Urza9814 Posted January 27, 2004 Report Share Posted January 27, 2004 Aight, I'm a total idiot, you don't need to tell me my errors, for there are many... I'm one of those ppl that does stuff, and worries about what it's gonna do AFTER I do it...and now...I'm kinda locked outta root...I mean, I could still get there...but it'd be really hard...here's what I did: I was messing around in GNOME under root (yea, bad move...don't 'mess around' in root...especially if you've only had linux a few weeks) and I was looking and messing with the configuration files (you don't need to remind me how stupid I am, I already know :-P) and somehow I changed the screen as soon as you boot up, where it asks you to log in...instead of showing the users and pics on the left, and on the right having a place to type in the name and password, it first shows a box of the users (root isn't on there...just the normal users) then when you select one, it asks for the password...but you can't change the user name...so unless I set it to auto login to root...I'm stuck...I changed everything back that I remember changing...but I'm still stuck...I'm sure this isn't that hard to fix, right? If you're wondering why I was messing around in GNOME, under root, with the configuration files (sounds like a game of Clue :-P)...I was trying to find a way to get GNOME to go faster with my tiny 64MB RAM...I don't use it much...but it's helpful sometimes... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
iphitus Posted January 27, 2004 Report Share Posted January 27, 2004 you can't login to GUI with root? great! you dont need to. Mess with configs at the command line su and you are root. To edit files, urpmi nano, and oyu can use the easy editor "nano" It's got all its keyboard shotcuts at the bottom ( ^ means Ctrl ), And as for changing GNOME settings in root. They will only affect root. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cannonfodder Posted January 27, 2004 Report Share Posted January 27, 2004 So what you are saying is that on the login screen, root isn't an option although everyone else is? Might have to do with your security setting. Try typing mcc in a console and play with the settings there.. ps If your gnome settings are screwed, try renaming the .gnome folder to something else and relogin. Might rebuild everything.. Worst case scenerio, you can restore from the backup.. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bvc Posted January 27, 2004 Report Share Posted January 27, 2004 (edited) did you mess with the login in kcontrol? Did ya change it back? Did ya reboot or better, as root, service dm stop service dm start ? Sounds like you're using mdkkdm. Kdm is better and gdm, even better. Better than that is to not use a dm and startx from init 3 or use Xtart (a console dm). You can change your dm in either; mcc>System>something Display Manager or mcc>Hardware>something Display Manager (I know, weird place for it) No, I didn't wonder why you were root in gui. I've been doing it for 2.5 years ;) Edited January 27, 2004 by bvc Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cjc Posted January 27, 2004 Report Share Posted January 27, 2004 Alright, I'm a total idiot There are no idiots here, no dumb mistakes, no stupid questions...they do not exist, we forbid them But there are a whole bunch of really smart, clever, nice Linux users that will help you no matter what the problem, in order to spread the word of Linux... Welcome to our version of Utopia... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Urza9814 Posted January 27, 2004 Author Report Share Posted January 27, 2004 So what you are saying is that on the login screen, root isn't an option although everyone else is? yea...but root has never been an option...but it used to let me type in the name...now it just gives me a list to choose from Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
phunni Posted January 27, 2004 Report Share Posted January 27, 2004 You don't need root to be an option for login - don't log in as root at all - ever (ever (never ever)) If you need to do things as root then (as has been said above) do an "su" in a terminal and then exit. You can also do a kdesu to start an X program as root - not sure if there is a gnome equivalent Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bvc Posted January 27, 2004 Report Share Posted January 27, 2004 Judging by Urza9814's first post he knew of the claimed dangers of logging in gui as root. Must you beat him down for something that is none of your business? It's his machine, sys, data, and time....not yours....therefore not for you to say what someone should and shouldn't do. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aRTee Posted January 27, 2004 Report Share Posted January 27, 2004 bvc, they are just trying to get the guy to walk the path to nirvana, instead of back to redmond.... ;) Anyway, yes, everyone should do whatever they want with their own machine -- a prime reason to run linux, because there you can. Nevertheless, there are such things as bad practices, and unless people point those out, how are newbies going to learn? Second point: everyone can do on their own machine what they want, as long as they don't blame linux when (not if!) their machine is broken beyond repair and their data is lost (compressed into 0-bit length into /dev/null, the ultraultra zip compressor cq. unix black hole), and as long as they don't expect others to fix things for them... To respond to the question, at least halfway: my guess is that you now are using mdkkdm instead of gdm or kdm. There should be some setting in mcc - boot. Feel free to log on graphically as root. But: don't expect to be getting help to repair your system -- or maybe even sympathy... :P If you want to know why and how then to do things, just ask. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bvc Posted January 27, 2004 Report Share Posted January 27, 2004 bvc, they are just trying to get the guy to walk the path to nirvana, instead of back to redmond.... ;) Anyway, yes, everyone should do whatever they want with their own machine -- a prime reason to run linux, because there you can. Nevertheless, there are such things as bad practices, and unless people point those out, how are newbies going to learn? Second point: everyone can do on their own machine what they want, as long as they don't blame linux when (not if!) their machine is broken beyond repair and their data is lost (compressed into 0-bit length into /dev/null, the ultraultra zip compressor cq. unix black hole), and as long as they don't expect others to fix things for them... To respond to the question, at least halfway: my guess is that you now are using mdkkdm instead of gdm or kdm. There should be some setting in mcc - boot. Feel free to log on graphically as root. But: don't expect to be getting help to repair your system -- or maybe even sympathy... :P If you want to know why and how then to do things, just ask. Judging by Urza9814's first post he knew of the claimed dangers of logging in gui as root. Aight, I'm a total idiot, you don't need to tell me my errors, for there are many... (yea, bad move...don't 'mess around' in root...especially if you've only had linux a few weeks) (you don't need to remind me how stupid I am, I already know :-P) No aRTee, I'd say the prob is that people can't read and comprehend a simple and polite request. Since when did we stop helping those that screw up their systems as root? What about those using cooker? We wouldn't need this board then would we? Do you realized, that's like.....all the time....probably 90% and up of the threads on the board? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
phunni Posted January 27, 2004 Report Share Posted January 27, 2004 Hey - no one is not willing to help someone who runs a system as root (at least I'm not) I was just trying to encourage him not to run as root - ok, so my humorous tone of voice didn't come over in my typing - but it was there Also, judging by his first post he may not have realised that he doesn't need to log in as root to do root tasks, he can use su Calm down... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Urza9814 Posted January 27, 2004 Author Report Share Posted January 27, 2004 geez...heated debate here :-P yea...I kinda knew about su...but not really...like...I knew it was there...I've used it...but I still logged into root for some reason :-P probably should though...only times I use root is to install stuff or give permissions to my main user...though how do you change permissions in console? if you can tell me that, I won't need to log in as root...and I guess this'll kinda be solved...without me having to mess with anything else :-P Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aRTee Posted January 30, 2004 Report Share Posted January 30, 2004 bvc, please pay more attention to my smileys :P to change permissions on the command line, use: chmod to change ownership, use chown and finally to change group membership, use chgrp more info if you do man chmod (same for chgrp, chown) on the commandline, or point konqueror to: man:/chmod for kicks. Also, have a look at the faq section here, about the command line, and on my website I also have a page... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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