# [solved] mount cd automatically - Gnome

## Chymera

Whenever I put a cd into the drive I have to mount it manually first in order to be able to access it. If i want to get it out again, I have to unmount it manually, or else pushing the button on the drive does nothing.

How do I get my cd drive to work properly?

----------

## phajdan.jr

Search for automounting + name of your desktop environment, for example kde or gnome. For KDE I know there exists very nice solution involving hal, dbus and pmount.

----------

## Chymera

I didn't find anything very resemblant to my situation and the unofficial wiki seems to be down since yesterday... any other ideas?

----------

## phajdan.jr

First, install hal, dbus and pmount and add yourself to the plugdev group. Further steps depend on whether you're using KDE (should work out-of-the-box) or GNOME (then I don't know).

----------

## Chymera

I'm using gnome... someone told me to install gnome with the hal use flag enabled... but gnome doesn't have a hal use flag  :Sad: 

It SHOULD work for gnome out of the box too, or at least that's what most gnome users I talked to claim... just that in my case it doesn't. It worked out of the box in ubuntu and fedora though...

----------

## d2_racing

Maybe you can use ivman with Gnome or something else as your automounter.

----------

## Chymera

seeing as the wiki is down I'd appreciate some more detailed advice... 

If it gives you any better idea of what I may need to do, here's my fstab... I didn't put any entries for usb or memory cards, because their mount point seems to not be the same every time (I had anything from sdd1 to sdh1) ... but cd's don't automount either... and I can't eject them before unmounting manually... 

```

proc                    /proc           proc            nodev,nosuid,noexec                   $

/dev/sda2               /boot           ext2            noauto,noatime                        $

/dev/sda4               /               ext3            noatime                               $

/dev/sda1               none            swap            sw                                    $

/dev/sda3               /mnt/ubuntu     ext3            noatime                               $

/dev/sdb1               /mnt/media      ntfs-3g         user,auto,uid=1000,gid=1000           $

/dev/sdc1               /mnt/win        ntfs-3g         user,auto,uid=1000,gid=1000           $

/dev/cdrom              /mnt/cdrom      auto            noauto,ro,user,exec                   $

/dev/fd0                /mnt/floppy     auto            noauto,rw,user,sync                   $

# glibc 2.2 and above expects tmpfs to be mounted at /dev/shm for

# POSIX shared memory (shm_open, shm_unlink).

# (tmpfs is a dynamically expandable/shrinkable ramdisk, and will

#  use almost no memory if not populated with files)

shm                     /dev/shm        tmpfs           nodev,nosuid,noexec        0 0
```

----------

## phajdan.jr

 *Chymera wrote:*   

> I'm using gnome... someone told me to install gnome with the hal use flag enabled... but gnome doesn't have a hal use flag 

 

I'm not sure if any of the gnome packages have hal use-flag, but try to just enable it and emerge -uDNa world.

----------

## ksp7498

as far as I'm aware, all you need for this in gnome is to have the hal and dbus flags set, and then make sure that the hald and dbus services are started before starting gnome.  I'm not using gnome at the moment but I've played around with it recently and automount worked perfectly.[/code]

----------

## Chymera

 *ksp7498 wrote:*   

> as far as I'm aware, all you need for this in gnome is to have the hal and dbus flags set, and then make sure that the hald and dbus services are started before starting gnome.  I'm not using gnome at the moment but I've played around with it recently and automount worked perfectly.

 

set where? In make.conf? how do I make shure those services are started?

----------

## ksp7498

 *Chymera wrote:*   

>  *ksp7498 wrote:*   as far as I'm aware, all you need for this in gnome is to have the hal and dbus flags set, and then make sure that the hald and dbus services are started before starting gnome.  I'm not using gnome at the moment but I've played around with it recently and automount worked perfectly. 
> 
> set where? In make.conf? how do I make shure those services are started?

 

Just treat them like any other service:

```
/etc/init.d/hald start && /etc/init.d/dbus start
```

but I know one of the services depends on the other (I think hald depends on dbus), so by virtue of starting hald dbus should be automatically started as well.

To have them start every time on boot just do

```
rc-update add hald default && rc-update add dbus default
```

again, it's probably not required to add them both since one should start the other, but it doesn't hurt.

----------

## The Unknown

 *Quote:*   

> again, it's probably not required to add them both since one should start the other, but it doesn't hurt.

 

That is true, just adding hald to the default will start dbus automatically.

@Chymera,

 What will also help is making sure your cdrom line in the /etc/fstab is correct, e.g to the device name. Mine is 

```
/dev/hdc      /mnt/cdrom   auto      noauto,users,rw
```

----------

## Chymera

/dev/cdrom is the correct path in my case ... that's how I mount it manually too

----------

## coolsnowmen

Be carefull,  some automounters take /etc/fstab as an override.

So once you have it setup correctly, that might PREVENT it from mounting it for you.

 *The Unknown wrote:*   

> ...
> 
> @Chymera,
> 
>  What will also help is making sure your cdrom line in the /etc/fstab is correct, e.g to the device name. Mine is 
> ...

 

----------

## The Unknown

 *coolsnowmen wrote:*   

> Be carefull,  some automounters take /etc/fstab as an override.
> 
> So once you have it setup correctly, that might PREVENT it from mounting it for you.
> 
>  *The Unknown wrote:*   ...
> ...

 

Hmm.. I've been using that in my fstab with xfce for years and never had any problem.

```
micah@DaUnknown ~ $ dmesg | grep CD

[   22.317355] hdc: LITE-ON DVDRW SHW-1635S, ATAPI CD/DVD-ROM drive

[   32.342406] hdc: ATAPI 48X DVD-ROM DVD-R CD-R/RW drive, 2048kB Cache, UDMA(66)

[   32.342413] Uniform CD-ROM driver Revision: 3.20

```

Is /dev/cdrom the proper?

----------

## coolsnowmen

 *The Unknown wrote:*   

> 
> 
> Hmm.. I've been using that in my fstab with xfce for years and never had any problem.

 

them xfce does not have this...idiosyncrasy 

I promise you I'm not making this up

----------

## The Unknown

Point taken, I will adjust accordingly.

----------

## pappy_mcfae

If you want CD or USB auto-mounting under gnome or KDE, you should do the following:

1) Install hal and dbus like so:

```
emerge -av sys-apps/hal sys-apps/dbus
```

1a) Alternately, you can add dbus and hal to your USE flags in /etc/make.conf, and then 

```
emerge -uDNa world.
```

2) Add dbus and hal to your default boot level thusly:

```
rc-update add dbus default
```

```
 rc-update add hal default
```

3) Remove any invocation of your CD drive(s) from /etc/fstab, or comment them out.

4) Add your user name to the plugdev, cdrom, cdrw, and usb groups in your /etc/group file thusly:

```
cdrom::19:haldaemon,root

cdrw::80:haldaemon,root

plugdev:x:443:haldaemon,root

usb::85:haldaemon,root
```

 Note, the options won't be stacked so neatly on top of each other, and some may not exist in your /etc/group file. This is merely an example.

5) Reboot.

This works. I have three machines that all had the same thing done to them, and they all auto-mount without a problem, even the machine with the tired DVD drive. 

It also works for XFCE. I emerge XFCE before I emerge KDE. That way, I can have GUI functionality a lot more quickly.

----------

## phajdan.jr

 *pappy_mcfae wrote:*   

> 4) Add your user name to the plugdev, cdrom, cdrw, and usb groups in your /etc/group file thusly:
> 
> ```
> cdrom::19:haldaemon,root
> 
> ...

 

Not that the easiest way to add a user to a group is to invoke gpasswd -a user group (as root of course). And if the user is already logged in, it has to log out and back in for the change to take effect.

----------

## coolsnowmen

i think more importantly is that if you are editing the groupfile (which I find fast) you are supposed to use vigr

and you probably have to relogin for the settings to take effect

----------

## Chymera

ok, so which groups do I have to include myself in?

----------

## phajdan.jr

 *pappy_mcfae wrote:*   

> 4) Add your user name to the plugdev, cdrom, cdrw, and usb groups

 

----------

## Chymera

emerge -uDNa world returned a lot of output, ending in:

```
19:46:32 (3.16 MB/s) - `/usr/portage/distfiles/gnome-menus-2.20.3.tar.bz2' saved [446966]

 * checking ebuild checksums ;-) ...                                      [ ok ]

 * checking auxfile checksums ;-) ...                                     [ ok ]

 * checking miscfile checksums ;-) ...                                    [ ok ]

 * checking gnome-menus-2.20.3.tar.bz2 ;-) ...                            [ ok ]

 * Determining the location of the kernel source code

 * Found kernel source directory:

 *     /usr/src/linux

 * Could not find a Makefile in the kernel source directory.

 * Please ensure that /usr/src/linux points to a complete set of Linux sources

 * 

 * ERROR: gnome-base/gnome-menus-2.20.3 failed.

 * Call stack:

 *                   ebuild.sh, line 1717:  Called dyn_setup

 *                   ebuild.sh, line  768:  Called qa_call 'pkg_setup'

 *                   ebuild.sh, line   44:  Called pkg_setup

 *   gnome-menus-2.20.3.ebuild, line   30:  Called linux-info_pkg_setup

 *           linux-info.eclass, line  595:  Called die

 * The specific snippet of code:

 *      get_version || die "Unable to calculate Linux Kernel version"

 *  The die message:

 *   Unable to calculate Linux Kernel version

 * 

 * If you need support, post the topmost build error, and the call stack if relevant.

 * A complete build log is located at '/var/tmp/portage/gnome-base/gnome-menus-2.20.3/temp/build.log'.

 * 

 * Messages for package sys-libs/com_err-1.40.4:

 * PLEASE PLEASE take note of this

 * Please make *sure* to run revdep-rebuild now

 * Certain things on your system may have linked against a

 * different version of com_err -- those things need to be

 * recompiled.  Sorry for the inconvenience

 * Messages for package sys-apps/slocate-3.1-r1:

 * The slocate database created by slocate-2.x is incompatible

 * with slocate-3.x.  Make sure you run updatedb!

 * Messages for package x11-libs/gtk+-2.12.5-r1:

 * Please install app-text/evince for print preview functionality

 * Messages for package gnome-base/gnome-menus-2.20.3:

 * Could not find a Makefile in the kernel source directory.

 * Please ensure that /usr/src/linux points to a complete set of Linux sources

 * 

 * ERROR: gnome-base/gnome-menus-2.20.3 failed.

 * Call stack:

 *                   ebuild.sh, line 1717:  Called dyn_setup

 *                   ebuild.sh, line  768:  Called qa_call 'pkg_setup'

 *                   ebuild.sh, line   44:  Called pkg_setup

 *   gnome-menus-2.20.3.ebuild, line   30:  Called linux-info_pkg_setup

 *           linux-info.eclass, line  595:  Called die

 * The specific snippet of code:

 *      get_version || die "Unable to calculate Linux Kernel version"

 *  The die message:

 *   Unable to calculate Linux Kernel version

 * 

 * If you need support, post the topmost build error, and the call stack if relevant.

 * A complete build log is located at '/var/tmp/portage/gnome-base/gnome-menus-2.20.3/temp/build.log'.

 * 

```

what should I do?

----------

## phajdan.jr

Make sure /usr/src/linux points to real kernel source tree (eselect kernel may help), the configure and compile kernel there.

----------

## Chymera

It points to the same kernel it always pointed to.... what could have messed this up? I ran a program after depclean which checked for link breakages could this have broken smth (again: /usr/src/linux still points to the kernel source I always used)? and I also added some Nvidia module a few days back... could this have done smth?

----------

## phajdan.jr

 *Chymera wrote:*   

> 
> 
>  * Could not find a Makefile in the kernel source directory.
> 
>  * Please ensure that /usr/src/linux points to a complete set of Linux sources

 

There's surely something wrong with your /usr/src/linux symlink, but let's find out what:

Please post output of following commands:

```

ls -l /usr/src

eselect kernel list

eix -i sources | grep 'Installed'

ls -la /usr/src/linux

```

----------

## coolsnowmen

and 

```
uname -r
```

----------

## Chymera

alrthough I have no idea what happend it seems as if soem files were indeed deleted from my sources  :Sad: 

Someone on the forum recommended I'd run the following.... 

```
USE=symlink emerge =sys-kernel/gentoo-sources-linux-2.6.23-gentoo-r3 && zcat /proc/config.gz > /usr/src/linux/.config && cd /usr/src/linux && make oldconfig all install modules_install && emerge -n update module-rebuild && module-rebuild -X rebuild
```

is the "=" in front of sys-kernel needed? will this solve my problem whithout me even having to recompile my kernel?

