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How to get into server when autologin runs

Posted: Sat Mar 06, 2010 1:51 pm
by mabright
Can anyone tell me how to stop the autologin working when the system boots up? I'm trying to get around a lockout with ssl which has stopped me accessing anything via webmin, vnc or similar. I just want to fire up the server off network and get into the desktop, but as soon as the Fedora bar hits full white the screen goes blank and... no response.

The shares and DLNA all work fine, the internet is now a bit slow but I can't get into the server/hda dashboard or any apps. Any help greatly appreciated before I take a hammer to it and wipe/reinstall. I'm assuming that a full reinstall will completely wipe shares etc, so if anyone knows how to get into the server with the install dvd, I love to hear from you.

Thanks for any help

Re: How to get into server when autologin runs

Posted: Mon Mar 08, 2010 12:23 am
by moredruid
boot into single mode:
add a parameter to the kernel line (not the line with initrd):
boot
wait for grub screen, as soon as it pops, hit space
go to your current kernel and press e to edit (it's also explained in the info below your kernels)
find the line with the current kernel, should be something with 2.6.xx (depending on which release you're running) and also containing an rhgb quiet parameter.
press e again to edit that line
enter the following at the end of the line (make sure no other init command is specified in the line!):

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init=/bin/bash
press enter to confirm
press b to boot

The system now boots into single user mode as root (you don't even need to enter the root password, good to know if you ever lose it!)

So now you're in and you can troubleshoot. Only problem is that you haven't got all your mount points yet, and the root filesystem (/) is still read-only.
You can fix that by remounting root read-write:

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mount -o remount,rw /
and then a mount -a for everything else.

Go to your homedir and modify whatever file you have for autologin to fix your stuff.