Hello Experts:
I am experiencing some weird problems
It started when I tried to fix the VLC problem on my canakit Rpi4 kit which can not play mp4 video, while mpv can play. By following instructions using Grok, I need change the display server from wayland to x11. I used to be able to open screen sharing and remote shell from connect.raspberrypi.com. after the x11 change, I can only open the remote shell session, but not the screen sharing session. Then I physically connect the Rpi to HDMI, it showed me the log in screen, which I have input the username and password. but for some reason the password does not work anymore. I have no idea why.
Then I searched Grok on how to fix it. It told me to force the RPi into single-user mode by modifying the cmdline.txt, and optionally force HDMI output by changing the config.txt. I did both of them on my windows laptop. when I put back the sdcard, and powered on the system, I accidentally pressed Shift key, which the system went to reset mode, prompting me waiting for network connection which then I connected wired ethernet cable to download the boot image. I think this broke the single-user mode, I was not able to get into shell prompt to change my password. whenever the system bootup, it will flash a couple of seconds, where I can see the booting process, then the screen went black.
here is my cmdline.txt options I have tried so far:
console=serial0,115200 console=tty1 root=PARTUUID=... rootfstype=ext4 ... quiet splash
console=serial0,115200 console=tty1 root=PARTUUID=... rootfstype=ext4 ... quiet splash init=/bin/sh
console=serial0,115200 console=tty1 root=PARTUUID=272b5c93-02 rootfstype=ext4 fsck.repair=yes rootwait init=/bin/sh
console=serial0,115200 console=tty1 root=PARTUUID=272b5c93-02 rootfstype=ext4 fsck.repair=yes rootwait single init=/bin/sh
console=serial0,115200 console=tty1 root=PARTUUID=272b5c93-02 rootfstype=ext4 fsck.repair=yes rootwait single init=/bin/sh
console=serial0,115200 console=tty1 root=/dev/mmcblk0p2 rootfstype=ext4 fsck.repair=yes rootwait single init=/bin/sh
console=serial0,115200 console=tty1 root=PARTUUID=272b5c93-02 rootfstype=ext4 fsck.repair=yes rootwait
and here are the additional commands I have added to config.txt
hdmi_force_hotplug=1
hdmi_group=1
hdmi_mode=1
hdmi_safe=1
disable_splash=1
boot_delay=10
Canakit does suggest to update eeprom through the imager software. from what I read it won't erase the data on my SD card right? I hope I won't need to erase the whole sd card, any suggestions would be much appreciated, I really don't want to install the all the softwares. I tried to use diskgenius save all the my data, but the free version won't allow to save the big files. any other free tools out there?
Thank you
Wei
I am experiencing some weird problems
It started when I tried to fix the VLC problem on my canakit Rpi4 kit which can not play mp4 video, while mpv can play. By following instructions using Grok, I need change the display server from wayland to x11. I used to be able to open screen sharing and remote shell from connect.raspberrypi.com. after the x11 change, I can only open the remote shell session, but not the screen sharing session. Then I physically connect the Rpi to HDMI, it showed me the log in screen, which I have input the username and password. but for some reason the password does not work anymore. I have no idea why.
Then I searched Grok on how to fix it. It told me to force the RPi into single-user mode by modifying the cmdline.txt, and optionally force HDMI output by changing the config.txt. I did both of them on my windows laptop. when I put back the sdcard, and powered on the system, I accidentally pressed Shift key, which the system went to reset mode, prompting me waiting for network connection which then I connected wired ethernet cable to download the boot image. I think this broke the single-user mode, I was not able to get into shell prompt to change my password. whenever the system bootup, it will flash a couple of seconds, where I can see the booting process, then the screen went black.
here is my cmdline.txt options I have tried so far:
console=serial0,115200 console=tty1 root=PARTUUID=... rootfstype=ext4 ... quiet splash
console=serial0,115200 console=tty1 root=PARTUUID=... rootfstype=ext4 ... quiet splash init=/bin/sh
console=serial0,115200 console=tty1 root=PARTUUID=272b5c93-02 rootfstype=ext4 fsck.repair=yes rootwait init=/bin/sh
console=serial0,115200 console=tty1 root=PARTUUID=272b5c93-02 rootfstype=ext4 fsck.repair=yes rootwait single init=/bin/sh
console=serial0,115200 console=tty1 root=PARTUUID=272b5c93-02 rootfstype=ext4 fsck.repair=yes rootwait single init=/bin/sh
console=serial0,115200 console=tty1 root=/dev/mmcblk0p2 rootfstype=ext4 fsck.repair=yes rootwait single init=/bin/sh
console=serial0,115200 console=tty1 root=PARTUUID=272b5c93-02 rootfstype=ext4 fsck.repair=yes rootwait
and here are the additional commands I have added to config.txt
hdmi_force_hotplug=1
hdmi_group=1
hdmi_mode=1
hdmi_safe=1
disable_splash=1
boot_delay=10
Canakit does suggest to update eeprom through the imager software. from what I read it won't erase the data on my SD card right? I hope I won't need to erase the whole sd card, any suggestions would be much appreciated, I really don't want to install the all the softwares. I tried to use diskgenius save all the my data, but the free version won't allow to save the big files. any other free tools out there?
Thank you
Wei
Statistics: Posted by zwzqrpi — Mon Oct 27, 2025 9:37 pm — Replies 0 — Views 37