My debian is not starting well and go to emergency mode
(with no possibility to avoid it :-(). In order to login, I need to be able to type my root password which contains special characters like é
. How can I obtain these characters? I tried to go on grub console to try to type but I was not able to obtain the right characters...
-
Try this link - It also has links for how to find special characters.– Dave WhiteJun 2, 2021 at 14:38
-
2... and be nicer to yourself, instead of using special characters such as diacriticals in a root password, which you know might be required when emergency dropping to console, just use a longer pure ascii password. Just saying...– CbhiheJun 2, 2021 at 15:01
-
And since you've now publicly discussed a password, changing it would be a good idea. :) Any possible security implications of using special characters are now negated, and a longer ascii password would be as secure or more secure.– user10489Jun 2, 2021 at 16:30
-
@user10489 Your right :-) and I will actually not using special characters not available directly in a US/UK keyboard layout– GuukJun 2, 2021 at 19:18
1 Answer
At the console you can use Altxyz (xyz are number on the numpad).
For example Alt233 should render é
.
There are many sources for the list of codes, for example this one.
I don't know if it will work though, because depending on the locale, the actual password characters could be UTF-8 for example.
-
Are you sure about this? I can't reproduce this at all. Could it depend on your keyboard layout? I tried both in a tty and in a graphical terminal and nothing worked.– terdon ♦Jun 2, 2021 at 15:02
-
FWIW, using my left alt key I get one character, using the right alt key I get the correct one. For both of these situations I have to use the numpad, the normal numbers don't work. Jun 2, 2021 at 15:05
-
-
@terdon I know it works in my Debian 10, after doing Ctrl-Alt-F1 (no, it will not work inside a graphic terminal). Jun 2, 2021 at 15:09
-
Thank you for your proposition but currently it is not working. Probably because I use an apple keyboard...– GuukJun 2, 2021 at 19:18