I couldn't find /dev/makedev.d/ on my system.

find / -iname makedev* gives the following output:

/dev/MAKEDEV
/dev/.static/dev/MAKEDEV
/etc/init.d/makedev
/var/lib/dpkg/info/makedev.md5sums
/var/lib/dpkg/info/makedev.prerm
/var/lib/dpkg/info/makedev.postrm
/var/lib/dpkg/info/makedev.list
/var/lib/dpkg/info/makedev.conffiles
/var/lib/dpkg/info/makedev.postinst
/var/lib/dpkg/info/makedev.preinst
/var/cache/apt/archives/makedev_2.3.1-83_all.deb
/var/cache/apt/archives/makedev_2.3.1-82_all.deb
/usr/share/doc/linux-doc-2.6.16.16-kanotix-1/Documentation/video4linux/bttv/MAKEDEV.gz
/usr/share/doc/makedev
/usr/share/man/man8/MAKEDEV.8.gz
/sbin/MAKEDEV

Would it help to post MAKEDEV?

Yes, try looking at /dev/MAKEDEV , /etc/init.d/makedev and sbin/MAKEDEV and
check if they run "mknod" to create pty device files.

/dev/MAKEDEV does not appear to do it. There's one reference to mknod in it (I'll try to post the entire /dev/MAKEDEV in the next msg if it isn't too long):

makedev () { # usage: makedev name [bcu] major minor owner group mode
if [ "$opt_v" ]
then if [ "$opt_d" ]
then echo "delete $1"
else echo "create $1 $2 $3 $4 $5:$6 $7"
fi
fi
# missing parameters are a bug - bail - should we do an exit 1 here?
case :$1:$2:$3:$4:$5:$6:$7: in
*::*) echo "Warning: MAKEDEV $@ is missing parameter(s)." >&2;;
esac
if [ ! "$opt_n" ]
then
if [ "$opt_d" ]
then
rm -f $1
else
rm -f $1-
if mknod $1- $2 $3 $4 &&
chown $5:$6 $1- &&
chmod $7 $1- &&
mv $1- $1
then
: # it worked
else
# Didn't work, clean up any mess...
echo "makedev $@: failed"
rm -f $1-
fi
fi
fi
}
----------

/etc/init.d/makedev has no reference to mknod

/sbin/MAKEDEV appears to be identical to /dev/MAKEDEV and only has one reference to mknod:

makedev () { # usage: makedev name [bcu] major minor owner group mode
if [ "$opt_v" ]
then if [ "$opt_d" ]
then echo "delete $1"
else echo "create $1 $2 $3 $4 $5:$6 $7"
fi
fi
# missing parameters are a bug - bail - should we do an exit 1 here?
case :$1:$2:$3:$4:$5:$6:$7: in
*::*) echo "Warning: MAKEDEV $@ is missing parameter(s)." >&2;;
esac
if [ ! "$opt_n" ]
then
if [ "$opt_d" ]
then
rm -f $1
else
rm -f $1-
if mknod $1- $2 $3 $4 &&
chown $5:$6 $1- &&
chmod $7 $1- &&
mv $1- $1
then
: # it worked
else
# Didn't work, clean up any mess...
echo "makedev $@: failed"
rm -f $1-
fi
fi
fi
}
--------------

Sorry, the entire /dev/MAKEDEV is too long to be posted. What can I look at to give you more info?

Please post /etc/init.d/makedev.
The MAKEDEV's you posted seem to actually create device files,
so we'll need to look for scripts that run them (ie at startup).

here it is:

#! /bin/sh

### BEGIN INIT INFO
# Provides: makedev
# Required-Start: $local_fs
# Required-Stop: $local_fs
# Default-Start: 2 3 4 5
# Default-Stop: 0 1 6
# Short-Description: Creates device files in /dev
### END INIT INFO

N=/etc/init.d/makedev
PATH=/usr/local/sbin:/usr/local/bin:/sbin:/bin:/usr/sbin:/usr/bin

set -e

case "$1" in
start)
test -L /dev/MAKEDEV || ln -fs /sbin/MAKEDEV /dev/MAKEDEV

# create dvb-devices, if the dvb-directory allready exists, and
# no devfs or udev is in use (workaround for the changed major-number
# of the dvb-devices, introduced in kernel 2.6.8, to be able to
# switch between kernels <= 2.6.7 and >= 2.6.8, without manual
# recreation of the devices (MAKEDEV dvb checks the kernel-version
# and uses the correct major-number))

if [ ! -e /dev/.devfsd -a ! -e /dev/.udevdb -a ! -e /dev/.udev ]; then
if [ -d /dev/dvb ]; then
cd /dev && ./MAKEDEV dvb
fi
fi

;;
stop|reload|restart|force-reload)
;;
*)
echo "Usage: $N {start|stop|restart|force-reload}" >&2
exit 1
;;
esac

exit 0

*** bump ***

Have you checked /etc/kde/kdm/kdmrc to see if root logins are allowed in KDE?
And have you updated your distro/packages lately?

Yes, root logins are allowed. I did do a dist-upgrade recently, but that was after I discovered the problems. According to the Kanotix website a dist-upgrade was the only way to fix the error

Could it be a problem with KDE and the kernel version (2.6.16.16-kanotix-1) that I'm running? My machine at home has kernel 2.6.18 (IIRC) and I do not have the problem there.

Did the website mention to which version you needed to upgrade? If it didn't, then chances are that you didn't upgrade to a version that's recent enough, like the one at your home seems to be.

Maybe you can do another upgrade? Or try to find the differences between your configuration at home with respect to the other one (starting with the files in /etc, more specifically those related to devices and/or KDE).

No, there was no mention of a version. Thanks for the tip - I'll compare the contents of /etc between my home pc and laptop. If that doesn't work, I'll try to do an upgrade again, as soon as my internet connection at home is restored.

Thanks very much for your help and patience. It's much appreciated.

You're welcome.

The problem appears to be solved.

I added a line to my fstab:

devpts /dev/pts devpts gid=5,mode=620 0 0

and it seems to have done the trick.

Hello,

Have the su problem as you. Found that several files had their permissions set incorrectly.

/etc/sudoers
/usr/bin/sudo

I have NO idea what changed the permissions. I corrected those, and now I get "su returned with an error".

My fstab already has that line, yet I still can't use kdesu.