Reset MySQL root password

I will describe, one way to reset the MySQL root password.

turn off mysql

/etc/init.d/mysql -stop

start mysql without any authentication

mysqld --skip-grant-tables

now you can connect without a password or user

mysql -u root -p

now you can set the new password und flush it

UPDATE mysql.user SET Password=PASSWORD('yournewpassword') WHERE User='root';
FLUSH PRIVILEGES;

open a second terminal and stop the mysql server again

/etc/init.d/mysql stop

if you did that you can start the MySQL server

/etc/init.d/mysql start