xmms only playing mp3 as root

[Tim]

On Wed, 2010-12-29 at 22:33 +0200, Johan Scheepers wrote:
> When tested xmms on mp3,  I was logged in as root.

Not a good idea.  And as well as the security/reliability issues, you
end up painting yourself into a corner.  Get out of the habit of logging
in as root.  It's rarely ever needed, other than by someone who's
previously logged in as root, keeps on doing so, and won't break the
habit.

As for failing to open the sound device:  If that's not down to a
problem you've permanently created by modifying things left right and
centre, because you've been logging in as root, then you *may* resolve
that by:  Log out as root.  Make sure all users are logged off.  Log in
normally as a normal user.  The sound device should, then, be available
to that user.

That sort of thing is/was handled by console helper, which assigns the
non-shareable hardware to the user currently logged into the console.

What's non-shareable hardware?  Things like sound, which can't play
music for one user, and play music for another user, concurrently.
Well, not without two different songs playing over the top of each other
out of the same set of speakers.  And things like *a* keyboard and *a*
mouse, which also can't be used by two different people at the same
time.

-- 
[tim at localhost ~]$ uname -r
2.6.27.25-78.2.56.fc9.i686

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