sudo passwd root -- operation not permitted

[joe at actionline.com]

> I do not know why that will not work for changing the root password. Try
> this:
>
> 1. Sudo su -
> 2. Passwd

Still responds with "Operation not permitted"


> On Jan 5, 2013 5:05 PM, <joe at actionline.com> wrote:
>
>> Just installed Kubuntu 12.10 again (now on my 4th installation attempt
>> today) and still can't get it to work.
>>
>> This time, I used the "manual" install procedure to install only the
>> root
>> (/) partition since I already have /home installed on /dev/sda6 with all
>> my files.
>>
>> But now I cannot access that /home partition.  I'm stuck in a tmp/guest
>> directory and I can neither change user to /home/joe nor can I use:
>> 'sudo
>> passwd root' because all attempts say "Operation not permitted"
>>
>> $ df
>> Filesystem     1K-blocks     Used Available Use% Mounted on
>> /dev/sda1       12396968  3571428   8195796  31% /
>> udev              469488        4    469484   1% /dev
>> tmpfs             192240      784    191456   1% /run
>> none                5120        0      5120   0% /run/lock
>> none              480592       84    480508   1% /run/shm
>> none              102400       12    102388   1% /run/user
>> /dev/sda6      175869792 23265668 152604124  14% /home
>> none              480592     9512    471080   2% /tmp/guest-3sbRVN
>>
>> I am able to view /home/joe to confirm that all my files are there by
>> going to CTRL+ALT+F1 and logging in as 'joe' ... and in the F1 terminal
>> I
>> can also use 'sudu passwd root' to reset the root password.  But then
>> when
>> I go back to the KDE graphical desktop (F7) and open a terminal, I still
>> cannot get into the /home directory or su to root.
>>
>> $ cat fstab shows this:
>>
>> # / was on /dev/sda1 during installation
>> UUID=962718a7-f399-4173-8260-1d5c0249a8d3 /  ext4  errors=remount-ro 0
>> 1
>> # /home was on /dev/sda6 during installation
>> UUID=5eb2a784-c640-4962-8a81-6f81a0ccca85 /home  ext4    defaults 0
>> 2
>> # swap was on /dev/sda5 during installation
>> UUID=c0c7f1be-ff0f-4f18-a86d-a98bd91d0e62 none   swap    sw    0     0
>>
>>
>>
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