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Old 10-22-2011, 03:45 PM   #16
widget
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You have to be root to use that command.

In Ubuntu this means;
Code:
sudo <command>
The <command> --help extension will give you a lot of help right there in your terminal.

man <command> is also a good source of information on most commands.
 
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Old 10-22-2011, 05:06 PM   #17
SecretCode
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Quote:
Originally Posted by nh_linux View Post
Hello all.

I just upgraded from Ubuntu 11.04 to 11.10 today and I'm having issues.

1) Ubuntu won't shut down even with the shutdown and poweroff commands.This is the only problem I have so far. I can login to my account with no problem.I attempted to change the session so I can boot into an older version of Ubuntu but it doesn't happen.From the commandline here's the input/output from my attempt to shut down :

...

elothas@Inspiron-530s:~$ shutdown
shutdown: time expected
Try `shutdown --help' for more information.
elothas@Inspiron-530s:~$ shutdown -h
shutdown: time expected
Try `shutdown --help' for more information.
elothas@Inspiron-530s:~$

I don't know what "time expected" means.

...

Suggestions will be appreciated.Thanks.
I suggest that you type
Code:
shutdown --help
for more information!

I can also suggest that you type
Code:
man shutdown
You will see that shutdown requires you to specify a time when the computer will be shut down, in various possible formats including 'now'.
 
Old 10-22-2011, 11:14 PM   #18
{BBI}Nexus{BBI}
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Quote:
Originally Posted by nh_linux View Post
So far I see that "freedom is restricted" in this version of Ubuntu.
I don't see the restriction you claim is there.
Quote:
Linux is supposed to be about freedom.
You not only have the freedom to use, distribute and alter GNU/Linux, you also have the freedom to learn the correct way to issue commands.
 
Old 10-23-2011, 12:40 AM   #19
widget
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Quote:
Originally Posted by {BBI}Nexus{BBI} View Post
I don't see the restriction you claim is there. You not only have the freedom to use, distribute and alter GNU/Linux, you also have the freedom to learn the correct way to issue commands.
Seeing that he has been around here for a while it may be that he is used to using Linux in a distro that is made to be used by people that are willing to edit their own administration group privileges instead off having the package "sudo" do it for them.

It really is restrictive, gets in the way, and, to me is a security risk as it makes so anyone can get one password to do anything.

In Ubuntu if you boot to recovery mode you come to, not a login, but a root prompt. In normal distros you come to a user log in and if you then want to function as root you need a password. That means anyone that has access to your box can easily create their own user with root privileges. On the other hand if you are logged in as "user" you find your path on your box blocked at every turn when trying to do things that are not a particular security threat at all such as simply editing eyecandy config files.

This is simple silly.

Now it could also be that he is used to running as root all the time. This is not restrictive in the least. It is also very dangerous and insecure.

That approach and Ubuntus approach are so far apart on the circle of extremes that they are almost meeting.

If he is used to running as root but needs a password to login his system is more secure than someones box running Ubuntu
with auto login.

Give me ten minutes, or less, on someones Ubuntu set up with auto login and I will be able to log in with the new require password login but the owner won't. Particularly after putting a password on grub so that recovery mode requires a password to use.

Now, don't get me wrong. If folks want to run their boxes that way it is fine with me. I do believe that one of the freedoms Linux gives you is to make your box as open to any passing person that you want to. Doesn't bother me in the least.

I do not use Ubuntu because I have to give a password every time I turn around. Yes you can reconfigure that too. It is easier to just use something else that leaves you with the tools to work with and better security to boot.

I noticed that there was no mention of Ubuntu as being used by yourself. As a long time user, I do not blame you a bit.
 
Old 10-23-2011, 01:32 AM   #20
{BBI}Nexus{BBI}
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Quote:
Originally Posted by widget View Post
Seeing that he has been around here for a while it may be that he is used to using Linux in a distro that is made to be used by people that are willing to edit their own administration group privileges instead off having the package "sudo" do it for them.
That's not the picture I get reading his post. I would guess he is a user that is not familiar with using commandline. That's all I have to say about that, I don't want this to appear like I'm bashing the poster.

