Problem: Sound and /dev/dsp on 3.2

[gfrick]

I recently installed Knoppix 3.2 on the hard disk of Toshiba Tecra 8000 laptop, replacing version 3.1. Now I am unable to play audio cd's or us xmms. On booting I get the info that "device /dev/dsp can't be opened (no such device) The sound server will continue using null device".

Under 3.1 the sound worked ok after installing modules: sound.o,soundcore.o, ad1848 and the following in /etc/modules.

alias sound-slot-0 ad1848
alias synth0 opl3
options sound dmabuf=1
options opl3 io=0x388
options ad1848 io=0x530 dma=1 irq=5 dma2=0
post-install sound-slot-0 /bin/aumix-minimal -f /etc/.aumixrc -L >/dev/null 2>$1 || :
preinstall sound-slot-0 /bin/aumix-minimal -f /etc/.aumixrxrc -S >/dev/null 2>$1 || :

Making athese changes under 3.2 is not effective. I have done extensive searches on Gloogle, Knoppix Forum and other sites without success.

Can anyone help me on this? Is there any link that can be added to /dev/dsp to fix the problem?

gfrick

[aay]

Have you tried using ALSA? Do a test from the cd by using the following at boot: "knoppix alsa"

Post back results.

P.S.

If this is on a hdinstall try running /etc/init.d/alsa-autoconfig as root

[Stephen]

I recently installed Knoppix 3.2 on the hard disk of Toshiba Tecra 8000 laptop, replacing version 3.1. Now I am unable to play audio cd's or us xmms. On booting I get the info that "device /dev/dsp can't be opened (no such device) The sound server will continue using null device".

Can anyone help me on this? Is there any link that can be added to /dev/dsp to fix the problem?

gfrick

Make sure you are a member of the audio group (type groups in console window)
and that you have read-write permission ls -la /dev/dsp to check. To add your self to group adduser < username > audio to make the device read-write for users chmod +urw /dev/dsp both these as root in a console.

You have to log out and back in for the group addition to take effect.

[gfrick]

It is a hdinstall.

There is no file /etc/init.d/alsa-autoconfig on my distribution.

gfrick

[gfrick]

Stephen

gfrick is set as a member of audio and the permissions for /dev/dsp are 777.
ls -la /dev/dsp = crwxrwxrwx 1 root audio 14, 3 april 15 2001 /dev/dsp

The warning I am getting says that there is no such device as /dev/dsp.

Thanks for answering.

gfrick

[aay]

It is a hdinstall.

There is no file /etc/init.d/alsa-autoconfig on my distribution.

gfrick

Hmm. ALSA was added only on the more recent releases of 3.2. But I forgot to ask if you have run sndconfig? Try running sndconfig as root.

Adam

[mxferreira]

Hmm. ALSA was added only on the more recent releases of 3.2. But I forgot to ask if you have run sndconfig? Try running sndconfig as root.

Adam

Excuse for my english, because I speak portuguese.
I have the same problem of the gfrick in the Kurumim (descendent of the knoppix).
In the forum of the Kurumim they speaked for me try sndconfig, but no function. If to funtion for you speak me, please.
If you to obtein result speak me please.
Thank you.
Ps: If you speak in portuguese, I will be happy!

Max

[gfrick]

Hi;

Well sndconfig didnt help.

What irks me is that in the past I have installed RED HAT 7.1 & 7.3, MANDRAKE 9.0, aand NOPPIX 3.1 on this laptop and had no problem configuring the sound.

It all seems to come back to /dev/dsp. The warnings I get say this device cannot be opened as there is no such device.

I really don't know where to go from here.

gfrick

[aay]

Do you see any errors if you run "dmesg |less" ?

Perhaps you could post the output of "lspci"?

Apart from getting some information from theses sources and finding something to address, I can only suggest that you update to the latest release and see if using ALSA will help.

[gfrick]

Hi

Output from dmesg that pertains to sound.

YM3812 and OPL-3 Driver Copyright (c) by Hannu Savolainen. Rob Hooft 1993-1996
ad1848/cs4248 codec driver Copyright (c) by Hannu Savelianen 1993-1996
ad1848 No ISAPnP cardws found. Trying standard ones...

