Debian10 Username and Password

Not entirely sure about this but I think the default behavior is to not permit access if the password is blank.

Maybe this helps to reset the password, depends of course on how badly you want to restore the installation or if it's maybe just easier to reinstall and copy your machine config back in.

www.debian.org/doc/manuals/debian-refere...ng_the_root_password

So what version if LinuxCNC were you running on that machine? (Just to get an idea of how much you may have to tweak you config to get it running on a new install using a current version of LinuxCNC)

2.8 probably.

There is an ISO with Debian 10 Buster and LinuxCNC version 2.8.4 here:
www.linuxcnc.org/iso/linuxcnc-2.8.4-buster.iso

as found here:
www.linuxcnc.org/downloads/



Note that from Version 2.9 on LinuxCNC is Python3 only which may or may not affect your current machine configuration,

 

is this just the nature of all these systems? Or is this something Linux deals with disproportionately?

Just to give you some perspective: MOST server systems on this planet run on linux. So no, Linux is certainly not more likely to have issues than other operating systems.
Considering that Microsoft with it's Windows OS has been dominating the PC market for 30 years and has had hardware tailored to its needs it's surprising how unreliable it actually is. Apple basically forces you to buy new hardware as they will decide to just simply no longer let you update your system at some point.
And of course both of the above are commercial products that earn their respective corporations billions.
Linux on the other hand can be installed or most of the PC hardware out there and has to be made to  work with what is there.
One issue is that it often gets installed on hardware that is already aged and may be past it's prime.
Personally I have switched to Linux after 25 years of windows and after a somewhat bumpy introduction I have never felt the urge to go back.

 

Next month will be 7 years for this one, it is in use daily (mostly 10h days, sometimes more), changed 3 owners by now, never had a single issue, till 3 weeks ago when the hard drive failed. A quick install/setup/copy and it is back to running daily
forum.linuxcnc.org/show-your-stuff/31196...ter-with-ihs-and-ahc
Nearly 5 years, not a single issue
forum.linuxcnc.org/show-your-stuff/35306-cnc-plasma-tube-cutter
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I have much older ones probably on this forum, but can not find/recall.
To avoid further issues, try to filter out new stuff from forums, then filter out replies from experienced users, do not follow blindly what you are reading but do a bit of research beforehand, etc.
And you are persistent, that is a good quality, always.