haywire

J

john*3.1415

A strained ego...Yeah what ever....learned to use some of unix years ago...that is how to use BASH/Vi etc., and procedural {shell} programing. Went over to Linux since then and recently elected to, and now have Ubuntu 18.04 installed with dual boot BSD 11.2.
Cognitive Dissonance" like sitting on a thumbtack only it is psychological/intellectual/ mental.
*!@&*!#. I realize that I don't speak tech geek well enough to properly and correctly address someone knowledgeable in the area I need help in with (the correct form/dialect/techspeak.)
Man! like WOW....I can use unix for what I need if I could just get in to the bleeping system.
I now have the BSD 11.2 OS installed as a dual boot with Ubuntu Linux 18.04. The plan was to finally go back to unix. BUT! I can't get in my own bleeping BSD system. I have a user name and a password for it that was created when the system was installed by a tech in a shop where I bought the laptop. I assumed that from there I could use sudo to make changes in the permissions so that I could
1.shut down the system with out having to press the power switch
,2. change the permissions on my home directory so that I could set the font size on the command line which is so tiny, and of course the other data on the command line, the time, date,directory,command number etc.
But nooooo (and here if you read this far, use the nooooo of the John Belushi type, if you will, to get the right twist on the Nooo). I can't get in to or figure out how to get the sudo command to work. when I tried to load the package for sudo with: pkg install sudo I get Permission denied.
Round and round....Wow...what a bummer.
Hey I realize that someone who is knowledgeable about unix BSD would laugh this off so ha ha ha. OK laugh at this bungling question.....
Still...if you have read this far can you please tell me how I can set the permissions WHAT EVER IT TAKES so that I can fire up the device arrive at the command line after I enter my user name and password and then have permission in the root and in my /user/home/john (john is my home directory) so that I can shut down the device, change permissions in directories including the root so that I can set the font size on the command line and the other command line settings which I know how to do once I get permission to do so.
This probably all seems somewhat amusing to a smug expert who reads this kind of commentary for amusement. I am at wits end with this problem. I need to be able to set the permissions for the root and my home directory so that can shut the device down and so that i can change the font. If I can't get these two or three simple things straightened out and fixed in my personal memory and understanding of BSD, my quest to use the system and possibly make some kind of contribution at some level eventually is/will be impossible.

HELP! If you can. Thanks!
 
john*3.1415 said:
If I can't get these two or three simple things straightened out and fixed in my personal memory and understanding of BSD, my quest to use the system and possibly make some kind of contribution at some level eventually is/will be impossible.

HELP! If you can. Thanks!
Click to expand...

Your frustration stems from letting someone else build your system and now you have to deal with how they set it up.

It just goes to show you that if you want something done right, do it yourself.

Relax. I would recommend building over what the tech installed for you and rebuilding it yourself. If you can manage to install it on your HDD without hosing that other thing you use as an OS, but then if it was me I'd wipe it and use the whole disk.

It just so happens there is a beginners tutorial that will tell you how to do just that. It uses ports but you can substitute the use of pkg and the rest of the outline still be applicable:

https://forums.freebsd.org/threads/...-set-up-a-freebsd-desktop-from-scratch.61659/

But, with all due respect, if the current situation causes you consternation to that extreme, you have a long road ahead of you.
 
Thanx!
I had thought that it would be best to go the route you are suggesting; reinstall BSD following established procedure as probably provided at the web site you recommend.
I honestly want to thank you taking the time and making the effort to wise me up on this. Maybe you got a little chuckle out of it too. Good on you!
The fact of the matter, significant to me here, is that I assumed that there was a set of key strokes I could enter on the tiny fonted command line that would result in me having permissions to the root and thus my various directories such that I could then load the sudo program then change the font so I could read the command line without special glasses and then go on to decipher it and finally move on to the shell programing I can do and want to do with BSD if I can get it installed properly. I am not asking for sympathy.I am trying to get my bleeping foot in the bleeping BSD door.
I tried to end run the problem. I paid someone to install BSD so that I could then go over all the installment features later on and figure it out piece by piece. I was beaten again by someone who accepted the money I paid for this and then refused to follow through. This says something to me about my strategy of general trust in other people and demonstrates, once again how trying to build up trust is such a sham in the world of business. Thanks again for letting me know I havegotten yet another bloody nose as a result of trusting someone more or less anonymously when money is exchanged, a person who seemed so affable and legitimate and sincere.
I will take another shot at this....Thanks again
 
john*3.1415 said:
Thanx!
....
Thanks again for letting me know I havegotten yet another bloody nose as a result of trusting someone more or less anonymously when money is exchanged, a person who seemed so affable and legitimate and sincere.
I will take another shot at this....Thanks again
Click to expand...
I remember my FreeBSD first days. Those were the fun days. The trick is to get use to the installer. Just do it so much in many difference sizes. You will realize partitioning and slice work will be the entire future of your systems, ending with all kinds of escapes to restore your system should any type crisis come about. That’s the goal!

Then you move on. Better yet do some shell-programming destroy the system and what not while you got the chance to learn. Then re-install just to see how quickly to can get back to that setup (so on, so on, and so on). Other than that, don’t rush it, but do read the manual as needed. I wasted at least 6 years doing mostly trial & error with skimpy-reading. That don’t really work. The only real advice I can supply is never allow anyone to install your FreeBSD system especially if you are planning for security and if you want to learn your system like the back of your hand; there is no other way but to do it yourself. Within a few days ... it's ON!

Good Luck.
 
So, your paid helper gave you the user login, but not the root password? If that's the case, you boot into single user mode and change the password to whatever you want. Of course, like Sir Dice, I may not understand your question. But, the reinstall idea seems prudent in light of a paid helper who didn't give you the password? A little confused on this end.

BTW: Welcome to the forum!
 
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