Q4OS Forum

JSM

Banned

Registered: 2021-04-23

Posts: 81

missing root rights?

Hi

I had to install Q4OS new and this time I just used the base version, not the full. Now it looks as my user has not all the rights he need. For example in GNOME DISK I can not write a ISO to a USB stick. Also GNOME SOFTWARE was not letting me install a new program.

I then set the user id to 0 in etc/passwd. This was almost devastating, because when I wanted to start a new session, I got the message that root login was not allowed! With a little luck via the prompt login, I got back into the system and was able to reset the ID.

In the user manager of Q4OS, I have added various groups to my user (adm, disk, operator, root). But GNOME DISK still won't let me install ISO on USB stick. So I removed the groups again. My user is in the sudo group.

What I have to do? And what is the root password? I could also not login with "root" and "mypassword".

bin

Member

From: U.K.

Registered: 2016-01-28

Posts: 1,334

Re: missing root rights?

Well, to be honest I think your best bet is to start again.
Make sure you have downloaded the latest version of your chosen Q4OS variety from:-
https://sourceforge.net/projects/q4os/files/stable
For Plasma - q4os-4.7-x64.r1.iso
or for Trinity - q4os-4.7-x64-tde.r1.iso
You can check the SHA or MD5 from the i details icon on the right of the listing.

If you have no other machine with which to burn this then just use

sudo dd if=your-iso-name of=/dev/sdx bs=4M && sync

where sdx needs to be the correct value for your usb drive.

So, re-install the system - the 'Live' option will do just to get to the bottom of the problem. Run the updates and then install via

sudo apt install gnome-disk-utility

The root account is disabled deliberately and is best left that way. If you have installed gnome-disk-utility from the normal repo then there is no reason it should misbehave. The application is run under the user's normal account and then the password prompted when you attempt to write an iso to the key.

Please let us know how you get on and also which version you are using.

JSM

Banned

Registered: 2021-04-23

Posts: 81

Re: missing root rights?

@bin

I have installed all good for me, so I realy don't want to do it again. Other software that needs special rights are working fine, for example Grub Customizer. It shows me a window, where I can type the password, then starts the Grub Customizer. So I think that there is missing something, that gives the new installed software this function, or put it on a list of software, that needs this function.

I will then try to write the USB with the terminal :-)

JSM

Banned

Registered: 2021-04-23

Posts: 81

Re: missing root rights?

@bin

Ok, it works now! I am on Trinity.

"policykit-1-gnome" was not installed. I installed it with Synaptic. Then I had to add it in the autostart with this entry:

/usr/lib/policykit-1-gnome/polkit-gnome-authentication-agent-1 &

I also marked that it is "executable". Don't know if it realy needs this.

Why other software, like Grub customizer, was working without "policykit-1-gnome" I don't know.

By the way, as you can see in my first post, sometimes it can be usefull to know how to login as root ;-)