Please note that unpacking the MAKEDEV-&makedev-version;.bz2 file doesn't create a directory for you to cd into, as the file only contains a single shell script. Install the MAKEDEV script: bzcat MAKEDEV-&makedev-version;.bz2 > /dev/MAKEDEV chmod 754 /dev/MAKEDEV Run the script to create the device files: cd /dev ./MAKEDEV -v generic-nopty The meaning of the option: -v generic-nopty: The -v parameter tells the MAKEDEV script to run in verbose mode. The generic-nopty parameter instructs MAKEDEV to create a generic selection of commonly used device special files, except for the ptyXX and ttyXX range of files. We don't need those files because we are going to use Unix98 PTYs via the devpts file system. 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.