Running as Root

ian.gill · 01-05-2010, 08:29 AM

I am completely new to Linux, I only installed it this morning because I want to see what it is like.

Having installed it the screen resolution is 800 x 600 which is poor.

I assume that the resolution is poor because I have not installed the driver for my graphics card.

I have downloaded NVIDIA-Linux-x86-190.53-pkg1.run driver from NVIDIA's site but can not install it.

The crux is that it has to be run as root but I can not find out how to run as root.

I am using gOS 3 with Bash and would be grateful if anybody could could tell me how to install this driver.

If I like the Linux system I will get a few books and find out how to do things but I want to give it a try first but can't without the driver being installed.

~sHyLoCk~ · 01-05-2010, 08:38 AM

Quote:

I have downloaded NVIDIA-Linux-x86-190.53-pkg1.run driver from NVIDIA's site but can not install it.

It's good that you have downloaded the driver from the nvidia's site and not using the ubuntu's packaged one which was causing problems. Do this:
Press control+alt+backspace or ctl+alt+F11 whichever brings up a console login prompt. Then login and type:

Code:

sudo sh /location/to/downloaded/driver/NVIDIA-Linux-x86-190.53-pkg1.run -a

Its pretty simple from then.

EDIT: Remember anytime you need root privilege use sudo instead. Put sudo before and then the command. like : "sudo command"

ian.gill · 01-05-2010, 09:35 AM

Thanks for that the installer does run now. It tells me however that I am running on an X server and that I need to "exit x" before I continue.

I have read at "http://us.download.nvidia.com/XFree86/Linux-x86/190.53/README/appendix-i.html" that I need to alter the values of n in the line "id:n:initdefault:" to 3 which is contained in a file called "/etc/inittab". However, in the installation that I have (gOS 3) there is no file "/etc/inittab".

Do you know if the file has a different name under gOS? Or is there another way to "exit x"

~sHyLoCk~ · 01-05-2010, 10:48 AM

To exit X you can type:

Quote:

sudo /etc/rc.d/gdm stop

[or init.d instead of rc.d depending on your OS]

If it doesn't work follow the control+alt methods I mentioned in the first post. Then install nvidia driver as I said. You don't need to alter anything in inittab since you were already getting to X by default which means it's already set. Maybe you will need a Xorg.conf so run:

Code:

sudo nvidia-xconfig

after installing the nvidia driver.

smeezekitty · 01-05-2010, 01:16 PM

Actually, if you are going to type many commands, it will be faster to use
sudo su to get a root login shell.
(Just remember to type exit after your done to return to user mode

)

craigevil · 01-05-2010, 01:57 PM

Take a look at https://help.ubuntu.com/community/Bi...erHowto/Nvidia

theKbStockpiler · 01-05-2010, 02:31 PM

"I assume that the resolution is poor because I have not installed the driver
for my graphics card."

If you have another O.S on your computer and you are dual booting in some instances Linux will find and use files on another partition that it's not suppose to. I had my Firefox on Linux wipe out my bookmarks on XP. It seems like any software for hardware that is BIOS dependent also has the same characteristics. Whether this is a bug related to my disto I don't know. I've had a lot of evidence that Linux is retrieving files were it should'nt be. Mandriva will access some of the packages that came with my motherboard on the original build for XP. If you go to (system)-(preferences)-(screen resolution) you can make adjustments which should suffice. A resolution of eight hundred by six hundred is poor on my distro as well. Linux has had no issues with my monitor drivers but as I attempted to explain it might be using resources from XP. I intuitively doubt it's your graphics card at this stage but it's just a guess.

"The crux is that it has to be run as root but I can not find out how to run as root."

