Root Access denied although sshd_config is edited correctly.

HAILtoSTARSCREAM · 14 Jul 2018, 10:48

<SOLVED>

I have edited and saved sshd_config with "PermitRootLogin yes" like it is advised. I set the password with "sudo passwd root". I tried setting different passwords but whenever I try to login as root and enter the password I get "Access denied".

It's a new and up to date Retropie 4.4 Image, set it up a few days ago. Managed to get root access running in my previous build without problems.

Help is appreciated!

EDIT: Me, being stupid, forgot to remove the # in the PermitRootLogin line. Maybe this info should be added here: https://github.com/RetroPie/RetroPie-Setup/wiki/FAQ#why-cant-i-ssh-as-root-anymore

mitu · 14 Jul 2018, 10:52

The password is incorrect, most likely. Use sudo su to become root, then type passwd to change the password.

Sano · 14 Jul 2018, 11:02

Anyway, enabling root login through ssh is a bad idea from a system/security point of view.
You should login with pi (or any other user) and then take root privileges only when necessary.

I know login directly as root is simplier, but it's considered as a newbie mistake by any linux user/sysadmin :)

Keep in mind that a single space in root can f**k up a system

~#mkdir /test
~#touch /test/foo
~#rm -rf / test
~#rm: cannot remove 'test': No such file or directory

DOH !

HAILtoSTARSCREAM · 14 Jul 2018, 11:19

@sano I need to login as root in winscp so I can edit some cfg files.

@mitu tried that before and just tried it again, always the same "Access denied"

Sano · 14 Jul 2018, 11:25

@hailtostarscream
You may just use SCP protocol in WinSCP and configure a sudo -s as shell in winscp.
See here : https://winscp.net/eng/docs/faq_su
Edit : Sorry if I seem to give you answers on questions you didn't ask, but basically what you want to do is "wrong", so I try to provide alternatives.

HAILtoSTARSCREAM · 14 Jul 2018, 11:37

No it's fine I appreciate it. I also tried that before in winscp. Still get permission denied when i try to save an edited cfg file. This build just won't give me root access and I am going crazy.

HAILtoSTARSCREAM · 14 Jul 2018, 11:44

@sano Ok I finally realized I had to remove the # in the PermitRootLogin line. I faintly remembered that removing # is a thing but I haven't used my pi in a looong time so I forgot. Also it is not mentioned here: https://github.com/RetroPie/RetroPie-Setup/wiki/FAQ#why-cant-i-ssh-as-root-anymore

Thank you for trying to help me @Sano @mitu

mitu · 14 Jul 2018, 11:47

@hailtostarscream Such modifications require that you know what you're doing. As @sano said, a simple error - as root - might not be so simple.

dudleydes · 14 Jul 2018, 11:54

@hailtostarscream Which cfg files requiring root access are you trying to edit?

There are usually better ways to edit these files in RetroPie. A common file that users like to edit is es_systems.cfg. Best practice here is to create a copy in /opt/retropie/configs/all/emulationstationand edit this file. This will take precedence over the one in /etc/emulationstation.

More info: https://retropie.org.uk/docs/EmulationStation/#es_systemscfg-edits

HAILtoSTARSCREAM · 14 Jul 2018, 12:00

Yeah it was that cfg, but I was about to do it the way you suggested. I just realized that I can't edit the file when I was testing something out and that made me try to get root access. I recently started this build from scratch with a pi3b+ and I remember in my previous build that I had several occasions where I needed Winscp root access. I just don't remember them exactly^^

One thing was because I use usbmount my video splashscreen sometimes would not trigger on startup, so I had to put my custom video splashscreen into the default folder or something like that. I think that required root access, but could be wrong.

dudleydes · 14 Jul 2018, 12:07

@hailtostarscream You should be able to access that file using WinSCP. The es_systems.cfg in /opt/retropie/configs/all/emulationstation is symlinked to the one in /home/pi/.emulationstation so that changes in one file will be reflected in the other.

Please note that .emulationstation is a hidden folder so you would need to adjust the options in WinSCP to show hidden files.

HAILtoSTARSCREAM · 14 Jul 2018, 12:21

@dudleydes Yes I already managed to get that going, thank you.

Another example where I needed root access was to edit the layout and other settings in the snes mini theme.

mitu · 14 Jul 2018, 12:23

Both these settings can be done by copying the appropriate files into the /home/pi/.emulationstation directory, you don't need root access for that.

dudleydes · 14 Jul 2018, 12:29

@hailtostarscream If you wish to create a custom version of a theme, then you can create a copy of the theme folder from /etc/emulationstation/themes/ into /opt/retropie/configs/all/emulationstation/themes/. The themes folder may need to be created.

Alternatively, you can download the theme from the relevant Github repo and place it in /opt/retropie/configs/all/emulationstation/themes/. For example, the snes mini theme can be found at https://github.com/ruckage/es-theme-snes-mini.