congdonb

Paul, Just an idea........... You did not say which version of the installer you trying?? I have seen issues where the Free versions do not detect all hardware properly and sometimes either switching to one of the Mandriva One versions or the Power Pack version will.

Adam, Thank you for the update!

Looks like arctic and I were replying at the same time. I am slower and longer winded. Ashley, Not too tall of an order :) There are several ways to get where you want to go.............. With the below I am assuming that you installed Sabayon after WindowsXP was already installed on either the same hard drive or another and that your boot manager is installed in place of WindowsXP boot loader on your primary disk. If not adjust accordingly! As always, back up any important data 1st! 1. Boot and login to Windows XP with an Administrative level account. 2. Access the Control Panel > Administartive Tools > Computer Management. 3. Select Disk Management under the Storage in the left pane. 4. In the right pane right click on and then select delete for the partition(s) on the drive(s) that you installed Sabayon to. This will completely remove Sabayon Linux. 5. If you intend to install Mandriva 2007 to the same partition that Windows XP is currently installed then you will want to defragment that drive before installing Mandriva. To do this: select Disk Defragmenter under the Storage in the left pane and defragment your WindowsXP drive. If you do not want to install Mandriva to the same partition that WindowsXP is installed (maybe you want to install it to the same drive(s) and partition(s) that you installed Sabay to?? just skip this step and continue. 6. Choices here as to whether to remove the existing boot loader and reinstall the original WindowsXP boot loader temporarily or to just start with Mandriva installer which will install a bootloader? If you know where you installed the boot loader when installing Sabayon you can just reboot your computer now with Mandriva 2007 install disk and when prompted later configure your drive(s) and partition(s) as desired and then copy the boot loader to the same place to overwrite it. Alternatively, you can boot off of your WindowsXP installation disk and go into rescue mode and run the fixboot command which will restore your original WindowsXP boot loader. You can test this afterwards by restarting your computer which should go automatically into WindowsXP without a boot loader menu. 7. Boot off of Mandriva 2007 install media to start Mandriva install. If you understand what drive(s) and partitions that you installed Sabayon to, you can skip all of the above and just boot off the Mandriva 2007 install media and when prompted do a custom partition setup and remove and reconfigure the drive(s) and partition(s) where Sabayon was installed and setup as desired for the Mandriva Linux install and select where to install the boot loader. With this option Windows partitions will be identified in blue with the partition manager so you will not mess with your WindowsXP install so do not delete those! Manyideas here as to custom disk setup. As a general rule I do the following if drive space permits: / (root partition) 10 GB; /usr (partition) 14GB; /var (partition) 10GB; /tmp 1GB; SWAP partition 2 times real memory installed; /home as large as possible after the previous partitions are setup. All my sizes can be adjusted to your needs. My setup is somewhat extreme and you can get by with just a / (root); SWAP: and a ;/home so if you are not comfortable with the custom partition stuff you can just use the custom tools to remove the old drive(s) and partition(s) where Sabayon was installed and then go back if possible or restart the Mandriva 2007 install media and select to install Mandriva on available drive space which will automatically adjust Mandriva install for whatever space it finds available. Welcome Aboard, -Bill

I use them both so I can assist others who use either. You can make either do most everything a normal person would want. Hey, but we are not all normal so I guess that is why this issue starts so many flame wars :) If I had to lean one way or the other I would go Gnome for the simple design like Tyme mentioned. Cheers, -Bill

Mauro, Playing with cooker can sometimes be bothersome. I am not sure that any forum can help you with this type of problem as noone can duplicate your specific install as we do not know what parts of cooker you have installed and which packages versions are being used etc. I sure hope you are not using your computer for anything critical! With so many problems at the same time I am sure there is no easy fix to get you back to where you would like to be. Sounds like at a minimum you have a mismatch on the kernel and video driver which is causing X to have issues. May want to try reverting back to a generic driver to get that going again. Long time ago I had similar problems when playing with cooker and the only real fix was to reinstall the base distribution again. Short of a full fresh reinstall, you may want to reinstall Mandriva 2007 and try the upgrade option. I have never tried such an experiment with a cooker install however, and I am not sure what you will get as many installed packages may be newer than the installing versions. Maybe someone else may have a few ideas for you to try? -Bill

I agree with Rob......... I know a lot of people that switch Linux distributions every time something does not just work with a new version that worked before. I have tried several Linux distributions and Mandriva is no better and no worse than the other big distributions. I also agree that getting Linux preinstalled on computer hardware in a big way will make some Linux distribution very relevant. -Bill

After download, did you verify the MD5 checksum of the .iso file to determine all is well? If not you should do that. Nero will work fine, but you need to use the feature of Nero to burn iso image to disk. You can not just burn the .iso file to the CD as a data file.

