Hey @tweed77,
Short version:
- Do not set or change the root password on Volumio. It is unsupported and will break updates, plugins, and any non-interactive scripts that rely on the stock authentication flow.
- Your EEPROM updater failed because a script expected the default, non-modified credentials flow and could not elevate without interaction.
Why it breaks things:
- Volumio is an appliance OS, not a generic Linux workstation. Many backend tasks and plugins elevate with sudo in non-interactive contexts. If you alter root authentication, those calls start prompting or failing.
- Some components assume the factory credential model and PAM/sudoers behavior and will not ask you for a new password mid-run. They just fail.
- OTA/update integrity checks also expect a stock base system. Changing privileged auth paths is outside the supported surface.
Answer to your question:
- Factory behavior: elevate with sudo using the default volumio credentials. If you run “sudo su”, you will be asked for the volumio user password. Do not set a separate root password.
How to recover:
- Reflash Volumio to restore the supported authentication model.
- Before you do, back up your data from the Internal share over the network. The music share is always available on the LAN, so copy your content from the Internal folder first.
If you want better security without breaking things:
- Do not change the volumio user password.
- Keep the device on your LAN only and block inbound WAN access at your router.
- Disable SSH entirely when you do not need it.
If you already changed the root password, the only safe path is to reflash.
Kind Regards,