Re: linux bewbie lame question
Tendril wrote:
"Andreas Janssen" <andreas.janssen@bigfoot.com> wrote in message
news:1aM1k-3sM-9@gated-at.bofh.it...
Tendril (<dont_u_spam_tendril@shotgunsandwich.net>) wrote:
I was given a thinkpad with debian woody installed (no billyware).
It boots lovely except for the audio. I get this message at logon:
error while initialising sound driver:
device /dev/dsp can't be opened (permission denied)
the sound server will continue, using the null output lines
How do I correct this? (my installation won't let me log into an
xwindows environment as root, I have to do it through a terminal so
some easy instructions would be very welcome)
I can't find /dev/dsp. I'm in no way familier with the linux file
system. I looked using konquerer... /root/dev but it contained no
/dsp.
The file name is /dev/dsp, so you should be able to see it if you enter
file:/dev/ in the address bar. If you choose detailed view, you can see
that the owning group of the file is audio, and only owner and group
have access to that file.
Add the user to the audio group. Log out and in again. That should solve
your problem.
Hi Andreas. I have added my user to the audio group (in fact I have added it
to all groupes for now) and changed the file permissions (chmod 660 dsp) but
I still get the error.
You probably don't want to add yourself to all groups; that could lead to trouble.
After adding yourself to the audio group, did you log out and then back in? That's a necessary step.
If so, the error message you're getting is now probably a different error. Rather than saying "permission denied", it probably says something like "no device". Double-check the error message and let us know one way or the other.
If the error has changed as I suspect, that probably means the module for your sound card has not loaded. Run "lspci" and look for a reference to a multimedia device or something similar. Let us know the results.
Also, why would I get problems with konqeror when I have logged into a
terminal as su? It just hangs, even once I have logged out. I just get a
flashing icon for a minute or so which then dissapears and the program never
starts.
If I understand what you're saying, I believe "su" by itself does not copy over the appropriate environmental authorization keys to run X-related applications. Rather than do that, I suggest you install "sudo", add yourself to the sudoers file with "visudo" with "ALL=ALL" permission, and then when you want to run konqueror from a terminal as root, run "sudo konqueror".
Having said that, it's probably not a good idea to run konqueror as root; one slip of the mouse (and who hasn't had a finger slip off the click-and-hold position unintentionally?) and you could hose your system rather seriously. Whatever you're trying to accomplish probably can be done in a much safer manner.
------
Mild Netiquette Training:
1] It's not a good idea to mix topics in a thread. Since Konqueror has nothing to do with your sound issues, you probably should start a new thread.
2] Try to use a descriptive subject line when starting a thread. The subject line for your first thread could have been something like "newbie gets error about /dev/dsp starting kde" or something similar. The subject line for your second thread could be something like "konqueror fails to start from su'd terminal"
3] Please don't "top-post"; post in "conversational style" instead. It makes it _much_ easier to understand the flow of conversation when a third-party comes into the middle of the thread, which is particularly helpful weeks and months down the road when another newbie is searching the archives for a solution to the same problem and stumbles into the middle of this thread.
--
Kent
Reply to: