Solaris 10 Cannot login

I had the same problem, and have gotten around it. I will lay out what I did, and maybe that will eliminate some options that you will not have to try yourself:

Fourth installation was a charm on this one:

-installed new, full + oem without any custom packages

upon reboot, I logged in using Java Desktop and cancelled the registration pop-up, then immediately logged out. Went to command-line and did a reboot -- -s

-When machine rebooted into single-user mode, I put jumbo patch into /tmp and did a SAVE option -- normally, I would do: ./install_cluster -q -nosave

But, the patch instructions said you have to run the patch TWICE for the newest patches to take affect.

So, I did a cd /tmp/10_Recommended

then ./install_cluster

In my previous attempts, I had copied in my .cshrc, changed configuration files etc..like I have always done, but three attempts at installing, and getting that "ld.so.1...referenced sy mbol not found", caused me to just ignore the temptation to tweak the installation before completing the patches.

-When the patching finished, I did another reboot -- -s

-Again, I added patches to /tmp and re-ran using:

./install_cluster

I noticed that SEVERAL patches (20+) applied, as opposed to just one when

I had installed three times earlier.

-did a reboot

--was able to login at the splash screen no problem.

-uname -a came out: 125100-07

I cannot figure out which, if any of my previous actions caused the issue

of not being able to log in, but here are some of the things I had done on

non-successful installations:

- modified /etc/passwd (before patching & between first & second patching)

- modified /var/svc/profile/generic.xml before patching

-chose "no" to the installer's question about remote hosts being allowed access

- installed patches WITH the quiet (-q) and No Save option (-nosave)

-installed patches after bringing system down to single-user mode, instaed of up to single-user mode (no reboot)

-had setup Java desktop system (registration, icons, menus, etc. prior to patching)

-Installed Sun Studio 11 prior to patching

Hope that helps you eliminate some possibilities.

cloakesa at 2007-7-9 22:24:45 >

Since I do not know your skill level, I will write this rather lengthy - please do not take offense.

My experience with PC's is rare, as I am assuming you have an X86 laptop versus a Tadpole or some other SPARC-based laptop.

If possible, re-introduce an installation DVD/CD.

On a Sun workstation or server, you simply do a "boot cdrom -s" at the Open Boot Prom (OBP), but there is no such thing on the X86 boxen.

If you can boot up off of the DVD/CD, and get to a command line or terminal without affecting your previous installation, you can do the following:

<1> make a temporary directory like /a/tmp (or wherever you can)

<2> mount the internal disk to the new temporary directory. (mount /dev/dsk/c0t0d0s0 /a/tmp or something along those lines) If you made separate partitions on your disk(s) for /etc, /usr, /opt (c0t0d0s1 c0t1d0s3 etc.) use the one with /etc, as that is where the passwd & shadow files are located.

<3> once you have successfully mounted the file system that has the passwd and shadow files on it, you can now simply use the vi editor, or whatever you have available to you, to edit the shadow entry.

replace the string that should look something like:

root:0123456789abc:13654::::::

with an entry that has a "null" string, or has a string with a password

value that you already know. (i.e. copy the entry from a Solaris box where

you know the password)

something like

root:pvjnfRJYgLbUA:13654::::::

(which on my test box was a null passwd)

If that doesn't work, a longer option would be to re-install using the

"upgrade" option.

It should ask for the root password again.

Option three & four - try it with caps lock on, and then try it with your hands shifted one key to the left, and then one key to the right -- that works on the rare occasion that you were a bit rushed and didn't notice hand placement.

There may be a simpler way, (and there should be after 15+ years of doing it the hard way) but I presented some of the ways that have worked for me.

If you didn't add any additional software to the installation, it wouldn't be unheard of to just re-install from scratch. If you are new to Solaris, it is good practice for you until later when you set up a jumpstart server to do all the work for you.

cloakesa at 2007-7-9 22:24:45 >