The thing I installed was a non-graphical, command line thing; could have tried installing the corresponding graphical thing but am a bit hair shirt. (After all you have to be root - at least with my version - and it is wrong to be root inside X; at least this used to be the case - for security reasons.)

You could try that - a command line version.

Don't want to be irritating but on my Debian thing you'd just try: 'apt-get install motif'. At which point it'd call me a pervert and tell me to f-off.:-)

That's what I'm trying to install as well. I'm just doing from a CLI in X. And since I happen to be there I use YaST to check for the motif package as well. May jump into a lower runlevel and try just CLI work on it. Try that way. Not that it exactly takes a long time to reboot. Just a hastle to do so.

Sorry - don't really understand. Thought motif was the sort of graphical toolkit for X, so why would the command line version of hotswap need it?

Is it possible the program just wants to ask some questions, though it didn't ask me any, and needs to put up some sort of display in X? So that motif is not used by hotswap but just the configure program? If so ctrl-alt-F1 or F2 or whatever, then run configure, should solve the problem?? Incidentally maybe don't have to be root to use hotswap, perhaps could do:

# chmod u+s /..../hotswap

add suid or whatever?? I'll try it.

configure: error: This program requires Motif.
configure: error: /bin/sh './configure' failed for motif-frontend
flat4:/home/nd4spd/tmp/hotswap-0.4.0 #

---

To compile from sources you need headers (so that the program being compiled can use functions in these libraries). Most likely they are, in this case, named like this:

openmotif-devel 2.2.3-11 i586
openmotif-libs-devel 2.2.3-11 i586

You might not find both, but at least one. If you don't go to "www.rpmfind.net" and search for them - make sure the version number is correct.

Looking on www.debian.org the text version doesn't need motif but the gui version does.

Boo! Was thinking devl headers were necessary. Didn't see them right off. Will d/l and get back to ya on the outcome.

I only mess with X when I need graphical. Usually play in CLI when installing stuff. Makes life *much* easier.

chmod u+s /usr/bin/hotswap does seem to make things swappable by anyone, should've thought of it before.

FWIW...

I'm running Slackware 10.1 (2.4.29-bareacpi) on both my desktop and Compaq Armada E500 laptop. On the laptop, I can hot swap the DVD-ROM and CD burner -- as long as the device is *not* mounted -- without any problems. I found this out for certain when I copied files from DVD to CD for a friend. I wasn't sure it would work before I did it, but I decided to try it anyway.

Terje

I've tried to do it that way too. When I put the CD/DVD drive in, it's ok if I mount it. Taking it out, however, is another story. It doesn't like to unmount fully or something when I tell it to.

Been trying to get openmotif to work and add the devel version to it as well. So far it's not working. Missing dependencies and all. Slowly but surly I'm getting there (I think ... )

Oh, and regardless of whether or not I'm in X, it still bombs out on the motif-frontend error.

You sure you're not inadvertantly trying to install a GUI version, instead of a text version?

Debian, at least, has two versions and the text one doesn't need a motif like thing:
http://packages.debian.org/cgi-bin/s...le&release=all

Don't know for sure but does this page: http://dag.wieers.com/packages/hotswap/ contain both types in .rpm versions?

I can't even remember where I found this version of hotswap. I just looked in the original tarball and it is a GUI version. Will go snag a non-gui version and recompile.

... month and a 1/2 later ... lol

Thanks for pointing out my obvious overlooking simple things. You'd get the impression I'd never used a computer before, let alone linux. Sheesh!

Holy Hotswap, Batman! It works.

I was able to use the tarball I had and with some careful ./configure options was able to get it working. I hotswapped in my IDE CD/DVD burner then back out and replaced with the battery, all without a kernel panic.

I'd say this one can be marked fixed & done. (about bloody time)

Thanks for all the assistance & guidence, lugoteehalt. Much appreciated.

Good stuff.

Thanks for your help too. I didn't even know it was called hotswapping so was stuck from the start.

Here's a question:

Do either of you have hotswapping enabled in your kernel?

....Now he tells us.

God knows, how does one tell?