Encrypted drive, deleted key removed password blank desktop

[Narmada808]

Before i get into my problems i'll give a little background. I'm running ubuntu 11.04 natty as the only OS on my hard drive. After the install i used the ethernet port for internet but never got around to installing my wireless driver; my current living situation has wireless but no wired internet, so my machine is not hooked up to the web.
After install i opted to encrypt my entire drive. Recently i decided that it was unnecessary for my current situation, so i tried to remove the encryption. The only apparent way to do that was to manually delete the key in system settings->keys & encryption. Maybe that's whats causing all of my problems?


My problem is as follows, and happened the 1st time i booted after deleting the key-

I boot to the ubuntu login. My login name (for purposes of this thread Xxx) appears as normal.
I click the username and since i deleted the password key it brings me directly to the desktop, but without my background or the GUI loaded.
It then displays the following errors in a popup-
"There is a problem with the configuration server. (usr/lib/libgconf2-4/gconf-sanity-check-2 exited with status 256)"
and
"Could not update ICEauthority file /home/Xxx/.ICEauthority"

When i would leave the computer alone at this point it would 'lock' and ask for my password; the old password was accepted, a blank one was not.

I had problems logging into the terminal at this point (asks for password, login screen does not) but i got through it and was trying some fixes when i decided to use the passwd command, specifically

sudo passwd -d Xxx

I hoped that it would wipe my password from the system and therefore restore access.. looks like it was a big mistake, because now when i enter the terminal and enter

sudo passwd -s Xxx

it prompts me for a password, when i provide the old one it fails, when i type nothing and hit enter it fails.

so as of right now i can't use sudo, which basically stops me from trying anything else.

Entering

less /etc/passwd

returns

xxx:x:1000:1000:Xxx,,,:/home/xxx:/bin/bash

on the line for my user.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

If i leave the computer alone, two more graphically pleasing (looks normal, i can move them) windows appear.

One is the update manager; im not connected to the internet, but hitting the "install updates" brings up an authentication prompt. Again, like in the terminal, both my old password and no password fail.

The other one states "Nautilus could not create the following folders: /home/Xxx/Desktop, /home/Xxx/.nautilus. Before running Nautilus please create these folders or set permissions such that nautilus can create them."
I am then able to alt+tab between the terminal the other window, and the graphics of doing so look pretty normal

When i leave the computer alone long enough for it to 'lock', the screen fades all the way to black and without input instantly returns to normal, without prompting for a password as it did before i used the passwd command.



I was planning to wipe the drive and install a different version of ubuntu soon anyway, but i make music on my computer and my project files are priceless & irreplaceable- All i need is to be able to move files off the drive. Previous attempts to do so with a boot USB have failed, stating "You do not have the permissions neccesary to view the contents". i have tried ecrpytfs-recover-private and was still not able to view the files in the temporary folder i created... maybe i'm just a noob? anyway i'm thinking that ecrpytfs-recover-private might be nonfunctional now that i don't have a password to use with it....

I do have the long key (8263a0ed94a7cbf26bc464e194781195) provided when i setup the encryption, but i cant figure out anyway that it'll help me... maybe just more newbness?



Thanks!!

[cool110]

At this point the best option would be to boot a live CD/USB to get a working sudo.
Mount the drive with your files on.
Then run sudo ecryptfs-recover-private, answer no to knowing your LOGIN passphrase and enter the "long key" when asked for the MOUNT passphrase.

[Narmada808]

It found the directory but only asked FOR the LOGIN, not if i knew it. For some crazy reason it accepted my old password though! =D
it points me to the read-only directory at /tmp/ecryptfs.ZlcDN85W, but when i open the folder i'm denied due to lack of privileges... =\

[cool110]

just use sudo -i to get a root shell or gksudo nautilus to open the file manager as root.

[Narmada808]

Following the directions here allowed me to successfully ls the contents of /home/xxx, which returns

 Desktop Downloads Music Public Ubuntu One

etc. trying

xxx@ubuntu:~$ cd /home/xxx/desktop 
xxx@ubuntu:~$ ls

returns "no such file or directory"

Manually browsing to the folder (both on the drive and on the live USB in /mnt) result in lack of permission notifications.

[Narmada808]

YES!!!!!! thanks so much you're a life saver!

[Narmada808]

Alright, so for anyone who may view this in the future this is how i restored access-

1)Booted a live USB
2)manually mounted my hard drive and changed the root using the following-

ubuntu@ubuntu:~$ sudo mount /dev/sda3 /mnt 
ubuntu@ubuntu:~$ sudo mount -o bind /dev /mnt/dev 
ubuntu@ubuntu:~$ sudo mount -o bind /dev/shm/ /mnt/dev/shm 
ubuntu@ubuntu:~$ sudo mount -o bind /proc /mnt/proc 
ubuntu@ubuntu:~$ sudo mount -o bind /sys /mnt/sys

ubuntu@ubuntu:~$ sudo chroot /mnt

and then added a new user with [code]adduser, which upon log in actually brought up the GUI. Using system settings->users and groups i gave my original account the password i had before (i had changed it with the passwd command previously) and checked the "asked on login" box.

Rebooted and everything was prime!!!!!!