Cannot open gedit from terminal on Ubuntu 11.10

Asked by Neil Fitzgerald

I am trying to run "gedit" from the "terminal" command line on Ubuntu 11.10. When I Try, I get the error message "cannot open display". I have done this from older versions of Ubuntu and it worked OK. I have also tried this from the ROOT version of the terminal (sudo -i). Nothing works.

Neil

I ran the "gedit; echo; apt-cache policy gedit; echo; uname -a" and I got a lot of info on my screen. How do I send that to you ?
I'm running it on a single computer. Not an SSH. I am a Newbee
Neil

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Ubuntu gedit Edit question
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Neil Fitzgerald
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Revision history for this message
actionparsnip (andrew-woodhead666) said :
#1

can you give the output of:

gedit; echo; apt-cache policy gedit; echo; uname -a

Also are you running it in an SSH session or is it on the local system?

Revision history for this message
Neil Fitzgerald (nffitz) said :
#2

I think I replied to your request incorrectly. So... I will reply again.

I ran the command line "gedit; echo; apt-cache policy gedit; echo; uname -a" and got a lot of info on my screen that doesn't mean much to me. I am a NEWBEE!!, and don't know a lot about command lines in the terminal. So... do you want the info, and if so, how do I forward it to you.

I am not running an SSH. Only a single computer.

Neil

----- Original Message -----
From: "actionparsnip" <email address hidden>
To: <email address hidden>
Sent: Monday, February 27, 2012 1:05:55 PM
Subject: Re: [Question #189014]: Cannot open gedit from terminal on Ubuntu 11.10

Your question #189014 on nautilus in Ubuntu changed:
https://answers.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/nautilus/+question/189014

Status: Open => Needs information

actionparsnip requested more information:
can you give the output of:

gedit; echo; apt-cache policy gedit; echo; uname -a

Also are you running it in an SSH session or is it on the local system?

--
To answer this request for more information, you can either reply to
this email or enter your reply at the following page:
https://answers.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/nautilus/+question/189014

You received this question notification because you asked the question.

Revision history for this message
actionparsnip (andrew-woodhead666) said :
#3

Yes I asked for the output itself, not your interpretation.

Paste the text HERE as an update.

Revision history for this message
Neil Fitzgerald (nffitz) said :
#4

Here is the file:

----- Original Message -----
From: "actionparsnip" <email address hidden>
To: <email address hidden>
Sent: Monday, February 27, 2012 3:05:54 PM
Subject: Re: [Question #189014]: Cannot open gedit from terminal on Ubuntu 11.10

Your question #189014 on gedit in Ubuntu changed:
https://answers.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/gedit/+question/189014

Status: Open => Needs information

actionparsnip requested more information:
Yes I asked for the output itself, not your interpretation.

Paste the text HERE as an update.

--
To answer this request for more information, you can either reply to
this email or enter your reply at the following page:
https://answers.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/gedit/+question/189014

You received this question notification because you asked the question.

Revision history for this message
actionparsnip (andrew-woodhead666) said :
#5

There is no output there. We don't need a file, you need to copy the text from the terminal and paste it here, or does the terminal just say:

andy@D420:~$ gedit

With nothing else, yours will be mildly different

Revision history for this message
Neil Fitzgerald (nffitz) said :
#6

I think I got it right now. Sorry about that

Neil

----- Original Message -----
From: "actionparsnip" <email address hidden>
To: <email address hidden>
Sent: Tuesday, February 28, 2012 1:41:03 PM
Subject: Re: [Question #189014]: Cannot open gedit from terminal on Ubuntu 11.10

Your question #189014 on gedit in Ubuntu changed:
https://answers.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/gedit/+question/189014

