Questions from the new guy

[Liquidant]

I've just started using Knoppix and I'm dead pleased with it. I currently tun direct from the cd.

i had problems with getting my Alcatel speedtouch modem running but i think i've worked it out now with the help of the how to's and all the posts in here. I do how ever have a few questions.

1. I have 3 hard drives and i use one which is 12gig as my persistant home, how can i log in as root and still use the settings saved in my config file.

2. I was mooching around checking things out and found a screen that would let me change user setting, ID picture and read write permmisions (i cant remeber the exact program) but it required a root password. How do i enter the root password when i have never set one? I have tried root, Knoppix, admin but no joy

3. to connect to the net i need to edit the /etc/ppp/chap_secrets file but ever time i save the file it says i do not have permmision. Is this because i'm not logged in as root?

i hope you guys can help me with these questions as i think i would find it alot easier to be on the net and check things out instead of booting in and out of knoppix just to get to here.

thanks very much Liquidant

[Cuddles]

I've just started using Knoppix and I'm dead pleased with it. I currently tun direct from the cd.

i had problems with getting my Alcatel speedtouch modem running but i think i've worked it out now with the help of the how to's and all the posts in here. I do how ever have a few questions.

1. I have 3 hard drives and i use one which is 12gig as my persistant home, how can i log in as root and still use the settings saved in my config file.

2. I was mooching around checking things out and found a screen that would let me change user setting, ID picture and read write permmisions (i cant remeber the exact program) but it required a root password. How do i enter the root password when i have never set one? I have tried root, Knoppix, admin but no joy

3. to connect to the net i need to edit the /etc/ppp/chap_secrets file but ever time i save the file it says i do not have permmision. Is this because i'm not logged in as root?

i hope you guys can help me with these questions as i think i would find it alot easier to be on the net and check things out instead of booting in and out of knoppix just to get to here.

thanks very much Liquidant

Ok, lets try this, one at a time...

1. I have 3 hard drives and i use one which is 12gig as my persistant home, how can i log in as root and still use the settings saved in my config file.

When you tell Knoppix to "Save Persistant Home", or "Save Configuration" - it should ask you what device you want the information to be stored on - it will be in a "linux" device naming though... Linux doesn't use drive letters, but rather, device names - /dev/hda1, /dev/hda2, /dev/hdc1, etc... You might want to drop to a console, (the icon on the bottom of the screen that looks like a monitor with a clam shell in front of it) and do a dmesg - scroll through the listings output, and locate near the top, where your hard drives are being setup. Find, and remember the device name for the drive you want to use, and be sure to tell Knoppix, when it saves your Configs or Home, to use that device.

2. I was mooching around checking things out and found a screen that would let me change user setting, ID picture and read write permmisions (i cant remeber the exact program) but it required a root password. How do i enter the root password when i have never set one? I have tried root, Knoppix, admin but no joy  :(

Two part question here, the program you probably found was Control Center, it pretty much allows changing anything with Knoppix, and yes, some of the functions require a SuperUser, or Root, password to use them. Second question, Knoppix comes shipped without any passwords, and the accounts are "locked-down" for security. You need to either install Knoppix to the hard drive, or change the "non-existant" root password to something. Currently it is nothing, and you can't enter nothing to satisfy the password entry screen.

3. to connect to the net i need to edit the /etc/ppp/chap_secrets file but ever time i save the file it says i do not have permmision. Is this because i'm not logged in as root?

Lets get into the subject of root, and passwords here...

As mentioned above, no passwords exist for any of the user accounts, this includes root. You need to set them up, and considering you are running off the CD, unless you save the configs, or a Home, these passwords will be evaporated each time you reboot, and will need to do these things each time you boot, if the settings are not saved...

Not sure if the file you speak of in Question #3 is part of the save configs, or would be saved with a persistant home, so this file change may not "hold" from one boot to the next, and may require you to re-edit the file each time you boot. (not sure though)

Passwords:
Get a console screen (the little icon on the bottom of the screen that looks like a monitor with a clam shell in front of it. At the prompt, type su - this will make you root in that window. Since there is no password, it shouldn't ask you for it. Now, being root, get the password changed by typing passwd - it will ask you for the ROOT password twice, to confirm the change, and then the root password will be set to what you set it to.

The password you set above can then be used in any of the password querries for the root, or superuser, passwords.

To get that file saved, from question #3 above: stay in that console mentioned above, and the one you entered the root access in - the one you typed su in - and type kwrite /etc/ppp/chap_secrets - this should bring up the "notepad" (kind of) program in Linux, for editing files, make your changes, and then click the save, it shouldn't ask you for permissions, or the root password, because in the screen you started the editor in, was root.

To exit the console screens, type exit - if the screen is logged in as a root, through the use of su, you will need to type the exit twice, first logs out the root login, the second would close the screen.

Hope this helps,
Ms. Cuddles

[Liquidant]

well i'll be.......... when you say it like that it's all clear. nice to know i can still be learning this stuff after so many years on a pc.

thanks a million i'll let you know how i get on. with answers like that i can't put a foot wrong