[SOLVED] Cannot change to root in Debian 7 gnome. What to do?

floppy_stuttgart · 03-02-2015, 12:31 PM

Hello,
I have installed Debian 7 on my T520 notebook
- I installed Debian 7 lxde via usb stick (parallel boot to Win7)
- and then loaded gnome with "apt-get install gnome"
When I want to change the user (on the top right of the screen "change user"),
the password is asked and after return, an error windows appear (translation from GERMAN) with following 2 lines:
"new screen cannot be started"
"The name org.gnome.DisplayManager was not provided by any .service files"
..... It seems to be a bug.
I saw a proposal in the net: install "kdm-gdmcompat"
I made it (it loads megabytes.. I will desinstall when the bug is solved), I choose gdm3.
It seems to be solved; I cange the user .. but now, I dont know how to go into "root".
The user "root" is not recognised anymore = dont appear when I am in gdm3.
Any idea how to solve that issue?
(I cannot update my system)

floppy_stuttgart · 03-02-2015, 01:40 PM

Closed (sorry): I just jump into a "root terminal" and thats enough. I dont need the "root" user in gdm3.

EDDY1 · 03-02-2015, 05:28 PM

Try

Quote:

apt-get install gdm3

My bad I just noticed that you already installed gdm3.

cesarbergara · 03-23-2015, 03:13 PM

Hi. This is not a problem.
In linux the 'root' user cannot login on the desktops like KDM or GNOME. But you can in olders X windowmanagers like fvwm, or light wm like blackbox .
You only could open terminal session (under X, or in the consoles from tty1 to tty6), with desktops managers like GNOME, KDE, etc.
It is a security reason.
You could learn more about in olders books and manuals.
Have you a nice day.

TobiSGD · 03-23-2015, 03:28 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by cesarbergara

Hi. This is not a problem.
In linux the 'root' user cannot login on the desktops like KDM or GNOME. But you can in olders X windowmanagers like fvwm, or light wm like blackbox .
You only could open terminal session (under X, or in the consoles from tty1 to tty6), with desktops managers like GNOME, KDE, etc.
It is a security reason.
You could learn more about in olders books and manuals.
Have you a nice day.

That is not quite true. KDE and Gnome will run fine when run as root user, but their display managers (for obvious reasons) disable this by default. If you really need to log in as root, for what reason ever, you can still do so with changing the DM configuration.

widget · 03-23-2015, 08:19 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by TobiSGD

That is not quite true. KDE and Gnome will run fine when run as root user, but their display managers (for obvious reasons) disable this by default. If you really need to log in as root, for what reason ever, you can still do so with changing the DM configuration.

Or by booting to recovery mode, giving the root password when asked for it, typing "startx" at the prompt. Assuming you only have one DE installed.

You should really make sure that you are not connected to the internet if you log in as root. There are a number of issues there but the most obvious is that cookies with root permissions are not really desirable. Nor are scripts running on web pages. I am sure you can fill in the rest of that list pretty well if you think about it.