/dev/mixer

[Anton Markov]

Hi Guys,

Let me try to clarify some of this stuff for you.

JoeHill wrote:
> On Fri, 26 Sep 2003 18:52:10 -0400 (EDT)
> gbell72 <gbell72-bJEeYj9oJeDQT0dZR+AlfA at public.gmane.org> uttered:
> 
> 
>>I'm presently working in windowmaker with no decent graphical mixer
>>program. I've attempted to use /dev/mixer but I continuously get a
>>permission denied, even after I have su - to root.  Root is a member
>>of the sys group is there a reason why root is being denied access to
>>this program?  When I do an ls -l  I get crw-rw----    1 root     sys 
>>     14,   0 Jul 18  1994 /dev/mixer
>>Does anyone know how I can fix this?

/dev/mixer is not a program, it's a Character Device (basicly a 
representation of a physical input/output device on your filesysterm), 
thus the 'c' in the ls output.  You have to use another program such as 
wmsmixer as JoeHiss suggested.  You need to make sure that your login 
name belongs to a group that has read/write (rw-) permissions on the 
/dev/mixer device ('sys' in this case).

If your soundcard is working properly, then there should be no reason 
for the mixer not to work.  Check some Slackware-specific sources though 
- it's been two years since I've (tried) using Slackware.

> 
> 
> I get this:
> 
> lr-xr-xr-x    1 root     root           11 Sep 26 10:45 /dev/mixer ->
> 

The 'l' at the start means the file is a symbolic link to the real mixer 
device.  The name of the target file should follow the '->'.  I think 
it's the permissions on the target file that matter not the symbolic 
link, although I am not a big expert on symbolic links.

> which look like even more restrictive perms (what the heck is the "c"?)
> and I'm able to use wmsmixer to control the sound. It's a pretty cool
> dockapp available from here:
> 
> http://www.bensinclair.com/dockapp/showcat.php3?type=Audio
> 
> In the end you could just chmod and chgrp, if necessary, no?
> 

Hope I helped.

-- 
Anton Markov <("anton" + "@" + "truxtar" + "." + "com")>

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  "The difference between insanity and genius is measured only by success."
  - Some bad guy from 007
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