[Xastir] Error opening interface 0 Hard Fail

[Lee Bengston]

On Mon, Feb 27, 2012 at 7:12 PM, Curt, WE7U <curt.we7u at gmail.com> wrote:
> On Mon, 27 Feb 2012, Curt, WE7U wrote:
>
>> On Mon, 27 Feb 2012, Mike Swiatkowski, AA9VI wrote:
>>
>>> What causes "Interface Error! Error opening interface 0 Hard Fail"?
>>
>>
>> As root:
>>
>>   chmod 4755 /usr/local/bin/xastir
>>
>> That gives Xastir SUID Root privileges when opening/closing/manipulating
>> ports.  Xastir code is smart enough to drop those privileges the rest of the
>> time, and only invoke them when doing the mentioned operations.
>
>
> Darn it.  Tom pointed out me that you've already tried that.  I missed that
> on my first read.
>
> You're putting in /dev/ttyD0 in the Xastir box right?
>
> If Minicom can open it, Xastir with 4755 permissions should be able to.

I have a vague memory of Debian Squeeze being stubborn about serial
port permissions as long as the user was not a member of the group
'dialout'.  As root, issue the following command to add your username
to the group, dialout.

  usermod -G dialout username

where 'username' is the username that starts Xastir.

You can see what group(s) of which your username is a member by
issuing the command below (not as root)

  id -a

The above will verify if your user is a member of 'dialout' or not.

The fact that your other methods didn't work is puzzling, though - I
know I have been able to take the insecure way out for something quick
and dirty and change the permissions of /dev/ttyX0 to '777' and see
things work.

Hope this helps.

Lee - K5DAT