cannot edit /etc/sudoers

unisol · 06-17-2006, 08:30 AM

ubuntu desktop keeps telling me that my password is invalid however i cant get into /etc/sudoers to edit it any ideas

manishsingh4u · 06-17-2006, 08:51 AM

First we need answers to these questions

1) Are you able to login to the system with your account (GUI / text)?
2) Are you able to login to the system with root account (GUI / text)?
3) Is your current account an admin account?

unisol · 06-17-2006, 08:56 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by manishsingh4u

First we need answers to these questions

1) Are you able to login to the system with your account (GUI / text)?
2) Are you able to login to the system with root account (GUI / text)?
3) Is your current account an admin account?

1yes i am able to log in to the system with account (gui) 2no i cant log into system root account an 3yes im the only user

manishsingh4u · 06-17-2006, 09:01 AM

Alright, so ur system password is correct. Try this command

Code:

sudo visudo

When it asks for a password, enter your own password. Now you can change your /etc/sudoers file. (Be careful). However, why do u need access to this file?

Bruce Hill · 06-17-2006, 09:05 AM

Code:

root@aihua:/home/staff# vi sudo

unisol · 06-17-2006, 09:23 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by manishsingh4u

Alright, so ur system password is correct. Try this command

Code:

sudo visudo

When it asks for a password, enter your own password. Now you can change your /etc/sudoers file. (Be careful). However, why do u need access to this file?

ineed it for for root privileges i cant even use the dialup applet as it says invalid password

manishsingh4u · 06-17-2006, 10:17 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by unisol

ineed it for for root privileges i cant even use the dialup applet as it says invalid password

So, is your problem solved?

aysiu · 06-17-2006, 11:39 AM

http://www.psychocats.net/ubuntu/sudo should help you.

unisol · 06-17-2006, 04:13 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by manishsingh4u

So, is your problem solved?

no it didnt help i dont know what to do now i really thought that was going to fix the problem

unisol · 06-17-2006, 04:55 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by manishsingh4u

So, is your problem solved?

no sorry but im not sure how to use nano or vi i booted into recovery and could have edited the file but like i said i dont know how to use these editors i mainly use gedit

unisol · 06-17-2006, 05:01 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by manishsingh4u

So, is your problem solved?

no sorry but im not sure how to use nano or vi i booted into recovery and could have edited the file but like i said i dont know how to use these editors

jschiwal · 06-18-2006, 08:07 AM

You can run "vimtutor" to learn how to use vim.

For what you want to do, you only need to use "i" to enter the insert mode. Then make your changes. When you are done with your edits, press the escape key. Then enter ":wq" to save your changes.

unisol · 06-18-2006, 08:24 AM

thank for everything i got my system/ adminstration apps back now i dont have sound i tried lspci |grep audio it told me i had a soundblaster live EMU10k1 so i did sudo modprobe snd-emu10k0 which is the soundcard i have, but it didnt work also firefox wont load i tried reinstalling it no ood mayb uninstall and reinstall

tredegar · 06-18-2006, 09:35 AM

The very first user you created when you installed ubuntu has sudo priviledges, users added later need to have these priviledges added manually, as you have discovered.
If you want other users (and it looks like this includes you at the moment) to have the same sort of priviledges (including sound) then you'll need to add them to the following groups:
adm dialout cdrom floppy audio dip video plugdev lpadmin scanner
Go to "System Settings" then "Users & Groups" to do this.

HTH