installing video driver

[Silent Warrior]

how the hell do install this thing? i have the ati all inwonder 8500 dv. ive downloaded the driver on the desktop and when i use it in the terminal. it as me for my pw. i put it in and says sorry.. or access denied. it wont log me in as a super user. i type in su and ask for my pw and i put it in.

silentwarrior@swarriordesktop:~$ su
Password:
su: Authentication failure
Sorry.

[Coded-Dude]

what distro, and command are you using?
are you trying to run the install as a normal user, root, and/or with the sudo command

[Silent Warrior]

im using ubuntu. im a noob at this.

[Coded-Dude]

you need to be root to install files into certain directories.
do you have the ROOT password?

If so, type 'su' enter root's password and then try the install again.

[Garfunkel]

it's actually "sudo" not "su" too.

just type "sudo -s" then enter your ROOT password (remember when you were installing ubuntu it asked for a password? it should be the one you log in with). Then do the commands again.

[Coded-Dude]

su (switch user) will work too........

[BugenhagenXIII]

In Ubuntu the root user is disabled by default, so su won't work. To do something as root, do the following:

sudo <command>


where <command> is the command to be executed as root. The password is the same as the one you log on with.

[Garfunkel]

if you type in sudo -s it will give you permissions.

[Coded-Dude]

don't you have to be in the sudo file /etc/sudo (type visudo to edit it)

That way it asks for YOUR password, not the root password.
IMHO, typing the root pw after typing sudo is no different than a su
(its mere semantics)

[BugenhagenXIII]

if you type in sudo -s it will give you permissions.

Just typing "sudo" will also give you root permissions; the "-s", for the most part, is unnecessary.


If you want a root terminal, it's best to use "sudo -i".


don't you have to be in the sudo file /etc/sudo (type visudo to edit it)

That way it asks for YOUR password, not the root password.
IMHO, typing the root pw after typing sudo is no different than a su
(its mere semantics)


Indeed, to use "sudo" you need to be in the sudoers file, and you use the password of your user, not root's.



EDIT: Check this (https://help.ubuntu.com/community/RootSudo) out for more info on Root/Sudo in Ubuntu.

[Garfunkel]

in any case, just typing "sudo <command>" should do everything you need...

[BugenhagenXIII]

Which is exactly what I posted earlier.

[Garfunkel]

;) hehehe