i can't log in my account after i modify /etc/profile

[roadorange]

hi. i can't log my account because i modify system wide profile,
i installed java bundle with netbean. After it's completed, then i add the java path to system wide profile. either /usr/profile or /etc/profile. i don't remember.
before i modify it, i change the permission using chmod 700.
When it's done, i change it to 400 which is read and view only.

i can't login my account now. how do i fix it? how do log in root account to fix it? and i didn't activate my root account.
it logs me in then log me out right away . :"(
please help me.

[Rubberman]

400 is read only for root and owner. Since /etc/profile is owned by root, any other user is fubar. Change the attributes to 444 (read-only for everyone), and make sure it is owned by root.

[Rubberman]

BTW, since you cannot log in as root, you are going to need to boot up with a live/recovery cd/dvd, mount the root partition, edit /etc/profile, and change its attributes that way.

[roadorange]

400 is read only for root and owner. Since /etc/profile is owned by root, any other user is fubar. Change the attributes to 444 (read-only for everyone), and make sure it is owned by root.

thank you. fixed.
i changed it to 777. just make sure it works. lolzz

so 444 is the default permission for that file??
if yes, i am going to change it from 777 to 444.

[Rubberman]

777 is read, write, and execute permissions for every one. It is a bit mask. The bits for 7 are 111, 6 are 110, 4 are 100. From left to right, the first bit is the read-bit, then the write-bit, and finally the execute-bit. Since this is a non-executable text file, you want to set the permissions generally to 644. That will allow root to read/write the file without changing permissions again, and let anyone else read it. For this file, that is the preferred setting.

[roadorange]

777 is read, write, and execute permissions for every one. It is a bit mask. The bits for 7 are 111, 6 are 110, 4 are 100. From left to right, the first bit is the read-bit, then the write-bit, and finally the execute-bit. Since this is a non-executable text file, you want to set the permissions generally to 644. That will allow root to read/write the file without changing permissions again, and let anyone else read it. For this file, that is the preferred setting.

thank you. rubberman