# /dev/null no access for users

## cascamorto

/dev/null since i removed /dev support in pseudo file systems in the kernel can only be accesed by root users are denied access?

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## adaptr

Have you emerged udev ?

If so, check the udev.rules for access to /dev/null.

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## cascamorto

/etc/udev.rules is empty... do i need to add something?

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## adaptr

It's /etc/udev/rules.d, not /etc/udev.

What are the permissions on /dev/null ?

They should read 666, not the udev default of 660.

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## cascamorto

```

bash-2.05b# nano -w permissions.d/50-udev.permissions

# memory devices

random:root:root:0666

urandom:root:root:0444

mem:root:kmem:0640

kmem:root:kmem:0640

port:root:kmem:0640

full:root:root:0666

null:root:root:0666

zero:root:root:0666

```

my problem with no access to /dev/null is that startx only works as root cuz as user it doesn't give me errors but when i start it it just gives me a black screen with a moving mouse...

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## adaptr

I meant the actual permissions, on the filesystem:

```
ls -l /dev/null
```

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## ats2

Hi,

I have the exact same problem. I tried chmod 666 /dev/null wich worked but /dev/null is 660 at reboot. Is there something to add to udev.rules ?

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## venquessa2

I have this problem too.

Also lots of other dev entries have different permissions on the machne affected.  For example /dev/pty/m* are not owned by group tty.

KDE starts up but stalls on System Perpherals.

I suppose another dodgy ebuild wipes out hundreds of systems again...

FWIW I have not touched or changed anything in /etc/ to do with dev.  I have re-emerged udev and am currently trying an update world again.

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## venquessa2

/dev/null has default 660 perms on boot in answer to your question.  setting them to 666 and rebooting doesn't work.

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## venquessa2

For those with this problem...

run etc-update

It appears the udev DB and rules files have moved.

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## cascamorto

```

bash-2.05b# ls -l /dev/null

crw-rw----  1 root root 1, 3 Mar 10 18:46 /dev/null

```

what do i do now?

ìve done etc-update and the chmod 666 /dev/null but nada

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## ats2

Well, etc-update did the trick for me. Thanks venquessa 2 !  :Smile: 

cascarmorto > did youy update udev.rules AND udev.conf ? Venquessa is right : there have been changes in udev path...

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## cascamorto

fact is i had devfsd till 2 days ago so i've always had the new etc paths and have never changed them...

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## cascamorto

and i kept udev with /dev support for a couple days then removed it from the kernel and now users don't have access to /dev/null

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## paddler

emerging the new udev screwed up a lot of things for me too. I saw the /dev/null error when I logged in and after startx left me in a blank screen I put 2 and 2 together and checked the permissions and changed them back. After that I could get into Xfce but the terminal wouldn't work. Thats when I realized something major was wrong and eventually I remembered etc-update. I really need to get into the habit of doing that after every update but until now not doing that right away didn't break my machine.

It seems an update that leaves you in such a precarious state should include some extra effort to tell you further critical steps are required on your part.  Something warning about rebooting scrolled by quickly after the udev update but I was doing an emerge world and it was quickly gone. 

Being a Noob I could use all the help I can get when things drastically change after updating my machine...  Larg red fonts repeated over and over down my screen saying "IMPORTANT: RUN ETC-UPDATE NOW" come to mind. 

 I must admit I was pretty proud of myself being able to figure it out though, I guess thats all part of the Gentoo experience...

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## venquessa2

Thinking out loud....

What about an emerge important message stack.  As emerge runs it adds these messages to the stack (and displays them when they happen), but when the parent emerge exits, it prints all the messages in the stack at the end... maybe even launching less for the purpose.

As I say, just a thought.

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