Config files opened in terminal not showing any text

[Joebo]

Greetings,

I browsed the forum and wiki and could not find any information on this.
I was trying to edit the es_systems.cfg file to hide all .bin files for the psx. When I opened the file up with Nano it did not show any text in the file. I opened the cfg file with WINSCP and it shows text in the file, so i know there is information in it. I figured I would try to enable the root password and see if i could edit the configuration file on winscp logged in as root. However when I tried to nano into /etc/ssh/sshd_config it had the same issue and would not display any information in nano. It would show information in winscp though. So right now I am kinda stumped on how to edit these files, would using a different text editor in terminal like vi/vim work? I am really new to linux. Thanks Again.

I am using a Raspberry pi 2 model b
Using SanDisk 32GB Class 4 microSD Card
Guide used: https://github.com/RetroPie/RetroPie-Setup/wiki/SSH

[Floob]

Did you try
sudo nano /etc/emulationstation/es_systems.cfg ?

If it opens up empty, its highly likely that there was a small typo in the command.

[whsiung]

guess you need to precede the command with SUDO?

[dankcushions]

@Joebo note that if you get the path/filename wrong, it will open a new (blank) file rather than the existing one. perhaps if you pasted the full command you are using here we could check?

[Joebo]

I did use Sudo nano in my command, I am at work now so i can double check if i accidentally did a typo when i get home.

[RetroResolution]

@Joebo sudo will open a file with superuser rights, so it can be saved over the original after modification, but omitting sudo will still open the file and show the content

[Joebo]

I figured the issue out, the problem was I'm new to linux and did not realize that in terminal cd takes you to the home folder. So I used cd to go back a couple folders then found the appropriate folders and files. Thanks for all the support!

[RetroResolution]

@Joebo happy to help - glad you got it working