Tyme is right. After reading all the other forums, my understanding is that the recent Mandriva 2007 One Metisse Gnome CD is a quick to release not much if at all tested release put out there to get feedback as they plan to have Metisse available in the upcoming Mandriva 2007 Spring release.

67GTA, Welcome to Mandriva Linux. I may be a bit late and I know you have made it through some of the below info to get as far as you have but, the resources listed below may be helpful to you. This is my own compilation of most of the good free Mandriva Linux related documentation. Even though some are a bit dated, they are still mostly relavent to Mandriva 2007: 1. http://easylinux.info/wiki/Mandriva Unofficial Mandriva Linux Starter's Guide 2. http://www.pdr60.com/index.php Check out PDR60's How To's covering install and configuration. 3. http://www.mandrake.tips.4.free.fr/review2006.html Be sure to read all 3 parts of aRTee's review of Mandriva 2006 covering install and many applications. 4. http://www.mandriva.com/en/community/resources/documentation Latest Mandriva Documentation published free to Community is for Mandriva 10.1 5. http://mdv.vmlinuz.ca/index.php/Home Mandriva Wiki 6. http://planetmandriva.zarb.org/ Catch a good Mandriva tidbit now and again here Smile Follow the information in the links above to configure your sources from http://easyurpmi.zarb.org and the install of rpm software packages is easy via a console or through Mandriva's RPMdrake GUI as AussieJohn mentions. Also be sure to see the below non Mandriva specific Linux resources: 1. http://rute.2038bug.com/index.html.gz Rute Users Tutorial and Exposition. 2. http://www.tuxmagazine.com/ TUX Linux Magazine Be sure to look at back issues which may have an article on a software program you may want to use. 3. http://tldp.org/tldp-redirect.php The Linux Documentation Project. Hang in there and do a lot of reading as switching to Linux will take a little time, but you may find it is worth the effort. When you get stuck with a problem, do some research for the answer 1st, and then ask for assistance in these forums. Be sure to read all the forum announcements and guidance on how to post questions and you often may get a quicker and better response. A forum topic request like "Please Help" may not get as much attention as maybe "What is the Mandriva equivalent to Windows Control Panel? Cheers, -Bill

Null, Per the Quake 4 box, the minimum requirements to run under Windows are as follows: Intel Pentium 4 2.0Ghz or AMD Athlon XP 2000+ processor or higher 512MB RAM English version of Microsoft Windows 2000/XP 100% DirectX 9.0c compatible 64MB 3D Hardware Accelerator video card 8X Speed CD-ROM drive with latest drivers 2.8GB of uncompressed free hard drive space (plus 400MB for Windows swap file) 100% DirectX9.0c compatible 16-bit sound card with latest drivers 100% Windows 2000/XP compatible mouse, keyboard with latest drivers DirectX 9.0c included -Bill

I think that $99 for at best a used PIII 450MHz with 10GB hard drive and 256MB of RAM is too much money! You can get a brand new Dell for $299 (includes 2.5 Ghz Celeron, 80GB hard drive, 256MB RAM, CD burner DVD player, 17 inch Flat Panel, 10/100 NIC, 1 Yr Warranty, etc.) and if you can build your own from parts you can find better deals than that. (Not a Dell sales pitch just one vendor I saw an ad for and just checked their web site.) I recently purchased an old P-III 600Mhz, 15BG drive, 256MB RAM white box computer to use for Linux install test and training but I only paid $20 including monitor. See if your ISP will negotiate on that price :) -Bill

This may be a little late but, PRD60 has a good how-to on doing a first time install of Mandriva Linux 3 CD Free version including setting up for and doing updates at: http://www.linuxloader.com/ Cheers, Bill

If using KDE goto System >>Configuration>>KDE>>Components>>Session Manager and under General area at the top ensure "Offer shutdown options" is checked. You can also configure the default shutdown option there.

doody, You say your "Internet connection" disappears and then you later say your "browser disappeared". These are two totaly different things. I am assuming that your connection to the Internet is OK and it is just a case of your WEB browser closing unexpectedly?? Which WEB browser are you using and have you tried using a different WEB browser to see if it also crashes unexpectedly? When it does happen, can you then get to the Internet to check mail or do other things not using your WEB browser? I know this does not answer your hacking questions, but lets get started with resolving your initial problem............ -Bill

