XFCE - Within console, "su root" fails

[tsu2]

openSUSE 12.3
XFCE Desktop

Was working, then with a reboot the following no longer works attempting to "su to root" within a console, both XFCE Terminal and X-Term

su
su root

the error is

Incorrect Password

But, everything else which uses sudo and root permissions does work, eg

sudo /sbin/ifonfig
sudo yast

and
Launching YAST2 from menu

Also, logging into an XFCE session as root does still work

Years ago in an earlier openSUSE (11.1?) when I saw this in KDE, I was able to resolve with the following procedure which does not work
Login in Desktop Session as root
Reset password from within a console, using the same password

passwd

Logout and into a normal User session

Ideas?

TIA,
TSU

[DenverD]

> Ideas?

is this thread helpful:
http://forums.opensuse.org/english/g...-password.html

--
dd

[hcvv]

openSUSE 12.3


Also, logging into an XFCE session as root does still work

?????????????????????????????????????

...
Login in Desktop Session as root
...

One of the worst advises I ever read.

BTW, can we see

ls -l $(which su)

And I think DD points to a thread where the OP added repos outside of openSUSE 12.3 itself (Factory or so).

[robin_listas]

On 2013-06-25 22:46, tsu2 wrote:
>
> openSUSE 12.3
> XFCE Desktop
>
> Was working, then with a reboot the following no longer works
> attempting to "su to root" within a console, both XFCE Terminal and
> X-Term

Try to login as root in text mode - does it work?

--
Cheers / Saludos,

Carlos E. R.
(from 12.3 x86_64 "Dartmouth" at Telcontar)

[robin_listas]

On 2013-06-26 09:46, hcvv wrote:
>
> tsu2;2567299 Wrote:
>> openSUSE 12.3
>>
>>
>> Also, logging into an XFCE session as root does still work
> ?????????????????????????????????????

IMNSHO, it is a valid _test_. It gives info.

--
Cheers / Saludos,

Carlos E. R.
(from 12.3 x86_64 "Dartmouth" at Telcontar)

[tsu2]

> Ideas?

is this thread helpful:
http://forums.opensuse.org/english/g...-password.html

--
dd

Unfortunately, I have have tried typing very slowly and carefully.

And, the procedure described in the thread requires being able to login as root. My described procedure is a variation on that, logging in as root in another session to reset the password.

Seems to be very specific to how the XFCE Terminal console accesses authentication since root credentials work in every other scenario.

This occurred when a root console was likely left open during a shutdown/reboot in a virtual machine, maybe something to avoid but I wouldn't expect to be fragile.
If it's any consolation to myself, since it's a VM I can destroy/re-build from a base image I use to generate function-specific VMs, but this image did take over a day to create...

And yes, I wouldn't ordinarily login directly to a root session but it should be done <when necessary> for testing and fixing.

TSU

[robin_listas]

On 2013-06-26 16:46, tsu2 wrote:

> Unfortunately, I have have tried typing very slowly and carefully.
>
> And, the procedure described in the thread requires being able to login
> as root. My described procedure is a variation on that, logging in as
> root in another session to reset the password.
>
> Seems to be very specific to how the XFCE Terminal console accesses
> authentication since root credentials work in every other scenario.

I just opened an xfce terminal, did "su -", no problem. I don't see why
it would act differently than xterm or gnome or kde.


> This occurred when a root console was likely left open during a
> shutdown/reboot in a virtual machine, maybe something to avoid but I
> wouldn't expect to be fragile.

I can not imagine why it would matter. I often halt or reboot the
machine with terminals running.

> And yes, I wouldn't ordinarily login directly to a root session but it
> should be done <when necessary> for testing and fixing.

Yes, IMNSHO it is a valid reason.

Check this, just in case:

grep PERMISSION_SECURITY /etc/sysconfig/security

--
Cheers / Saludos,

Carlos E. R.
(from 12.3 x86_64 "Dartmouth" at Telcontar)

[DenverD]

On 06/26/2013 04:46 PM, tsu2 wrote:
> Seems to be very specific to how the XFCE Terminal console accesses
> authentication

sorry, i don't have any other 'bright ideas' on this problem...never
seen it before......hmmmm, you might spend some time thinking about
how the VM/XFCE might have somehow 'lost' its keyboard map or
or...OH, just for fun try engaging the caps lock and try again...i
have seen (rarely) that the "caps lock" can get out of sync (so when
you have it on it is not, and when you have it off, it is actually on)

OH! and there are settings (somewhere) to set the numlock on (or off)
at boot....just for fun (and especially if you have any numbers in
your root pass) also cycle the numlock and try again...that is
(what?) FOUR variations (if using a full keyboard and using its
number pad, if using a laptop with an Fn key it gets more complicated)

lets say the recorded password the system has is ThisIsMyPass5-55

num cap
lock lock

on off ThisIsMyPass5-55
off off ThisIsMyPass-
off on tHISiSmYpASS5-55
on on tHISiSmYpASS5-55


--
dd
http://tinyurl.com/DD-Caveat

[conram]

Not sure if this is applicable to your problem.
It could be depending on how did you customized your set-up

su password problem

[tsu2]

Not sure if this is applicable to your problem.
It could be depending on how did you customized your set-up

su password problem

Thx, not relevant to my setup but...

Last night "su root" all of a sudden started working on its own!
After 2 solid days banging against the problem (Yes, more than a day before I even posted)
Looks like its "self-fix" is holding after 10 hours banging away at it through a number of reboots and executing a number of tasks.

So, I guess it'll have to remain a mystery why the problem occurred in the first place and why it all of a sudden resolved itself despite all attempts to resolve including what I described in the original post, numerous reboots, booting to Recovery Mode, a couple Updates and maybe more I can't remember....

If I was to speculate, as I described something very specific to XFCE Terminal root authentication was corrupted but was somehow recovered. Although I was considering an app uninstallo/re-install, I never got around trying that.

Advice to others? Although it's not likely practical if you see this I'd recommend numerous reboots over days...

So, Thx all,
TSU