Output of lspci

00:00.0 Hlost bridge: Intel Corp. 440BX/ZXC/DX - 82443BX/ZX/DX Host bridge (AGP disabled)
00:03.0 ISA brsidge: Toshiba America Info Systems: Unknown device 0611 (rev 41)
00:04:.0 VGA compatible controller:P NeoMagic Corporation NM2200 [MagicGraph 256AV]
00:05.0 Bridge: Intel Corp. 82371AB/EB/MB PIIX4 ISA (rev 02)
00:05.1 IDE interface: Intel Corp. 82371AB/EB/MB PIIX4 IDE (rev 01)
00:05.2 USB Controller: Intel Corp. 8237AB/EB/MB PIIX4 USB (rev 01)
00:05.3 Bridge: Intel Corp. 82371AB/EB/MB PIIX4 ACPI (rev 02)
00:06.0 Ethernet controller: Intel Corp. 82557/8/9 (Ethernet Pro 100) (rev 05)
00:09.0 Communication controller:: Toshiba America Info Systems FIR Port (rev 23)
00:0b.0 Cardbus bridge: Toshiba America Info Systems ToPIC97 (rev 05)
00:0b.0 CardBus bridge: Toshiba America Info Systems ToPIC97 (rev 05}

The above seems to be a rather abreveated from that I have had before. Studied it quite extensively while I was trying to get the Winmodem to work. I gave up on that a long time ago.

gfrick

[Dave_Bechtel]

--KPX 3.1 didn't have alsa and it worked w/o it, apparently.

--Might have to do a MAKEDEV for /dev/dsp.
ls -l /dev/dsp
crw-rw-rw- 1 root audio 14, 3 Apr 14 2001 /dev/dsp

' cd /dev; ./MAKEDEV ' or (man mknod)


Do you see any errors if you run "dmesg |less" ?

Perhaps you could post the output of "lspci"?

Apart from getting some information from theses sources and finding something to address, I can only suggest that you update to the latest release and see if using ALSA will help.

[gfrick]

THanks to all who offered suggestions. I am using V3.2-2003-03-28 (installed from cd) and will probably try the latest issue.

ls -l /dev/dsp
gives
crwxrwxrwx 1 root audio 14, 3 Apr 15 2001 /dev/dsp

When i try to run xmms from the terminal I get
'***WARNING***: oss-open(): Failed to open audio device /dev/dsp: no such device.

I also get a somewhat similar warning when booting during Initializing Peripherals.

gfrick

[Dave_Bechtel]

--What happens if you ' modprobe ad1848 ' manually?


THanks to all who offered suggestions. I am using V3.2-2003-03-28 (installed from cd) and will probably try the latest issue.

ls -l /dev/dsp
gives
crwxrwxrwx 1 root audio 14, 3 Apr 15 2001 /dev/dsp

When i try to run xmms from the terminal I get
'***WARNING***: oss-open(): Failed to open audio device /dev/dsp: no such device.

I also get a somewhat similar warning when booting during Initializing Peripherals.

gfrick

[gfrick]

Dave

I have insmod(ed) opl3,ad1848,sound and soundcore

From lsmod

ad1848 20716 0 (unused)
opl3 10944 0 (unused)
sound 54572 0 [ad1848 opl3]
soundcore 5596 2 [sound]

gfrick

[gfrick]

To put this thread to bed:

I upgraded(?) to Testing. I no longer get warnings that /dev/dsp can not be found. Xmms works fine with out changing any of the settings I had before. I still have trouble playing CDs but will work on that.

Thanks to all who offered suggestions.

gfrick
[

[wwnd]

Hello everyone, I, too, am getting the same error message upon trying to play any type of audio file - that no device exists at /dev/dsp

I am not as "Linux savvy" as gfrick; I have been running windows 98 SE for quite a while, and know most of the ways to manipulate drivers and such, but I'm brand new to linux, running knoppix 3.7 off of a bootable cd.

The spec's on my audio hardware and computer are:

Computer: Gateway Solo 2500 (laptop)

Audio hardware: Neomagic Magicwave 3dx Sound System

I've already attempted to find drivers (does linux use drivers the same way that windows does?), to no avail. I've also tried the ALSA (knoppix alsa) from the boot, as gfrick was instructed to do in this topic; during the boot-up sequence, it prints out that ALSA is detecting the soundcard (autodetect), but once KDE is up and running, I have an error message waiting for me, which says that no device exists at /dev/dsp, and the icon in the "taskbar" (may be called something diff. under linux) of the speaker has a big red circle with an "x" through it, covering the speaker icon.