PDR60 has a good how-to on doing a first time install of Mandriva Linux at: http://www.linuxloader.com/ Cheers, Bill

neddie, LapLink.com has an older version V for MSDOS available for $50 which basicaly is MSDOS based boot disk that you boot each computer with to setup communication via the two computers serial or parallel ports. Cable is extra and cost $15. Use is simple: connect the cable between the two computers, boot each computer with the disk and after minimal serial port setup you get a split screen on source and target computer to move files. You can do the same thing home grown style (without the $50 laplink software) with a serial port null modem cable and a communication terminal program running on both computers and transfer files via Zmodem or other file transfer protocol. (Protocols vary depending on terminal program being used. Find a protocol that the terminal program on each computer has in common.) Process is easiest if you can compress the files to transfer into one file prior to transfer. Windows95 IIRC came with HyperTerminal. Like previously mentioned, null modem cables are cheap or you could make your own from an old cable and a few DB9 connectors. See www.nullmodem.com for more info. Once the cable is connected to each computer's serial ports, you launch the termninal program on each and set it up to communicate over the connected serial port on each at the highest connection speed both terminal programs have in common. Set the terminal program on the old Windows95 computer to transfer (send) file via zmodem or other common protocol and set the target computer's terminal program to download (receive) via the same protocol. Set the download path and stand back and wait for transfer to finish. Transfer time will depend on communication speed and amount of data to transfer. -Bill

hmhm, Upgrading to Mandriva 2006 will not change this default behavior as I have the same issue with Mandriva 2006 KDE desktop install where buttons for open tasks are not pushed in or out as you desire but text is bolded for active task item. Maybe some of the solutions previously mentioned or a desktop theme change could change this for you?? -Bill

wakish, Not a direct answer to your question, but worth checking out before you proceed with your 3 cd install: 1. http://www.pdr60.com/index.php >> Check out PRD60's How To on Building a Mandriva 2006 Desktop which covers install using 3 CD set. 2. http://www.mandrake.tips.4.free.fr/review2006.html >> Check out aRTee's 3 part review of Mandriva 2006 which covers in detail install and many applications. 3. http://easylinux.info/wiki/Mandriva >> Unofficial Mandriva Linux 2006 Starter Guide Tip: Burn your 3 CD set iso files at the slowest speed to known good name brand media disks for best results. -Bill

JC, From Section 4.6 of the Rute found at http://rute.2038bug.com/index.html.gz 4.6 Relative vs. Absolute Pathnames Commands can be given file name arguments in two ways. If you are in the same directory as the file (i.e., the file is in the current directory), then you can just enter the file name on its own (e.g., cp my_file new_file). Otherwise, you can enter the full path name, like cp /home/jack/my_file /home/jack/new_file. Very often administrators use the notation ./my_file to be clear about the distinction, for instance, cp ./my_file ./new_file. The leading ./ makes it clear that both files are relative to the current directory. File names not starting with a / are called relative path names, and otherwise, absolute path names. Your cp command placed a copy of the file myletter called rubbish in the same directory vs. making a copy of the file myletter called myletter in the rubbish folder as desired. Your description of your problem did not specify the exact location of the new rubbish directory so a specific answer can not be given and be 100% acurate, but if your rubbish directory is in the same directory that your Correspondance directory is in then Paul's recommendation above should work. Read the Rute at the above mentioned site from beginning to end and you will have a better understanding. Cheers, -Bill

null, I think $80 is too much for such a low end laptop computer. $10-$20 is about right and that is only if it has a good power adapter, and a good battery. Used good batteries are normally not available from any source for old laptops and new ones are rather expensive (about $100). Additionally, some companies have to pay the get rid of old IT equipment due to environmental rules against just throwing it in the landfills, so if you give them anything at all they are making out. If you do some research on the Gateway brand and model, BIOS, motherboard chipset, etc. you may find out what upgrade posibilities exist. BIOS on that laptop may not support 20GB hard drive that you are thinking about? Don't overlook what BIOS upgrades may be available for download from Gateway or the systemboard manuafacture. It is probably NOT cost effective to upgrade with new parts, but if you can find some used memory modules or a larger hard drive for a reasonable price it may be worth the purchase and upgrade to have a personal computer for your son, Be warned that laptops generally are not as generic as desktops when it come to parts, and you just can not always slam any old small form factor hard drive in. Double check the specs on the existing drive and the potential upgrade to ensure voltage etc. and connectors and adaptors will work. Don't forget to ask for any manuals, install media disks, carry case etc. which may also influence you decision to buy. Good Luck! -Bill

Thanks scarecrow! I had the same problem when starting a new session with a second user account where sound was not working. Adding that second user to the audio group fixed the problem. Bill

Lukasz, In addition to the info jboy provided: 1. Check your menu under "More Applications" for installed "Documentation" and check out the Mandriva Linux Starter Guide. There is a chapter in there on Package Management which should put you on your way. 2. See http://www.mandrake.tips.4.free.fr/review2006.html which reviews Mandriva 2006 install process but has a section on "Background: Linux software repositories and software installation" 3. Also see http://www.linuxloader.com/ which may help. Cheers, Bill Congdon

PRD60 has a very good how-to on doing a first time install of Mandrive Linux at: http://www.linuxloader.com/ Cheers, Bill

I know I may be a little late on this post as I just read and joined this forum today, but since nobody has answered this one.............. The latest officail Mandriva Linux documentation in PDF format to include a "Starters guide" can be found at: http://www1.mandrivalinux.com/en/fdoc.php3 Cheers, Bill