[SOLVED] Upgrade took me out as root user

[kierpaul]

Can anyone help me here? I just upgraded to Ubuntu 8.10 and I can no longer access Synaptic Package Manager or user groups either. It is like I am no longer the root user to this computer (probably because I am not now for some reason or another). I need help and any help is greatly appreciated! Thank you ahead of time!

[jpkotta]

You were never root. root is a special user that has total control, you were just able to execute commands as root (when you prefix them with "sudo").

https://help.ubuntu.com/community/RootSudo
http://www.psychocats.net/ubuntu/fixsudo

[prshah]

I can no longer access Synaptic Package Manager or user groups either.

Open a terminal, and give the command
sudo If you get an error "Cannot resolve hostname" (or words to that effect) see this post (http://ubuntuforums.org/showpost.php?p=4978295&postcount=4) for a solution.

Otherwise, you need to give a more detailed explanation of exactly what problem you are facing.

Synaptic will not run if another package manager command is working in the background (update-manager, aptitude, apt-get, etc).

[davidkahn]

Here's another possibility.

1. Take a look at /etc/sudoers and confirm that it has a line:

%admin ALL=(ALL) ALL
This gives members of the admin group the right to run any command.

2. Check that you are in the admin group in /etc/group.

3. If you need to edit these files, you should boot the computer and select a "Recovery Mode" version of Intrepid, which will bring you to a command prompt, logged in a root. Edit these files (sudo is not needed because you're already root), and reboot.

Good luck.

David

[kierpaul]

Thanks jpkotta. Rebooted into recovery and dropped to shell. Used adduser "username" admin command and it worked fine after rebooting. I am still wondering how it got deleted. I think I am going to get an Ubuntu Bible so I can be more proficient at these things. Thank you everyone anyways!