hal pmount issue?

[ZIYAD A. M. AL-BATLY]

On Wed, 2005-12-28 at 11:15 -0500, Matt Egger wrote:
> Hello,
> 
> I'm not sure if this is a hal or pmount issue, but I've not been able
> to use usb removable drives as any user other than the first user
> created during breezy install.  Specifically, I'd like my GF to be
> able to use gtkpod with her ipod.  It worked under warty... 
> 
> The ipod shows up as belonging to user 99 (non-existant, as far as I
> can tell) or the first user created during the breezy install (my
> account).  My GF has read only access.  After searching the web and
> the forums, this seems like it might be an ubuntu issue/bug.  I know
> I'm not the only one with this problem, but I haven't been able to
> find a solution.  One suggestion was to add an entry to /etc/fstab
> using the device's UUID, but as far as I can tell, the ipod doesn't
> have one. 
> 
> I'd really like to be able to plug in the ipod, have it automount
> to /media/ipod (or some other persistant mount point), appear on the
> desktop, and have rw permissions under her account.  I think this is
> reasonable, considering I was able to do it before a new install of
> breezy.  If anyone has a solution to this problem, sharing it would be
> greatly appreciated.  Is this a Known Issue or a bug? 
> 
> TIA,
> 
> Matt
You need to be in the ‘plugdev’ group in order to access any hot-plug
device.  From the ‘pmount’ manual:
        *Important note for Debian*:  The permission to execute pmount
        is restricted to members of the system group plugdev.  Please
        add all desktop users who shall be able to use pmount to this
        group by executing:
                adduser user plugdev
        (as root).

So, add any user you want him/her to access hot-plugged devices to the
group ‘plugdev’ using:  ‘sudo adduser NAME plugdev’ (where ‘NAME’ is the
login name for that user).  By default, the first user you create during
the installation is added automatically to that group.

Give it a try and see what happens.
Ziyad.