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Linux: Booting with 'single' argument requires password
Problem:
When trying to recover a lost password, I tried adding the kernel argument 'single' to boot into single user mode. Unfortunately, the init script asks for the root password so I can't reset the password.
 
Solution:
Instead of 'single', use the kernel argument 'init=/bin/sh' to prevent the braindead init script from running. Instead, you get a nice little shell prompt.

Notice that only your root partition will be mounted, and it will be read-only. You can make it read-write using this command: "mount -o rw,remount /".

 
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