[SOLVED] Sudo with "nvidia-settings" not working, getting error?

mrm5102 · 04-24-2012, 04:03 PM

Hey All,

I'm trying to create a "custom launcher" on the "GNOME Panel" so that I can launch the "nvidia-settings" GUI a bit quicker, and in order to save to the xorg.conf file I need to run it as root.

For some reason when I try the following I get an error... (I added command to "/etc/sudoers" too)

Code:

> sudo /usr/bin/nvidia-settings

ERROR: The control display is undefined; please run `/usr/bin/nvidia-settings --help` for usage information.

Anyone ever run into this problem, and know a way around it?
I've also tried it through a bash script and an expect script but couldn't get it to work.

B.T.W. Just so it's clear if I do a "su -" login as root, then run the "nvidia-settings" command, it all works just fine.

Any suggestions would be great..!

Thanks in Advance,
Matt

sag47 · 04-24-2012, 08:09 PM

Perhaps it's not passing your DISPLAY variable through to the sudo environment. Try the following.

Code:

sudo env DISPLAY=$DISPLAY /usr/bin/nvidia-settings

Not sure why that would matter, but it's worth a try.

SAM

descendant_command · 04-24-2012, 08:28 PM

use gksu instead of sudo for gui apps in gnome environment.

mrm5102 · 04-25-2012, 08:56 AM

Hey sag47, thanks for the reply.

I tried running your command and I get the following:

Code:

> sudo env DISPLAY=$DISPLAY /usr/bin/nvidia-settings
Invalid MIT-MAGIC-COOKIE-1 key
ERROR: The control display is undefined; please run `/usr/bin/nvidia-settings --help` for usage information.

If I echo $DISPLAY, it does show that it is defined:

Code:

> echo $DISPLAY
:0.0

So I'm not really sure why "sudo" wouldn't be working?
Is there anyway to make the "nvidia-settings" command run as root no matter what?

descendant_command, thanks for the reply.

I don't seem to have "gksu":

Code:

> gksu nvidia-settings
If 'gksu' is not a typo you can use command-not-found to lookup the package that contains it, like this:
    cnf gksu

I checked to see if it was something that I can install from Software Manager but no luck.
Think it's something that I should look for online somewhere... Or if I don't already have it then it's probably not going to be compatible..?

Thanks in Advance,
Matt

brianL · 04-25-2012, 09:38 AM

Try gksudo.

mrm5102 · 04-25-2012, 09:43 AM

Hey brian L, thanks for the reply...
Na, no "gksudo" either... Is that weird, should I have that already?

Thanks Again,
Matt

brianL · 04-25-2012, 10:02 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by mrm5102

Na, no "gksudo" either... Is that weird, should I have that already?

Thanks Again,
Matt

Yeah. Strange. When I've had Debian or Ubuntu on in the past, I've used gksu or gksudo successfully for GUI applications as root. Have you tried this:

Code:

> gksu nvidia-settings
If 'gksu' is not a typo you can use command-not-found to lookup the package that contains it, like this:
    cnf gksu

or:

Code:

cnf gksudo

mrm5102 · 04-25-2012, 11:50 AM

Hummmm...... Got that Expect Script working!!

Not sure what I did wrong the first go-around, but got it going this time.
Basically I just wanted to create a "Custom Application Launcher" on the "The GNOME Panel 2.32.1" to launch the
nvidia-settings control panel GUI without having to launch a terminal sign in as root and then issue the nvidia-settings command.

Now I just need to click my "Launcher" and am good to go.
Thanks for all your suggestions. I'll post the code if anyone wants it, thanks...

I am curious to know why I don't have the "gksu" and the "gksudo" commands? Because this isn't the first post
where I was suggested to use that instead of just plain old "su" and "sudo".
If this makes a difference, here's my specs:

Code:

> uname -a
Linux localhost 2.6.37.6-0.11-default #1 SMP 2011-12-19 23:39:38 +0100 i686 i686 i386 GNU/Linux

> cat /etc/SuSE-release
openSUSE 11.4 (i586)
VERSION = 11.4
CODENAME = Celadon

But anyway, thanks again for your posts!

Thanks,
Matt

mrm5102 · 04-25-2012, 11:54 AM

BrainL,

Yeah, I tried that and still no luck...

Code:

mmartin:/etc # cnf gksu
gksu: command not found                     
mmartin:/etc # cnf gksudo
gksudo: command not found                       
mmartin:/etc # which gksu
which: no gksu in (/usr/lib/mpi/gcc/openmpi/bin:/home/mmartin/bin:/usr/local/bin:/usr/bin:/sbin:/usr/sbin:/bin:/usr/bin/X11:/usr/X11R6/bin:/usr/games:/usr/lib/mit/bin:/usr/lib/mit/sbin)
mmartin:/etc # which gksudo
which: no gksudo in (/usr/lib/mpi/gcc/openmpi/bin:/home/mmartin/bin:/usr/local/bin:/usr/bin:/sbin:/usr/sbin:/bin:/usr/bin/X11:/usr/X11R6/bin:/usr/games:/usr/lib/mit/bin:/usr/lib/mit/sbin)

Thanks Again,
Matt

mrm5102 · 04-30-2012, 08:35 AM

I think I found the command that would be the equivalent of what you guys were telling me about...

Is it gnomesu:

Code:

> gnomesu --help
Usage:
  gnomesu [OPTION...]

Help Options:
  -h, --help                Show help options
  --help-all                Show all help options
  --help-gtk                Show GTK+ Options

Application Options:
  -c, --command=COMMAND     Pass the command to execute as one single string.
  -u, --user=USERNAME       Run as this user instead of as root.
  --display=DISPLAY         X display to use

I haven't really gotten a chance to test it yet, but it seems like it should do the trick

Thanks,
Matt