How to fix "can not open access to console the root account is locked"

howtofix.md

How to fix "can not open access to console the root account is locked"

I recently experienced this problem, but I only had answers that did not help. Then, I was able to get a hint from the short opinion of the Linux Forum.

This problem is related to the change of the drive. If it is not properly reflected in /etc/fstab, such an error may occur.

1. Download SystemRescueCD and make a bootdisk: https://www.system-rescue.org/

2. FDISK and MOUNT

   # fdisk -l    # find a drive
   # mkdir /mnt/tmp
   # mount -t ext4 /dev/sda2 /mnt/tmp    # mount -t [filesystem] [drive] [mountpoint]

3. Open the [mountpoint]/etc/fstab in text editor, and remove lines of the detacted devices

4. Save and reboot, and remove the bootdisk.

Done.

References

• https://www.linuxquestions.org/questions/linux-newbie-8/cannot-open-access-to-console-the-root-account-is-locked-parrot-sec-is-4175638175/
• http://www.htgsd.com/information-technology/fix-rpi-with-cannot-open-access-to-console-the-root-account-is-locked/

@jmada Thank you :)

Thanks man!

Thank you! It works for me on Debian 12.

@SraMacbeth Thank you :)

Thank you! It works for me on Debian 12.

A VERY BIG THANK YOU! Sometimes the simplest things are so hard to figure out. This solved my problem and days of work, especially in the future with my big project. This probably is the cause of problems in my recent past. This solution is SO VALUABLE!.
Just a quick note for people reading 3rd line of solution above:
mount command is either Linux (ext4 reference on the left side) or Windows ([filesystem] [drive] on the right side .

This worked on LMDE6. I ran SystemRescueCD iso downloaded to Ventoy, used the terminal to execute the commands, then used the text editor to change /etc/fstab contents. I had to figure out which line(s) did not belong because it/they referenced a USB that was not present at bootup.
Instructions in the manual were sufficient to help figure which partition to mount. After saving and reboot, LMDE6 came up correctly!
Again, THANK YOU!

@AstroboyResearcher Thank you :)

A VERY BIG THANK YOU! Sometimes the simplest things are so hard to figure out. This solved my problem and days of work, especially in the future with my big project. This probably is the cause of problems in my recent past. This solution is SO VALUABLE!. Just a quick note for people reading 3rd line of solution above: mount command is either Linux (ext4 reference on the left side) or Windows ([filesystem] [drive] on the right side .

This worked on LMDE6. I ran SystemRescueCD iso downloaded to Ventoy, used the terminal to execute the commands, then used the text editor to change /etc/fstab contents. I had to figure out which line(s) did not belong because it/they referenced a USB that was not present at bootup. Instructions in the manual were sufficient to help figure which partition to mount. After saving and reboot, LMDE6 came up correctly! Again, THANK YOU!

I was trying to install some package on my kali linux which took long and then black out the screen with a single blinking cursor. It just stayed there so I powered it off. When I tried to restart it, it would bring the same error. I check the /etc/fstab file using SystemRescue but there seems nothing wrong. Do you know anyway of solving this?

@NaolB02 In similar cases, what I usually check is the block UUID. I hope the following link will be helpful for you.

https://unix.stackexchange.com/questions/658/linux-how-can-i-view-all-uuids-for-all-available-disks-on-my-system

I was trying to install some package on my kali linux which took long and then black out the screen with a single blinking cursor. It just stayed there so I powered it off. When I tried to restart it, it would bring the same error. I check the /etc/fstab file using SystemRescue but there seems nothing wrong. Do you know anyway of solving this?

Thank you for the reply.

@NaolB02 In similar cases, what I usually check is the block UUID. I hope the following link will be helpful for you.

https://unix.stackexchange.com/questions/658/linux-how-can-i-view-all-uuids-for-all-available-disks-on-my-system

I was trying to install some package on my kali linux which took long and then black out the screen with a single blinking cursor. It just stayed there so I powered it off. When I tried to restart it, it would bring the same error. I check the /etc/fstab file using SystemRescue but there seems nothing wrong. Do you know anyway of solving this?