Re: "Operation not permitted" error when using su

[Stephen Powell <zlinuxman@wowway.com>]

On Sat, 29 Jun 2013 16:07:54 -0400 (EDT), David Guntner wrote:
> 
> Stephen Powell grabbed a keyboard and wrote:
>> 
>>    Error: messages not turned on: /dev/pts/0: Operation not permitted
>> 
>> (vi is actually nvi on my system.)
>> This problem does not occur in a virtual terminal (vt1-vt6).  It also
>> does not occur if I switch to root, instead of a non-root user.
>> 
>> A search of the internet seemed to suggest that the problem was the
>> presence of "biff y" in a bash profile.  However, I have looked, and
>> I cannot find "biff y" specified in any bash-related file.  (I am running
>> jessie.)  In fact, the biff package is not even installed.  Ideas anyone?
> 
> Since it's complaining about messages not being turned on, try "mesg y"
> and see if that helps.

I just tried that.  "mesg y" produced no output and no error messages, but
a subsequent execution of vi produced the same error on exit as before.

-- 
  .''`.     Stephen Powell    
 : :'  :
 `. `'`
   `-