OS 10.4 password reset

Hello,
Really struggling with this one. No matter what I type in and how many times I type it I get this command prompt

/etc/master .password: no such file or directroy
/etc/rc: /etc/rc: No wuch file or directory

I guess it is telling me there is no way to reset a master password because the directory is missing in the OS. Or something of that nature.
Ready to take this machine out for target practice. Please help.