I was trying to grant root access to the only user on my machine so I could edit folders and files on the main drive, however it seems I have crashed my system in trying to do so. I used chmod - u on the directory /usr and the GUI started disappearing. I tried rebooting but I can't even load the GUI. Is there an easy way I can fix this without having to reinstall the OS?
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Jake
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Pierson Jarvis
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2Could you please tell us exactly what command you entered? – Jake Jan 12 '17 at 09:21
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The exact command I used was sudu chmod - u /usr/ – Pierson Jarvis Jan 12 '17 at 15:13
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When you start your computer, press Ctrl+Alt+F1. This will switch you to the console. Enter your username and password to continue.
Enter the command:
sudo chmod 755 /usr
You will be prompted for your password, enter it to continue. Then enter sudo reboot to restart the machine. This will restore the permissions of the /usr directory so your system should be back to normal.
Jake
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Every time I try to use such chmod in console it says - bash: sudo: command not found. – Pierson Jarvis Jan 27 '17 at 01:59
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This is because sudo is located under /usr/bin/sudo where you changed the permissions. The best way to fix this would be to boot from an Ubuntu boot disc and run the above commands on your root partition. – Jake Jan 29 '17 at 05:30