trying to edit inittab, perission denied
 

I am trying to get to runlevel 3 by editing inittabb and keep getting a message permission denied, i have tryed su, password and then /etc/inittabb. what do i have to do to get the permission or am i going about this the wrong way I am trying to install the nvidia drivers and it is telling me to exit x first. need some direction here , first linux install. Thanks for any help you can give me

Typing "su" and then the root password should do it. As would logging on as root.

Just typing "/etc/inittab" means that you are trying to execute the file. It's not an executable and so doesn't have that permission, which would explain your error message.

How are you trying to edit the file? What exactly does "vi /etc/inittab" give you?

John

i am trying to install nvidia drivers and need to boot to runlevel 3, i was told to edit this file and change id:5:initdefault to id:3:initdefault, can you tell me how to get into this file to edit it. i have just installed mandrake 10.0 and is my first linux install so i don't know "squat" but trying to learn

Hi,

"vi" is an editor that you could use to make the changes you need. But changing inittab like this means that you will always boot to runlevel 3 (no X-windows). There's nothing wrong with that, it's how my own machine is configured, but you don't need to go that far for what you're trying to do.

Log in as root (or use "su"), open an xterminal and type "/sbin/init 3". That will put you in runlevel 3 where you can install your drivers. You can get then get back into X-windows by typing "startx".

John

You are a life saver, thanks very much for the help.
have a nice day
Richard