I have also tried running sndconfig from the console, as well as running it from the knoppix configure menu - in both cases, I get the message: "No PnP or PCI sound cards were found in your system..."

I read that gfrick somehow figured out a way to fix this, by upgrading to "Test" - unfortunately, I have no idea what that means. So, if someone has any suggestions on what I might do to fix this problem, I'd greatly appreciate hearing them.

Thanks very much.

[CrashedAgain]

Hello everyone, I, too, am getting the same error message upon trying to play any type of audio file - that no device exists at /dev/dsp

I am not as "Linux savvy" as gfrick; I have been running windows 98 SE for quite a while, and know most of the ways to manipulate drivers and such, but I'm brand new to linux, running knoppix 3.7 off of a bootable cd.

The spec's on my audio hardware and computer are:

Computer: Gateway Solo 2500 (laptop)

Audio hardware: Neomagic Magicwave 3dx Sound System

I've already attempted to find drivers (does linux use drivers the same way that windows does?), to no avail. I've also tried the ALSA (knoppix alsa) from the boot, as gfrick was instructed to do in this topic; during the boot-up sequence, it prints out that ALSA is detecting the soundcard (autodetect), but once KDE is up and running, I have an error message waiting for me, which says that no device exists at /dev/dsp, and the icon in the "taskbar" (may be called something diff. under linux) of the speaker has a big red circle with an "x" through it, covering the speaker icon.

I have also tried running sndconfig from the console, as well as running it from the knoppix configure menu - in both cases, I get the message: "No PnP or PCI sound cards were found in your system..."

I read that gfrick somehow figured out a way to fix this, by upgrading to "Test" - unfortunately, I have no idea what that means. So, if someone has any suggestions on what I might do to fix this problem, I'd greatly appreciate hearing them.

Thanks very much.

You shouldn't have to upgrade to 'testing', the applications with knoppix 3.6 are much newer than the 3.1-upgraded-to-testing referred to above.

First, try running 'knoppix26' so that you are running the newer 2.6 kernel instead of the 2.4 version. alsa has replaced oss as the sound server with the 2.6 kernel.

Go to control center->sounds & make sure the sound system is enabled. Set the 'auto-suspend-if-idle setting to 1 or 2 seconds. It is quite possible aRts is hogging the sound system so have it release after only a short delay. Arts is a sound server which allows you to run sounds from more than one source at the same time & it will be auto started by kde as needed.

Now go to control center->system notifications & turn on all sounds for all applications.

Now go to home/knoppix with konqueror & set view to show hidden files. Then browse to ./kde/share/config/knotify & check that all three settings are 'true' If they are not, open the file (the default kwrite will do) & set them all to true.

Finally, open xmms, right click, select options->preferences & set the output plugin to aRts Output. If Arts plugin is not available as an option you will have to install it. See this http://www.knoppix.net/forum/viewtopic.php?t=14977 for information on installing applications.

You should now have sound. If not, try a reboot & check again.

Sample sounds are found at /usr/share/sounds. The last two 'startup.ogg' & 'shutdown.ogg' are good test subjects which should play with xmms.

[wwnd]

Hi CrashedAgain, thanks for replying. Ok, I followed your instructions, and I'll put the outcome of them next to them below:

1. booted with knoppix26 - Firstly, once KDE loaded, this error message was "waiting":
Sound server informational message:
Error while initializing the sound driver:
device /dev/dsp can't be opened (No such device)
The sound server will continue, using the null output device
(just to be clear, I had previously saved a persistent knoppix dir. as well as configuration archive - so, I tried knoppix26 both with my home and config, and without it - in both cases, I got the same error message)

2. Go to Control Center > Sounds and make sure sound system is enabled, and set the "auto-suspend if idle" setting to 1 or 2 secs. - Once I made these changes in the Control Center and clicked Apply, the same error message as in #1 showed up

