Quote:
Originally posted by jimi2012
and why isit that when I open xorgconfig with pico that there is nothing inside??WTF??
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How do you open xorgconfig with pico. I mean which command do you try. I bet you did something like :
Code:
koodoo@knapsacker:~$ pico xorgconfig
Well what that does is that it looks for a file called xorgconfig in the current directory and opens it. If it does not find one it opens a new file by that name.
To open the xorgconfig file try :
Code:
koodoo@knapsacker:~$ pico /<full path to>/xorgconfig
You can find the full path to xorgconfig by the which command. Here is what I get on my system :
Code:
koodoo@knapsacker:~$ which xorgconfig
/usr/X11R6/bin/xorgconfig
koodoo@knapsacker:~$
So to open it you would like to try something like :
Code:
koodoo@knapsacker:~$ pico /usr/X11R6/bin/xorgconfig
koodoo@knapsacker:~$
BTW why do you wish to open the xorgconfig file, it's an executable file, it contains all binary data. I don't think it'll serve any good.
As for your original question.
I guess you login as a normal user and then type su and then enter the password to gain root privileges. Now when you type the command xorgconfig you get "command not found"
Try this : logout completely and then login as the root user and then try the xorgconfig command.
or an even more simpler solution. Login as a normal user and :
Code:
koodoo@knapsacker:~$ su
Password:
root@knapsacker:/home/koodoo# /usr/X11R6/bin/xorgconfig
and you're done !
Now why does it in the first place say command not found. It has to do with
how bash or any shell is invoked and what configuration files it reads and how it sets up it's environmental variables. There is a difference between a login shell and a non-login shell an interactive shell and a non-interactive shell. Try man bash and see for yourself. I cannot provide more explanations because I still have some doubts.
Though I can provide some pointers. Whenever a user types in a command name (just the command name and not the complete path to it) the shell searches for the program in a predefined set of directories as defined by the $PATH variable. Take a look at the $PATH variable in the different cases that arise.
as a normal user :
Code:
koodoo@knapsacker:~$ echo $PATH
/usr/local/bin:/usr/bin:/bin:/usr/X11R6/bin:/usr/games:/opt/www/htdig/bin:/usr/lib/java/bin:/usr/lib/java/jre/bin:/opt/kde/bin:/usr/lib/qt/bin:/usr/share/texmf/bin:.
or
Code:
koodoo@knapsacker:~$ su
Password:
root@knapsacker:/home/koodoo# echo $PATH
/usr/local/sbin:/usr/local/bin:/sbin:/usr/sbin:/bin:/usr/bin
root@knapsacker:/home/koodoo#
or if you logout completely and then login as the root user :
Code:
/usr/local/sbin:/usr/sbin:/sbin:/usr/local/bin:/usr/bin:/bin:/usr/X11R6/bin:/usr/games:/opt/www/htdig/bin:/usr/lib/java/bin:/usr/lib/java/jre/bin:/opt/kde/bin:/usr/lib/qt/bin:/usr/share/texmf/bin
As indicated earlier by the which command the xorgconfig is located in /usr/X11R6/bin/ This is included in the standard search path in the first and the last case, but in the second case it isn't so you see the shell doesn't search for the program in /usr/X11R6/bin/ and not finding it in the standard search path says "command not found" You can however still specify the complete path yourself to execute the command as in :
Code:
koodoo@knapsacker:~$ su
Password:
root@knapsacker:/home/koodoo# /usr/X11R6/bin/xorgconfig
You could also do something like this : Run xorgconfig as a normal user and save the xorg.conf file in the user's directory. Then as root copy/move the file over to the /etc/X11/ directory.
PS : Make sure you backup your old xorg.conf file before you overwrite it with the new one. Just in case.....
Hope this helps !