Status: Open => Needs information

actionparsnip requested more information:
There is no output there. We don't need a file, you need to copy the
text from the terminal and paste it here, or does the terminal just say:
Package files:
--------------------------------------------------------------HERE IT IS-------------------------------
100 /var/lib/dpkg/status
release a=now
500 http://dl.google.com/linux/earth/deb/ stable/main i386 Packages
release v=1.0,o=Google, Inc.,a=stable,n=stable,l=Google,c=main
origin dl.google.com
500 http://extras.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/ oneiric/main i386 Packages
release v=11.10,o=LP-PPA-app-review-board,a=oneiric,n=oneiric,l=Application Review Board PPA,c=main
origin extras.ubuntu.com
500 http://security.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/ oneiric-security/universe Translation-en
500 http://security.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/ oneiric-security/restricted Translation-en
500 http://security.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/ oneiric-security/multiverse Translation-en
500 http://security.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/ oneiric-security/main Translation-en
500 http://security.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/ oneiric-security/multiverse i386 Packages
release v=11.10,o=Ubuntu,a=oneiric-security,n=oneiric,l=Ubuntu,c=multiverse
origin security.ubuntu.com
500 http://security.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/ oneiric-security/universe i386 Packages
release v=11.10,o=Ubuntu,a=oneiric-security,n=oneiric,l=Ubuntu,c=universe
origin security.ubuntu.com
500 http://security.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/ oneiric-security/restricted i386 Packages
release v=11.10,o=Ubuntu,a=oneiric-security,n=oneiric,l=Ubuntu,c=restricted
origin security.ubuntu.com
500 http://security.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/ oneiric-security/main i386 Packages
release v=11.10,o=Ubuntu,a=oneiric-security,n=oneiric,l=Ubuntu,c=main
origin security.ubuntu.com
500 http://us.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/ oneiric-backports/universe Translation-en
500 http://us.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/ oneiric-backports/restricted Translation-en
500 http://us.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/ oneiric-backports/multiverse Translation-en
500 http://us.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/ oneiric-backports/main Translation-en
100 http://us.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/ oneiric-backports/multiverse i386 Packages
release v=11.10,o=Ubuntu,a=oneiric-backports,n=oneiric,l=Ubuntu,c=multiverse
origin us.archive.ubuntu.com
100 http://us.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/ oneiric-backports/universe i386 Packages
release v=11.10,o=Ubuntu,a=oneiric-backports,n=oneiric,l=Ubuntu,c=universe
origin us.archive.ubuntu.com
100 http://us.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/ oneiric-backports/restricted i386 Packages
release v=11.10,o=Ubuntu,a=oneiric-backports,n=oneiric,l=Ubuntu,c=restricted
origin us.archive.ubuntu.com
100 http://us.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/ oneiric-backports/main i386 Packages
release v=11.10,o=Ubuntu,a=oneiric-backports,n=oneiric,l=Ubuntu,c=main
origin us.archive.ubuntu.com
500 http://us.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/ oneiric-updates/universe Translation-en
500 http://us.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/ oneiric-updates/restricted Translation-en
500 http://us.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/ oneiric-updates/multiverse Translation-en
500 http://us.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/ oneiric-updates/main Translation-en
500 http://us.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/ oneiric-updates/multiverse i386 Packages
release v=11.10,o=Ubuntu,a=oneiric-updates,n=oneiric,l=Ubuntu,c=multiverse
origin us.archive.ubuntu.com
500 http://us.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/ oneiric-updates/universe i386 Packages
release v=11.10,o=Ubuntu,a=oneiric-updates,n=oneiric,l=Ubuntu,c=universe
origin us.archive.ubuntu.com
500 http://us.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/ oneiric-updates/restricted i386 Packages
release v=11.10,o=Ubuntu,a=oneiric-updates,n=oneiric,l=Ubuntu,c=restricted
origin us.archive.ubuntu.com
500 http://us.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/ oneiric-updates/main i386 Packages
release v=11.10,o=Ubuntu,a=oneiric-updates,n=oneiric,l=Ubuntu,c=main
origin us.archive.ubuntu.com
500 http://us.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/ oneiric/universe Translation-en
500 http://us.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/ oneiric/restricted Translation-en
500 http://us.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/ oneiric/multiverse Translation-en
500 http://us.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/ oneiric/main Translation-en
500 http://us.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/ oneiric/multiverse i386 Packages
release v=11.10,o=Ubuntu,a=oneiric,n=oneiric,l=Ubuntu,c=multiverse
origin us.archive.ubuntu.com
500 http://us.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/ oneiric/universe i386 Packages
release v=11.10,o=Ubuntu,a=oneiric,n=oneiric,l=Ubuntu,c=universe
origin us.archive.ubuntu.com
500 http://us.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/ oneiric/restricted i386 Packages
release v=11.10,o=Ubuntu,a=oneiric,n=oneiric,l=Ubuntu,c=restricted
origin us.archive.ubuntu.com
500 http://us.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/ oneiric/main i386 Packages
release v=11.10,o=Ubuntu,a=oneiric,n=oneiric,l=Ubuntu,c=main
origin us.archive.ubuntu.com
Pinned packages:
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
andy@D420:~$ gedit

With nothing else, yours will be mildly different

--
To answer this request for more information, you can either reply to
this email or enter your reply at the following page:
https://answers.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/gedit/+question/189014

You received this question notification because you asked the question.

Revision history for this message
Neil Fitzgerald (nffitz) said :
#7

Gents:

I solved the problem by opening the terminal from a desktop icon instead of using "control-Alternate-F1".

So... Thanks Andy for trying to help me, but everything is OK now.

Neil

Revision history for this message
mscroggi (6-launchpad-master-minds-net) said :
#8

Starting a terminal in a different way is not a solution to the issue. There is a problem - at least for my Ubuntu 11.10 install that apps dont have permissions to open on the X display.

I am looking for a way to enable it by default.. but until then, doing 'xhost +' from a terminal opens up the permissions.