good thread

Just a note for all the Fluxbox users or non-KDE/Gnome folk. If you want to manually mount your cdroms, you will need to...

1. Deactivate the HAL daemon from launching on startup
2. Uncomment the cdrom line in /etc/fstab.
3. Reboot
4. Now we can manually mount cdroms.

you don't have to stop hal.
everything you put into /etc/fstab won't be touched by hal.

Hi,

You can direct mount devices without disabling HAL.

You can use the 'mount -t iso9660 /dev/cdrom /mnt/cdrom' without a '/etc/fstab/' entry as long as the privileges are correct.

For those using a desktop environment other than KDE, GNOME, or Xfce and still want to make use of HAL, have a look at http://slackbuilds.org/repository/12.0/system/ivman/ and http://slackbuilds.org/repository/12.0/system/pmount/.

First of all, let me share my experience with this particular daemon...or should I say DEMON!. I was made aware of the bug after I installed Slackware 12. I was made aware when I opened konqueror to add some directories I use often into my directory tree. I got the big, weird, cryptic error message "A security policy in place prevents this sender from sending this message to this recipient, see message bus configuration file (rejected message had interface "org.freedesktop.Hal.Device.Volume" member "Mount" error name "(unset)" destination "org.freedesktop.Hal")".

I was completely unprepared for this! Considering how well Slackware 11.0 works, I figured Slackware 12 would be an update and bug exorcism, not the introduction of a new, improved bug! I am not impressed.

Having gone through the stuff I have seen here, and taking the suggestions as listed, I have had mixed results. By placing my username (root) in the group file, I can access everything but my DVD ROM drives and the Linux root drive. I can access the partitions on every other hard disk in the system, whether they are, NTFS, FAT16 or FAT32. However, when I try to click on the root drive, the one that is formatted specifically for Linux, I get the message, "Permissions denied." The same thing happens when I try to access the DVD ROM drives.

If I render rc.hald as non-executable, I can see every drive on the system EXCEPT the DVD ROM drives...UNLESS I manually mount them under a console session. Once mounted, I can't use the "eject" option when right-clicking on the DVD icon. I can umount them, then use the eject button on the drive face, but no more using konqueror to achieve these supposedly basic GUI functions. Really, I don't have a problem with this particular thing since I can just as easily write scripts and put them on my desktop.

Put simply, nothing I have tried to fix this bug so far has worked one hundred percent. While the many links in this thread give information, most of it is seemingly superfluous in solving the problem.

So here are my questions to anyone who can answer...
1) Can hal and all other pernicious deniers of disk access be removed, and leave KDE 3.5.7 in a functional state?
2) If hal can be made to co-exist and work as expected (ie, you can get to your drives without jumping trough hoops), how can this thing be accomplised?
3) Does anyone actually have this garbage up and running properly (once again defined as being able to access E-V-E-R-Y drive in your system with only a click in konqueror)? If so, how did you make this seeming miracle happen?

Usually, when I have a Linux problem, I like to look here in this forum to see if it's a known issue, and if someone has made it work. I try all the options listed to see if the problem gets fixed. In this case, all I have read has kept the problem intact. So, what's the solution?

Blessed be!
Pappy

this demon is an improvement for a lot of people. you don't _have_ to use it, however.
As said before, everything you put into /etc/fstab won't be touched by hal.

"thank you " , i guess

You think you all got problems now? Wait till pam is required and pat patches around it..
Then you will have lots of nice little problems :P

As the lemmings jump... One by One by One

There's your first problem.

You shouldn't be using root.
I assume you mean "/etc/group" ? If so, then there's your second problem.

Create a non-privileged user account and add it to plugdev, video, and cdrom groups. This is all clearly explained in the instructions, especially the CHANGES_AND_HINTS.txt file.
Using what? GUI, CLI, mc, konqueror... which one?
Assuming you use Konqueror, what happens when you type "/" into the address bar? (sans quote marks...)
Here's what I did:
1. ran 'hal-disable-polling' on my DVD drives
2. added my DVD drives to /etc/fstab
3. added icons on my desktop for my DVD drives

This enables me to mount, unmount and eject my DVD drives from the icons on the desktop.
Yes. And it is far from garbage, unlike your attitude.
I followed the instructions.
Nope.

wtf?? heh

You people are so far behind the times. Hal/Dbus works perfectly fine.
Disabling stuff is *NOT* a fix or a cure to your hal woes :|

Okay, let me weigh your contributions against Pat V.
This sure is going to be a tough one, it is, whoa doggy, sho 'nuff.
So I give up what is with the lemming thing. What is the tag that should be put on you then?

