pindakoe

/etc/X11/xorg.conf should indeed specify the 'nvidia' module, but that will only work if it actually exists. I suggest you use Xfdrake to install the correct Nvidia driver (97xx as adamw said). This will also pull in some other dependcies (dkms, nvidia-dkms, possibly gcc) and then generate the new nvidia module(if it fails then rebooting or restarting dkms will accomplish that). There are some other pitfalls along the way but nothing unsolvable.

Setting up servers safely will require more understanding of Linux than the entry level you indicate to be at. On the other hand, one learns best by doing. One starting point for basic installations is here. The major shortcoming of that text is that it doesnt spend time on how to secure your services on that system. You can use the Mandriva Control Center for some of the configuration details, but at some time you will need to dive into how stuff really works. I have learnd mostly from these 3 sources: Manual pages (man command) Reading configuration files for package somewhere in /etc/name-of-server Google In terms of software: everybody will have his/her own preferences for webserving, ftp etc. I use boa (a small webserver), but Apache has no doubt many more options (also to shoot yourself in the foot). I have used Proftp in the past (before replacing Ftp by samba for my local net file sharing needs), but again there are several other options with Mandriva. The only other advise I can give is to start small, i.e. one service at the time. Get that working fully before installing the next one.

Separate home partition: Linux has a different approach to partitions and drives than say Windows. One hand it allows you to combine multiple physical drives & partitions into one file-system, but on the other hand it allows you to split its filesystem over as many partitions as you want. The reasons for this are historical (when harddisk space was scarce) and come from the time Linux was used for (in those times) big multi-user setups. They are mostly not so relevant for standard desktop usage, but if you want some background read here (better articles exist, but I cannot find something quickly). What is recommended even for desktop use by one user is to put all user data (/home and directories below) on a separate partition. In this way, you can reinstall your base-linux system (if all fails) without touching all personal data (personal settings as well as documents). Thus you will keep your email etc. One way of checking whether this may or may not be the case is to open a terminal and type the command 'df' (without quotes). This should give something like: /dev/hda1 5.7G 3.0G 2.5G 55% / /dev/hda6 31G 18G 13G 59% /home none 252M 16K 252M 1% /tmp This shows that I have 3 filesystems, of which the first two live on different partitions (hda1 and hda6 respectively). It is possible to restructure your system to accomplish this, but it is much easier to backup keyfiles (or everything under /home/sister) and re-install.

Thanks a bunch -- I figured stuff out the hard way (by editing the file referenced by the gfxmeny command in grub's menu.lst). The commands to do this (for a file called 'gfxmenu', like the one located in /boot) are: cd work # Go to an empty directory cpio -i < gfxmenu # Unpack all files from mandriva default GRUB splash ... # Commands to modify and/or replace the graphic file ls . |cpio -o > ../newsplash # Create a new archive ... # copy file back to /boot and adapt /boot/grub/menu.lst accordingly (gfxmenu expects its input in n an CPIO archive) The only info I have been able to find on gfxmenu (some Suse forums) was that the image should be 800x600 and 'not too big'.

Good experiences with -14 as it solved an USB problem (which was consistenly hanging my machine if disconnecting any type of USB device). However, the fact that something was fixed, means something was chanegd. Would these devices be USB by any chance? I wouldn't know how to help you further if the answer is yes or no, but it may be a start...

I would simply copy /etc and its descendants. Is approx 50 Mbyte on my system and contains the vast majority of configuration info. If you use grub: /boot/grub/menu.lst and any splash-screens defined in it.

Samba does not really manage printers, but relies on CUPS. SAMBA provides some additional options/control over a CUPS printer server, but in principle you can equally well share a printer using CUPS only. You can look at your CUPS server setup via the mandriva control center, or edit /etc/cups/cupsd.conf (or one of the other configuration files insame directory for certain special cases). You can track progress of your server via your browser (http://127.0.0.1:631).

