I told him I knew how to install Linux Mint and run the basics   
   > (mail, browser, office, repositories, menu settings, install other   
   > software, ...), but that I was in no way an expert. I guess this is what   
   > you get when you combine two amateurs. This is what we call 'leergeld'   
   > (learning money).   
   >   
      
      
      
   --   
   Chris Elvidge, England   
   I AM NOT AUTHORIZED TO FIRE SUBSTITUTE TEACHERS   
   Bart Simpson on chalkboard in episode 1F09   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)