I do not use the desktop log in / why has this pw problem on installing come up? Has my password expired?

I did a SYSTEM and About Ubuntu and I got the following: You are using Ubuntu 11.04
                - the Natty Narwhal - released in April 2011 and supported until October 2012
The one suggestion about going to the GRUB row and highlighting the line that begins kernel....
I think (if I am not mistaken ) applies to desktop logging in.

Open a Terminal from the menu Applications->Accessories->Terminal and type:

sudo dpkg --configure -a
sudo apt-get -f install
sudo apt-get --fix-missing install
sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get dist upgrade

give your user password when requested, you don't see nothing when you type it, then press enter.

I suggest you log a bug too. Natty should only be used if you want to log bugs to alert the developers to issues. Natty is Alpha software and is nowhere near finished or stable or suggested. If you want an OS that works you should NOT use Natty and you should install Lucid or Maverick.

However, there is an unfortunate bug in Ubuntu 10.10 Maverick Meerkat that makes System > About Ubuntu incorrectly report that you are running Ubuntu 11.04 Natty Narwhal (and provide other information specific to Natty). To be sure of what version you're using, open a Terminal window and run the command:

lsb_release -d

For more information on bug 690248 (click that to check out the bug report itself), see https://answers.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/ubuntu-docs/+question/140815.

(Sorry about the delay, I meant to post this right after my previous comment regarding Maverick vs. Natty.)

The password issue in this question doesn't seem like a bug to me. This seems like a user account configuration issue. If marcobra's instructions don't work, please copy all the text from the Terminal (Edit > Select All; Edit > Copy) and paste it here. If they have already been unsuccessful but you have closed the Terminal window, just run them again and paste the output here.

Please also run this command, and paste what you get:
groups

The other possibility is that everything is working fine, and that you're just confused as to why it is that you are sometimes asked for a password, even though you set up Ubuntu to automatically log you in when you installed it. The answer to that question is that you still have to put in your password to perform administrative tasks. You created a password when you installed Ubuntu, and that's the password you should put in. If you don't remember that password, then let us know, and we can tell you how to make a new one.

typed in terminal
lsb_release -d
as suggested / I got

jgrendon@jgrendon-DF221A-ABA-325C:~$ lsb_release -d
Description: Ubuntu 10.10

as I type or rather copy the sudo commands / terminal stops at:

sudo dpkg --configure -a
sudo apt-get -f install
sudo apt-get --fix-missing install
sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get dist upgrade

terminal displays:
[sudo] password for jgrendon:

so I can not get beyond the first sudo.

When the terminal displays "[sudo] password for jgrendon:", type in your password and press enter. While you're typing in your password, you won't see any placeholder characters (like *). That's OK.

Or is the problem that you have no idea what your password is? You have never been clear about this. Is it that you don't know how to enter your password, that you don't know what your password is, or that you thought you knew what your password was, but it's not working?

When you are prompted for your password on the Terminal, if you don't know what it is, then you can cancel the operation by pressing Ctrl+C a couple of times.

In your reply to this post, please follow the instructions (and respond to the idea presented) as follows. (The rest of the text in this post is pasted verbatim from the second-half of my previous post.)

Please also run this command, and paste what you get:
groups

The other possibility is that everything is working fine, and that you're just confused as to why it is that you are sometimes asked for a password, even though you set up Ubuntu to automatically log you in when you installed it. The answer to that question is that you still have to put in your password to perform administrative tasks. You created a password when you installed Ubuntu, and that's the password you should put in. If you don't remember that password, then let us know, and we can tell you how to make a new one.

Please continue looking at this problem for me.
Your sudo command lsb_release -d was the right command in finding out the right version # , which was 10.10.
I just cannot get beyond sudo dpkg --configure -a.
I know that I had this issue before and I believe that I did do something like this and it worked.
I made the password so simple for myself that there is no way of forgetting or typing in the wrong password.
Now on my laptop (version 10.10), I get a different dialog box. It shows "Enter your password to perform administrative tasks".
I have it set up using the same password and it works.
On my desktop, I get an Authenicate dialog box. I shows "To install or remove software you need to authenicate."
I am asked for a password. So why a different dialog box?

> Now on my laptop (version 10.10), I get a different dialog box.
> It shows "Enter your password to perform administrative tasks".
> I have it set up using the same password and it works.
> On my desktop, I get an Authenicate dialog box. I shows
> "To install or remove software you need to authenicate."
> I am asked for a password. So why a different dialog box?

I don't know the reason for the difference. We can investigate that later; right now, there are a few likely causes, and if it turns out to be one of them, there's a good chance we can fix the problem pretty easily.

First of all, if you are still stuck at the "Password:" prompt in the Terminal, press Ctrl+C a couple of times to get out of it. If that doesn't work, you can quit the Terminal window and open a new one.

In a Terminal window, please run the command:

groups

This command will not ask you for your password, and it will provide indispensable information about what may be causing this problem. Please paste the output of that command here.

Doing the ctrl-c did not help.

jgrendon@jgrendon-DF221A-ABA-325C:~$ groups
jgrendon adm dialout cdrom plugdev lpadmin admin sambashare

Please, let me make it clear that I do know my password, what I am saying is that it is not working anymore. If I have to go through the process of changing it to a new one, that is okay. All I want to do is complete the "Update Manager" process.

JoeRendon

<email address hidden>

Lewisville,Tx

--- On Tue, 2/1/11, Eliah Kagan <email address hidden> wrote:

From: Eliah Kagan <email address hidden>
Subject: Re: [Question #143407]: I do not use the desktop log in / why has this pw problem on installing come up? Has my password expired?
To: <email address hidden>
Date: Tuesday, February 1, 2011, 9:13 PM

Your question #143407 on Ubuntu changed:
https://answers.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+question/143407

    Status: Open => Needs information

Eliah Kagan requested for more information:
> Now on my laptop (version 10.10), I get a different dialog box.
> It shows "Enter your password to perform administrative tasks".
> I have it set up using the same password and it works.
> On my desktop, I get an Authenicate dialog box. I shows
> "To install or remove software you need to authenicate."
> I am asked for a password. So why a different dialog box?

I don't know the reason for the difference. We can investigate that
later; right now, there are a few likely causes, and if it turns out to
be one of them, there's a good chance we can fix the problem pretty
easily.

First of all, if you are still stuck at the "Password:" prompt in the
Terminal, press Ctrl+C a couple of times to get out of it. If that
doesn't work, you can quit the Terminal window and open a new one.

In a Terminal window, please run the command:

groups

This command will not ask you for your password, and it will provide
indispensable information about what may be causing this problem. Please
paste the output of that command here.

--
To answer this request for more information, you can either reply to
this email or enter your reply at the following page:
https://answers.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+question/143407

You received this question notification because you are a direct
subscriber of the question.

Eliah thank you very much for your technical support...pw problem has been solved. The answer was in your last link. I know of someone else that could use this information.