Sorry for asking possibly a dumb question, but I seem to be getting stuck when following the wiki procedure for becoming root.

The wiki says to install xterm, which I've done and works fine, then dropbear. Dropbear seems to install fine, and I can see it listed as a process, but when I type "ssh" the system says command not found.

The wiki actually explicitly said to not have openssh installed, but I found a forum post that suggested using openssh instead of dropbear. Unfortunately, maemo.org has been down most of the last 24 hours, and I haven't had any success getting any other ssh to work.

I've read the wiki about 37 times and also have searched the forum, but I haven't found anything to help.

Also, out of curiosity, if we are aware of the default root password, why do we have to ssh in to get root? Why doesn't "sudo su" work?


Thanks in advance,

TJ

You no longer have to do the ssh to gain root there is a simpler way by using the gainroot.deb but since you are half way there I will give you the last push... when they say ssh they mean from your pc to the N800... If you do it from the xterm itself drop bear does not use ssh command it uses its own dropbear commands like dropbear-ssh or something like that... I would install openSSH if I was you...

you need also dropbear client package, not just dropbear server.
Because sudo does not ask for root password but for user password and this one is not set. ssh asks for root password.

Surely the Wiki "How do I become root" instructions are horribly out of date now? The easiest option these days is to install becomeroot (or some equivalent package that modifies the gainroot script).

And dropbear is an anachronism and nothing but a pain in the arse, it doesn't automatically start (as the OP has discovered) and comes in two parts which is confusing for some users (as the OP has discovered). Dropbear should forever more be replaced by openssh (apt-get install ssh) which is simple, reliable, standardised and offers more functionality than dropbear.

I use dropbear-server, it starts just fine.. never had any problems whatsoever, and working from remote login to the N800 is fast and snappy. I'm a happy camper. It doesn't have scp support but that is of no importance -- I just pipe tar data through ssh.

Thanks for the replys - I'll try to get openssh working.

I agree about keeping the documentation current - it's hard to tell someone to "go read the wiki" when the info there is wrong and they end up coming back to the forum anyway.

I appreciate the help.

TJ

OK, really silly question - where do I get gainroot.deb? It's not on the maemo site.

Thanks again!

For the becomeroot package, add one of the following repositories to your app manager:

N800: http://eko.one.pl/maemo bora user
770: http://eko.one.pl/maemo mistral user

I installed becomeroot through the "How to flash the SDHC kernel w/out connecting to a computer" wiki page. Are you saying that I should install becomeroot on my N800 via the URL above rather than through the wiki page? If so, how do I uninstall the becomeroot that I installed through the wiki page? And once I install via the URL above, what, exactly, do I do to become root?

Both ways are possible. The one in wiki may be slightly easier (i.e. one click) and you won't end with eko.one.pl repository configured in application manager.

see http://eko.one.pl/index.php?page=Nok...are#becomeroot