Ubuntu Linux

I have a ubuntu desktop installation on an old PC. I’ve set this up so that the desktop auto logs in as user ‘linux’.

There is no screen or keyboard attached. I use VNC from another Windows desktop to access the linux machine.

Even though I haver the ‘linux’ user set up as an administrator it seems that for some operations I need to be signed in as the ‘root’ user.

Via VNC how can I change the user from ‘linux’ to ‘root’?

I’ve tried using the ’switch user’ option from the GUI panel that offers log out/restart/shot down options, but once I select this my VNC screen goes blank.

Alternatively how can I configure VNC so that it accesses the linux machine via the root user?

P.S. I’m a linux newbiee so please provide ‘idiot level’ steps to any answers.

I’m currently running Hardy 8.04 LTS on a system using RAID 1 for / /home and swap. A while ago I installed Truecrypt and have used that to encrypt my most sensitive data. I have two 500 MB Truecrypt volumes, one serving as a backup of the other. This has worked fine for the limited data that it’s had to handle.

Recently, I copied loads of data off my old Windows PC onto my Linux box before consigning Windows to history. Because I’m a bit of a squirrel and don’t like throwing old data away, this included stuff like bank correspondence going back many years.

In short, if my PC were to be stolen, there’s an awful lot of personal stuff that could be accessed by trawling through all this old data, so I’ve been looking at the option of encrypting most, if not all, of the data on the PC.

I could try to find all the personal information and move the files into my Truecrypt volume, but this would be time-consuming and tedious. There’s also the concern that, unless the system is fully encrypted, there will always be the possibility of traces being left here and there, or sensitive data being accidentally consigned to a non-encrypted folder at some point in the future.

Truecrypt is fine for relatively small volumes of data, but the fixed volume size is a bit of a pain when larger amounts of data are involved. I’d rather use an on-the-fly encryption mechanism that doesn’t impose a fixed container size, especially as I use rsync to make regular backups.

So, for the ultimate in privacy, I’m drawn towards full disk encryption. But I have reservations about the impact on performance and the risks of getting completely locked out of my data. Apart from making regular backups, is there anything else that can be done to reduce the chances this happening?

What’s the best compromise?

I’ve seen the odd comment that LVM + encryption is not a good idea. Does anyone have any evidence to the contrary?

What about LVM + encryption + RAID 1? Is that a step too far?

Thanks,

Mike

Hello all, thanks for taking time to read my thread.

my problem is that I cannot get flash to work in my firefox. i can’t view youtube, myspace players, or anything that requires the plugin.

i have installed the latest drivers, so what else can i do to get things rolling?

thanks again.

i recently installed rt73-k2wrlz - driver for my wireless card (i dont know why i did it, wireless connection was working fine before i did it)…i have to activate it from "system"->"administration"->"hardware drivers" and it doesnt work: it can see the wireless networks but cannot connect…so i use the old driver instead, but every hour or so i lose the connection so i have to disable wireless and enable it again in orger to connect…can someone tell me what is the problem and how do i fix it…i`d also like to know how to delete the new driver from my system and from the"hardware drivers" menu…

Hi! I’m setting up a mixed Ubuntu, Mac and PC Network (yeah! no so easy!). My setup puts Ubuntu as a server or file server, where we can store assets, fonts and software. Everybody in the Network has to be able to access files in ubuntu (read,write,delete).

Now, I have a user "server" in ubuntu, and each machine has its own user, named after the owner.

Our main problem is that when a PC creates a file in the server, a mac can’t delete it. But when a mac creates a directory in the server, the pc can’t access it at all. I then go to ubuntu, and change permissions of the folder and that’s it. But this is not a good long term solution.

I am having problems with persmissions, I guess, and there has to be a way for everyone to create, delete and modify files and directories…. right? thanks!

I’m looking for a way to have a clean boot up process, in terms of displaying.

1. In console, I need to disable the timeout of when the screen becomes blank. I tried changing BLANK_TIME=0 and POWERDOWN_TIME=0 (BLANK_DPMS=on) in /etc/console-tools/config with no success, the screen becomes blank again after a few minutes if no keyboard activity.

2. When installing ubuntu server edition, the processes are displayed nice and at the end it comes the command prompt login. After installing applications (servers/daemons), everything gets messy: newer applications show up on the screen after the command prompt login, and some of them are not displayed arranged each on one line, some are arranged one after another and no lines between. First, I want to have all processes started before the command prompt appears. Secondly, I wish there is a simple way to arrange them one at a line as it suppose to be, and correct what developers didn’t finish when compiled the source of package. In other words, a config file which allow me to move displaying of a process during boot on the next line, and let me add only the processes I need (from /etc/init.d/ directory). Is this possible?

3. There’s also cases when some processes need longer time to start at boot. In this case I’d like to choose not to have them displayed on boot before command prompt login show up (because I may have a very slow boot up process), but send this information to the log as a notification so that I know if it started just in case I need to check that later.

I wish I know if it’s possible to make all these changes in config files without changing the startup scripts of processes in /etc/init.d/, so that I can easily move the config files to other machines.

Solutions?

I have looked high on low on the forums for advice to no avail.
This Dvd Burner was burning data disks in 15 minutes before installing Ubuntu, hardware should not be an issue.
Has anyone seen this problem?

Thanks in Advance,
:confused:

Hi its me again. I have Nvidia GeForce 2 and my resolution is 640×480 and my desktop space is VERY small can you please help me.I cant run games and I have to use an weaker ATI video card

I am very inexperienced about networks. I have no idea how things work. So here I am Stuck in the attempt to connect my HP 530 notebook running Ubuntu 8.1with my pc running UbuntuStudio 8.1.
I have a LAN port on both the computers. I connect to the Internet wirelessly with the help of my Nokia SL2_141 modem. I actually had Ubuntu 8.04 on my notebook when I configured the wireless connection. Then I updated to 8.1. I didn’t understand the interface of the 8.1’s updated version of the network tools :confused:. So if in any way it blows up I can’t set it up again.
Coming to the present problem- I have connected the LAN ports of my pc and my notebook with a cross cable. But I’m pretty mych stuck there only. I have no idea how to proceed.
And please give specific step by step information if possible. Cause as I said before I’m a complete novice. And please keep in mind that I can’t set up the wireless connection again anything happens to it (unless you guys help me of course…)

I preformed a upgrade from 8.04 to 8.10 and now when i turn on the computer, the xubuntu screen where i enter my encryption password hangs after i enter the password. How can i fix it?

Attached is a picture!

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