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How do i get permission to write to Linux system subdirectories

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After installing Etch rel 4.0 My sound hardware (CMI 8330/c3d) was not detected. I downloaded a deb package for my sound card from the OSS web site wich Etch placed in a desktop folder called "Downloads". I have tried to install the package using the recomended commands a number of times but to no avail. The problem seems to be that i dont have the permission/ownership/rights to place the extracted files in the "/usr/lib" directory. The files are however extracted to the downloads directory on the desktop.

If i try to drag and drop the files manualy to /usr/lib, Etch says i dont have the permission to write to that folder.

If i try using the deb installer the terminal messages window essentially say the same thing.

Q:What do i have to do write to the root subdirectories ?

Q:What is the format of the CP command that is equivalent to DOS "COPY c:\Downloads\usr\lib\*.* /s" that would copy all files and subdirectories to the current directory?

Q:When i look for who is the owner of / (root),the user name is root, and there is a password associated with this user (i dont know what it is but as administrator i can change it.) If i change it then login with the username root and the new password will that allow me to write to /, and the other system subdirectories?

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Here's how...

Submitted by cammoblammo on Sat, 2007-04-21 23:28.

Q:What do i have to do write to the root subdirectories ?

You need to change user to root. root is the name of the administrator on the system. The easiest (not necessarily the safest, but it is the easiest) is to use su. At a prompt, type

su (enter)

You will be prompted for the password. Enter your administrative password. You are now logged in as root Then you can do whatever you want to (which can be a problem if you make a mistake). Once you're done doing what you need, type

exit (enter)

and you'll be back to your user account.

root should be able to install the *deb file you have. Try installing it as per your instructions. I imagine they tell you to issue the command,

dpkg -i filename.deb (enter).

If this doesn't work, don't try installing it manually. Post here for advice first!

Q:What is the format of the CP command that is equivalent to DOS "COPY c:\Downloads\usr\lib\*.* /s" that would copy all files and subdirectories to the current directory?

It's been a while since I used DOS! Try

cp -R /path/to/directory/ . (enter)

Note the dot at the end --- that's a shortcut for the path to the directory you're currently in. The command cp is the copy command, and the -R switch tells it to work recursively (ie copy subdirectories as well). You can find more info about it by going to a terminal and typing

man cp (enter)

Hit 'q' when you're done.

Q:When i look for who is the owner of / (root),the user name is root, and there is a password associated with this user (i dont know what it is but as administrator i can change it.) If i change it then login with the username root and the new password will that allow me to write to /, and the other system subdirectories?

Yes it will, as long as root has permission to write to those directories. If root doesn't have write permission, there's a pretty good chance you're doing something unwise. root can change permissions without problems though. You can find out how to change permissions using man chmod, but don't say I didn't warn you!

If you need further explanation, please post back!

--
A tidy house is the sign of a stolen computer.

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