Accidentally set a root passwd

[anj.tuesday at gmx.net]

Am Samstag, den 12.05.2012, 00:19 +1000 schrieb Basil Chupin:
> On 12/05/12 00:00, anj.tuesday at gmx.net wrote:
> > Am Freitag, den 11.05.2012, 23:50 +1000 schrieb Basil Chupin:
> >> On 11/05/12 23:36, anj.tuesday at gmx.net wrote:
> >>> I mis-used the passwd command and I think I ended up setting a root
> >>> password that I now can't seem to remember. At least entering
> >>> recovery mode prompts for a root password now, and none will do.
> >>> Sudo works fine, so is there a way to disable the root password from
> >>> there?
> >>>
> >>> Thanks in advance,
> >>> Anja
> >> Yes, but go and do a search on your problem and you will find a "ton" of
> >> answers on how to do it :-) .
> >>
> >> And doing some research for yourself will teach you not to forget
> >> passwords that you set :-) .
> >>
> >> BC
> >>
> >>
> > But I so prefer doing blindly what I'm told and hosing my system
> > even more!
> 
> That's the spirit! :-) .
> 
> But seriously, look at it from this angle: I don't know where you are 
> but where I am right now it is just past midnight and it is 0008 hours 
> on Saturday 12 May but in Los Angeles it is 0800 hours on Friday and 
> 1008 hours in New York.
> 
> Now, you were fortunate to find that someone was awake and available to 
> give you the answer otherwise you may have had to wait for hours and 
> hours before someone who knew the answer would even read your post. So, 
> the first thing to do is to use the web and search for the answer. But 
> you also some most excellent sources of information in the K/Ubuntu 
> Documentation - https://help.ubuntu.com/community - but (possibly even 
> better) also Launchpad - https://launchpad.net/ .
> 
> I must admit that when searching the net for an answer not only will you 
> get some gems but you will also get some furphies which will turn your 
> system into mush if you follow what they say. So, the best places to go 
> first are the 2 I just mentioned - Documentation and Launchpad. Cannot 
> find the answer there - then ask in this mail list or the Ubuntu mail list.
> 
> BC

man passwd and man usermod would've done the trick, I know. Sometimes
I just want to talk to someone and get a response that I can be 
relatively sure is in fact about my problem. But you're right, too.