Anyway, the first thing I found out is that the following is the easiest
and most foolproof (not to mention fastest) way to do this:

on either the GRUB or LILO boot line, put: init=/bin/sh
when you have a root prompt, do the following:
mount -n -o remount,rw /
passwd root
(provide new password twice)
mount -n -o remount,ro /
sync;sync;sync
hit the reset switch

Ciao,

David A. Bandel
--
Focus on the dream, not the competition.
-- Nemesis Racing Team motto