Forget my beaglebone password - unable to login

Does this help?

https://mmmsoftware.blogspot.com/2014/01/recovering-root-password-on-beaglebone.html

Dougw - I followed the procedure but when trying to log into the board or get a prompt using putty - i got no prompt - I used the external power adapter to power the board ,flashed the image to the sd - got the com port via the ftdi cable - set it to 115200 ,ensure the 8 N1 was ok but no response .

Your serial connections look fine (provided it isn't an FTDI cable with variable voltage [some FTDI cables expect a voltage on a pin to set the logic levels, i.e. 3.3V, and those connections on the Beaglebone do not have a pin for that].

Can you show which instructions you followed to create the SD card image and did your instructions mention anything about the user/boot button?

mmmsoftware.blogspot.com/.../recovering-root-password-on-beaglebone.html

I didn't press no button down - I simply power the board then connect the FTDI cable to board and USB end to PC. I was expecting a prompt in putty .

I only scanned those instructions and didn't see the user_boot button mentioned. These instructions should help for setting up the SD card and for booting:

 Getting Started with BeagleBone Black 

I'm not saying these instructions are better (we'll I guess I am suggesting they are better! 

The sections that may help there:

Creating the micro SD card ,

First Boot, 

Problems? Use the Serial Console

That's not the right image for the micro SD. The web link I supplied indicates the sort of image name to use.

Once it's working off the micro SD, at least that confirms the Beaglebone Black is working. And you can then make use of it.

You could take steps to re-flash the eMMC if desired but it's not of much practical use except to orgs making products, with a small image for say an appliance. For general development work, you'll want an image with developer features and that's much bigger than the 4GB that is available on the eMMC.

I also found that using the serial port, while doing this is very useful to see what happens when you boot up with a new image. I know with BeaglePlay you get bootup options, which can make a difference when using the flasher option on a uSD card.

elinux.org/Beagleboard:BeagleBone_Black_Serial

I also found that using the serial port, while doing this is very useful to see what happens when you boot up with a new image. I know with BeaglePlay you get bootup options, which can make a difference when using the flasher option on a uSD card.

elinux.org/Beagleboard:BeagleBone_Black_Serial