README for hal 0.5.7.1 REQUIREMENTS PRE/POST-INSTALL Create a user/group haldaemon with a unused id < 99: 'groupadd -g 82 haldaemon' 'useradd -u 82 -g haldaemon -d /var/empty -s /bin/false haldaemon' 'passwd -l haldaemon' If you wish to take advantage of the hotplug and automount-style features that apps like gnome-mount, gnome-volume-manager, or the like offer, create a 'plugdev' group and add your user to it, or change the 'plugdev' group in /usr/etc/dbus-1/system.d/hal.conf to something else and make sure your user is a member of that group. PRECAUTION