Linux/Mandriva beginner here.

[AD576404]

For some reason, my monitor (Samsung SyncMaster 960bf,) whenever it's set in 1280 x 1024 resolution, the screen appears to be offcentered, with about a 1/4 of an inch of a vertical black bar on the left hand side of the screen, with everything else shifted over.
Now, I read that I should check the XF86Config file in /etc/X11 folder and make sure the refresh rates for both the vertical and the horizontal settings are to be inline with the manufactured specifications. The ones listed are wrong, so I changed them to what they should be, however when I clicked save as and wanted to overwrite it, a menu popped up saying that it couldn't overwrite it and that I should check if I have access or enough space (which I do have enough space.)


So my question is, why isn't it letting me overwrite the file?

[devils casper]

You must have root privileges to edit any file outside your home ( /home/<your_id> ). Execute su command to gain root privileges.
Execute this

su
nano /etc/X11/xorg.conf

[AD576404]

I tried the "nano /etc/X11/xorg.conf" command into the konsole and it replied back with "bash: nano: command not found"


Also a new question, I tried downloading a tar.gz into my /usr/local/src/ folder, and for some reason I can't download it directly into it.

[daark.child]

If you get the "command is not found" error, it usually means that the package which provides the command you are trying to use is not installed. In this instance, you need to install nano using the package manager. As for not being able to save to /usr/local/src, this is normal if you are not root. Apart from a few directories such as /tmp, /var/tmp and other temporary directories, most normal users cannot write to directories other than their own unless they have been given permission to do so.

[devils casper]

Either install nano or use vi or pico to edit xorg,conf file.

[AD576404]

I recently installed VIM, and while learning the tutorial, I tried editing the XF86Config file, it's telling me that it's a read only file and that I can't overwrite it.

[oz]

Go to a terminal and try this code:

su

vim /etc/X11/xorg.conf

If that doesn't work, repeat the code with su -

[AD576404]

Ah alright that did the trick in order to edit the files, however I still have the monitor problem about being everything shifted over whenever I'm in the 1280 x 1024 resolution, even though I inputted the correct horizontal/vertical refresh rates.


Also another question, how do I gain root privileges so I can save my .tar.bz2/.tar.gz into /usr/local/src/ ?

I tried saving some of the files into a /tmp folder, however whenever I try to unzip the files using tar -zxvf <filename> or tar -jxvf <filename> I just get "bash: syntax error near unexpected token 'newline' " (I did make sure to change the directory to where ever I downloaded the file at.

[daark.child]

Your problem is not to do with permissions because everyone can read or write to /tmp. I would make sure that I am using the tar files you downloaded are not corrupt and that you are using the right syntax when issuing commands to extract them e.g. "tar zxvf" for tar.gz and "tar jxvf" for tar.bz2 files. As for switching to root, you use the "su" or "su -" command.