[SOLVED] Need serious help!

[JimmyJim]

To check the /etc/passwd and /etc/groups you just need to do the command below:

less /etc/passwd 

less /etc/groups

I tried less /etc/passwd and I got a lengthy list.
I tried less /etc/groups and it said it doesn't exist. (I'm not sure if thats the problem)

If you need anything specific, let me know. I don't know what I'm looking for here, and it would take me a long time to write out by hand!

PS: do you know your root password if not, I can show you how you can change it and login as root which could help you get any and all files out so you can delete the OS or what not

I know my root password. I can get my files that I want to backup, but I can't transfer them to my USB drive because Ubuntu gets an error when I plug it in!

Try and look at the permissions of /usr/bin/sudo by doing this command:

ls -al /usr/bin | grep sudo

I did that and here is what I got:

lrwxrwxrwx    1   user      root 4 2008-05-27 19:00 gksub -> gksa
- rwsr -xr -x 2   root      root 107872 2008-05-14 20:41 sudo
- rwsr -xr -x 2   root      root 107872 2008-05-14 20:41 sudoedit

[JimmyJim]

Sounds to me like a load of permissions got hosed. I'd try rebooting in rescue mode or from a live cd and then reinstall all packages.

How do I reinstall all packages? If this'll make me lose data, I have to find a way to get the USB drive to read so I can backup some stuff.

[Bigtime_Scrub]

How do I reinstall all packages? If this'll make me lose data, I have to find a way to get the USB drive to read so I can backup some stuff.

I think we should take this step by step from the start.

So first of all is the USB mounted correctly? Does on icon of it show up on your desktop and if it does, can you look in it?

[Nameless_one]

I suggest you backup your data to a DVD or something like that and reinstall ubuntu. It will work fine as before, and then you might consider not fiddling with permissions and the like in the future this will probably restore all functionality to your machine.

[JimmyJim]

I think we should take this step by step from the start.

So first of all is the USB mounted correctly? Does on icon of it show up on your desktop and if it does, can you look in it?

If by mounted correctly, you mean plugged in correctly, then yes. It worked before everything else stopped working. The icon doesn't appear on my desktop, but it appears in my "Places" tab. I cannot look in it. If I click on it, I get the following warning: "Cannot mount volume: Error org.freedesktop.DBus.Error.AccessDenied"

[JimmyJim]

I suggest you backup your data to a DVD or something like that and reinstall ubuntu. It will work fine as before, and then you might consider not fiddling with permissions and the like in the future this will probably restore all functionality to your machine.

Hmm, yeah I think I'll do that instead. This will suck though, it took me awhile to get everything working and now my setup will be lost .

[Nameless_one]

You should consider trying this: Making a seperate /home partition. That way, if something goes wrong, you get to keep all your settings, and after reinstalling ubuntu, simply reinstalling your favourite programs will bring everything back to normal very quickly.

Also, everything on that site is useful to start you off on ubuntu. It's not a lot of reading material, and it' straight to the point. Most of the info you will need, in the beginning, is there. Afterwards you might want to check the link in my sig. That should keep you problem-free for a while!

[JimmyJim]

You should consider trying this: Making a seperate /home partition. That way, if something goes wrong, you get to keep all your settings, and after reinstalling ubuntu, simply reinstalling your favourite programs will bring everything back to normal very quickly.

Also, everything on that site is useful to start you off on ubuntu. It's not a lot of reading material, and it' straight to the point. Most of the info you will need, in the beginning, is there. Afterwards you might want to check the link in my sig. That should keep you problem-free for a while!

OK, thanks. I'm burning a backup DVD right now as I type this, and I'll reformat soon. Thanks for the help everyone.