[CentOS] GNOME issue. Seeking Guidance.

Mon Apr 14 19:47:26 UTC 2008
Christy.New at cancer.org <Christy.New at cancer.org>

Below is what has been documented on this issue, and I am needing further
guidance.  Essetially, I am running in GNOME, but it isn't working
properly.  Can some one help.
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|I am new to the Centos ISO and was looking for a forum, when I came across this. If it isn't something you can help,  |
|can you help point me in the right direction? Here are the answers you requested from me:                             |
|                                                                                                                      |
|I go to the applications menu at the top left and click to pull down                                                  |
|I click on Add/Remove Software but nothing happens.                                                                   |
|                                                                                                                      |
|I am using GNOME                                                                                                      |
|                                                                                                                      |
|I go to the system menu at the top left and click to pull down, and then click admin and then click network. Nothing  |
|happens.                                                                                                              |
|                                                                                                                      |
|It is like the GNOME is not working properly. It did work until I pulled down the software updates after the initial  |
|intstallation.                                                                                                        |
|                                                                                                                      |
|Again, thank you.                                                                                                     |
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|There are several ways to get help with CentOS:                                                                       |
|                                                                                                                      |
|The CentOS web forums are at http://www.centos.org/modules/newbb/ [^]                                                 |
|The CentOS email lists are at http://lists.centos.org/mailman/listinfo/centos [^]                                     |
|Realtime forums (IRC) can be found via http://www.centos.org/modules/tinycontent/index.php?id=8 [^]                   |
|                                                                                                                      |
|In your case, I am expecting that the pirut or system-helper command are not working correctly. Please try the        |
|following.                                                                                                            |
|                                                                                                                      |
|Right click on the desktop and choose "Open Terminal". In the terminal type pirut. A popup window should occur asking |
|for the root password. If it doesnt, then there is a permission problem that might have 'broken' during an update.    |
|                                                                                                                      |
|In the terminal type "ls -l /usr/bin/pirut". And you should get output like the following:                            |
|                                                                                                                      |
|[smooge at canopus ~]$ ls -l /usr/bin/pirut                                                                              |
|lrwxrwxrwx 1 root root 13 Apr 12 2007 /usr/bin/pirut -> consolehelper*                                                |
|                                                                                                                      |
|[smooge at canopus ~]$ ls -l /usr/bin/consolehelper                                                                      |
|-rwxr-xr-x 1 root root 5920 Mar 14 2007 /usr/bin/consolehelper*                                                       |
|                                                                                                                      |
|                                                                                                                      |
|If it is a permission problem, we can try the following:                                                              |
|                                                                                                                      |
|1) Login as root (in the terminal window you can do a "su - root"                                                     |
|2) Type the following:                                                                                                |
|/sbin/restorecon -R -v /etc /usr /sbin /bin /var                                                                      |
|                                                                                                                      |
|This will take a long time, but it should restore selinux permissions to some items that either zenoss or an update   |
|accidently "broke"                                                                                                    |
|                                                                                                                      |
|After this command finishes try the following:                                                                        |
|Top Menu -> Applications -> Add/Remove Software                                                                       |
|                                                                                                                      |
|If it pops up now.. then it was an selinux item. If it does not then there is a problem with consolehelper talking    |
|getting root which might have occured with the zenoss install. I would first check with them to see if it is a known  |
|issue on their part, and then with the forums.                                                                        |
|                                                                                                                      |
|/usr/bin/consolehelper is a program that allows a normal user to get super-user/administrator rights. So there are 2  |
|pirut programs. /usr/bin/pirut calls consolehelper which calls some programs to make sure you can become 'root' If you|
|know the root password then it will call /usr/sbin/pirut which is the real program, but only runs as 'root' not a     |
|normal user.                                                                                                          |
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|Yes and no luck yet. I have contacted Zenoss, however they seem to think it is with Centos. Since it is a free     |
|utility, they are very reluctant to offer support. If I were to pay, then they would graciously put for the effort |
|to help. So I am on my own. I don't mind the CLI, actually I prefer it, but my co-workers are were I am concerned. |
|I want them to be able to use it, and be comfortable with it. But with out being able to use the GNOME (GUI). They |
|are reluctant to do so. That is my fear. They know nothing about Linux or UNIX, and only know router's and switches|
|CLI. If you can offer any guidance, I graciously welcome it all                                                    |
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|When I open a terminal, there was no issue. When I typed int ls -l /usr/bin/pirut, I got just as smooge said I     |
|would, lrwxrwxrwx 1 root root 13 Apr 12 2007 /usr/bin/pirut -> consolehelper*. Then I typed in ls -l               |
|/usr/bin/consolehelper, I got -rwxr-xr-x 1 root root 5920 Mar 14 2007 /usr/bin/consolehelper*, again just as smooge|
|said I would. He then asked that I log in as root, which I was already at. When I typed,/sbin/restorecon -R -v /etc|
|/usr /sbin /bin /var. There was something different, than what Smooge said it would do. It was either instance, or |
|it appeared like nothing happen. He had mention that it would take it a while, and it appeared to do nothing. So   |
|once I did all he asked, I stillcould not open the add/remove, or the networking information up. I also tried to   |
|reboot the server, to see if maybe the changes would take effect then, and no success. Thanks for the help.        |
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|When I run pirut from root it tells me: "Unable to import modules. Maybe you're not running under X?". When I log  |
|under another user, and run the command "pirut", it prompts me for the root password, and then tells me the same   |
|thing.                                                                                                             |
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|Are you running under some sort of GUI? GNOME, KDE, XFCE, whatever - meaning are you running under a graphical |
|environment?                                                                                                   |
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|Yes  |
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Please Advise.

Christy