----------

## Chymera

I found out that "=" was a typo and tried running the command, but I got 

```
emerge: there are no ebuilds to satisfy "sys-kernel/gentoo-sources-linux-2.6.23-gentoo-r3".

```

did he just tell me smth that doesn't work, or didn't I understand what to emerge?

----------

## The Unknown

The "=" is not a typo, it is necessary if you're trying to emerge a specific version.

```
=sys-kernel/gentoo-sources-linux-2.6.23-gentoo-r3
```

should be

```
=sys-kernel/gentoo-sources-2.6.23-r3
```

----------

## Chymera

Yep, thank you very much, I got it all sorted out... at the end of the output it returned: 

```
* Messages for package x11-drivers/nvidia-drivers-100.14.19:

 * To use the Nvidia GLX, run "eselect opengl set nvidia"

 * 

 * nVidia has requested that any bug reports submitted have the

 * output of /usr/bin/nvidia-bug-report.sh included.

 * 

 * To work with compiz, you must enable the AddARGBGLXVisuals option.

 * 

 * If you are having resolution problems, try disabling DynamicTwinView.

```

I ran the nvidia command, as for compiz, is that really needed, I mean I have it running already

----------

## The Unknown

The option is needed, I can't remember if its enable by default now tho.

better to have it than not(my motto).It belongs in section "Device" of your video card

----------

## pappy_mcfae

 *Chymera wrote:*   

> emerge -uDNa world returned a lot of output, ending in:
> 
> ```
> lots of edited out code...
> 
> ...

 

First of all,  you need to delete the link /usr/src/linux. Then type in the following:

```
ln -s -T /usr/src/<your kernel version> /usr/src/linux
```

As to why the link seems to no longer exist, I have no clue. Smb4k deleted an icon from my desktop that I have yet to bring back. Just a few days ago, one of my samba shares disappeared for no apparent reason. I fixed the problem, but for the life of me, I have no idea why it happened in the first place.

An old boss of mine had a saying, "if it works, it's FM (frikkin' magick), if not, it's FG (frikkin' gremlins)". Of course, he used the stronger "f" word. Sometimes gremlins are digital. And no matter how inhospitable you try to make your system to them, they will come to visit when you least expect, or want them to.

Blessed be!

Pappy

----------

## Chymera

 *_ph wrote:*   

>  *pappy_mcfae wrote:*   4) Add your user name to the plugdev, cdrom, cdrw, and usb groups 

 

I don't have any of those groups excpet plugdev... and I always was a member of that group (says in the manual to include yourself there)

----------

## pappy_mcfae

 *Chymera wrote:*   

>  *_ph wrote:*    *pappy_mcfae wrote:*   4) Add your user name to the plugdev, cdrom, cdrw, and usb groups  
> 
> I don't have any of those groups excpet plugdev... and I always was a member of that group (says in the manual to include yourself there)

 

Well, that makes the cheese a bit more binding. They should be there, except perhaps cdrw, which will be there if you install cd recording/copying software. Now might be the time to see if you can finish the emerge -uDNa world. Other than that, I am at a loss.

Blessed be!

Pappy

----------

## Chymera

.... yes... it worked.... it's not that hard to imagine I would have come back with it had I run into any more trouble.... eh, anyway, what's with those groups... I do have brasero and I had another prog, but I uninstalled it.

----------

## pappy_mcfae

 *Chymera wrote:*   

> .... yes... it worked.... it's not that hard to imagine I would have come back with it had I run into any more trouble.... eh, anyway, what's with those groups... I do have brasero and I had another prog, but I uninstalled it.

 

I am at a complete loss. They were all there for me after the initial install on all my machines. The cdrw group was even there with my Toshiba laptop, and it doesn't have a burner of any kind. 

 :Confused:  |SCRATCHING HEAD|  :Confused: 

At this point, your guess is as good as mine...but at least your system is working. That's the important thing!

Blessed be!

Pappy

----------

## Chymera

does anybody have some IDEAS?

----------

## The Unknown

 *Chymera wrote:*   

> does anybody have some IDEAS?

 Do you mean why aren't you apart of them? I don't know.

Just add yourself to them, as root or super user do

```
gpasswd -a <your user here> <the groups you want here>
```

or

```
usermod -aG <goups,seperated,by,comma> <user>
```

To check, as your normal user do

```
groups
```

EDIT: command typo  :Smile: 

----------

## Chymera

 *The Unknown wrote:*   

> Do you mean why aren't you apart of them? I don't know.

 

I honestly don't understand what you are trying to say... not to mention it's "apart from" ... not "apart of" but heh... it probably wasn't that important anyway

I was wondering WHY I didn't have those groups (ie. why they don't exist on my machine), and if that poses or indicates any problems... If I didn't know how to add myself to one, or how to create one, I probably would have asked that instead...

----------

## The Unknown

 *Quote:*   

> not to mention it's "apart from" ... not "apart of" 

 No, I meant actually meant "a part of", it kind of like saying "belong to".

Well maybe I should of said it differently  :Smile: 

 *Quote:*   

> If I didn't know how to add myself to one, or how to create one, I probably would have asked that instead...

 

My apologies, I've seen the questions you ask in these forums and it was not clear to me what exactly you were asking or even knew about your system, Gentoo, and Linux.

----------

## Figaro

I believe you should specify 'users' as an option for the cdrom in the fstab, not 'user'

----------

## coolsnowmen

 *Figaro wrote:*   

> I believe you should specify 'users' as an option for the cdrom in the fstab, not 'user'

 

no, thats not true, it it is a mount option, not a group name

(well not really a mount option in the -o sense, but in the fstab sense it is

try:

```
man mount
```

----------

## Chymera

ok, so I'm still having the same problem, it's really annoying to have to mount / unmount usb and cd disks manually.... not to mention I can't eject CD's directly from the tray  :Sad: 

I tried to set the hal use flag and re-emerge gnome (probably I already said that in here) but guess what gnome doesn't have a hal use flag .... ah well please, any suggestion, has this really worked for everyone out of the box???

----------

## coolsnowmen

Did you fix your group problem?

what are the permissions on your devices anyways if u didn't have a cdrom group

Did you install that kernel that you rebuilt?

Did you make sure hal/dbus was in your useflags, and then reemerge anything that needed those flags

Can you verify that hal/dbus are staring up correctly

reinstall gnome's volume manager and control center

can you use pmount successfully as your user?

----------

## Chymera

@coolsnowman: In order to write files to a USB device for example I have to be root, yes, I'm over the kernel part, how do I find out what has those useflags? how can I verify they (hal & co) are starting up ok? I already reinstalled gnome altogether, how do I use pmount?

----------

## coolsnowmen

 *Chymera wrote:*   

> @coolsnowman: In order to write files to a USB device for example I have to be root

 

this should not be required, see below*

 *Quote:*   

> how do I find out what has those useflags?

 

equery h (gentoolkit)

 *Quote:*   

> how can I verify they (hal & co) are starting up ok?

 

start them from the command line with verbose/debug (not the service)

 *Quote:*   

> how do I use pmount?

 

like mount, except a user can do it on select devices like usb sticks and cdroms (then u don't have to be root)*

man pmount

----------

## Dominique_71

You must solve things one by one. 

First, 'emerge -uDNa world' MUST work. For that, you must be sure that /usr/src/linux match your current kernel. According to the error you posted when doing 'emerge -uDNa world', something get messed in /usr/src/linux. The best way to go, if you are not sure of what appened, is to completly reinstall the kernel.

Also, be sure that before you run 'make modules_install' to fully uninstall /lib/modules/<your kernel_modules>. Remember, you are not sure, things get messed up in /usr/src/linux and it is no garanty that they don't get messed up in /lib/modules/<your kernel_modules>.

Reinstall any external modules.

A faster way to do that (without reinstalling the kernel), but you must be 100% sure that your .config match exactly your current kernel is to run in /usr/src/linux:

```
make mrproper
```

move back your .config

```
make oldconfig

make modules_prepare
```

Now, you can run 'emerge -uDNa world'.

After that, and only after that emerge did it successfully, you can follow HOWTO ivman, it will work with any wm and you can get windose like effect with the cdrom (open it without to have to first to unmount it) (The wiki is back online!).

