Lost password and password reset utility doesn't work.

Question

Kind of embarassing, but a couple of days ago I decided that it would be a good idea to change my password at three in the morning. Gah!
I tried using the password reset utility, but it would simply crash upon selecting my drive. I ran it from the terminal and it says that it's getting a bus error. I tried using passwd from single user mode, but it seems as though Apple has decided that that is a bad thing. Same goes for trying to run it from the terminal on the install disc.
What do I do now? Getting my files back won't be a problem, but I won't have the equipment to do that until I go home, and there are still a couple of weeks left in the semester. Being stuck using my guest account really *****!
G5   Mac OS X (10.4.6)  

Answer 1

This will give you root access to your computer:
1) Reboot into single usermode (Hold "Cmd" + "S")
2) At the Console # type:
fsck -fy
- This should come up OK after a minute, if not run it again
3) At the Console # type:
mount -uw /
4)At the Console # type:
nicl -raw /var/db/netinfo/local.nidb -createprop /users/root authentication_authority ";basic;"
- The above should be all on 1 line (this might format it to wrap a line)
5) At the Console # type:
nicl -raw /var/db/netinfo/local.nidb -createprop /users/root passwd
- This will reset the root password
6) At the Console # type:
reboot
7) You can now login with the username root