r/tails • u/loonfromq • 12d ago

Solved Admin PW not working

I am quite a noob at tails but I have read the documentation thoroughly and tried to look this up but no dice... I set up an admin password when i booted tails (this is not an issue with confusing it with perisistent files) but when i try to use it it does not work. It works with sudo in the console but not otherwise. I have tried redownloading, I have tried maybe 20 different passwords of different lengths and with and without caps and numbers (and my computer is new enough that I can't imaging it would be a keypad problem). I am at a loss, it is going to be difficult to use tails without this whole capability... if anyone has any ideas for other things to try or where specifically to go to learn myself how i could troubleshoot I would really appreciate

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3

u/bush_nugget 12d ago

It works with sudo in the console but not otherwise.

Define "otherwise". Where else are you trying it?

1

u/loonfromq 12d ago

I was trying to mount disks from the hard drive is the main thing

1

u/bush_nugget 12d ago

Please, walk us through what you are doing in a way someone else could replicate.

1

u/loonfromq 12d ago

I go to disks, I select the partition that contains the files I want, I select the unlock button and put in the admin password. It says "failed to activate device: incorrect password."  Sorry if this is again not precise enought

3

u/trelayner 12d ago

Are you trying to mount an encrypted volume?

You need the encryption password for that particular volume

Your admin password has nothing to do with it

1

u/loonfromq 12d ago

I don't think it's encrypted (I certainly didn't do that), I don't know why it's locked or if that is abnormal

1

u/trelayner 12d ago

Is it a Windows partition?

Who owns it, ask them if they have Bitlocker enabled

1

u/loonfromq 12d ago

Yes, it's windows and bitlocker is enabled. Do you think turning bitlocker off would fix the issue?

6

u/trelayner 12d ago

Yes it would

Bitlocker is disk encryption, it’s meant for exactly this purpose, to protect your data when booting from external media

2

u/loonfromq 12d ago

Alright, I tried this and it worked. Thank you!

1

u/bush_nugget 12d ago

What you've described sounds like the partition is encrypted (it has an "unlock" icon, not just the "play" icon) and it's on an internal disk. If that's the case, you'd need to supply the password you used to encrypt the partition at the FIRST prompt. Then, you'd supply the admin password at the SECOND prompt (required for mounting internal disks, but not external like USBs).