chris z

i agree with aRTee. i'm currently running MDK9.2 on a vintage 1998 Aptiva with an AMD 333mhz. i have the RAM maxed out at 256 megs. RAM is very affordable these days, so if you really want to get some use out of that machine, invest a few bucks to up the RAM & you should be fine running just about any of the latest versions of MDK. i run several apps at the same time, all of the time & have no degradation in performance. just don't expect to run any video/CPU intensive games or movies & such & you should be fine. Chris

2 ways to unlock the rpm data base.......... easiest method...........reboot! B) almost as easy method.......... in terminal as root, type ps -aux, hit enter, then kill any processes associated with urpmi, rpmdrake, curl, etc. as for the error you're getting.......... have you tried removing the source completely, then re-adding it, or another source? if not, try that. sometimes a source's hdlist will get corrupted & that's the easiest way to fix it. to remove the source, go to MCC->software media manager. then, highlight the source you want to get rid of, click remove, let it do it's thing, then click save. then go back to the same place, click add, choose update source, pick a mirror, click save. Chris

2 questions........... ok, 3 questions............... :D when you say control panel, are you referring to Mandrake Control Center? have you gotten all the 9.2 updates, bug fixes, etc? if not, do so. there were several things for Control Center, Drak Tools, etc. then try MCC. if you have gotten the updates & are still having the problem, try running MCC from terminal & post any error mesages you might get. to do so, open a terminal, su to root, then type mcc & hit enter. Chris

mysti.......... if you haven't got this worked out yet, you might wanna try lsof to see what is using that device & giving you the busy error. it works in MDK, but it's a generic Linux tool, so i'm guessuing it will work in Gentoo. maybe....... :unsure: in terminal, as root, do the following.......... lsof -V /dev/dsp if you get a "command not found" error, then you must first install lsof. in MDK you'd urpmi lsof, so just install it by whatever means you use in Gentoo & try the command again. once you know what's using the device, i'm sure you can take it from there. Chris

hey all........... just had thought that i need an answer for.......... in a few weeks i'll have a new computer built. i'm gonna do a fresh install of MDK9.2 on it to get me going. once the install is done & i'm up & running & i know everything works, i was planning on copying my old /home/chris directory over top of the new one i will be creating in the new install. i know all about possible user ID & permissions problems by doing this (got those covered). but....... the question of file systems just occurred to me. on the new install i'm thinking of using Resier exclusively, or a combo of ext3 & Reiser. on my current install my /home is ext2. is it possible, or will there be any problems, with copying the old /home/chris files that are currently ext2 onto a new Reiser or ext3 file system? awaiting your replies........... Chris

Adrianovaroli......... maybe we're confused, a bit. (i know i often am :P ) i'm talking about 9.2 updates. i haven't tried 10.0 yet, due to all of the bugs & such. so, i see you're point if you're talking about a 10.0 updates ISO. but, with 9.2, the updates are few & far between now, so all of those on 1 (or 2???) cd's would be nice, & so would an ISO, me thinks. Chris

i've been looking inot the same thing, to no avail. the best solution i have, is go to one of the update mirrors, dload all of the updates (hopefully you have enough drive space), burn them to CD, then make that CD one of your sources after you install. in fact, i'm gonna be doing this soon due to the fact that i'm building a new computer & i'm gonna be doing a fresh install of 9.2 on it, to start off with. i've Googled my butt off, but have yet to find an ISO of the update packages. if anybody has a better solution........ note........what i am willing to do, is.........once i get the updates downloaded, i can make an ISO out of them, if somebody wants to host it on their server. i should have this done by next weekend (the dloads & ISO that is)......... Chris

psycho-killer wrote: what's not working with urpmi? could you be more specific with your problem (any errors you're getting, description of the procedures your doing, etc.) if you can supply more info, i'm sure somebody here can help you out. Chris

