cant get past E:

[wenall]

No matter what I seem to try in root I keep getting stopped at:
E: Could not get lock /var/lib/apt/lists/lock - open (ll: resource temporarily unavailable)
E: Couldn't lock list directory,,are you root?

which I know I am in root

[HROAdmin26]

The E (error) is not asking "are you in root" - it is asking "are YOU root"? IE, do you have root privileges? It doesn't look like you do.

Preface the command with sudo.

sudo apt-get update

[hazel]

You have become confused by two different meanings of the word "root":
1) The root directory /
2) The root user.

The root user is the administrative user. Most housekeeping jobs (and particularly the installation and removal of software) can only be done by root, not by an ordinary user. So you must become root by :
1) logging in as root and giving the root password
2) using the su command and giving the root password
3) using the sudo command and giving your own password.

The first two methods always work; the third may not. It all depends on whether you have been given the right to use the sudo command. It does no harm to try. If it doesn't work, use 1) or 2).

All this has nothing at all to do with what directory you are in.

[BoDiddley]

I get the same response when I try to use LXTerminal as root. It seems as though users must be assigned SUDO privileges. Until I fix the user privilege, I simply use the root terminal, and enter the root password.

I have two terminals in accessories; LXTerminal, and Root Terminal.

It might help to know your desktop. I am LXDE.

[hazel]

I get the same response when I try to use LXTerminal as root. It seems as though users must be assigned SUDO privileges. Until I fix the user privilege, I simply use the root terminal, and enter the root password.

You can give yourself access to sudo on selected commands by editing /etc/sudoers (as root) using the visudo editor. Make sure you don't use any other. There are comments to help you.

In Debian you can get sudo access to all commands by uncommenting the instruction in /etc/sudoers to give such access to members of the sudo group, and then adding yourself to this group.