There are numerous reasons why Windows cannot see your Linux PC. Some stuff to check: Does your winPC know the name of your Linux PC or are you adressing it by IP. Try with command 'ping linuxname' to see whether it knows the name it all. Your (Windows) firewall should let info from my (Linux) server pass, or else will not display whatever the server is sending. Again make sure that you define your linux server in such a way that Windows knows it, i.e. name only if you have defined a mapping from that name to an ip address (c:\windows\hosts or running a DNS or having the Linux box setup with a proper fully qualified domain n ame). Your linux firewall should give your Windows host (by IP or name) access on some ports. MCC can do this for you: security, firewall and then select Windows file sharing (SMB). Look in /var/log/messages to see whether info is rejected. (Also) Samba needs to define which hosts can access it, either by IP or name. Check the file /etc/samba/smb.conf for a line starting with 'hosts allow'. If this only lists 127.0.0.1 then only the server itself can access the Samba shares. Check /var/log/samba for logfiles with the name or ip adresss of your windows pc and read them.

i686 stands for the direct successor of the pentium (I): Pentium Pro. This has some additions versus the Pentium I, meaning it is somewhat faster at same clock speed. Wikipedia has details. It was primarily aimed at fast workstations & servers, so never much used at home. The next generation for mass market was Pentium II, then III, 4 etc. Here are again diffeernces (introduction of MMX, then SSe, SSE2, SSE3 but these are not so relevant for kernels (but for some applciations).

Have a look at rsnapshot if you want quick backups with minimal space consumption whilst presenting the backups as full (uses hard links if file was unchanged). You define what you want to back and can define a (long) list of includes/excludes to handle exceptions. I let rsnapshot run each day -- adds maybe 10-20 Mb per day. Once a week or so this gets transported to an USB harddisk (should the PC stop or so). Dirvish is another type of software for similar purposes (no experience)

I just lost sound for all apps. Starting a mixer applet (be it Xfce's, gnome-volume-control or gnome-alsamixer) results in errors (No volume control GStreamer plugins and/or devices found"). Aumix-text says 'error opening mixer'. I am reasonably sure that this happened after installing yesterday's updates, which included a.o. an upgrade of gnome-media (link). Anybody with suggestions for further analysis and/or resolution of this problem? I also note that tehre is no file /dev/dsp

If cleaning does not give enough free space, you could download a liveCD with gparted (which allows you to shrink/move/cerate/resize etc partitions) and then let hda1 grow at expense of /hda6. I use SystemRescueCd. There is a (very small) chance of data loss if the resizing does not finish succesfully.

Upgrade to kernel 2.6.17-14mdv. A fix for this came out today, see todays security advisories. Solved it for me (HP LJ1010, but also an USB-external HDD)

The '#' means this line is a comment; in my xorg.conf this line is not commented out. The following command allows you to check whether 3D acceleration is running: glxinfo | grep render This should return a.o. the following line "direct rendering: Yes". If 'No' then you are not running 3d-aceleration. Also check that you actually use the nvidia driver (there should be a line Driver "nvidia" in the xorg.conf file).

Scarecrow, what did you do to get this high FPS? I also have an FX5200, run the '9755' driver and have verified that 3D acceleration is actually running (glxinfo | grep ren shows Direct Rendering = yes), but all I get is ~250 FPS (in window) or ~110 FPS (maximised window). Not an issue is I have very little that requires fast 3D, but still curious.

Same here, rpmdrake-3.62-1mdv2007.1.i586.rpm (from testing) solves the issue. Thanks adam (as usual).

I would use a livecd to find out (1) how many partitions you have and what is on them and (2) check with what is in /boot/grub/menu.lst. You may need to search a bit to find it, but in the pprocess you will understand what is where. Bring the two in sync and all should boot...