----------

## Chymera

Dominique, I already said repeatively that I'm LONG over the kernel part... my signature speaks of wisdom   :Very Happy: 

----------

## Chymera

I'm sure that there's a man page somewhere explaining this but if there's one thing I hate about man is that it's just hell to search for stuff

here's the output of the USE flags check:

```
chymera@localhost ~ $ equery h hal

[ Searching for USE flag hal in all categories among: ]

 * installed packages

[I--] [  ] mail-client/evolution-2.12.3-r1 (2.0)

[I--] [  ] x11-apps/xinit-1.0.5-r1 (0)

[I--] [  ] gnome-extra/gnome-utils-2.20.0.1 (0)

[I--] [  ] gnome-base/gnome-vfs-2.20.1-r1 (2)

[I--] [  ] gnome-base/control-center-2.20.3 (2)

[I--] [  ] gnome-base/gnome-applets-2.20.1 (2)

[I--] [  ] gnome-base/gnome-keyring-2.20.3 (0)

[I--] [  ] media-video/totem-2.20.3 (0)

[I--] [ ~] media-sound/quodlibet-1.0 (0)

chymera@localhost ~ $ equery h dbus

[ Searching for USE flag dbus in all categories among: ]

 * installed packages

[I--] [  ] net-irc/xchat-2.8.4-r3 (2)

[I--] [  ] mail-client/evolution-2.12.3-r1 (2.0)

[I--] [  ] net-print/cups-1.2.12-r6 (0)

[I--] [  ] net-im/pidgin-2.3.1 (0)

[I--] [  ] net-im/ekiga-2.0.11 (0)

[I--] [  ] media-gfx/gimp-2.4.2 (2)

[I--] [  ] media-gfx/eog-2.20.4 (1)

[I--] [ ~] x11-wm/compiz-0.6.2-r1 (0)

[I--] [  ] app-text/evince-2.20.2 (0)

[I--] [ ~] media-sound/quodlibet-1.0 (0)

```

I think I can identify some statements about masked packages.... but I have no clue about the rest.... so what does this all mean? do I have the proggies with the hal/dbus USE flags on them? also, is it safe to set hal/dbus as global USE flags?

Furthermore, coolsnowmen, what did you say I should start? aren't those services, what do you mean by "not the services" ?

----------

## Dominique_71

hal and dbus are global use flags:

```
 $ cat  /usr/portage/profiles/use.desc |grep hal

build - !!internal use only!! DO NOT SET THIS FLAG YOURSELF!, used for creating build images and the first half of bootstrapping [make stage1]

hal - Enable Hardware Abstraction Layer (HAL) support

$ cat  /usr/portage/profiles/use.desc |grep dbus

dbus - Enable dbus support for anything that needs it (gpsd, gnomemeeting, etc)
```

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## Chymera

I didn't really understand whyt you ment with that code... 

If they are global USE flags does it mean they can only be set globally? if not then what does it mean?

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## Dominique_71

If you take a look in /usr/portage/profiles/, it is 2 files that describe the USE flags. use.desc is for global use flag. All flags here are global.  use.local.desc is for local flags.

You can do whatever you want with those flags. According to the gentoo policy, a flag that is used by more that 5 or 6 packages is a global flag (I don't remember the exact number). Now, for flags like dbus or hal, they are linked with the way the system will interact with the hardware, it is very important to set them in /etc/make.conf as global flags and to update the system as explained into the handbook. This will insure the system consistency. For that, you must update the system after each use flag modification in make.conf.

Now, for local use flags, you can modify /etc/postage/package.use. If the flag is used by a program, it is just to add the flag in /etc/postage/package.use and emerge it. But if the flag is used by a library or a dependency of another program, you must be very careful. If not 100% sure, it is best to update the system.

Another matter is compilation flags (CFLAGS, etc). You can also do whatever you want with them. But if you want a reliable system, just keep them safe and follow the recommendation into the handbook. All other combination can (and will by personal experience) result in the best case in very strange and very very hard to find bugs, in the worst case in a fully unusable system. The use of other CFLAGS that the recommended ones need profiling on a per package basis! And who have the time to do that? Not me, and I guess not you either.

