su and gksu don't accept password...

[sisco311]

Thanks for the clarification. It explains what I observed in my let's-install-Ubuntu-as-you-would-Gentoo adventure. (Never to be repeated! )

No problem.

BTW, I always use debootstrap & chroot to install Ubuntu.

[sbraz]

`sudo -i' is the recommended command to start a root shell in Ubuntu. Just like in other distributions where the root account is enabled, the recommended command for starting a root shell is `su -', `su -l' or `su --login'.

yeah i remember with debian i used su and bash to become root.

The use of sudo su (or sudo -i - better) is descibed in the link I posted in post #2. It's worth reading if you're using Ubuntu.

I guess you're thinking of those occasions where you are using a bash redirect, such as:

sudo echo string > /path/to/file

... which fails. All you need is the use of a pipe and tee, as in:

echo string | sudo tee /path/to/file

No need for sudo su-ing all over the place.

well i don't remember exactly as it happened a long time ago, but i think it had something to do with setting some sysctl parameters, or echoing stuff in /sys/*.

in the link you posted earlier i've found this link http://ubuntuforums.org/showpost.php...26&postcount=4 which contains this table:

				                     corrupted by user's 
		HOME=/root	uses root's PATH     env vars
sudo -i		Y		Y[2]                 N
sudo -s		N		Y[2]                 Y
sudo bash	N		Y[2]                 Y
sudo su		Y		N[1]                 Y

so since $PATH is the same under both user and root (in my case at least) i guess the main advantage of sudo -i over sudo su is about enviroment variables...?

thank you all for your advices.

[kvarley]

Thank you for all the responses.

I still do not know what caused the change to su mode, however there is enough information in this thread for other users to solve the problem.