Just got a WD Passport 60GB myself. Mine was (by default I guess) set up as one big FAT32 partition. I repartitioned it to my liking with diskdrake (and probably will do that a few more times until I have got it best setup for all things I want it for), but can confirm it works fine out of the box. I have shrunk this to one small FAT32 and one big ext3 using diskdrake. Works a charm; mount-points are automatically created when I am logged in XFCE. From console I (obviously) need to mount the partition(s) on the USB drive myself.

You are sure you use lilo to handle your booting (I see a directory called grub)?

It can be done without re-installing, but that wil require some (serious) repartitioning with gparted. If terms like partitions, MBR and FDISK giev you the creeps, don't try it. If you are up for a challenge (and have backuped important data to another medium), then download a liveCD containg this jewel (for instance here, but also System Rescue CD). Expect it to take hours, so only try this if re-installing is too cumbersome (because of tweaks/settins etc). The general process is as follows: Shutdown PC clean and boot from LiveCD Shrink your Linux partition to the minimum (check with df how much is needed). It pays off to clean your PC off any files you do not want to keep (thumbnails, browsercaches, /tmp, /var/tmp, obsolete downloads etc). Move the Linux partition out of the way to the back of the hard disc Create a new (physical) partition Possibly change the partition type from your existing Linux partition to extended (which may require creating a new extended partition and then a logical partition in it followed by copying your old Linux partition onto the newly created logical partition). I am no guru on partitioning, but seem to recall that one can have at most one primary partition active. Don't know whether this is Dos, Windows or higher level limit. Zapping any unused partition Distribute free space over Windows & Linux partition -- move Linux so that is adjacent to Windows Install Windows Restore Grub (or Lilo) For reference: I 'simplified' my Linux partitioning (merged /, /boot, /var and /usr, followed by space redistribution over /, /home and swap). This took two sessions of 3 hours on a 40 GB disc which was at best 50% full. Quite some time was 'lost' because I wasn't clear on how to create free space to move stuff to -- it is like one of those puzzles with one locomotive, a set of railcars and soem junctions where the loc needs to be moved from front to back without being taken off the rails). I did not have the complications o Windows install overwriting the MBR

Hear, Hear -- I so far resisted teh temptation to install cooker(s) as I do not have a free system nor the time to correct if something breaks. This at least exposes what is coming and happening.

Kieth -- the output of glxinfo | grep direct shows that you do not have accelerated 3D and OpenGL support, most likely because you use the generic driver and not the hardware specific driver from Nvidia or ATI (or whatever chipset your card uses). If you know the card you have (you can also look it up in the control center under hardware), then you can probably install support via software management -- look for packages with ATI or NVIDIA in their name, for instance dkms-nvidia-8774-4plf2007.0. The process is a bit convoluted, but we can walk you through it. An alternative approach to getting an nvidia driver installed is listed here -- less automated, needs to be redone with every kernel update, but more robust than dkms in my opinion.

Partioning Linux can be done in many different ways. The simplest (for desktop/home) use is to stick to just three: / --> will also contain /usr, /var. Give it 5 Gb unless you want to install huge amounts of programs swap --> with that much RAM you won't need much. GMake this 512 Mb -- 1 Gb /home -- all user data Advantage of separating out userdata is that you can re-install (even re-partition) and leave all user data intact. Server system benefit from separating out at least /var, but maybe more partitions.

A problem which I encountered is that your laptop needs to allow communication from the server to pass through its firewall. Without this, your laptop will send a request to the server for info what to display in (for instance Network Neighbourhood), but rejects the response from the (Samba) server. I have added the server to the 'trusted' zone of my Windows (98) PC that runs ZoneAlarm as firewall. Secondly are you sure that your laptop has actually got one of the IP addresses you indicate? I tend to allow 192.168.1 (i.e. all addresses my router hands out) or set the router such that it assigns always the same IP to the same hardware (I know once can do this smarter, but I haven't gotten that far). Both problems can be tested/verified with pinging -- also check your logs on both machines to see what communication arrives.

Or if you are a console jockey: bittorrent-console or bittorrent-curses (full screen, uses ncurses to create a semigraphic impression).