On the Linux disto that I'm familiar with there are supposedly more restrictions to run as root user. I thought I read where Mandriva did'nt allow you to sign in as a root user at start up but this is erroneous. Try signing in as (root) or what ever the administrator character sequence is along with the appropriate password which I believe you chose while installing the O.S. On mine you get a warning and a dialog box to signify that you understand "all the danger" of running as root. I got some great advice on this subject if you search my threads but I believe it is overkill for a computer with one person on a Linux O.S. If there is only one person allowed on the O.S period! "They are the Root user"! Linux is so compartmentalized that it is hard to make a mistake anyways. The problem with running as root is that if you don't run as root some other time you won't have permission to files automatically because you did'nt create them. Then it's a catch twenty two because root has it's own desktop because it is a different user. If you can go to other users desktops while being root I don't know. You probably can though. I personally don't navigate as root unless I needed to for a particular task but as the sole user of the computer its consequences are small.

"If I like the Linux system I will get a few books and find out how to do things but I want to give it a try first but can't without the driver being installed."

There is such a thing as a live disc that you just put in your CD/DVD player and restart your computer. BIOS loads off the disc instead of your hard drive automatically. I won't work after Grub is installed though. I know Ubuntu has a live disc and I believe it is quite common. If you find a book that's purpose is to inform the reader and not just get a royalty from let everyone know. The only ones I could find familiarized the reader with the GUI (graphic user interface) which anyone can figure out but clicking anywhere and seeing if a menu appears. Your going to want to read a Bash tutorial which should not be hard to find on the net. I might have one listed in my threads. Bash is a console which runs a process which uses an interpreted language to give your O.S commands. Some of the help files for Linux distros are awesome. Not all of the Linux distros have them with the basic install files which is impossible to load if you are a novice. If it were up to me I would only learn from a distro that has a commercial version because they are the ones that are leading the way which the others follow. Find out what a RPM package manager is along with what a IRPM package manager is as well as their competitors. Ubuntu is decent too so I don't exclude them. A Gnome desktop distro is going to be the better beginners learning tool in most cases but KDE is regarded as more powerful.

Linux is better compared to a life style than an O.S. because it takes a lot of human resources to get to be proficient as a user than another O.S. It's like being a biker but without the need for leather. You have to be more than a GUI user (point and Click)to get much beyond the initial install which means small achievements on Linux should be celebrated as large accomplishments on a point and clicker. The most rewarding part is when a website is trying to infect your computer and telling you that you have eleven Trojans on your C hard drive when you don't have a C hard drive and you think to yourself , "eat me" !

Quakeboy02 · 01-05-2010, 02:57 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ian.gill

Thanks for that the installer does run now. It tells me however that I am running on an X server and that I need to "exit x" before I continue.

This is one of the very few cases where I actually login as root. Exit all the programs you're running then press CTL-ALT-F1. This gets you to a CLI terminal. Login as root and then (as suggested by ~sHyLoCk~) run:

Code:

/etc/init.d/gdm stop
sh /location/to/downloaded/driver/NVIDIA-Linux-x86-190.53-pkg1.run -a -q --ui=none
/etc/init.d/gdm start; exit

Notice that I've added an exit command after the one that restarts gdm to ensure that the root login is ended.

ian.gill · 01-06-2010, 04:19 PM

I'd like to thank every one who has tried to help me with this problem. It is now obvious to me that I need to do a little reading of downloaded tutorials to find out what I am doing.

The driver installation again failed because I need to have GCC installed. I downloaded a copy of this but do not know how to install it.

Generally I need to learn some of the basics before I can proceed. I do not object to this in principle as I would do this any way, however, what I really wanted to do was have a play with the gOS programs first to see if it was worth proceeding but at 800x600 it all becomes too cumbersome.

Before I proceed I would be grateful if somebody could tell me if the gOS spreadsheet will do all the things that Excel does and specifically if it is programmable in a similar way as Excel with VBA. The reason for me asking this is that of all the things that Microsoft produce, Excel is the one tool I can not do without. I am a Structural Engineer and use Excel a lot together with VBA macros. If I can not do this on a Linux spreadsheet then for me it is really a non-starter.

Quakeboy02 · 01-06-2010, 04:31 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ian.gill

The driver installation again failed because I need to have GCC installed. I downloaded a copy of this but do not know how to install it.

