Linux help needed

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Posted: Fri Nov 23, 2007 11:18 pm

Like Ginch, I just set up my pc w/ Ubuntu. I couldn't use it on my gaming pc due to some apic kernal panic error, so I put it on a 2nd pc. I found this link here to let me use all the buttons on my trackball mouse. After much clicking around, I finally found the xorg.conf file to edit, but it wouldn't allow me to save (saying I didn't have permission).

Can someone please explain in "windows-eze" how I open that file with permissions so I can save it?

Posted: Fri Nov 23, 2007 11:36 pm

Hi,
Here is what I usually do:

Open a terminal window;

type su then hit enter.

now enter your root password and hit enter.

then type in gedit

this will open up the editing program in root mode which will allow you to edit configuration files.

Posted: Fri Nov 23, 2007 11:41 pm

Hmm, i can't seem to use my password. Is it the same I log on with?

I am getting this error when I use my login to the system password

Quote:

su: Authentication failure.
Sorry.

EDIT : Pasted the wrong thing oops!

Posted: Fri Nov 23, 2007 11:51 pm

Close.

when you originally installed the program you had to set up an administrator, or root, account. This password should be different then your user password.

Posted: Fri Nov 23, 2007 11:55 pm

Hmm, I don't remember seeing one, but I found a way in.

I found here that I could type

Quote:

ok here you go
sudo -s
*enter your username password*
passwd
*enter the password you want for su*
now use su and your new root password all your little heart wants....

It allowed me to make the edits. i suppose I'll have to reboot the system (or at least just firefox) to see if it works for my mouse. <Crosses Fingers>

Thanks for the help Stroker!

Posted: Sat Nov 24, 2007 12:09 am

Quote:

That's because the sudo command uses your user's password, whereas the su command uses the root pwd, which is not set in Ubuntu by default(read: is set, but nobody to my knowledge will tell you what it is).

Ok, cool.

In Ubuntu you have to set the root password! Dooh! Forgot that, Sorry. I'm running Fedora 8 at the moment.

Anyway in your administration section there should be a user utility that will let you do that. I'd recommend it because opening a program from the shell is an easy to get Admin rights for editing config files and installing programs with the ./make & ./install crap you will need to do occasionally.

Posted: Sat Nov 24, 2007 1:02 am

That didn't seem to go as planned! Laughing

On restart, I couldn't get it to go to the GUI, I must have messed up something when I was editing the line about the mouse in xorg.conf but I never thought it would have that effect. I tried to fix it by using the live CD, but it wouldn't let me get to it to edit it. Ended up reinstalling Ubuntu (although I'm sure there may have been a way to fix it, but I didn't feel like searching for it).

Looking at the link in the first post, is there anything I could have done wrong that would make it mess up that bad? Question

Posted: Sat Nov 24, 2007 1:21 am

Sure. But you would have to trash the conf file to do it.

For attempt #2

copy the pristine xorg.conf file to a usb key. Then you can just copy it back when/if you trash the install again.

Next when editing my config files I use a lot of comments. to write comments in a file simply start out the line with a #

Typically I use FF for forum fix (I hope) and then the link. So it would look like this:

# FF http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=28374
# Section "InputDevice"
# Identifier "mouse.usb"
# Driver "mouse"
# Option "CorePointer"
# Option "Device" "/dev/input/mice"
# Option "Protocol" "IMPS/2"
# Option "Emulate3Buttons" "YES"
# Option "ZAxisMapping" "4 5"
# EndSection

# new info
Section "InputDevice"
Identifier "mouse.usb"
Driver "mouse"
Option "CorePointer"
Option "Device" "/dev/input/mice"
Option "Protocol" "ExplorerPS/2"
Option "Buttons" "7"
Option "ZAxisMapping" "6 7"
EndSection

For most of my forum edits I just use the copy & paste method of data entry. Very Happy

Posted: Sat Nov 24, 2007 1:33 am

File backed up and attempt 2 about to be made! Very Happy

Posted: Sat Nov 24, 2007 1:46 am

UH, I'm hoping you will be able to read this Very Happy

soon.

Most live CD's don't have the root password set. So you will need to set it up yourself before you can use the SU command to open the editor for the file.

Posted: Sat Nov 24, 2007 2:35 am

Eh, no luck. Same result. After editing the file and rebooting I goes to the startup screen then eventually blank and the monitor light even goes from green to orange. I just reinstalled it again. (Jeez, it's starting to feel just like Windows Laughing

). I think I'm just stuck with a mouse that won't use it's extra buttons. Crying or Very sad

Thanks for the help though!

Posted: Sat Nov 24, 2007 3:15 am

Sorry OD. Sometimes it takes a while to work through the bugs. Follow the forums though because there are lots of other people who have had the same problem.

I work on Windows machines and relax on my Linux ones. Wink

Posted: Sat Nov 24, 2007 4:29 am

GOT IT! :8

Sort of. I used the instructions here to do it. First I found some info that said to use XEV in a terminal to see what the buttons were being called. I noticed the extra two buttons were being captured as 2 & 3 instead of 8 & 9. I fixed that with a mild change to the config file by changing to ExplorerPS/2. Then I bound the keys using the instructions in the link.

From what the link says, it sounds like I will need to run this program every boot unless I get it into the system startup. How do I do that in linux?

@stroker, until now I did work, gaming, and relaxing on a windows box. I know them very well, just hope to get that way w/ Linux soon! Very Happy

Posted: Sat Nov 24, 2007 8:15 am

OD
Have you tried www.ubuntuforums.org? Very good support for most subjects there.

What sort of mouse do you have?

Edit
I should have checked out the link in your first post! Embarassed

Elite Baiter Joined: 02 Jul 2006 Posts: 1702

Theres a neat little program called webmin for linux.

also linuxiso.org (sometimes thats up,sometimes its down)

The reason i like webmin, is whilst its really supposed to be for webserver it allows you to do simple stuff like add programs to run on boot.

(you have got to set the root password however, because with webmin you can login as root and do all sorts remotely quite easily, including start and stop processes)

Posted: Sat Nov 24, 2007 2:15 pm

OxygenDeprived wrote:

Can someone please explain in "windows-eze" how I open that file with permissions so I can save it?

In Ubuntu things work slightly differently to many linux distributions by default. To get root/administrator access to a file, you type "sudo" (short for Super User DO) followed by the command, then you own user's password.

For example, editing xorg.conf as root, using the nano text editor:

sudo nano /etc/X11/xorg.conf
(enter YOUR password, not the root password)

By default on ubuntu, there is no root password set to prevent users logging in as root (since it poses a security risk). Instead, the default user takes the place of an administrator by having root access to all commands through sudo. For more on sudo, type "man sudo" at the command line.

There are also graphical implementations of sudo for running desktop applications as root, called gtksudo and kdesudo, depending on whether you're on GNOME or KDE respectively.

Posted: Sat Nov 24, 2007 5:05 pm

Thanks Ivor, I got it figured it out. I opened the Sessions and added the program to the list. Works on boot now!

Now I just have to get a smaller hard drive (as in a laptop drive instead of the standard 3.5" drive) so I can fit my video card inside. I want to use the cool effects I've seen (ie Beryl). Here is the current "mess" my linux box is in from a converted XBox for a frame.

The DVD drive will be external when I put the lid back on later to keep kids fingers from the fans.