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## desultory

 *Dominique_71 wrote:*   

> If you take a look in /usr/portage/profiles/, it is 2 files that describe the USE flags. use.desc is for global use flag. All flags here are global.  use.local.desc is for local flags.

 Another option would be to use euse -i $flag which will search for a description for a given flag whether it is global or local, euse is part of app-portage/gentoolkit.

 *Dominique_71 wrote:*   

> According to the gentoo policy, a flag that is used by more that 5 or 6 packages is a global flag (I don't remember the exact number).

 Probably because there is no hard limit as such.

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## Chymera

So what do you sugest? to set them as global USE flags in make.conf and sync & emerge -vaDNu world?

I did that... still nothing  :Sad: 

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## Dominique_71

 *Chymera wrote:*   

> So what do you sugest? to set them as global USE flags in make.conf and sync & emerge -vaDNu world?
> 
> I did that... still nothing 

 

You done the right things. Did you do 

```
# emerge --depclean

# revdep-rebuild
```

 after that as explained in Maintaining Software?

After re-reading this thread, it look like most of the things are working. Did you solve the group issue? 

I am in the following groups: cdrom, cdrw, plugdev, usb.

Beside me, haldaemon is into the groups cdrom, cdrw, plugdev and usb.

----------

## Chymera

yes, I depclean + rebuild each friday

My groups atm are as follows:

users / nofiles / smmsp / portage / utmp / ldap / locate / messagebus / lpadmin / stb-admin / haldaemon / plugdev / gdm / sabayon-admin (I have no idea where the freak this one came from - can/should I get rid of it?) / chymera (that's me) / ntp / privoxy / tor 

I really know next to nothing about linux usergroups, so if I didn't supply enough info tell me what you need and where I can find it.

----------

## Dominique_71

 *Chymera wrote:*   

> sabayon-admin (I have no idea where the freak this one came from - can/should I get rid of it?) .

 

I don't know either.

You can find very few information here:  Finalizing your Gentoo Installation

You don't need to be in the group haldaemon. But you definitely need to be into cdrom and cdrw. And also into usb if you have such devices.

To administrate the groups and users, I use kuser most of the time. You can also look here : Managing Group Access or do some google search with words like user group management linux.

----------

## Chymera

as you may have noticed I don'zt have those groups you are talking about.... how do I get them? why didn't gentoo install them in the first place? was it something that the manual forgot to mention?

----------

## Dominique_71

 *Chymera wrote:*   

> as you may have noticed I don'zt have those groups you are talking about.... how do I get them? why didn't gentoo install them in the first place? was it something that the manual forgot to mention?

 

I see that, but I don't know why this is possible. It is portage that add them normally.

----------

## Chymera

Great, absolutely great .... It takes the piß out of the entire linux experience... Isn't there any way to find out why everybody in the world has it working out of the box while I have to spend weeks on end on the forums in the hope of finding a solution?

----------

## pappy_mcfae

 *Chymera wrote:*   

> Great, absolutely great .... It takes the piß out of the entire linux experience... Isn't there any way to find out why everybody in the world has it working out of the box while I have to spend weeks on end on the forums in the hope of finding a solution?

 

I want to start by saying that I am answering your question with my opinion. I am not trying to start a flame war. 

That said, I have watched this thread since I first posted to it. Your attitude has been none too positive. I have seen you get snippy with people trying to help you. This is going to turn people off, and eventually, people will get bored with you.

Why isn't it working right out of the box for you? I don't know. I blew installing Gentoo at least five times before I finally got it to work, and that was only by sheer dumb luck, and having Debian already set up on the machine on which I first installed Gentoo. That is another story that I have already told.

I took the time to read about USE flags, make.conf, and what to put into the make.conf to get what you want. Since I already knew what worked and what didn't from Slackware, I figured I could whip up a make.conf that had everything I knew I wanted. I also figured that I would eventually change some things as I got to know more. For instance, I knew that hal and dbus were quite necessary for KDE to work really well. I knew some other things, and was able to build a make.conf that included everything I'd need for X, KDE, XFCE (my second favorite WM), and so on.

But even if you don't have some sort of experience, Gentoo's documentation is second to none. Believe me, I've read every Gentoo document at least once. If you can't put together an operational system using the documentation, either you can't read, or you are reading far too much into what you are reading. 