Yeah, I don't like polling of any sort. So what's wrong with that?

It worked the way it was meant to, right out of the box. It just so happened that I didn't like it that way.... so I did the 'slack' thing and broke it...

BTW - Stik: What's with the smugness?

I don't need to run an operating system I find deficient. Slackware 11 works just fine for me. I was trying out 12 to see if it was an improvement. Well, it's not.

The first time I tried a Slack 12 install on this particular laptop, it was a complete mess! The video drivers were incapable of working correctly, whether I used xorgconfig, xorgsetup, or tried to manually edit the xorg.conf file. I figured I'd put it on a desktop system to see if it might work there. After all, a CRT monitor isn't blown out of the water with a refresh rate higher than 60Hz like the standard laptop LCD screen. Slack 11 on the other hand, set up everything as expected, both before I installed Slack 12, and after I got rid of it.

I was happy after I loaded Slack 12 on that other machine, and KDE came up. Then this problem arose. That's two different systems having two different problems with the same operating system. To me, that means there might just be a problem with the operating system, and not my machines. If this is the case, then Slack 12 has retrogressed, in my opinion. I fail to see how making an operating system less functional, more selective, and less friendly overall is a step forward!

Under Slack 11, I can see any drive I want under konqueror, even DVD's without an ounce of grief. My two experiences with Slack 12 have been, at best, complete wastes of time, in my opinion. I'm sorry if that rains on your parade, but I am entitled to my opinion.

About the only thing that was "instructional" was what appeared in CHANGES_AND_HINTS.TXT: The /dev/cdrom line in /etc/fstab is commented out by default, as it interferes with HAL. HAL defaults to on, so if you do not wish to use it, you will need to chmod -x /etc/rc.d/rc.hald and uncomment the /dev/cdrom line in /etc/fstab. Other than that, everything else I have read on this topic so far has been as clear as mud.

So, I think I'll just wait until someone can come up with concise instructions that aren't reiterations of conf files, etc.

Of course, it's the same thing with Microsoft. Windoze XP is an amazingly stable, considerably friendly, and as beautifully functional as Windoze 20000 and NT before it. Windoze Vista is a complete piece of crap! I guess even Slackware is allowed to drop a stinker once in a while.

Blessed be!
Pappy

Well, you can't please everyone all the time. Use what works for you. Don't go around spouting lies about something just because you don't understand it.
It's meant to "just work" right out of the box with no tweaking whatsoever as long as your users are in the right groups, in the same way that sound works right out of the box for all users in the 'audio' group. Your problems may all stem from the fact that you're trying to run it from the 'root' account.

In my opinion Slackware 12.0 has been the best release yet. HAL has only added to the experience. Being able to plug in a USB stick, memory card or camera and have it auto-mounted and it's contents displayed in a Konqueror window without having to click on or type anything is absolutely brilliant. This functionality was long overdue in Slackware. Other distros had this stuff back in 2004.
Of course. Everyone is. But there's no need to be rude about it.
I guess it depends upon your perspective. Windows Vista contains several features which were long overdue for the Windows OS. I know people who use Vista daily for their work and they can't recommend it highly enough. I'll never buy it, but that's not the point.
That's a really intelligent statement...

You know what? Slackware 11 has installed itself to a workable state on every system I own, out of the box, the first time around. On the other hand, Slackware 12 has bombed on the two different machines on which I have installed it. To my way of thinking, that means that Slack 11 was ready to go, "out of the box" as you put it, and Slack 12 was anything but. That's my experience.

I'm sorry if my opinion makes others so upset. However, my opinion remains that Slackware 12 is a step backwards for my systems...and is therefore crap. For those who dig it, I'm glad it held all the promise you wanted it to carry.

As far as Vista, I found it to be ungodly slow, unnecessarily large, and deficient in many areas, not the least of which was network operability. Not only that, there were a few programs (Borland C++, Cool Edit Pro) that simply would not run under it, period! What other opinion am I to have than it's garbage?

Anyway, my first question remains unanswered. Can hal be exorcised like the devil it is, and leave KDE 3.5.7 functional? Signs so far point to, "no," but if anyone knows how to do it, I am all eyes!

Blessed be!
Pappy