sudo with gedit and gparted gives errors, but they work without sudo

[sdowney717]

I need to edit fstab file. I usually just do 'sudo gedit /etc/fstab'
So what can I do ?
I tried sudo su, I tried gksu.

root@scott-MS-7596:/home/scott# sudo gedit /etc/fstab
No protocol specified
Unable to init server: Could not connect: Connection refused

(gedit:5058): Gtk-WARNING **: cannot open display: :0
root@scott-MS-7596:/home/scott#

[Perfect Storm]

Try with

sudo -H

instead.

[sdowney717]

??

root@scott-MS-7596:/home/scott# sudo -H gedit 
No protocol specified
Unable to init server: Could not connect: Connection refused

(gedit:5268): Gtk-WARNING **: cannot open display: :0
root@scott-MS-7596:/home/scott# sudo -H gedit /etc/fstab
No protocol specified
Unable to init server: Could not connect: Connection refused

(gedit:5273): Gtk-WARNING **: cannot open display: :0
root@scott-MS-7596:/home/scott# sudo -H
usage: sudo -h | -K | -k | -V
usage: sudo -v [-AknS] [-g group] [-h host] [-p prompt] [-u user]
usage: sudo -l [-AknS] [-g group] [-h host] [-p prompt] [-U user] [-u user]
            [command]
usage: sudo [-AbEHknPS] [-r role] [-t type] [-C num] [-g group] [-h host] [-p
            prompt] [-T timeout] [-u user] [VAR=value] [-i|-s] [<command>]
usage: sudo -e [-AknS] [-r role] [-t type] [-C num] [-g group] [-h host] [-p
            prompt] [-T timeout] [-u user] file ...
root@scott-MS-7596:/home/scott#

root@scott-MS-7596:/home/scott# sudo -H gparted
Created symlink /run/systemd/system/-.mount → /dev/null.
Created symlink /run/systemd/system/home.mount → /dev/null.
Created symlink /run/systemd/system/run-user-0.mount → /dev/null.
Created symlink /run/systemd/system/run-user-1000.mount → /dev/null.
Created symlink /run/systemd/system/run-user-121.mount → /dev/null.
Created symlink /run/systemd/system/tmp.mount → /dev/null.
No protocol specified

(gpartedbin:5386): Gtk-WARNING **: cannot open display: :0
Removed /run/systemd/system/-.mount.
Removed /run/systemd/system/home.mount.
Removed /run/systemd/system/run-user-0.mount.
Removed /run/systemd/system/run-user-1000.mount.
Removed /run/systemd/system/run-user-121.mount.
Removed /run/systemd/system/tmp.mount.
root@scott-MS-7596:/home/scott#

[deadflowr]

Why?
You are already root.

[sdowney717]

Why?
You are already root.

it did not matter, I tried not as root, tried as root, they dont run.
I am saying I have a real problem here.
Can you run these with root privileges?

root@scott-MS-7596:/home/scott# gedit
No protocol specified
Unable to init server: Could not connect: Connection refused

(gedit:7138): Gtk-WARNING **: cannot open display: :0

root@scott-MS-7596:/home/scott# gparted
Created symlink /run/systemd/system/-.mount → /dev/null.
Created symlink /run/systemd/system/home.mount → /dev/null.
Created symlink /run/systemd/system/media-scott-1ca42e1a\x2dc943\x2d4755\x2db8e5\x2da9a6e91f4ed6.mount → /dev/null.
Created symlink /run/systemd/system/run-user-0.mount → /dev/null.
Created symlink /run/systemd/system/run-user-1000.mount → /dev/null.
Created symlink /run/systemd/system/run-user-121.mount → /dev/null.
Created symlink /run/systemd/system/tmp.mount → /dev/null.
No protocol specified

(gpartedbin:7193): Gtk-WARNING **: cannot open display: :0
Removed /run/systemd/system/-.mount.
Removed /run/systemd/system/home.mount.
Removed /run/systemd/system/media-scott-1ca42e1a\x2dc943\x2d4755\x2db8e5\x2da9a6e91f4ed6.mount.
Removed /run/systemd/system/run-user-0.mount.
Removed /run/systemd/system/run-user-1000.mount.
Removed /run/systemd/system/run-user-121.mount.
Removed /run/systemd/system/tmp.mount.
root@scott-MS-7596:/home/scott#

I can run gedit without sudo privileges. But how can I edit fstab without using gedit? And besides it should work.

[deadflowr]

So you meant the launchers work like normal, then.
( i was guessing you meant typing something like "gedit /etc/fstab" was working)
Okay,
have you looked over this thread
https://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=2367294

[sdowney717]

So you meant the launchers work like normal, then.
( i was guessing you meant typing something like "gedit /etc/fstab" was working)
Okay,
have you looked over this thread
https://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=2367294

Hi, that does work, no errors now, so they will fix this?

scott@scott-MS-7596:~$ gedit

scott@scott-MS-7596:~$ xhost +si:localuser:root
localuser:root being added to access control list
scott@scott-MS-7596:~$ sudo gedit
[sudo] password for scott: 
scott@scott-MS-7596:~$

[Chanath]

Isn't xhost +si:localuser:root just a workaround for Wayland?

[ajgreeny]

If you have become used to using sudo to start GUI programs as root you may have changed the ownership of some of the files in your home which then may cause BIG problems for you and can make it impossible to login as user.

YOU SHOULD NOT USE sudo WITH GUI PROGRAMS; IT IS ASKING FOR PROBLEMS !
Sorry for shouting but it is an important lesson that you must learn for your own sake, and as Artificial Intelligence said above, use sudo -H instead.

I wonder if your problems with gedit are a result of using sudo for GUI programs in the past?

[sdowney717]

If you have become used to using sudo to start GUI programs as root you may have changed the ownership of some of the files in your home which then may cause BIG problems for you and can make it impossible to login as user.

YOU SHOULD NOT USE sudo WITH GUI PROGRAMS; IT IS ASKING FOR PROBLEMS !
Sorry for shouting but it is an important lesson that you must learn for your own sake, and as Artificial Intelligence said above, use sudo -H instead.

I wonder if your problems with gedit are a result of using sudo for GUI programs in the past?

It did this immediately upon a fresh install, this was not an upgrade from 16.04.
I wanted to look at the drives and thought to run sudo gparted, and it immediately gave those errors.

I did install gksu, but on 16.04, I always was using sudo with gedit for a long time.