I was going to respond to your issues with sudo and security but that's not the topic of this thread.
Quote:
I noticed that there was no mention of Ubuntu as being used by yourself.
I only list in my profile the distros I use productively on a daily basis. I do however run Ubuntu in a vm since release 8.04. The thing I have no qualms about bashing in Ubuntu is Unity. 'Nuff said.
 
Old 10-24-2011, 02:08 PM   #21
annam_Z
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Quote:
Originally Posted by countach74 View Post
Why is your filesystem read only? Dirty shut down? I would recommend booting to a live CD/USB such as Knoppix and running:

e2fsck -f /dev/[your boot drive (or home drive, if it's on a separate partition)]

CAUTION: make sure the boot drive is NOT mounted or the command WILL break your system.

Once the check is done, mount the filesystem and remove the .Xauthority file:

mount /dev/[your boot drive (or home drive, if it's on a separate partition)] /mnt
cd to your home directory and rm .Xauthority

You can skip the e2fsck command if you want, most likely.. it's just a safety to make sure that your partition doesn't have any errors before you go make changes. You should now be able to reboot and login again.
Hello , I have exactly the same problem and the Xauthority file is read only. I'm a linux newbie so how exactly do I check that the boot drive isn't mounted?
 
Old 10-24-2011, 02:12 PM   #22
{BBI}Nexus{BBI}
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It shouldn't be if you boot from a live cd. You can also type mount and that will show you what is mounted.
 
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Old 10-27-2011, 09:18 AM   #23
annam_Z
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Thanks a lot, knoppix is a great tool!Everything works fine now!
 
Old 10-27-2011, 02:13 PM   #24
nh_linux
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widget , SecretCode and {BBI}Nexus{BBI}! Thank u all for your responses!{BBI}Nexus{BBI} u were right on the money when "he is a user that is not familiar with using commandline" was mentioned.I know very few commands and do not understand enough administrative tasks to qualify me as "commandline savvy"! I'm really just a "Linux end user".

I followed the suggestions as far as using the commandline. Even that didn’t work right. As root I typed “shutdown now” as was prompted that I had to be root. So, I issued the command: “sudo shutdown now” and was prompted for the root password. I entered it and Ubuntu appeared to shut down.The gui vanished and the console appeared with scattered text. The computer just got hung up so I pressed ctrl-alt-delete and it rebooted .I tried esc. , pressed all buttons at once, pressed F1 – F12 in turn. Nothing happened. Therefore, I pressed ctrl-alt-delete and rebooted.I had to use MS Windows in my other partition in order to shutdown completely. I see that the best thing to do is wait for a bug fix. In the meantime I can use the original Ubuntu cd I burned a while ago and run it live. That’s version 10.10.

From what I understand I shouldn't have been in a hurry to upgrade because issues are expected in general.After all Ubuntu 11.10 is a "fresh version". I figure ,better to let it "ferment", LOL! In my opinion it's better to wait before upgrading, in general, so there will be enough time for issues to be resolved.Maybe 6 months is enough to wait before upgrading to the next version. One of the “restrictions” I faced in version 11.10 compared to the previous versions is that 11.10 will not allow me(even as root) to move the panel from the top to the bottom unless I’m missing something.

The Linux commands I know so far are : clear,cp,ls -l(where '-' means option(s)), sudo , man ,cfdisk ,./config,make and make install.That's about it.
In Ubuntu it appears to me that using ./config,make and make install commands do not work. Maybe it's because of Synaptic package manager and Ubuntu software center.Maybe it's because I'm not running the commands as root. I'm not sure.

I found the following information useful: https://help.ubuntu.com/community/RootSudo .On another page I found information on how to change the default OS in Grub for Ubuntu 11.04 and Ubuntu 4.10. 11.04 was in my desktop pc and 4.10 was in my laptop.Some of the procedures didn't work so I had to use trial and error until I was successful. I just have to report the changes to Launchpad so that others will be informed.

I found the following: https://answers.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+question/174246 . Hope it helps those who need it.

