Hello,

I'm trying to use cron(MyCron) in DSL, I think the version is 2.4.31. Here is a copy of my crontab:

(I've been commenting stuff out while troubleshooting)

#* * * * * * echo Cron timestamp `date` >> /tmp/crontest
#
#
# Check Photo folder every 5 min
/5 * * * * * /home/dsl/frame/checkdir.sh

# Sync with USB stick if inserted
0 /4 * * * * /home/dsl/frame/rsync.sh

# Restart Frame every morning at 5:30
# to include any new photos in rotation
30 5 * * * * /home/dsl/frame/cron_reload_frame.sh

45 22 * * 1-7 * /home/dsl/frame/turn_off_screen.sh
#15 0 * * 0,6 * /home/dsl/frame/turn_off_screen.sh
59 5 * * 1-7 * /home/dsl/frame/turn_on_screen.sh
#30 7 * * 1-5 * /home/dsl/frame/turn_off_screen.sh
#59 15 * * 0-7 * /home/dsl/frame/turn_on_screen.sh
#59 7 * * 0,6 8 /home/dsl/frame/turn_on_screen.sh

When I start cron this is what I get:

root@4[root]# MyCron &
[1] 19594
root@4[root]# Use of uninitialized value in string at /usr/local/bin/MyCron line 147, <CT> line 6.
Use of uninitialized value in string at /usr/local/bin/MyCron line 147, <CT> line 6.
Use of uninitialized value in string at /usr/local/bin/MyCron line 148, <CT> line 6.
Use of uninitialized value in string at /usr/local/bin/MyCron line 148, <CT> line 6.
Use of uninitialized value in string at /usr/local/bin/MyCron line 148, <CT> line 6.
Argument "SHELL=" isn't numeric in sprintf at /usr/local/bin/MyCron line 73, <CT> line 6.
Argument "bin" isn't numeric in sprintf at /usr/local/bin/MyCron line 73, <CT> line 6.

At first I thought it was the crontab file, but now I don't think so, the error always points to the same lines no matter how the crontab file changes. I've been looking at the MyCron Perl script, but I doubt that's the problem. Can anyone give me some hints?

Thanks in advance!

<<edit>>
forgot to mention - it does the same thing as root or as user - don't know if that matters...

Hi - having to figure out the problem on my own was a great opportunity to learn something, so, um, thanks for that...

anyhoo - In the event that this might help someone else; after diving into the perl code 'MyCron', I figured out that in the time fields of the crontab file there needs to be a leading numerical digit in the fields that contain a non-numerical character. So in my case the line that had a /5 (for instance) needed to be 0/5.

Oh and my other problem was that I was editing the wrong crontab file (ha ha...erm), turns out there was another one in a different location.

Fixed those two things and I'm good to go...

You're welcome .

No, really, I had looked at your first post but had no solution. As an aside, I use fcron: http://fcron.free.fr/. Did you ever look at that?

I know this is an old thread, but if you're still out there, which crontab had to be edited? I've found a crontab in /etc and another one in /opt. Which one is it?

Hmm. They are usually for different users (i.e. "root", "somebody-else", etc). You can edit them with Crontab will select the appropriate file.

I discovered that the crontab in /opt is actually just a symbolic link to the one in /etc. Either one will work.