3. Went to Control Center > System Notifications, and clicked Turn on all <sounds> (the <sounds> refers to a drop-down list selection), and clicked apply - nothing really seemed to happen after doing this; however, I noticed that at the top, these three lines exist (maybe they are just options as to how errors are handled, or maybe they are errors themselves, I don't know):
The downloaded proxy configuration script is invalid
The proxy script could not be downloaded
There was an error executing the proxy configuration script

4. I enabled View Hidden Files with Konqueror, and navigated to /home/knoppix/kde/share/config/, then I saw two files with the name of knotify (knotify.eventsrc and knotifyrc); I opened knotify.eventsrc in kwrite, and it did not seem to have any "true" or "false" values, so I opened knotifyrc in kwrite, and it did; so, I proceeded to change all the values to true, then saved the file

5. Opened XMMS from a konsole window - immediately after openeing XMMS, everything became very choppy - my typing in vim even became lagged, and the mouse movement was lagging as well. I did a little trouble-shooting and discovered that the reason everything began to lag is because of the 26 kernel being loaded (I loaded knoppix with the 24 kernel, and made the same changes to knotifyrc, ran xmms, and no lagging) - I also tried running xmms under 24 without making any changes to knotifyrc, and it still did not lag. I have not tried running xmms under 26 without modifying knotifyrc, but since the first time I ran xmms was under the condition of changing knotifyrc, I'm assuming it's not because I modified knotifyrc, but because of the 26 kernel)
At the end of the XMMS session, this error message was in the konsole window I initiated it from: ** WARNING **: oss_open(): Failed to open audio device (/dev/dsp): No such device

5b. I went to XMMS' options, and looked for the aRts output plugin, but did not find it

5c. I navigated to http://www.knoppix.net/forum/viewtopic.php?t=14977, and read it; after doing so, I initiated a apt-update under kpackage (first doing a passwd at the # propmpt - took a little searching :))

5d. The result of the apt-get update is the following:

t-get update;echo RESULT=$?
Hit http://debian.isg.ee.ethz.ch woody/madwifi Packages
Ign http://debian.isg.ee.ethz.ch woody/madwifi Release
Hit http://debian.isg.ee.ethz.ch woody/madwifi Sources
Ign http://debian.isg.ee.ethz.ch woody/madwifi Release
Err http://security.debian.org stable/updates/main Packages
Could not open file /var/lib/apt/lists/partial/security.debian.org_dists_stable_updates_main_bina ry-i386_Packages - open (30 Read-only file system)
Err http://ftp.de.debian.org stable/main Packages
Could not open file /var/lib/apt/lists/partial/ftp.de.debian.org_pub_debian_dists_stable_main_bin ary-i386_Packages - open (30 Read-only file system)
Ign http://security.debian.org stable/updates/main Release
Ign http://ftp.de.debian.org stable/main Release
Err http://security.debian.org stable/updates/contrib Packages
Could not open file /var/lib/apt/lists/partial/security.debian.org_dists_stable_updates_contrib_b inary-i386_Packages - open (30 Read-only file system)
Err http://ftp.de.debian.org stable/contrib Packages
Could not open file /var/lib/apt/lists/partial/ftp.de.debian.org_pub_debian_dists_stable_contrib_ binary-i386_Packages - open (30 Read-only file system)
Ign http://security.debian.org stable/updates/contrib Release
Ign http://ftp.de.debian.org stable/contrib Release
Hit http://security.debian.org stable/updates/non-free Packages
Ign http://security.debian.org stable/updates/non-free Release
Err http://ftp.de.debian.org stable/non-free Packages
Could not open file /var/lib/apt/lists/partial/ftp.de.debian.org_pub_debian_dists_stable_non-free_binary-i386_Packages - open (30 Read-only file system)
Hit http://security.debian.org testing/updates/main Packages
Ign http://security.debian.org testing/updates/main Release
Ign http://ftp.de.debian.org stable/non-free Release
Hit http://security.debian.org testing/updates/contrib Packages
Ign http://security.debian.org testing/updates/contrib Release
Hit http://ftp.de.debian.org stable/non-US/main Packages
Hit http://ftp.de.debian.org stable/non-US/main Release
Hit http://security.debian.org testing/updates/non-free Packages
Ign http://security.debian.org testing/updates/non-free Release
Hit http://ftp.de.debian.org stable/non-US/contrib Packages
Hit http://ftp.de.debian.org stable/non-US/contrib Release
Hit http://ftp.de.debian.org stable/non-US/non-free Packages
Hit http://ftp.de.debian.org stable/non-US/non-free Release
Err http://ftp.de.debian.org stable/main Sources
Could not open file /var/lib/apt/lists/partial/ftp.de.debian.org_pub_debian_dists_stable_main_sou rce_Sources - open (30 Read-only file system)
Ign http://ftp.de.debian.org stable/main Release
Err http://ftp.de.debian.org stable/contrib Sources
Could not open file /var/lib/apt/lists/partial/ftp.de.debian.org_pub_debian_dists_stable_contrib_ source_Sources - open (30 Read-only file system)
Ign http://ftp.de.debian.org stable/contrib Release
Err http://ftp.de.debian.org stable/non-free Sources
Could not open file /var/lib/apt/lists/partial/ftp.de.debian.org_pub_debian_dists_stable_non-free_source_Sources - open (30 Read-only file system)
Ign http://ftp.de.debian.org stable/non-free Release
Hit http://ftp.de.debian.org stable/non-US/main Sources
Hit http://ftp.de.debian.org stable/non-US/main Release
Hit http://ftp.de.debian.org stable/non-US/contrib Sources
Hit http://ftp.de.debian.org stable/non-US/contrib Release
Hit http://ftp.de.debian.org stable/non-US/non-free Sources
Hit http://ftp.de.debian.org stable/non-US/non-free Release
Err http://ftp.de.debian.org testing/main Packages
Could not open file /var/lib/apt/lists/partial/ftp.de.debian.org_pub_debian_dists_testing_main_bi nary-i386_Packages - open (30 Read-only file system)
Ign http://ftp.de.debian.org testing/main Release
Err http://ftp.de.debian.org testing/contrib Packages
Could not open file /var/lib/apt/lists/partial/ftp.de.debian.org_pub_debian_dists_testing_contrib _binary-i386_Packages - open (30 Read-only file system)
Ign http://ftp.de.debian.org testing/contrib Release
Err http://ftp.de.debian.org testing/non-free Packages
Could not open file /var/lib/apt/lists/partial/ftp.de.debian.org_pub_debian_dists_testing_non-free_binary-i386_Packages - open (30 Read-only file system)
Ign http://ftp.de.debian.org testing/non-free Release
Hit http://ftp.de.debian.org testing/non-US/main Packages
Hit http://ftp.de.debian.org testing/non-US/main Release
Hit http://ftp.de.debian.org testing/non-US/contrib Packages
Hit http://ftp.de.debian.org testing/non-US/contrib Release
Hit http://ftp.de.debian.org testing/non-US/non-free Packages
Hit http://ftp.de.debian.org testing/non-US/non-free Release
Err http://ftp.de.debian.org testing/main Sources
Could not open file /var/lib/apt/lists/partial/ftp.de.debian.org_pub_debian_dists_testing_main_so urce_Sources - open (30 Read-only file system)
Ign http://ftp.de.debian.org testing/main Release
Err http://ftp.de.debian.org testing/contrib Sources
Could not open file /var/lib/apt/lists/partial/ftp.de.debian.org_pub_debian_dists_testing_contrib _source_Sources - open (30 Read-only file system)
Ign http://ftp.de.debian.org testing/contrib Release
Err http://ftp.de.debian.org testing/non-free Sources
Could not open file /var/lib/apt/lists/partial/ftp.de.debian.org_pub_debian_dists_testing_non-free_source_Sources - open (30 Read-only file system)
Ign http://ftp.de.debian.org testing/non-free Release
Hit http://ftp.de.debian.org testing/non-US/main Sources
Hit http://ftp.de.debian.org testing/non-US/main Release
Hit http://ftp.de.debian.org testing/non-US/contrib Sources
Hit http://ftp.de.debian.org testing/non-US/contrib Release
Hit http://ftp.de.debian.org testing/non-US/non-free Sources
Hit http://ftp.de.debian.org testing/non-US/non-free Release
Err http://ftp.de.debian.org unstable/main Packages
Could not open file /var/lib/apt/lists/partial/ftp.de.debian.org_debian_dists_unstable_main_binar y-i386_Packages - open (30 Read-only file system)
Ign http://ftp.de.debian.org unstable/main Release
Err http://ftp.de.debian.org unstable/contrib Packages
Could not open file /var/lib/apt/lists/partial/ftp.de.debian.org_debian_dists_unstable_contrib_bi nary-i386_Packages - open (30 Read-only file system)
Ign http://ftp.de.debian.org unstable/contrib Release
Err http://ftp.de.debian.org unstable/non-free Packages
Could not open file /var/lib/apt/lists/partial/ftp.de.debian.org_debian_dists_unstable_non-free_binary-i386_Packages - open (30 Read-only file system)
Ign http://ftp.de.debian.org unstable/non-free Release
Hit http://ftp.de.debian.org unstable/non-US/main Packages
Hit http://ftp.de.debian.org unstable/non-US/main Release
Hit http://ftp.de.debian.org unstable/non-US/contrib Packages
Hit http://ftp.de.debian.org unstable/non-US/contrib Release
Hit http://ftp.de.debian.org unstable/non-US/non-free Packages
Hit http://ftp.de.debian.org unstable/non-US/non-free Release
Err http://ftp.de.debian.org unstable/main Sources
Could not open file /var/lib/apt/lists/partial/ftp.de.debian.org_debian_dists_unstable_main_sourc e_Sources - open (30 Read-only file system)
Ign http://ftp.de.debian.org unstable/main Release
Err http://ftp.de.debian.org unstable/contrib Sources
Could not open file /var/lib/apt/lists/partial/ftp.de.debian.org_debian_dists_unstable_contrib_so urce_Sources - open (30 Read-only file system)
Ign http://ftp.de.debian.org unstable/contrib Release
Err http://ftp.de.debian.org unstable/non-free Sources
Could not open file /var/lib/apt/lists/partial/ftp.de.debian.org_debian_dists_unstable_non-free_source_Sources - open (30 Read-only file system)
Ign http://ftp.de.debian.org unstable/non-free Release
Hit http://ftp.de.debian.org unstable/non-US/main Sources
Hit http://ftp.de.debian.org unstable/non-US/main Release
Hit http://ftp.de.debian.org unstable/non-US/contrib Sources
Hit http://ftp.de.debian.org unstable/non-US/contrib Release
Hit http://ftp.de.debian.org unstable/non-US/non-free Sources
Hit http://ftp.de.debian.org unstable/non-US/non-free Release
Err http://ftp.de.debian.org ../project/experimental/main Packages
Could not open file /var/lib/apt/lists/partial/ftp.de.debian.org_debian_dists_.._project_experime ntal_main_binary-i386_Packages - open (30 Read-only file system)
Ign http://ftp.de.debian.org ../project/experimental/main Release
Err http://ftp.de.debian.org ../project/experimental/contrib Packages
Could not open file /var/lib/apt/lists/partial/ftp.de.debian.org_debian_dists_.._project_experime ntal_contrib_binary-i386_Packages - open (30 Read-only file system)
Ign http://ftp.de.debian.org ../project/experimental/contrib Release
Err http://ftp.de.debian.org ../project/experimental/non-free Packages