Doesn't gOS use a package manager? A quick look indicates it comes with Synaptic Package Manager. You should generally use Synaptic (or apt/apt-get) to install packages, rather than just finding them somewhere on the net and downloading them.

craigevil · 01-06-2010, 04:36 PM

Your first place to start should be: InstallingSoftware - Community Ubuntu Documentation - https://help.ubuntu.com/community/InstallingSoftware

For installing Nvidia read: BinaryDriverHowto/Nvidia - Community Ubuntu Documentation - https://help.ubuntu.com/community/Bi...erHowto/Nvidia

OpenOffice.org - Community Ubuntu Documentation - https://help.ubuntu.com/community/OpenOffice.org

Tutorials For OpenOffice - Free help for anyone using or teaching OpenOffice, Home Page - http://www.tutorialsforopenoffice.org/

OOoMacros - http://www.ooomacros.org/

Quote:

The OpenOffice.org macros are written in OpenOffice.org BASIC, a macro language that uses the same programming logic as Microsoft Visual Basic. However, some elements differ, as for example the calls to software commands and object names. So you would have to rewrite the macros. Macros written for MS Word for instance cannot be executed via OpenOffice.org; you'll need to re-write them. This has its benefits - it makes OOo documents less virus prone.

OpenOffice.org 3 Calc can execute many Excel macros, but (for security reasons) you must manually enable this feature. Choose Tools > Options > Load/Save > VBA Properties and enable the Executable code checkbox.

theKbStockpiler · 01-07-2010, 01:59 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ian.gill

I'd like to thank every one who has tried to help me with this problem. It is now obvious to me that I need to do a little reading of downloaded tutorials to find out what I am doing.

The driver installation again failed because I need to have GCC installed. I downloaded a copy of this but do not know how to install it.

Generally I need to learn some of the basics before I can proceed. I do not object to this in principle as I would do this any way, however, what I really wanted to do was have a play with the gOS programs first to see if it was worth proceeding but at 800x600 it all becomes too cumbersome.

Before I proceed I would be grateful if somebody could tell me if the gOS spreadsheet will do all the things that Excel does and specifically if it is programmable in a similar way as Excel with VBA. The reason for me asking this is that of all the things that Microsoft produce, Excel is the one tool I can not do without. I am a Structural Engineer and use Excel a lot together with VBA macros. If I can not do this on a Linux spreadsheet then for me it is really a non-starter.

GCC is a software compiler which is native to Linux because of the open source thing. You should already have it and probably not need it. The beauty of Linux and "Open Source" is that the software will work on many different computer architectures but then again it is'nt finished either. The commands are written in computer language but it' s not execution-able yet. Here comes the evil. You have to finish it yourself unless you have a Linux Distribution "distro" that has a program that does it for you. The program that you want to install has to be formated for the certain software "installer/manager". I don't think a bit of commercialism is detrimental to computers and this is why. For one they standardize things, second they have the resources to make things better. One thing that helped put RedHat on the map is a thing call a (RedHat) (Package) (Manager) or RPM. This tool makes it PRACTICAL for a computer user/enthusiast to have about the same functionality as a computer that you just take out of a box, plug in and utilize. There is a reason why there are commercial Linux distro's available and that is why. Ubuntu is very grass roots and I believe has a point and click friendly software install solution. They will send you a live disc for free. If you want it faster you can pay for the expedited shipping. I tried Ubuntu but I didn't appreciate the homemade O.S appeal so I opted for one that has a commercial version. I have their free version but i wanted the standardization. The proprietary versions usually come with DVD burner software because I believe legally it can't come on a opens source O.S. Use whatever distro you want but keep in mind that there is a god dam lot of them out there that are all different.

If the graphic card is holding you back why can't you remove it? I think a standard board comes with one permanently installed don't they? You can live and die with gOS but maybe the graphics card can go. Here's a link for Open Office which comes with the install files on the O.S I use.http://linux.about.com/od/linux101/a/desktop10c.htm

ian.gill · 01-07-2010, 06:20 AM

Thank you every one. I've finally got my graphics card working and I can now fully explore the gOS system.

Thanks again for your help.