> ok here's the ls -al /dev/pty* (this is handtyped and not the actual
> list... I have yet to get sendmail working so I'm still emailing in the
> MacOS enviroment:()
> 
> crw-rw-rw- 1 root wheel 5,      0    Apr 13   22:52       ptyp0
> crw-rw-rw- 1 root wheel 5,      1    Apr 20   23:49       ptyp1
> crw-rw-rw- 1 root wheel 5,      2    Apr 20   23:49       ptyp2
> crw-rw-rw- 1 root wheel 5,      3    Apr 20   23:50       ptyp3
> crw-rw-rw- 1 root wheel 5,      16  Apr 16   17:58       ptyq0

[snip]

> crw-rw-rw- 1 root wheel 5,      16  Apr 16   17:59       ptyqe
> crw-rw-rw- 1 root wheel 5,      16  Apr 16   17:59       ptyqf
> 
> I honestly hope this helps some.  The only thing that I notice is the
> different dates especially since they were all created on the same day.

Ah, there's the problem.  Do a:

cd /dev
./MAKEDEV pty0

It looks like yours has made one of the upper sets and not the lowermost
set (i.e. the one that is actually configured into the kernel).

Here is my listing for comparison:

crw-rw-rw-  1 root  wheel    5,   0 Apr 22 17:06 /dev/ptyp0
crw-rw-rw-  1 root  wheel    5,   1 Apr 22 17:36 /dev/ptyp1
crw-rw-rw-  1 root  wheel    5,   2 Apr 22 17:12 /dev/ptyp2
crw-rw-rw-  1 root  wheel    5,   3 Apr 22 14:11 /dev/ptyp3
crw-rw-rw-  1 root  wheel    5,   4 Apr 21 10:10 /dev/ptyp4
crw-rw-rw-  1 root  wheel    5,   5 Apr 21 10:05 /dev/ptyp5
crw-rw-rw-  1 root  wheel    5,   6 Apr 22 15:46 /dev/ptyp6
crw-rw-rw-  1 root  wheel    5,   7 Apr 21 16:21 /dev/ptyp7
crw-rw-rw-  1 root  wheel    5,   8 Apr 21 13:36 /dev/ptyp8
crw-rw-rw-  1 root  wheel    5,   9 Apr 17 17:33 /dev/ptyp9
crw-rw-rw-  1 root  wheel    5,  10 Jan 21 02:41 /dev/ptypa
crw-rw-rw-  1 root  wheel    5,  11 Jan 21 02:41 /dev/ptypb
crw-rw-rw-  1 root  wheel    5,  12 Jan 21 02:41 /dev/ptypc
crw-rw-rw-  1 root  wheel    5,  13 Jan 21 02:41 /dev/ptypd
crw-rw-rw-  1 root  wheel    5,  14 Jan 21 02:41 /dev/ptype
crw-rw-rw-  1 root  wheel    5,  15 Jan 21 02:41 /dev/ptypf

Note that the minor device numbers climb as they should.

I hope this helps some.

Later.

-- 
Colin Wood                                      ender@is.rice.edu
Consultant                                        Rice University
Information Technology Services                       Houston, TX