Fix error "Failed to start DHCP Client Daemon" after upgrade to "Bullseye" remote?

Question

This is a non problem. DO NOT attempt "upgrade" - follow the advice to do a fresh install, NOT a kludge to "fix" the "problem".

I did an upgrade to Bullseye and rebooted. I can't login with ssh (also he does not answer ping) and on screen I see the error Failed to start DHCP Client Daemon.

Now the big problem: the pi password is something like qQvXHXGu8,ee]=0-_y8.XcIqyJG0Y4I}7Wm?r}IvRCo#e,Rgp3K//jh~0a/Uq;] and I can't type this with keyboard (without doing a human error).

How to fix this remotely or with editing files on SDcard?

If it matters, my router is OpenWrt based.

Answer 1

This occurs following dist-upgrade to bullseye and prevents the Pi from getting network access.

Further to the answer from @Ivan (which fixed this problem for me), you can make the necessary change to the DHCP configuration with one command:

sed -i 's|/usr/lib/dhcpcd5/dhcpcd|/usr/sbin/dhcpcd|g' /etc/systemd/system/dhcpcd.service.d/wait.conf

For a headless pi, this will prevent SSH access - you will require KVM access to make this change. Alternatively, you can use a Debian rescue disk to make changes to the ext4 partition. I haven't found an easy way to do this via a change to the /boot/ partition (so not easily sortable from non-Linux OS).

Answer 2

There is a fix for this "Failed to start DHCP Client Daemon" on Updated to Bullseye, needed to change my dhcpcd.conf reddit thread for anyone that has the same problem with Failed to start DHCP deamon

sudo nano /etc/systemd/system/dhcpcd.service.d/wait.conf

Change from:
[Service]
ExecStart=
ExecStart=/usr/lib/dhcpcd5/dhcpcd -q -w

To:
[Service]
ExecStart=
ExecStart=/usr/sbin/dhcpcd -q -w

and DHCP works.
I had the same problem with dhcpcd service or RPI 4. This fixed it.
(Of course after you fix the password issue).

Answer 3

(Before doing this process, BACK UP THE CARD!!!!! Copy it's contents onto another sd card. If something wrong happens, the result could be TERRIBLE!)

To reset the password, You need to put the os sd card in another computer. Then, go on it, navigate to /boot/cmndline.txt like so.

Edit it; add at the end init=bin/sh like this. Then save the changes, and eject the disk. (In this, as you might notice, this file belongs to the computer's file system. In your case, you would alter the disk's file system. I am doing this on raspbian bullseye with a changed theme and this is just an example to give you an idea on how to do it.) Insert the disk into the pi, and boot it. The pi will not complete the boot, and you will have an error, and a blinking prompt. Type mount -o remount, rw / and hit enter. Wait for the cursor, then, type passwd pi and hit enter. Then, it will ask you for the new password. Type it, then push enter. If it says you have a weak password, then, make it stronger. When It likes your password, it will say "Password was changed successfully" Then, type sync and push enter. Then type exec /sbin/init and push enter. It will do some processing, then ask for your login. Type your new password. Shutdown, and undo the changes that you made to /boot/cmndline.txt by deleting the init=bin/sh part at the end of the line. Now, eject the card, put it back in the pi, boot, and you're all set!