Stretch install appears buggy (incorrect ROOT PW storage)

[neodeb]

LOL how many wouldn't set the root password on live install????

just add...
init=/bin/bash
... at the end on the linuz line via GRUB "e" edit. Hit F10
mount -o remount,rw /
passwd
done!

[luvr]

just add...
init=/bin/bash
... at the end on the linuz line via GRUB "e" edit. Hit F10
mount -o remount,rw /
passwd
done!

You’re quite right, of course.

I preferred booting another Linux distro, however, so I would have a completely operational environment to diagnose the problem. Then, while I was there, I could resolve it at well.

Off-Topic: Furthermore, I have learned to avoid the GRUB console as much as possible, because it will not let me remap the keyboard. According to the documentation, it should support a keyboard input module that does support keyboard maps, but that module doesn’t work—it locks up before I can do anything useful with it. I did try to add a sort of keyboard mapping support the Legacy-GRUB-way, but (even though it did work to some degree) that was less than satisfactorily. While I do have a general idea about what goes wrong with the keyboard-mapping module, I doubt that I will ever get around to solving the problem.