If anyone knows why Parcellite doesn't start up let me know. Thanks.It's a convenient clipboard tool in Gnome like klipper in KDE.I used to be a KDE fan but with Ubuntu, I like Gnome better.

When I started out with my very first pc which was a laptop in 1997,it was run by Windows 95.I didn't know about Linux at the time. If I remember correctly, Linux was mentioned to me in 1998 by a friend who encouraged me to learn it right away.Between 2000 and 2002 I started using my first Linux distro,Red Hat 7.1 and after that I experimented with different Linux distros, on hdds and live cds(I love the live cd concept!).I had to decide which distro to stick to. That was Ubuntu because it appeared "user friendly" to me.Ubuntu is great! I just have to be patient with it when issues are present.

Regards all.
 
Old 10-27-2011, 10:39 PM   #25
widget
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You are not missing a thing. Ubuntu and Gnome have both embraced the "configuration free experience". It is pretty tough to do much configuration at all.

You need to install the compiz control <whatever it is> and the Unity Plugin for it to do any real configuration of Unity and that is very limited.

If you have liked Gnome best in the past I would suggest Xubuntu (member of the Ubuntu family) as an alternative. It comes with one panel on top or one on top and one on the bottom as a dock. Those panels are very configurable as to where they are and so forth. Xfce has come a long way in the last couple of years.
 
Old 11-30-2011, 08:42 AM   #26
CrusaderAD
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I'm having an issue with just shutting down. If I have any open programs (browser, ftp client, email), it seems to halt the process and all Ubuntu themes turn off revealing the standard "gnome" icons and borders. Seems like a bad bug and looks awful.
 
Old 12-01-2011, 05:30 AM   #27
nh_linux
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Thumbs up

Hello widget and CrusaderAD.

Widget, thanks for your comments.

I have to look into the following:
Quote:
You need to install the compiz control <whatever it is> and the Unity Plugin for it to do any real configuration of Unity and that is very limited.
. Believe I can use the search feature in Ubuntu 11.10 to find these two programs.After u suggested using Xubuntu, I looked into my stack of cds and found Xubuntu 7.10 on a CD-RW . I burned that on my CD quite some time ago. I'll have to try out the latest version of Xubuntu when I get the chance.I understand that the Xfce desktop is lightweight.

CrusaderAD. Looks like my problem is different from yours. Right now Ubuntu 11.10 doesn't shut down the way it's supposed to.So far, I don't see any other problem besides this.I'm just surprised that there was no bug fix for this problem lately. Unless, there's one available as we speak.I'll have to look into it. If there is a bug fix for this problem already, I'll post info. about it here within a week.Good luck.

Nick E. Haniotis
 
Old 01-02-2012, 03:55 AM   #28
JZL240I-U
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Oh dear. I realize that this is much later but...

Code:
shutdown -h now
...is an example of the command syntax with all necessary options given. Two options. You can't leave out either the "-h" or "now" options (though you can use different values). If you do use only one, the command will not work as expected.

Last edited by JZL240I-U; 02-02-2012 at 01:15 AM.
 
Old 01-21-2012, 04:02 AM   #29
nh_linux
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After all this trouble of not being able to shutdown from the GUI, I discovered in Ubuntu 11.10, Gnome, the shutdown features were intact!They weren't missing, right from the start! I verified that in KDE which I installed a while ago. In Gnome, the gear on the top right, next to the user name was missing! In the root desktop, the gear containing the shutdown function was next to "root"! That worked fine also! In order to shut down I had to put the mouse-pointer into the top right corner and the drop-down menu with "Shutdown" included amongst other choices were all displayed! I'd click on shutdown and another window popped up. Shutdown and restart were options. Worked nicely.
 
Old 01-23-2012, 01:17 AM   #30
JZL240I-U
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Umm, now that you say it ... I think in Gnome you can press <Alt> before clicking on that symbol (or your name? I don't remember, just try it out) and it will offer the shutdown option to normal users too...

Sorry, I'm a KDE user and not really "fluent" in Gnome.
 
  


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