Joomla Admin password reset - epic quest

[TotallyTroll]

I've met some clients website based on Joomla! 2.5. Had to do some changes to the text, links, etc. Went to administration tab and met pretty hardcore problem that seems to easy at the beginning. I can't access administration panel with provided password. It seems to be legit, because I don't got an error about invalid password. Page just refreshes to it's starting state.

When I entered obviously invalid password - I've got a proper message about it:

Next logic step is to reset password. Email recovery doesn't help. PHP plugin "Ratuj Admina" also have no power here )) And the most proper way: changing password via website database edit - seems to be "mission impossible".
First problem that database_users section doesn't have admin user at all. It has only one user with custom name. Second problem there is no password column in this database at all So there is nothing to change, to get access to administration section.


Help me please finally get access to administration panel.

[pe7er]

Create a new Super User,
See "SQL code for use with Joomla"
https://docs.joomla.org/How_do_you_reco ... assword%3F

[TotallyTroll]

Create a new Super User,
See "SQL code for use with Joomla"
https://docs.joomla.org/How_do_you_reco ... assword%3F

Thanks for your help, but I think first I have to add somehow a password column to my database. And then add new Admin2 with password "secret". Any chance to get SQL code for that?

[sozzled]

Thanks for your help, but I think first I have to add somehow a password column to my database. And then add new Admin2 with password "secret". Any chance to get SQL code for that?

Using the screenshot posted above, this is not the _users table for a J! 2.5 website. It is evident from the screenshot that shows a gender column. There is no gender column in any _users table in J! x.y website.

This probably helps to explain why you cannot find the password column. You're looking at the wrong table.

[pe7er]

Any chance to get SQL code for that?

To find the SQL code for any core Joomla table:
Check the /installation/sql/mysql/joomla.sql

[TotallyTroll]

Thanks for your help, but I think first I have to add somehow a password column to my database. And then add new Admin2 with password "secret". Any chance to get SQL code for that?

Using the screenshot posted above, this is not the _users table for a J! 2.5 website. It is evident from the screenshot that shows a gender column. There is no gender column in any _users table in J! x.y website.

This probably helps to explain why you cannot find the password column. You're looking at the wrong table.

Something weird with this website... I've looked through the whole database and didn't find any item related to users. Except one I showed in first post.
Here is how this database looks like:

[sozzled]

Scroll down further; there are more tables. The tables are listed in alphabetical order.

Look for the table avin_users.

[TotallyTroll]

Scroll down further; there are more tables. The tables are listed in alphabetical order.

Look for the table avin_users.

It was completely my mistake. The tables overview in left window doesn't show all tables inside the database... I have to click on it and look into main window. No I've found super user and changed it's password to secret. And seems that login/password are correct, still I can't access administration panel. I've got the same problem as mister had in this topic: viewtopic.php?f=624&t=971423
Login page just refreshes to it's default state and requesting login again.

[sozzled]

I've found super user and changed its password to secret

Did you change the password to "secret"

... or did you change the password to "d2064d358136996bd22421584a7cb33e:trd7TvKHx6dMeoMmBVxYmg0vuXEA4199"

Can you login to the backend of the J! 2.5 website? Yes or no, please.

[pe7er]

Could you check the #__extensions table to see if the two plugins
"Authentication - Joomla" +
"User - Joomla!"
that are essential for login, are enabled?

[TotallyTroll]

I've found super user and changed its password to secret

Did you change the password to "secret"

... or did you change the password to "d2064d358136996bd22421584a7cb33e:trd7TvKHx6dMeoMmBVxYmg0vuXEA4199"

Can you login to the backend of the J! 2.5 website? Yes or no, please.

Of course to "d2064d358136996bd22421584a7cb33e:trd7TvKHx6dMeoMmBVxYmg0vuXEA4199"
"Backend" - do you mean mywebsite.com/administrator ?

[sozzled]

I've met some clients website based on Joomla! 2.5. Had to do some changes to the text, links, etc. Went to administration tab and met pretty hardcore problem that seems to easy at the beginning. I can't access administration panel with provided password. It seems to be legit, because I don't got an error about invalid password. Page just refreshes to it's starting state.

Let's just pause a moment. This is the login screen for the backend (your administrator site, if you would like to call it that) ... and this is your "client's" website.

You have spent the past week and you don't even know how to login?

I don't know what you know and I don't think your client knows what you don't know. Let's leave that to one side for a moment, shall we?

Can you login (using the screen you showed us at the beginning of this discussion) to the website? Yes or no. It's a pretty straightforward question.

[TotallyTroll]

I've met some clients website based on Joomla! 2.5. Had to do some changes to the text, links, etc. Went to administration tab and met pretty hardcore problem that seems to easy at the beginning. I can't access administration panel with provided password. It seems to be legit, because I don't got an error about invalid password. Page just refreshes to it's starting state.

Let's just pause a moment. This is the login screen for the backend (your administrator site, if you would like to call it that) ... and this is your "client's" website.

You have spent the past week and you don't even know how to login?

I don't know what you know and I don't think your client knows what you don't know. Let's leave that to one side for a moment, shall we?

Can you login (using the screen you showed us at the beginning of this discussion) to the website? Yes or no. It's a pretty straightforward question.

Yes I was trying to login via /administrator page, that shown by screenshots in my first post.
No I can't login. Page just refreshing and asks for a log/pass again and again.

[TotallyTroll]

Could you check the #__extensions table to see if the two plugins
"Authentication - Joomla" +
"User - Joomla!"
that are essential for login, are enabled?

Found this plugins inside table and both of them are enabled.

[sozzled]

I can't login. Page just refreshing and asks for a log/pass again and again.

That's all I wanted to know.

I saw the topic (with the subject) "Joomla Admin password reset" and I thought I could help. Well, after a week, we've successfully reset the Joomla administrator account password but this wasn't the problem, was it? The real problem was that you cannot actually login even with a legitimate user account and the correct password.

I don't know why you cannot login but the main reason why people cannot login usually because of some other problem, another piece of software, an undetected error, webhosting problem, or site hack. We don't know what you know and, if you want to understand why you cannot login to the backend of your client's website, you will need to tell us a lot more.

The best way to tell us "a lot more" is to use the Forum Post Assistant tool. I may or may not be able to help; I usually do not spend time working on J! 2.5 issues except when (a) they are ones easy ones like "how to reset the Joomla administrator account password" or (b) people pay me money to fix the difficult ones.