>These settings are still reflected in my config.inc.php file.
$cfg['Servers'][$i]['user'] = 'root';
$cfg['Servers'][$i]['password'] = 'root';
phpmyadmin is a mysql client. These settings tell phpmyadmin what mysql username and password to use when connecting to mysql server.
>From terminal, I do Not log in as root. I use sudo.
sudo .... what?
From a shell prompt you should be able to type
mysql -uroot -p
and enter root's password when prompted.
That's mysql root, not your system root. They are two different things.
When you manage to conect like that, then fill in those details in the phpmyadmin's config.inc.php file, so that it will know what credentials to use to connect to mysql.
Good luck,
Barry.