Could not open file /var/lib/apt/lists/partial/ftp.de.debian.org_debian_dists_.._project_experime ntal_non-free_binary-i386_Packages - open (30 Read-only file system)
Ign http://ftp.de.debian.org ../project/experimental/non-free Release
Err http://ftp.de.debian.org ../project/experimental/main Sources
Could not open file /var/lib/apt/lists/partial/ftp.de.debian.org_debian_dists_.._project_experime ntal_main_source_Sources - open (30 Read-only file system)
Ign http://ftp.de.debian.org ../project/experimental/main Release
Hit http://ftp.de.debian.org ../project/experimental/contrib Sources
Ign http://ftp.de.debian.org ../project/experimental/contrib Release
Err http://ftp.de.debian.org ../project/experimental/non-free Sources
Could not open file /var/lib/apt/lists/partial/ftp.de.debian.org_debian_dists_.._project_experime ntal_non-free_source_Sources - open (30 Read-only file system)
Ign http://ftp.de.debian.org ../project/experimental/non-free Release
Failed to fetch http://security.debian.org/dists/stable/updates/main/binary-i386/Packages.gz Could not open file /var/lib/apt/lists/partial/security.debian.org_dists_stable_updates_main_bina ry-i386_Packages - open (30 Read-only file system)
Failed to fetch http://security.debian.org/dists/stable/updates/contrib/binary-i386/Packages.gz Could not open file /var/lib/apt/lists/partial/security.debian.org_dists_stable_updates_contrib_b inary-i386_Packages - open (30 Read-only file system)
Failed to fetch http://ftp.de.debian.org/pub/debian/dists/stable/main/binary-i386/Packages.gz Could not open file /var/lib/apt/lists/partial/ftp.de.debian.org_pub_debian_dists_stable_main_bin ary-i386_Packages - open (30 Read-only file system)
Failed to fetch http://ftp.de.debian.org/pub/debian/dists/stable/contrib/binary-i386/Packages.gz Could not open file /var/lib/apt/lists/partial/ftp.de.debian.org_pub_debian_dists_stable_contrib_ binary-i386_Packages - open (30 Read-only file system)
Failed to fetch http://ftp.de.debian.org/pub/debian/dists/stable/non-free/binary-i386/Packages.gz Could not open file /var/lib/apt/lists/partial/ftp.de.debian.org_pub_debian_dists_stable_non-free_binary-i386_Packages - open (30 Read-only file system)
Failed to fetch http://ftp.de.debian.org/pub/debian/dists/stable/main/source/Sources.gz Could not open file /var/lib/apt/lists/partial/ftp.de.debian.org_pub_debian_dists_stable_main_sou rce_Sources - open (30 Read-only file system)
Failed to fetch http://ftp.de.debian.org/pub/debian/dists/stable/contrib/source/Sources.gz Could not open file /var/lib/apt/lists/partial/ftp.de.debian.org_pub_debian_dists_stable_contrib_ source_Sources - open (30 Read-only file system)
Failed to fetch http://ftp.de.debian.org/pub/debian/dists/stable/non-free/source/Sources.gz Could not open file /var/lib/apt/lists/partial/ftp.de.debian.org_pub_debian_dists_stable_non-free_source_Sources - open (30 Read-only file system)
Failed to fetch http://ftp.de.debian.org/pub/debian/dists/testing/main/binary-i386/Packages.gz Could not open file /var/lib/apt/lists/partial/ftp.de.debian.org_pub_debian_dists_testing_main_bi nary-i386_Packages - open (30 Read-only file system)
Failed to fetch http://ftp.de.debian.org/pub/debian/dists/testing/contrib/binary-i386/Packages.gz Could not open file /var/lib/apt/lists/partial/ftp.de.debian.org_pub_debian_dists_testing_contrib _binary-i386_Packages - open (30 Read-only file system)
Failed to fetch http://ftp.de.debian.org/pub/debian/dists/testing/non-free/binary-i386/Packages.gz Could not open file /var/lib/apt/lists/partial/ftp.de.debian.org_pub_debian_dists_testing_non-free_binary-i386_Packages - open (30 Read-only file system)
Failed to fetch http://ftp.de.debian.org/pub/debian/dists/testing/main/source/Sources.gz Could not open file /var/lib/apt/lists/partial/ftp.de.debian.org_pub_debian_dists_testing_main_so urce_Sources - open (30 Read-only file system)
Failed to fetch http://ftp.de.debian.org/pub/debian/dists/testing/contrib/source/Sources.gz Could not open file /var/lib/apt/lists/partial/ftp.de.debian.org_pub_debian_dists_testing_contrib _source_Sources - open (30 Read-only file system)
Failed to fetch http://ftp.de.debian.org/pub/debian/dists/testing/non-free/source/Sources.gz Could not open file /var/lib/apt/lists/partial/ftp.de.debian.org_pub_debian_dists_testing_non-free_source_Sources - open (30 Read-only file system)
