Please note that unpacking the MAKEDEV-&makedev-version;.bz2 file doesn't create a directory for you to cd into, as the file contains one shell script. Install the MAKEDEV script: cp MAKEDEV-&makedev-version; /dev/MAKEDEV Prepare the script for execution: cd /dev && chmod 754 MAKEDEV Run the script to create the device files: ./MAKEDEV -v generic If a device you need is missing, try running ./MAKEDEV -v <device>. Alternatively, you may create devices via the mknod program. Please refer to the man and info pages of mknod if you need more information. If you intend to use devpts, pass the generic-nopty option to MAKEDEV. This creates the same devices as generic, but it skips the creation of pty devices so that devpts can manage them itself. MAKEDEV will create devices ranging from hda[1-20] to hdh[1-20] and beyond, but keep in mind that you probably won't be able to use all of these due to kernel limits on the maximum number of partitions.