Can't edit xorg.conf

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#1

Hello. This must be a laughably simple question (is there a newbie forum somewhere?), but it’s got me stumped.

I’m trying to edit xorg.conf, so in terminal I type

kdesu kate /etc/X11/xorg.conf

Kate opens, but it shows a blank document. So instead I try

kdesu kwrite /etc/X11/xorg.conf

Same problem. I know the document is not blank, because it opens with full text if I leave out the kdesu part:

kwrite /etc/X11/xorg.conf

So I try

su

then

kate xorg.conf

Now nothing happens at all. Just a cursor in the terminal and I have to start again with a new terminal.

Can anybody help me out here? I’m need to edit the file to try and get my Bamboo tablet working: http://en.opensuse.org/Wacom_USB_tablet_howto

Thanks in advance.

#2

Try using a run command Alt+F2 then enter kdesu kate /etc/X11/xorg.conf.
You could also try kwrite instead of kate

Geoff

#3

> Try using a run command Alt+F2 then enter kdesu kate /etc/X11/xorg.conf.
> You could also try kwrite instead of kate

or

su
vi xorg.conf

IMHO, learn vi, it’s installed on almost every system.
I do like kate and the visual editors. Not sure why you’re having that
problem. You could create a kate launcher that runs as root, just be
careful when you use it.

#4

Oh, and if you can’t open it check the perms on the file, maybe they’ve
gotten munged.

#5

Thanks guys.

I don’t seem to have vi installed. Bash says “command not found”. Can’t see it in Yast either. How can I install it?

Having used the alt-F2 route (which worked) it now seems to work through the normal terminal too. Very strange. Maybe some process somewhere ended in the meantime.

Thanks again.

#6

vi is in the vim-base package

#7

For vi, you need the vim-base package installed.

Edit: Microchip typing as I was still reading post… :wink: Anyway, I second that.

#8

I want to thank you for the information on how to edit xorg.conf - the “kdesu kwrite” method worked for me and solved my issue, which I figure belongs in a different forum header. :stuck_out_tongue: