> Don't bet on it.  The default Debian install requires the root password to
> boot into single-user mode.
> 
> init=/bin/bash gives you a slightly less convenient environment, but it's a
> good deal more likely to work.  (There are also BIOS passwords, LILO
> passwords, and a few other things which can still complicate matters on a
> well-secured box.)

Oh yeah, I did this on a slackware box before. You do indeed need
"init=/bin/sh" to get past any passwords. Or an emergency boot disk,
mount root and edit /etc/shadow. ;)