Lost password, unable to reset

Report problems and success stories with Gargoyle on various hardware platforms.

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Bendeigid
Posts: 5
Joined: Tue Jan 08, 2013 2:23 pm

Lost password, unable to reset

Post by Bendeigid »

Hello,

I have lost the password to log into one of my routers. I tried resetting via reset button but that does not work.

I then followed OpenWRT failsafe method & got access to the router via putty. Tried 'firstboot' which appears to have worked but when trying to login via web login & default password just got invalid password. Also tried changing password in failsafe mode via passwd back to default which seems to be accepted but same story as above.

I tried every iteration I could think of as well as admin and administrator with the same results. It would appear as if it retained the previous password no matter what. What else can I try that is easy to do?

I would have liked to copy the flash file to a folder from usb on the router and then use sysupgrade but can not figure out how to.

Thanks for any help.

Lantis
Moderator
Posts: 6735
Joined: Mon Jan 05, 2015 5:33 am
Location: Australia

Re: Lost password, unable to reset

Post by Lantis »

What version?
Make sure you "mount-root" first before you try "passwd".
And it should be "firstboot -y"

It is likely your attempts to change password thus far have not been successful due to incorrect commands.
http://lantisproject.com/downloads/gargoyle_ispyisail.php for the latest releases
Please be respectful when posting. I do this in my free time on a volunteer basis.

Bendeigid
Posts: 5
Joined: Tue Jan 08, 2013 2:23 pm

Re: Lost password, unable to reset

Post by Bendeigid »

Thank you for your reply and sorry for not getting back to you earlier.

I tried what you suggested with no difference. Using putty while in failsafe I can login with the defaults but if it is booted up normally it only returns "Invalid password".

The version should be 1.12 on a TP-Link WDR3600 that had been configured as a wireless bridge/repeater.

During failsafe putty output after mount_root says: "loading kmods from internal overlay
jffs2 not ready yet, using temporary tmpfs overlay". I assume this is normal. firstboot -y gives no further output as it should be.

Is there anything else I can do?

Lantis
Moderator
Posts: 6735
Joined: Mon Jan 05, 2015 5:33 am
Location: Australia

Re: Lost password, unable to reset

Post by Lantis »

tmpfs doesn't sound right, and again is probably why you're having so much trouble.
Get it into failsafe, transfer a new image into RAM and then sysupgrade to it.

I don't really know why it is not working
http://lantisproject.com/downloads/gargoyle_ispyisail.php for the latest releases
Please be respectful when posting. I do this in my free time on a volunteer basis.

Bendeigid
Posts: 5
Joined: Tue Jan 08, 2013 2:23 pm

Re: Lost password, unable to reset

Post by Bendeigid »

Thanks. I might give it a try when I feel adventurous. While I am fine with most things including DOS commands, linux and routers seem a bit of a black art to me. Especially since anything I need to try requires me to unplug my ethernet cable, configure the IP address manually, try whatever is suggest and when it does not work to go back the other way and try to find another suggestion. And then do it all again.

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