Kubuntu 12.04 Permission Denied errors when starting up

When I boot up my computer, and enter my encryption key, I always get these errors:

Unlcoking the disk /dev/disk/by-uuid/6e270a39-52ff-4db3-9676-41feae30037 (sda5_crypt)
Enter passphrase:
cryptsetup: sda5_crypt set up successfully
fsck from util-linux 2.20.1
fsck from util-linux 2.20.1
/dev/sda1: clean, 251/124496 files, 168770/248832 blocks
/dev/mapper/sda5_crypt: clean, 236020/45776896 files, 24057030/183080192 blocks
udev[895]: failed to execute '/sbin/modprobe' '/sbin/modprobe -bv input:b0019v0000p0000ee0000-e0,3,kra0,1,2,mlsfw': Permission denied

mountall: mount / [896]: Permission denied
udevd[895]: failed to execute '/lib/udev/accelerometer' 'accelerometer /devices/platform/lis31vo2d/input/inputt12/js0': Permission denied

udevd[898]: failed to execute '/lib/udev/accelerometer' 'accelerometer /devices/platform/lis31vo2d/input/input12/event12': Permission denied

udevd[904]: failed to execute '/lib/udev/udisks-part-id' 'udisks-part-id /dev/sda1': Permission denied

[  24.576881] Bad LUN (0:1)
[  24.577017] Bad target number (1:0)
[  24.577181] Bad target number (2:0)
[  24.577311] Bad target number (3:0)
[  24.577440] Bad target number (4:0)
[  24.577570] Bad target number (5:0)
[  24.577688] Bad target number (6:0)
[  24.577728] Bad target number (7:0
udevd[906]: failed to execute '/lib/udev/scsi_id' 'scsi_id --export --whitelisted -d /dev/sdb': Permission denied

udevd[907]: failed to execute '/sbin/blkid' '/sbin/blkid -o udev -p /dev/sdb': Permission denied

udevd[908]: failed to execute '/lib/udev/udisks-part-id' 'udisks-part-i /dev/sbd': Permission denied

udevd[909]: failed to execute '/lib/udev/hdparm' '/lib/udeb/hdparm': Permission denied

udevd[910]: failed to execute '/lib/udev/scsi_id' 'scsi_id --export --whitelisted -d /dev/sdb': Permission denied

udevd[911]: failed to execute '/sbin/blkid' '/sbin/blkid -o udev -p /dev/sdb': Permission denied

udevd[9012]: failed to execute '/lib/udev/udisks-part-id' 'udisks-part-i /dev/sbd': Permission denied

From here it just hangs. Is there any way to fix this problem without reinstalling?

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Originally Posted by Predictability From here it just hangs. Is there any way to fix this problem without reinstalling?

I'm not sure if this will help, but here is how to recover an encrypted Ubuntu home directory so you can at least access your data:
http://www.howtogeek.com/116297/how-...ory-on-ubuntu/
Also, perhaps these will help:
https://help.ubuntu.com/community/EncryptedFilesystems
https://help.ubuntu.com/community/EncryptedHome
This is why I have always avoided using encryption on my Ubuntu installs. It seems to cause more problems than it is worth.

And welcome to the LQ forums!

Originally Posted by tommcd I'm not sure if this will help, but here is how to recover an encrypted Ubuntu home directory so you can at least access your data: http://www.howtogeek.com/116297/how-...ory-on-ubuntu/ Also, perhaps these will help: https://help.ubuntu.com/community/EncryptedFilesystems https://help.ubuntu.com/community/EncryptedHome This is why I have always avoided using encryption on my Ubuntu installs. It seems to cause more problems than it is worth. And welcome to the LQ forums!

I'm able to access my files with a live cd, but I don't want to use a live cd and install everything I need every time I boot.

Well, according to this thread: http://www.kubuntuforums.net/showthr...en-starting-up

My brother removed me from sudoers and set a root password. He also ran "sudo chmod -r" on some of games in /home.

This is likely why you are having problems. Using the root account is not recommended in Ubuntu. I have been using Ubuntu since the inaugural version 4.10 and I have never enabled the root account because there is no need for it. However, I suspect that removing your user name from the sudoers list may be the problem here.
It is also possible that whatever files your brother changed permissions on may have messed things up. Changing permissions of files in your home directory is usually safe though. However, I have never used an encrypted home directory, so perhaps if there are now files in your home directory that you no longer have ownership of, then this could be a problem as well. Enabling the root account, by itself, probably is not the problem here.

