Please don't laugh .. but how do I shutdown

Hi,

New to Linux .. just installed Mandrake 10.0.

I read the manual and it says to logout and I will get the following dlg
with options :
http://doc.mandrakelinux.com/Mandrak...#kde-logout-yn
But, this dlg never appears .. instead I get a 'End Session for "UserID"'
with the options Logout and Cancel. Logout, takes me back to the login
screen. So I can't shutdown there.

I tried the shutdown command from the shell and got a Command not Found
message.

From the Run Command dlg, I enter "shutdown" and press enter and get "Could
not run the specified command".

Is this me doing something wrong? Or is there something wrong with my
setup?

TIA,
John

On 2004-12-21, John <dont@send.me.spam.com> wrote:
> with the options Logout and Cancel. Logout, takes me back to the login
> screen. So I can't shutdown there.

There should be a "shutdown" in the lower part of the screen when you
are in the login screen. Failing that, press CTRL-ALT-F2, login as
root and then type 'shutdown -h now'.

> I tried the shutdown command from the shell and got a Command not Found
> message.

You must be root.
Davide

--
Linux; a re-Gnu-able resource.
-- Gareth Barnard

begin John dedi ki:
--8<--

> But, this dlg never appears .. instead I get a 'End Session for "UserID"'
> with the options Logout and Cancel. Logout, takes me back to the login
> screen. So I can't shutdown there.

There's no option (or sub-option) for halt at the main login screen?
Anyway, Mandrake runs its own display manager (MdkKDM) by default,
which is too dumbed down, instead of standard KDE display manager
(KDM). One of the first things I do after a fresh Mandrake
installation is, changing it back to KDM, as follows:

Configure your computer (aka "drakconf" command) -> System -> Display
Manager : Choose KDM here.

Then it should work as expected.

> I tried the shutdown command from the shell and got a Command not Found
> message.

First become root (administator) with the "su -" command (it asks for
root password) before issuing "halt" command.

--
Abdullah | aramazan@ |
Ramazanoglu | myrealbox |
________________| D.0.T cöm |__

"Davide Bianchi" <davideyeahsure@onlyforfun.net> wrote in message
news:slrncsge9g.ekl.davideyeahsure@fogg.onlyforfun .net...
> On 2004-12-21, John <dont@send.me.spam.com> wrote:
>> with the options Logout and Cancel. Logout, takes me back to the login
>> screen. So I can't shutdown there.
>
> There should be a "shutdown" in the lower part of the screen when you
> are in the login screen. Failing that, press CTRL-ALT-F2, login as
> root and then type 'shutdown -h now'.

Thanks for the quick response.

There are Reboot and Halt buttons, but they are greyed out.

When I log in as root it warns me that I should not be logging into a GUI as
root unless I know what I'm doing ... which I obviously don't ;-)

If I su root; I can do it. But is that the norm? Shouldn't any user be
able to shutdown the system? Is this because I set the security level to
highest?

Thanks,
John

In comp.os.linux.misc <BtWxd.13129$GK5.856121@news20.bellglobal.com> John <dont@send.me.spam.com> wrote:
> Is this me doing something wrong? Or is there something wrong with my
> setup?

Nothing wrong, the option's probably just hidden. Places to try:

1. When you log out, see if there's a radio button for "shut down"
instead of "log out".

2. On the main login screen, see if under one of the menus there's a
"shut the system down" item. You may need to find a "configure" item and
enable the ability in the configuration first.

3. Use the "shutdown" command ("shutdown -h now" would be the normal
invocation for "shut down and halt the computer now"). You'll need to be
logged in as root to do this since a) normal users don't have the
privilege to shut the system down and b) the command's not in a
directory visible in an ordinary user's path. I usually go to a console
(via Alt-F1, Ctrl-Alt-F1 or Alt-SysRq-F1 depending on setup), and log in
as root there to do this or doing "su --login root" or "su -" will do
the trick.

--
All I want out of the Universe is 10 minutes with the source code and
a quick recompile.
-- unknown

John wrote:

>
> "Davide Bianchi" <davideyeahsure@onlyforfun.net> wrote in message
> news:slrncsge9g.ekl.davideyeahsure@fogg.onlyforfun .net...
>> On 2004-12-21, John <dont@send.me.spam.com> wrote:
>>> with the options Logout and Cancel. Logout, takes me back to the login
>>> screen. So I can't shutdown there.
>>
>> There should be a "shutdown" in the lower part of the screen when you
>> are in the login screen. Failing that, press CTRL-ALT-F2, login as
>> root and then type 'shutdown -h now'.

> There are Reboot and Halt buttons, but they are greyed out.

meaning you dont have permission to shutdown. if you go )kde, i assume) :
control center -> sys admin -> login manager -> shutdown

you can specify who can shutdown

> When I log in as root it warns me that I should not be logging into a GUI as
> root unless I know what I'm doing ... which I obviously don't ;-)

yea, you shouldnt

--
<< http://michaeljtobler.homelinux.com/ >>
"Gee, Toto, I don't think we are in Kansas anymore."

John wrote:
> If I su root; I can do it. But is that the norm? Shouldn't any user be
> able to shutdown the system? Is this because I set the security level to
> highest?

I haven't got Mandrake so I can't offer specific advice there but on
Fedora and Redhat halt, poweroff and reboot can be run as a normal user
by someone logged in directly (i.e. physically) on the machine but not
if logged in from the network.


--
Paul Black mailto:paul.black@oxsemi.com
Oxford Semiconductor Ltd http://www.oxsemi.com
25 Milton Park, Abingdon, Tel: +44 (0) 1235 824 909
Oxfordshire. OX14 4SH Fax: +44 (0) 1235 821 141

John wrote:
>
> If I su root; I can do it. But is that the norm? Shouldn't any user be
> able to shutdown the system?

Remember that Linux is by nature a multi-user system. You could have
users connected to ssh sessions over the network (for example), as well
as the local user(s). If anyone could shut down the system, some of
those users may find their sessions abrubtly terminated.

So what you are seeing is more-or-less normal behaviour. In general,
users should *not* be able to shut down the system unless they've been
specifically granted that right (e.g., through the KDE control panel or
by giving them the root password).

"John" <dont@send.me.spam.com> wrote in message
news:p3Xxd.9678$Z%3.459445@news20.bellglobal.com.. .
>
> "Davide Bianchi" <davideyeahsure@onlyforfun.net> wrote in message
> news:slrncsge9g.ekl.davideyeahsure@fogg.onlyforfun .net...
> > On 2004-12-21, John <dont@send.me.spam.com> wrote:
> >> with the options Logout and Cancel. Logout, takes me back to the login
> >> screen. So I can't shutdown there.
> >
> > There should be a "shutdown" in the lower part of the screen when you
> > are in the login screen. Failing that, press CTRL-ALT-F2, login as
> > root and then type 'shutdown -h now'.
>
> Thanks for the quick response.
>
> There are Reboot and Halt buttons, but they are greyed out.
>
> When I log in as root it warns me that I should not be logging into a GUI
as
> root unless I know what I'm doing ... which I obviously don't ;-)
>
> If I su root; I can do it. But is that the norm? Shouldn't any user be
> able to shutdown the system? Is this because I set the security level to
> highest?
>

There is always the good old reliable command line options.
Open a "terminal window" and
su -
# to login as root
init 0 # shuts down & powers off the box
init 1 # takes you to single user mode & needs a "console" attached in this
mode
init 6 # reboots
man init # for RTFM

On 2004-12-21, John <dont@send.me.spam.com> wrote:
>
> New to Linux .. just installed Mandrake 10.0.

Welcome. We were all newbies once, some of us more recently
than others.

> I read the manual and it says to logout and I will get the following dlg
> with options :
> http://doc.mandrakelinux.com/Mandrak...#kde-logout-yn
> But, this dlg never appears .. instead I get a 'End Session for "UserID"'
> with the options Logout and Cancel. Logout, takes me back to the login
> screen. So I can't shutdown there.
>
> I tried the shutdown command from the shell and got a Command not Found
> message.
>
> From the Run Command dlg, I enter "shutdown" and press enter and get "Could
> not run the specified command".
>
> Is this me doing something wrong? Or is there something wrong with my
> setup?

Do you have the 'usermode' package installed?

Are you using runlevel 3 (text login) or runlevel 5
(graphical login)? If runlevel 3, using startx to start X,
you need to _not_ exit from the text console. Either that,
or you have to do a lot of tweaks to a whole bunch of
configuration files.

Good luck.

Robert Riches
spamtrap42@verizon.net
(Yes, that is one of my email addresses.)