get rid of "/dev/sound/mixer

[hilophilo]

i dont really care about sounds. how would i get rid if this message everytime i login to gnome.

Couldn't open mixer device /dev/sound/mixer

[serz]

It sounds like a permission problem.

Could you post the output of "ls -l /dev/sound/mixer"?

If you never got sound working with that user then yea, it's a permission problem.

As root:

chmod 666 /dev/sound/mixer

That is supossed to fix your problem.

[mdwatts]

Or add that user to the audio group if there is one.

[otbibb]

I put the sound devices in a group called sys, and then add myself to that group (in /etc/group). Then, mixer and dsp are given 660 privileges. This is sometimes regarded as better than blanket 666 permissions, because it is more secure.

root@whirlwind:/dev# ls -l dsp mixer
crw-rw---- 1 root sys 14, 3 Jul 18 1994 dsp
crw-rw---- 1 root sys 14, 0 Jul 18 1994 mixer

This is the standard "Slackware" method, to the best of my knowledge.

Bryan

[mdwatts]

Originally posted by otbibb
I put the sound devices in a group called sys, and then add myself to that group (in /etc/group). Then, mixer and dsp are given 660 privileges. This is sometimes regarded as better than blanket 666 permissions, because it is more secure.


Exactly and good advise as this is the preferred method of setting up sound device permissions while maintaining security.


Or add that user to the audio group if there is one.

[hilophilo]

crw-rw---- 1 root sys 14, 3 Jul 18 1994 dsp
crw-rw---- 1 root sys 14, 0 Jul 18 1994 mixer

in /etc/group i have root in the sys group. but it still comes up. theres is only a root account on this machine.

[mdwatts]

Does mixer exist in /dev/sound or is it in /dev?

[serz]

After reading otbibb's post I realized that that's the best way to do this, thanks.

[otbibb]

Originally posted by hilophilo
crw-rw---- 1 root sys 14, 3 Jul 18 1994 dsp
crw-rw---- 1 root sys 14, 0 Jul 18 1994 mixer

in /etc/group i have root in the sys group. but it still comes up. theres is only a root account on this machine.

Is this the result of your command: ls -l /dev/mixer /dev/dsp?

mdwatts' point about the sound directory is a good one. Sometimes you have a sound directory, where /dev/mixer is a symlink to /dev/sound/mixer. To chmod on that, you have to delete the symlink, change permissions on the device, and then relink. (Or at least that's how I always do it).

On the other hand, if it complains about a device even when running as root, then it isn't a permissions problem. More likely the devices aren't set up properly to begin with.

By the way, I'd really set up a user account if I were you. Running Gnome as root may be part of your problem.

good luck,
bryan

[serz]

Originally posted by otbibb
To chmod on that, you have to delete the symlink, change permissions on the device, and then relink. (Or at least that's how I always do it).
He dosn't really need to. If you chmod on a symbolic link, it will chmod the target of the link.