Micah Cowen said: 'Are you just su-ing to root? If so, did you set up a password for root? Since sudo is the recommended method for obtaining root privileges, Ubuntu installations do not set up a root password by default. This is because sudo prompts for the calling user's password, rather than the user being su'd to (and then checks that the calling user has appropriate access, as defined by /etc/sudoers). The su command, on the other hand, asks for the destination user's password, so if you have not set a password for root (via "sudo passwd root", for example), a su to root would be guaranteed to fail.'
For new users like me I found out that this means that you type sudo passwd root Press enter It will then ask you for your password - you can enter it It then asks for a new Unix password. Sorry guys - us beginners need a very simple walk through! - we just don't have the knowledge base assumed in some of the answers! Anyway, it works for me now - thanks Micah! -- terminal wont accept typed input when prompting for password https://bugs.launchpad.net/bugs/121739 You received this bug notification because you are a member of Ubuntu Bugs, which is subscribed to Ubuntu. -- ubuntu-bugs mailing list ubuntu-bugs@lists.ubuntu.com https://lists.ubuntu.com/mailman/listinfo/ubuntu-bugs