I located the problem with the root login without password with the help of Mark Ciciretti.
passwd and shadow were out of sync; they had different entries. This caused errors that were not reported until trying to turn shadow off. It was necessary to delete all of the users, and remove all of their entries from the group files. The behavior was that root could log into the consoles without a password. However, the password existed, and was necessary for su. the passwd command would claim to change root's password, but didn't get it into shadow, apparently. However, no error was reported. I believe this came about when i tried to lift some lines from my old password file directly into the new file. I don't recall whether I used vipw or not. rick -- These opinions will not be those of ISU until it pays my retainer. -- TO UNSUBSCRIBE FROM THIS MAILING LIST: e-mail the word "unsubscribe" to [EMAIL PROTECTED] . Trouble? e-mail to [EMAIL PROTECTED] .
