[Fedora-livecd-list] how to set root password?

[pseudo vector]

Hi,

I'm trying to use livecd-creator to make a "permanent" system that
sits outside of a firewall (i.e. it's assigned a non-dhcp ip address,
runs ssh for users that need to get into our internal network).

I can not get root login to work though. I have the following lines in
my livecd-conf file:

        # update user info
        echo 'root:$1$ncO9QrXs$.f63DbXQniCX41Pb8gMD1' | chpasswd -e
        passwd -S root
        useradd -c "SNOOPY User Account" -m -n \
          -p '$1$2OOvrGlY$M3tBJfc9gfKvThcmqnOgo1' snoopy
        pwconv

When I boot the livecd though root logins fail with:
login: pam_unix(login:auth): authentication failure; logname=LOGIN
uid=0 euid=0 tty=tty1 ruser= rhost= user=root

login: FAILED LOGIN 1 FROM (null) FOR root, Authentication failure

The snoopy user account works fine though (and I can't su to root from
that account).

I've verified by looking at the livecd image that the password is set
properly in /etc/passwd and /etc/shadow. /etc/securetty is also ok.

How does one go about getting root logins on the livecd?

Thanks in advance for any replys.