diff --git a/linux-managements/setup.sh b/linux-managements/setup.sh
index db30b60..1e7590a 100755
--- a/linux-managements/setup.sh
+++ b/linux-managements/setup.sh
@@ -300,13 +300,16 @@ setup_fish() {
         info "$FISH_PATH already in /etc/shells"
     fi
 
-    # Change default shell only if not already fish
+    # Change default shell only if not already fish.
+    # Prefer usermod (script-friendly, no TTY/PAM quirks); fall back to chsh.
+    # Never abort the whole setup if this fails — just warn and move on.
     current_shell="$(getent passwd "$USER" | cut -d: -f7)"
     if [ "$current_shell" = "$FISH_PATH" ]; then
         info "fish is already the default shell"
-    else
-        psudo chsh -s "$FISH_PATH" "$USER"
+    elif psudo usermod -s "$FISH_PATH" "$USER" || psudo chsh -s "$FISH_PATH" "$USER"; then
         success "Default shell changed to fish ($FISH_PATH)"
+    else
+        warn "Could not change default shell to fish — run manually: sudo usermod -s $FISH_PATH $USER"
     fi
 
     # For brew-based systems: add brew shellenv to fish config
@@ -749,6 +752,24 @@ setup_passwordless_sudo() {
     esac
 }
 
+# ─── Normalize user/group databases ──────────────────────────────────────────
+# shadow's commonio_open() refuses to modify a database whose last line is not
+# newline-terminated, failing with a misleading "cannot open /etc/passwd".
+# Some installers/tools leave these files unterminated, which then breaks chsh,
+# usermod and groupadd alike — so make sure they end with a newline first.
+ensure_db_trailing_newlines() {
+    local f
+    for f in /etc/passwd /etc/group /etc/shadow; do
+        [ -f "$f" ] || continue
+        # `tail -c 1` yields the last byte; command substitution strips a
+        # trailing newline, so non-empty output means the file is unterminated.
+        if [ -n "$(psudo tail -c 1 "$f")" ]; then
+            psudo sh -c "printf '\\n' >> '$f'"
+            warn "Added missing trailing newline to $f (required by chsh/usermod)"
+        fi
+    done
+}
+
 # ─── Main ─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
 main() {
     echo -e "${BOLD}${CYAN}"
@@ -759,6 +780,7 @@ main() {
 
     detect_os
     ensure_sudo
+    ensure_db_trailing_newlines
     setup_passwordless_sudo
 
     set_hostname