Thomas H. George wrote:
> My Belkin UPS probably saved my computer from the power surge but its 
> internal programming is probably fried.  I reinstalled the software from 
> the Linux tarball changing all the ownerships to root:tom and all the 
> permissions to 770.

Please be specific.  What software did you reinstall?  Did you
reinstall Debian?

> This allows me to display the monitor but I cannot 
> change the setup.  When I originally installed the UPS I did all this as 
> root and was able to change the setup.  This is no longer possible as 
> security changes do not allow me to open a display as root.

What software are you talking about here?  Belkin UPS monitoring
software?  From Debian or from elsewhere?

> The only thing to change is the com port which I was certain I had right 
> in the first place.  To be sure I uninstalled the programs and 
> reinstalled them changing from /dev/ttyS0 to /dev/ttyS1.  Neither works 
> though /dev/ttyS0 retrieved some information but in either case the 
> installed software generates periodic messages that the UPS device is 
> unreachable.  This is what makes me believe the UPS internal software is 
> fried.
> 
> Before replacing it I would like to be sure that the display problem is 
> resolved. I have searched the X11, xdm and icewm setup files trying to 
> remove the restriction preventing opening a display as root.  My plan 
> would be to take the computer offline (The connection is wireless so 
> ifdown wlan0 does this) during the time the root prohibition is overwridden.

I usually use 'ssh -l root -X localhost' to log into the machine as
root and tunnel the display back.  But other suggest other options.

> Any suggestions?

Please spend some time reading the following:

  http://catb.org/~esr/faqs/smart-questions.html

Bob

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