I am wanting to add an hourly chime to damnsmall I installed sox.dsl and cron30.dsl I have a chime.au file I added to /opt/bootlocal.sh...sudo /etc/init.d/cron/start I added to /home/dsl/filetool1st...etc/crontab I type in console..play /home/dsl/chime.au the chime sounds I first opened the /etc/crontab file and added 0 * * * * play /home/dsl/chime.au this did not work second I opened beaver and typed the same line and saved the file to /home/dsl and called it chimeron I then opened a console window and typed crontab /home/dsl/chimeron this created a dsl file in var/spool/cron/crontabs/dsl when I open the dsl file it shows the line and can be altered via the same process this did not work can anyone help me

beany, it might help to provide the full qualified pathname to command "play" (in the crontab entry) cheers wollie

Thanks I replaced the var/spool/cron/crontabs/dsl file with a new one with the line 0-59 * * * * /usr/bin/play /home/dsl/chime.au thinking it may chime every minute as test but it will still not chime try also removed the space- /play/home/ the filetool1st entry is etc/crontab I did not make change to the /etc/crontab but did not think I had to and did not know how to replace it with the new one if I did when I boot it lists cron as starting any other thoughts I really really want this to happen thanks for any

I use Mandriva Linux here, and I have a directory: /etc/cron.hourly Any executable script I put in this directory is executed each hour. You can create a script named perhaps chime.sh (because it will sound a chime): ------------------------- #! .bin/sh # sound a chime play /home/dsl/chime.au end ------------------------- As root, save this file as: /etc/cron.hourly/chime.sh then make it executable: chmod +x /etc/cron.hourly/chime.sh If you do not have this directory (/etc/cron.hourly), as root, save the script as: /usr/local/bin/chime.sh make it executable: chmod +x /usr/local/bin/chime.sh and set up a cron job: * 0-24 * * * /usr/local/bin/chime.sh HTH, Ernie Registered Linux User 247790 ICQ 41060744

Thankyou I would like to try this as I have a dir /etc/cron.hourly the info file for cron.dsl said that I may opt to put executables in there as long as I change the filetool entry to /etc/cron.hourly I assume this means the /home/dsl/.filetoo1st file as I put the /etc/crontab entry there however I am unclear on the creation and how to delete if it does not work in a console I could not get a editer to open so I used beaver to save a file and then in a console typed crontab file to get the var/spool/cron entry this can be removed with crontab -r can I type the script in beaver and save.. then type in a console window as root $ save /location/file /etc/cron.hourly/file.sh then proceed as mentioned? to make executable how do I delete this if it does not work safely sorry...I am new to all this and need baby talk..it is a simple function but required to make the system useful for me I do not want to mess up what I have managed after MANY hours to create many thanks for what you offered and many more for any additional assistance

well..I could not help jumping in head first I typed the script in beaver #! .bin/sh #sound a chime play /home/dsl/working/zsnd/chime.au end (this directory /working/zsnd/chime.au is for safe storage of the chime.au so it will not be lost amoung home and working files) and saved as chime.sh and suprise it saved as chime.sh I opened emlfm as a superuser and copied the file to /etc/cron.hourly in the root box below I typed chmod +x /etc/cron.hourly.sh this changed the color of the file green that indicates it is executable I changed the filetool1st entry to etc/cron.hourly there was no chime on the hour : ( when I right click the chime.sh in cron.hourly and execute...I get the following error sh: ./chime.sh: .bin/sh: bad interpreter: no such file or directory I rebooted is there a repair can I delete at will does the /etc/crontab play any part? it has default entries for daily, monthly, weekly but no hourly and I do not have a var/cron/log thanks for any

note to self...wait to post I was inspired to read some scripting info and replaced #! .bin/sh with /bin/bash the file will now execute without error I await the top of the hour.