udev /dev/null permissions

The_Outlander · 08-27-2007, 09:44 PM

This is not a problem with Slackware, it is an upgrade issue to do with my setup, and seems to be related to udev. In keeping with the CHANGES AND HINTS TEXT all udev rules have numerical prefixes (I have observed all the change requirements with respect to other services also. *Truly*, I have been over this process many times). Kernel is a 2.6.21.5-smp using an initrd to boot. (Same issue with other kernels on my system).

After adding a udev rule for a palm device (completely unrelated) and restarting udev, and then opening a terminal in user mode, I get the message;

Quote:

-bash /dev/null Permission denied
username@box:~$

If I log out of the desktop or restart, I can't login, which is to be expected as there is no rw access to /dev/null for the user. Root is OK.

50.udev.rules kernel line

Quote:

KERNEL=="null", NAME="%k", MODE="0666"

After restarting udev, or following a reboot (the same thing).

Quote:

$ls -l /dev/null
crw-rw---- 1 root root 1, 3 2005-11-21 12:22 /dev/null

Change permissions and naturally everything works fine.

Quote:

$chmod 666 /dev/null
crw-rw-rw- 1 root root 1, 3 2005-11-21 12:22 /dev/null

At the moment I have chmod etc embedded in a startup script.
I have tried several options relating to mount -o commands that I found on the net, in LQ, and other resources, however, they either didn't work, were not of much help or inconclusive. I can probably fix this with a few pointers in the right direction.
Thanks.

Edit.
Deleting /dev/null and creating a new null was of no use as /dev/null is recreated during boot and the permission problem remains.

Quote:

$mknod -m 666 null c 1 3

rworkman · 08-27-2007, 11:17 PM

This is indeed an odd one. I'd like to see the custom rule you added, and I'm also curious as to whether you added it to a custom rules file or to the default udev.rules file.

Line 253 of /etc/udev/rules.d/udev.rules should look like this:

Code:

KERNEL=="null",         NAME="%k", MODE="0666"

Make it look like this:

Code:

KERNEL=="null",         NAME="%k", MODE:="0666"

Have a look at udev(7) for more information on the ":=" assignment operator, but essentially it prevents the assigned value from being changed by later rules. Also, understand that this is intended to be a temporary fix until you find a real solution.

BTW, you can use udevtrigger(8) instead of restarting udev; you'll still want to reboot eventually after making changes to confirm that they work, but this is a handy way to get an idea before wasting time rebooting...

The_Outlander · 08-29-2007, 08:00 AM

Thanks Robby,

This problem is fixed.

1. I removed the custom rules and restarted udev, NO CHANGE, /dev/null problem persisted.

2. Edited line 253 /etc/udev/rules.d/udev.rules using the == assignment operator; ...MODE=="0666" setting the /dev/null permissions correctly. The udev restart process took over a minute to complete following this change.

3. Changed assignment operator back to = (...MODE="0666") and correct /dev/null permissions persist throughout subsequent start-ups.

Thanks again for your help.