[SOLVED] sudo does not work in lxde but works fine in terminal

jdix123 · 07-23-2011, 11:08 AM

I recently installed MintPPC 9 (http://mintppc.org) onto an older G$ powerbook I had lying around. After switching out the video driver its looking good, but for some reason the graphical version of sudo doesn't accept my password.

For example, when I click the update notification, it tells me three updates are available, and asks the sudo password, which it never accepts (I've tried it enough to know I am not mistyping).

When I run:

~ $ sudo apt-get update && sudo apt-get install
[sudo] password for jas:

then it runs just fine, although it doesn't find any updates for me, and tells me 2 packages are not upgraded.

I'm stumped.

4play · 07-23-2011, 12:17 PM

check what errors you are getting in /var/log/secure

jdix123 · 07-23-2011, 01:10 PM

Code:

jas@Evelyn 
~ $ sudo cat /var/log/secure
[sudo] password for jas: 
cat: /var/log/secure: No such file or directory
jas@Evelyn 
~ $ cd /var/log
jas@Evelyn 
/var/log $ ls
alternatives.log  dmesg.1.gz      lastlog               pycentral.log
apt               dmesg.2.gz      lpr.log               samba
aptitude          dmesg.3.gz      mail.err              syslog
auth.log          dmesg.4.gz      mail.info             syslog.1
boot              dpkg.log        mail.log              unattended-upgrades
btmp              exim4           mail.warn             user.log
ConsoleKit        faillog         messages              wicd
cups              fontconfig.log  mintppc9_install.log  wtmp
daemon.log        fsck            mintsystem.log        Xorg.0.log
debug             gdm             news                  Xorg.0.log.old
dmesg             installer       ntpstats
dmesg.0           kern.log        pm-powersave.log

andrewthomas · 07-23-2011, 01:12 PM

You would be looking for auth.log.

jdix123 · 07-23-2011, 01:21 PM

Code:

Jul 23 11:32:24 Evelyn su[4241]: pam_unix(su:auth): authentication failure; logname= uid=1000 euid=0 tty=/dev/pts/1 ruser=jas rhost=  user=root
Jul 23 11:32:26 Evelyn su[4241]: pam_authenticate: Authentication failure
Jul 23 11:32:26 Evelyn su[4241]: FAILED su for root by jas
Jul 23 11:32:26 Evelyn su[4241]: - /dev/pts/1 jas:root
Jul 23 11:32:30 Evelyn su[4248]: pam_unix(su:auth): conversation failed
Jul 23 11:32:30 Evelyn su[4248]: pam_unix(su:auth): auth could not identify password for [root]
Jul 23 11:32:30 Evelyn su[4248]: pam_authenticate: Authentication failure
Jul 23 11:32:30 Evelyn su[4248]: FAILED su for root by jas
Jul 23 11:32:30 Evelyn su[4248]: - /dev/pts/3 jas:root
Jul 23 11:34:07 Evelyn sudo:      jas : TTY=pts/0 ; PWD=/var/log ; USER=root ; COMMAND=/bin/cat user.log

I think this is the relevant section? I don't quite know what I'm looking at

jdix123 · 07-23-2011, 01:26 PM

I don't know if this is relevant, but as I was installing the base Debian Squeeze system, I did not input a root password. I left it blank, thinking this would activate sudo to my basic user password.

Am I mistaken? Is that what is happening here, it wants the root password instead of my user password?

andrewthomas · 07-23-2011, 01:36 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jdix123

I don't know if this is relevant, but as I was installing the base Debian Squeeze system, I did not input a root password. I left it blank, thinking this would activate sudo to my basic user password.

Am I mistaken? Is that what is happening here, it wants the root password instead of my user password?

Yes, it is asking for the root password.

What you need to do is to use the

passwd command to set a non-empty password the your root account.

jdix123 · 07-23-2011, 02:18 PM

why is it asking for root instead of user password?

I did use passwd and that appears to have solved it but it seems like a workaround instead of a fix.

Thanks for your help!

andrewthomas · 07-23-2011, 03:15 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jdix123

why is it asking for root instead of user password?

I did use passwd and that appears to have solved it but it seems like a workaround instead of a fix.

Thanks for your help!

If you would rather use your user password to launch a graphical application as root you can use

Code:

gksudo application