Failed to fetch http://ftp.de.debian.org/debian/dists/unstable/main/binary-i386/Packages.gz Could not open file /var/lib/apt/lists/partial/ftp.de.debian.org_debian_dists_unstable_main_binar y-i386_Packages - open (30 Read-only file system)
Failed to fetch http://ftp.de.debian.org/debian/dists/unstable/contrib/binary-i386/Packages.gz Could not open file /var/lib/apt/lists/partial/ftp.de.debian.org_debian_dists_unstable_contrib_bi nary-i386_Packages - open (30 Read-only file system)
Failed to fetch http://ftp.de.debian.org/debian/dists/unstable/non-free/binary-i386/Packages.gz Could not open file /var/lib/apt/lists/partial/ftp.de.debian.org_debian_dists_unstable_non-free_binary-i386_Packages - open (30 Read-only file system)
Failed to fetch http://ftp.de.debian.org/debian/dists/unstable/main/source/Sources.gz Could not open file /var/lib/apt/lists/partial/ftp.de.debian.org_debian_dists_unstable_main_sourc e_Sources - open (30 Read-only file system)
Failed to fetch http://ftp.de.debian.org/debian/dists/unstable/contrib/source/Sources.gz Could not open file /var/lib/apt/lists/partial/ftp.de.debian.org_debian_dists_unstable_contrib_so urce_Sources - open (30 Read-only file system)
Failed to fetch http://ftp.de.debian.org/debian/dists/unstable/non-free/source/Sources.gz Could not open file /var/lib/apt/lists/partial/ftp.de.debian.org_debian_dists_unstable_non-free_source_Sources - open (30 Read-only file system)
Failed to fetch http://ftp.de.debian.org/debian/dists/../project/experimental/main/binary-i386/Packages.gz Could not open file /var/lib/apt/lists/partial/ftp.de.debian.org_debian_dists_.._project_experime ntal_main_binary-i386_Packages - open (30 Read-only file system)
Failed to fetch http://ftp.de.debian.org/debian/dists/../project/experimental/contrib/binary-i386/Packages.gz Could not open file /var/lib/apt/lists/partial/ftp.de.debian.org_debian_dists_.._project_experime ntal_contrib_binary-i386_Packages - open (30 Read-only file system)
Failed to fetch http://ftp.de.debian.org/debian/dists/../project/experimental/non-free/binary-i386/Packages.gz Could not open file /var/lib/apt/lists/partial/ftp.de.debian.org_debian_dists_.._project_experime ntal_non-free_binary-i386_Packages - open (30 Read-only file system)
Failed to fetch http://ftp.de.debian.org/debian/dists/../project/experimental/main/source/Sources.gz Could not open file /var/lib/apt/lists/partial/ftp.de.debian.org_debian_dists_.._project_experime ntal_main_source_Sources - open (30 Read-only file system)
Failed to fetch http://ftp.de.debian.org/debian/dists/../project/experimental/non-free/source/Sources.gz Could not open file /var/lib/apt/lists/partial/ftp.de.debian.org_debian_dists_.._project_experime ntal_non-free_source_Sources - open (30 Read-only file system)
W: Not using locking for read only lock file /var/lib/apt/lists/lock
W: Not using locking for read only lock file /var/lib/dpkg/lock
E: Unable to write to /var/cache/apt/
E: The package lists or status file could not be parsed or opened.
RESULT=100

(sorry that is so long)

6. I tried opening the sample sound shutdown.ogg - and got the same error message as in #1

So, now I am stuck; I have not installed knoppix to my hd yet, and maybe that is the problem - I don't know. If you know of any place where you can download the aRts plugin manually (even if it has to be compiled first), I can prob. figure it out.

Thanks again for your assistance.

[CrashedAgain]

I thought I had replied to this earlier but maybe it didn't post.
I hadn't realised you were not installed to HD. You cannot apt-get install anything (except with 'klik') when running from the CD as the CD is read only. You will have to install to HD...

[wwnd]

ok thanks. I'm just going to wait and purchase a linux gui os then, and install that. I'll just use knoppix for the purpose of familiarizing myself with the basics and such. Thanks again for all your help.

[CrashedAgain]

Knoppix (or preferably Kanotix, it seems to has fewer bugs) makes as good a gui linux basis HDinstall as any. Other alternative I have tried is Mandrake but it is not as easy to maintain after it is installed since it is RPM based not Debian based.

[wwnd]

Thanks Crashed, I will definitely check out Kanotix. Again, I really appreciate your help in this whole thing. I look forward to learning about linux; seems like a very stable os compared to windows. Thanks again :)