BobGuy© Posted April 3, 2003 Report Share Posted April 3, 2003 Trying to help a friend out, when he clicks on K-> Configuration-> Other-> Userdrake in mandrake 9.1 he gets this error message after he enters his root password properly: "Can't lock user lib, file /etc/ptmp or /etc/gtmp exist" Had him check /etc/group /etc/passwd and /etc/shadow and everything looks normal. This happened after he tried to add a new user, then went to the groups tab and did a shift+click on the available groups side. Userdrake closed out immediately and he can not get back in as su root anymore, can get in su root MCC, but not userdrake in MCC. He can get in as a unpriveledged user though. Any ideas on where to look next to fix this issue? Thanks folks, he has only been using linux for about a week now and would rather fix this than reinstall 9.1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ramfree17 Posted April 3, 2003 Report Share Posted April 3, 2003 "Can't lock user lib, file /etc/ptmp or /etc/gtmp exist" remove (or rename temporarily) the lock files mentioned above and try again. this happens when the root utilites of mdk gets interrupted suddenly and doesnt get the opportunity to clean-up the files mentioned. ciao! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BobGuy© Posted April 3, 2003 Author Report Share Posted April 3, 2003 remove (or rename temporarily) the lock files mentioned above and try again. This is a new one for me, those files, user lib, file /etc/ptmp or /etc/gtmp? Are we talking about 2 or 3 files here? Actually I'm still having trouble understanding that error message. :? I'm using mandrake v9.0 still and I don't see those files, so I take it that these files get created but not deleted if UserDrake should get interrupted suddenly and does not get to clean up these files properly, like it would if UserDrake did not exit abruptly? Had him check /etc/group /etc/passwd and /etc/shadow and everything looks normal. I should add that 'normal' here means that the new user and groups did not get added to those three files. Thanks for the quick reply ramfree17 :D If I can figure this out, I'll have him rename them and see what happens when he tries to get back in to UserDrake. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ramfree17 Posted April 3, 2003 Report Share Posted April 3, 2003 if /etc/ptmp and /etc/gtmp both exist then they should be renamed/removed. i am only suggesting that they be renamed so that if the need arises to restore them (which i doubt since this type of question has occured before), then you can by renaming the files back. ill try to explain the message (actually, ill try to explain it as i understand it so read my sig :#:). the mandrake config tools (mcc and i think everything used within it, i.e. userdrake, rpmdrake, etc.) creates lock files (the ptmp and gtmp files above) before they can work. the lock files will have to remain in place while the tools are working. these lock files would then be removed when the task is completed and the tools exited normally. notice the word that i highlighted. if something happens that interrupts the tools from doing their termination cleanup (like your computer hanged and you pressed the power button, or if the tool hanged and you sent it the termination signal (issue man kill in a terminal)), the files will then be left existing in the /etc/ directory. the next time you execute one of the tools above, it will then try to create the same lock files and seeing that they already exist, it will halt with an error thinking that another tool (possibly another instance of the same tool) is already working in the background. my explanation is kind of messy. i hope somebody can explain it better, or else just post the sections you dont understand and ill try to explain it better. ciao! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest ralpha6 Posted April 3, 2003 Report Share Posted April 3, 2003 Thank you very much ramfree! I renamed the 2 files in question and that worked like a charm. Now is ok to delete the 2 renamed files? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ramfree17 Posted April 4, 2003 Report Share Posted April 4, 2003 Now is ok to delete the 2 renamed files? sure, if it was me i would have deleted it right off the bat but i just wanted to stress out that when deleting files that you are not sure of its purpose (especially config files), its better to rename the file to something else so you can revert it if you need to. ciao! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BobGuy© Posted April 4, 2003 Author Report Share Posted April 4, 2003 Thanks ramfree17 :D You explained that very well, even I understood it. problem solved. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ramfree17 Posted April 4, 2003 Report Share Posted April 4, 2003 my pleasure, its nice to be able to help once in a while. :) ciao! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.