See this to try to restore your account to the sudoers list: http://www.psychocats.net/ubuntu/fixsudo
Also, if your brother can remember what files he changed permissions on, perhaps try changing them back if he remembers what the original permissions were.
Other than that, I am not sure what else you could do other than backup your data and reinstall Ubuntu. Sometimes this is the price you pay for an education.

Originally Posted by tommcd Well, according to this thread: http://www.kubuntuforums.net/showthr...en-starting-up This is likely why you are having problems. Using the root account is not recommended in Ubuntu. I have been using Ubuntu since the inaugural version 4.10 and I have never enabled the root account because there is no need for it. However, I suspect that removing your user name from the sudoers list may be the problem here.

He never logged in as root, he just ran "sudo passwd root" to change it so that the computer wouldn't have no admins once I was no longer in sudoers.

Originally Posted by tommcd It is also possible that whatever files your brother changed permissions on may have messed things up. Changing permissions of files in your home directory is usually safe though. However, I have never used an encrypted home directory, so perhaps if there are now files in your home directory that you no longer have ownership of, then this could be a problem as well. Enabling the root account, by itself, probably is not the problem here.

Only a few folders like Videos, Games, Music, etc but no "." files and nothing outside home. Also, I don't have an encrypted home directory, the whole disk is encrypted so it's transparent to the OS.

Originally Posted by tommcd See this to try to restore your account to the sudoers list: http://www.psychocats.net/ubuntu/fixsudo Also, if your brother can remember what files he changed permissions on, perhaps try changing them back if he remembers what the original permissions were. Other than that, I am not sure what else you could do other than backup your data and reinstall Ubuntu. Sometimes this is the price you pay for an education.

But it won't boot up, even in recovery mode. That's why I think that it's weird that I'm getting "permission denied" errors before I even try to log in, so I doubt it has to do with me not being in the sudoers.

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He never logged in as root, he just ran "sudo passwd root"

Entering that in a terminal in Ubuntu enables the root account. Take a look at the link below under root account. Just below this explanation, it tells you how to disable the root account. The link below has some useful info if you are going to be using Ubuntu:

https://help.ubuntu.com/community/RootSudo

I have an Ubuntu installation but use it infrequently so I'm not sure what the problem is. I don't really see how enabling a root account would prevent booting at all??

Originally Posted by yancek Entering that in a terminal in Ubuntu enables the root account. Take a look at the link below under root account. Just below this explanation, it tells you how to disable the root account. The link below has some useful info if you are going to be using Ubuntu: https://help.ubuntu.com/community/RootSudo I have an Ubuntu installation but use it infrequently so I'm not sure what the problem is. I don't really see how enabling a root account would prevent booting at all??

He activated the root account so that he could safely remove me from sudoers, otherwise the computer would be stuck with no accounts with superuser capabilities.

He activated the root account so that he could safely remove me from sudoers

Why would you want him to do that? Is this not your computer?

otherwise the computer would be stuck with no accounts with superuser capabilities.

He could have added a different user to the sudoers file??

Originally Posted by yancek Why would you want him to do that? Is this not your computer?

It's not my computer.

Originally Posted by yancek He could have added a different user to the sudoers file??

It's easier just to activate the root account. The root account wasn't going to be used for anything except putting me back in the sudoers file later.

Originally Posted by Predictability He activated the root account so that he could safely remove me from sudoers, otherwise the computer would be stuck with no accounts with superuser capabilities.

You need to understand that you and your brother (and whoever else may or may not be involved here since it is not your computer) are fighting the way that Ubuntu works.
As I said before, enabling the root account on Ubuntu is not recommended! !

Originally Posted by Predictability It's easier just to activate the root account.

No, it is not!!! The easiest thing to do is to just leave it alone!!! You should just use Ubuntu the way it is designed to be used. That means that you use sudo for admin privileges and you do not enable the root account and that you do not remove the default user from the sudoers file!!!
When you combine all of this with encryption this likely complicates things even more!!!
As I said before, removing the default user from the sudoers file is not recommended!

Since your brother made all of these changes that messed things up, perhaps you could ask your brother to fix the damage that he has done!

You have been fighting this for some time now! If it were me, I would have bit the bullet long ago and reinstalled Ubuntu. You could have been done with this mess in less than 1 hour with a reinstall.

Sometimes this is the price you pay for an education!