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22.10 Live version locks it's screen & demands a user & password - none of the usual suspects seems to work - may I please know the magic keys ? I have processes running & cannot get to them!

mbbcat
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  • What magic keys? What have you tried? – David DE Nov 02 '22 at 06:52
  • a huge problem for laptop installs since many laptops want to powernap during install, i had to start over twice because of this and babysit the computer so it wouldnt fall asleep because if i didnt, the lock screen comes up and there is no way out nor does any suggested password work including the system name, distro names, user password, and commonly used live passwords, and the suggestions here. And if it doesn't crash, it freezes..requiring me to scrap everything and start over :( – osirisgothra Oct 22 '24 at 14:21

2 Answers2

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The live session user has no password - it is named according to the operating system name, in lowercase ("ubuntu" or "kubuntu" or whatever) and their password is set to the empty string (nothing, or blank or whatever you want to call it).

If you ever log out by mistake, you can log back in by choosing the user icon from the graphical login screen and hitting the login button (or pressing ENTER on the empty password field), but if you got the lock screen triggered(*) then you can't unlock it because the lock screen password dialog will not accept an empty password.

Here's what to do instead (be careful - requires scary textual virtual terminals, and typing ):

  1. Press CTRL+ALT+F3 (or with F4 or higher - try until you find an open text vt - it takes a couple of seconds for the system to open the vt, so don't give up). It should say, at the top "Ubuntu VERSION.NUMBER" and then something, and at the second line "NAME login".
  2. Type the user name for the operating system live session user - it should be the name to the left of the word "login" but if it doesn't work, guess something else - it is usually something obvious.
  3. A "Password:" prompt should appear - just press ENTER and you should be in (unless you messed up the user name, then try again).
  4. At the command prompt that opens, type sudo loginctl unlock-sessions and press ENTER. If you did it correctly, it will say nothing and open a new command prompt.
  5. Type exit and hit ENTER. It should close the text terminal and go back to the empty screen with the login prompt.
  6. Press CTRL+ALT+F1 (or sometimes with F2) to go back to the main graphical session, which should now be open.

*) Given the situation with the lock screen, I think it's dumb that the live session user even has a default screen lock timeout - which, BTW, a default OEM installation doesn't. They should build live images without a lock timeout. If you ever plan on running something long using a live session (like, checking a large drive for bad sectors), make sure to inhibit the screen lock - in Kubuntu it's as easy as clicking the battery widget in the system tray and checking the "manually block sleep and screen locking" checkbox in the menu that opens.

Guss
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    Once you are out in the console, you can just use ALT+F(SCREEN NUMBER) you dont need the CTRL. Easier just use the ALT+RIGHT-ARROW until you get back to a graphics screen, its a sure way to get back to the graphics screen. | If you are on the newer Ubuntu Studio you cant go to terminal at all (its blocked now, thanks guys) and will kick you to a DM screen if you try, no choice but to start over or wait and hope and pray the install finishes without needing anything else from you - and since you'd need the terminal to get back in, there is no hope of coming back – osirisgothra Oct 22 '24 at 14:25
  • Step 4 (sudo loginctl unlock-sessions) didn't work for me. Instead I did passwd to set the password to a known value. – CrazyPyro Jan 18 '25 at 06:15
  • That would also work, it's just that setting a password for a live session is somewhat ridiculous. Did unlock-sessions had some kind of error? – Guss Jan 19 '25 at 21:18
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I had the same issue, when it awakes, it says the user name is live session. This worked for me (after 2 hours of messing with it and reading forums with no help):

  1. Switch users by clicking the corresponding icon.
  2. Change user name to "ubuntu-studio" and leave the password blank and press Enter.

Hopefully this helps, if not try the username "Ubuntu-studio" with no password.

Good luck, and I also agree with your point of why needing a password for a live version, if you do, at least make it super easy to find the correct info.

QwertyChouskie
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DrewciferS
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  • for me the minute i press "switch user" it just crashes the install, leaving the password blank does nothing but shake the screen with a "no" and no possible way to specify another user. – osirisgothra Oct 22 '24 at 14:17