This has became a pain...

Every time i start to do something with KDE i get this message.
"
Sound server infomational message:

Error while initializing the the sound driver:

device /dev/dsp can't be opened (No such device)

The sound server will continue, using the null output device
"

I've tryed everything i know, in not a newbie or a admin. So any help would be greatly

When you say I tried everything, did you try opening a sound file as root? If you did and it works, then your problems is on the permissions of /dev/dsp You just do the following:

No it still doesn't work. BTW im just using the SiS sound on my board.

Any one have any ideas?

Hi Doolspin,

I've never tried using Slackware but if sounds like you have the same onboard sound chip as me. There's a
whole series of modules that you'll need to load at boot time to get the sound devices to work.

Use to find out if you have the SiS7012 multimedia chip. If so then you'll need the following modules:
You can load these using the command /sbin/modprobe [modulename]. If your system is anything like mine then
it will rememeber that they were loaded manually and then load them automatically next time. Alternatively you
can manually add them to the /etc/modules.conf file.

Your /etc/modules.conf file will also need the following lines (or something similar) if they don't exist already.
If you still don't get any joy you should examine the system logs using
1. dmesg
2. tail -n 60 /var/log/messages (you'll need to be root to do this).

Hope this is helpful. This won't necessarily be exactly the solution you need for your system but this is how I
managed to get mine working (I used to get exactly the same message as you every time KDE started).

Gez

Okay Gez, Looks like i have the Sis 7012. Found it in '# dmesg' loaded all the mods, tryed it again and still nothing. Same error.

Dead thread?

I don't know what version you use for slackware but if it's 9.1 or higher i recommend to compile alsa.
it's much better and easier then Open Sound System http://www.alsa-project.org.

Good Luck,

DJ Chris

You may also want to try running /dev/MAKEDEV

The modules may be loaded, but perhaps the devices are not there?

I don't know slackware - and this should not happen if its a default install - but:

maybe slackware is using devfs (without devfsd) - or you told it to do so...

when using devfs - the device-files are named differently i.e. /dev/dsp is not there - instead it is here: /dev/sound/dsp - or here: /dev/snd/...

try if this is the case - and if so - use devfsd which provides a compatibility mode - so you have the old devices too - and everything can work again

find out how devfsd is to be set up - if what I said is applicable at all...

or maybe you did not load the drivers for your card yet - if using devfs, the devices are created on demand - if no drivers are loaded, the devices don't exist (yet)

Thanks all of you, im gonna give these a try here in a little bit, ill let you know how it turns out

Hey guys, just wanted to thank everyone for all your help, sorry if i sounded like a dick. It was rather frustrating. FYI i bought a cheap sound card from a local computer show, and installed it. Still didn't work, so i got the newest Also. Ran that and BAM, works. Thanks again all. Om Shanti

Shame. I also have that message when I install Slack (I have an Intel-8x0 soundcard) and I fix it by downloading the latest alsa-drivers, -lib and -utils and installing them exactly as directed on the alsa site. Then I have sound.

Oh well, it's good that you found one solution.