For instance, you can go to this document, and it will tell you pretty much everything you need to install to get a functional KDE installation; from packages to use, USE flags to use, and so on. If that's not your speed, you can go here, and learn how to get alsa up and running. And that doesn't even count the wiki.

The documentation is a wondrous resource. The experience and knowledge in this forum is equaled by none. People are only too willing to help, even when you get rude. So what's the problem?

As to where the groups come from, I'd have to guess that hal installed haldaemon, dbus installed plugdev, the usb USE flag installed usb, the cdr USE flag installed the cdrom group, and so on. Is that exactly right? Probably not, but it's a pretty good guess. I have all those groups, and they didn't just pop out of thin air.

I understand your frustration. I just spent money on a new mobo, chip, and memory, and damned if something (most likely the mobo) wasn't fried! Instead of being greeted with the words, "Intel Duo Core," I was greeted with silence. Things don't always go the way we want them to. Oh well, life is like that sometimes. It's a lot easier to take that sort of thing if you don't get so caught up into it. 

Chill out! It's not the end of the world.

Blessed be!

Pappy

----------

## Chymera

I'm glad you told me that, it was vital to my understanding of the world, now all I have to do is find a solution to my problem... As you may have read I use gnome, although probably you told me about KDE as an example...

Blessed be? Should I add something about Chuck Norris' attitude towards pot in my signature?

Don't get me wrong, I'm not frustrated... my cdrom isn't working properly since over a month, not to mention some other speed issues I have with gentoo (actually with any linux distro), I've long got used to it... the only reason why i'm still bothering is because I strongly believe that somewhere in this forum there must be someone who knows what's wrong, and not just that there's heaps of gentoo docs...

----------

## pappy_mcfae

Whatever, dude. 

You just go ahead and continue to be a twit. No one here will stop you. I don't give a rat's ass about Chuck Norris. He's a short, stupid nobody who has all the acting ability of a mannequin, all the charisma of a rotting corpse, and the political sensibilities of a child. I'm glad I don't have to live my life singing praises of talentless "actors" in order to build up my tortured ego.

You just continue insulting those who might have been willingly trying to help you fix a mess you yourself created because you fancy yourself capable of working with computers. too bad you don't have the talent for it. 

But please, do continue to be a jerk. Go right ahead! My computers are running just fine, even the new one I just finished putting together. How about yours, Chuckie Jr?

You are a bore. I am no longer going to write anything to you. Hope you figure out how to make your computer work. Personally, I doubt that you have it in you.

So, what does Chuck Norris say about wannabe geeks?

Blessed be! (although you don't really deserve such)

Pappy

----------

## swimmer

Please chill guys & stay to the topic ...

----------

## Chymera

@ papy, You may not have realized this but although your posts are the longest ones in this thread you have failed to give a single piece of useful information, so thank you very much for your promise to stop ranting, keep to it! ---- Gone be!

@Dominique:

 *Dominique_71 wrote:*   

>  *Chymera wrote:*   as you may have noticed I don'zt have those groups you are talking about.... how do I get them? why didn't gentoo install them in the first place? was it something that the manual forgot to mention? 
> 
> I see that, but I don't know why this is possible. It is portage that add them normally.

 

What do you mean by portage adds them normally? Does it depend on some use flags when compiling the gnome meta package? I have the following flags in make.conf:

mmkeys trayicon dbus hal gtk gnome -arts -qt3 -qt4 -kde dvd alsa cdr esd

do I need anything else?

----------

## bunder

temporarily locking thread awaiting administrator intervention.

----------

## Earthwings

 *pappy_mcfae wrote:*   

> You just go ahead and continue to be a twit

 

 *pappy_mcfae wrote:*   

> But please, do continue to be a jerk.

 

 *pappy_mcfae wrote:*   

> You are a bore. I am no longer going to write anything to you.

 

At least not in OTW for the next two weeks.

Edit: Ups, this wasn't OTW. Too bad, forum wide ban then -- guidelines.

----------

## Chymera

I finally got it over with, the solution was rather simple, I needed to set the system up to run hald and dbus on startup. If you're having the same problem run:

```
rc-update add dbus default

rc-update add hald default
```

and restart! Additionally you should add noauto to your removable media and hdd's in fstab if you want it to work properly.

----------

