debian sudoers

[vtr]

hi all, please help with my issue
I have debian 4 on my laptop, i login as a regular user, then i try to cp a file to a folder, but it ask for the password, so i type the root password, but the root password can't help in this case.
what can i do to solve out this problem, please help.
thank you.

[Burble]

type su, then enter your root password. Copy necessary files, then type su username to return to your usual account.

[Vergil83]

It could be asking for the password of the owner of that file (assuming it isn't the user you are running as).

[eraker]

type su, then enter your root password. Copy necessary files, then type su username to return to your usual account.

Another question: Won't "su" after you've already switched user from your username to root just open a new process, so that when you exit, you'll have to exit from three different users (i.e., the following):

regular user----[su]---->rootuser-----[su]----->regularuser


I usually just use "exit" after su'ing into root, so this question never occurred to me.

[IsaacKuo]

Yes, you'll have to type in "exit" 3 times (unless you're using a graphical shell terminal and simply close the window).

It's an odd thing to do, but I do it sometimes when I'm in some particular directory and I just want to do a couple things as the regular user real quick. Typing in "exit" at this point would return me to whatever directory I was in when I typed "su".

[vtr]

regular user is the the owner of this file.
i dowloaded ipw2200 firmware to Desktop, untar the firmware.
create new directory A, then cp the firmware to directory A, it asked for the passwd, i typed root passwd but it won't help. Then,
type su, enter root passwd, then cp again, it asked for the passwc, i enter root passwd again, incorrect password 3 times, then time out.
no ideal, i'll try again until i get the answer.
any help will be appreciated.
thank you.

[IsaacKuo]

You seem very confused, and you're not explaining yourself very well. First off, you are using the word "cp" a lot, but I doubt you're actually using the command "cp". I'm not aware of any circumstances where the command "cp" will ever ask for your password.

What exactly are you doing to create a directory, and what exactly are you doing when you try to "cp" a file?

Also, why exactly do you only try to use the "root password"? The title of the thread has the word "sudoers", which suggests that maybe you are using "sudo". When sudo asks for your password, it's asking for the regular user's password--not the root password. If you enter the root password, it will tell you you entered the wrong password (which you did).

[vtr]

Yes, you're right, i am so confusing right now. maybe i take a break then comeback later.
thank you for your helps.