thanks for all the input, to those that took the time to putin..... :lol: i've had a change of mind about the Mobo. i'm going with This Model Soyo . this was after much debate & hand wringing. it came down to the fact that Soyo at least supplies Linux drivers, as opposed to Abit which doesn't. also, if anyone cares, here's the case i've decided on. El Diablo . a bit overboard, maybe, but i think it's pretty bitchin'. so, the ordering will commence tomorrow. hopefully this beast will be up & running in 2 to 3 weeks. it all depends on how fast all the parts arrive. oh.........and no matter how many people tell me to do so, there won't be any DVD player &/or burner on this machine for now. i'm just not into it, period. B) Chris

thanks for the input folks! :D VeeDubb.......... i did have Soyo on my list for a mobo. (the list isn't 100% final, that's why i posted this) the reason i went with ABIT was a combo of price & function. for what i need & can afford, the ABIT is my front runner right now. as far as overclocking, i don't know the first thing about how to do it, nor do i even want to try. here's a link to the ABIT i'm thinking of. if you can supply a link to a comparable Soyo, i'll check it out & compare pricing. note, i'm getting some very good deals on this stuff due to the fact that my connection in the IT dept. at work is ordering most of these things for me. B) cjc...... i know DVDRom prices are becoming more affordable. but........... i still have no use for a DVD at the moment, & the old budget is the deciding factor. as i said, i'll have plenty of room for expansion for a DVD should i ever get the urge in the future. and, yes, i am going to download 10.0 when it becomes stable. maybe one of these days i'll throw money towards a Mandrake (Linux) distro, but not just yet, for several reasons that aren't relevant in this thread. to all that mention power supplies, fans, & cooling........ i am aware of the benefits of all of the above. i can't recall the power supply manufacturer right now, but i have faith in my IT guy. and for cooling.......... the case(s) that i've been looking at all have a minimum of 2 fans (power supply & an exhaust) & a few have a third side panel fan, so i'm covered there. same goes for the CPU cooling. i specified i want ample cooling but i also want QUIET. i feel secure that i'll be ok in those departments. the vid card........ again, i know there are bigger & better ones out there. and, again, budget & usage wise the GEForce4 suits my needs. i don't game, never have, never will. same goes for using my computer as a television or video/graphics editing station. i'm currently running a 5 year old ATI Rage Pro Mach64 with an 8meg cache & that does everything i need it to, so anything better than that will be a significant enough improvement for me. i'm not gonna start the ordering process until tomorrow at the earliest, next week at the latest, so any more thoughts/comments would still be appreciated. thanks again all.......... Chris

ok, i know this has been done before, but i figured i'd put this out here anyways, just to get some last minute thoughts, ideas, &/or warnings from people with more experience..... i'm finally benching the old Aptiva & building a new computer. i've done research to find as much Linux compatable hardware that i can find. not necessarily "Linux approved" "on the box" hardware, but hardware that's known play nice with Linux, regardless of the manufacturers neglect in that matter. i've asked around a bit in #musb for some advice, so after that & my own research, here's what i've come up with........... AMD Athlon XP2000+ processor, plus packaged heatsink and fan (either 1.6 or 1.8ghz) ABIT KD7A Motherboard w/ plenty of expansion slots 512MB 2700 DDR SDRAM Creative 52X CDROM (internal) Memorex 52x24x52x CDRW (internal) Sony 1.44MB floppy drive US Robotics 56K everything external modem (non USB) (just in case i ever need dial up. i have DSL, so this is a backup scenerio) GeForce4 ti4200 128MB DDR video card Linksys LNE100TX ethernet controller Creative Labs soundcard 16 bit SBLive Platinum 160GB ATA100 7200RPM Seagate Barracuda hard disk an as yet to be determined tower (i'm mulling over several models) but it will have at least a 400w power supply, 4 or more 5.25" bays, 3 or more 3.25" bays, plenty of ventilation, & it's gonna be one of those lovely see through neon lighted side panel jobs. (eye candy, i know, but what they hey?) a couple of notes, before you might ask or make comments......... why not go for a more powerful processor? budgetary restrictions, plain & simple. 1.6-1.8ghz will be more than enough to suit my needs. why no DVD? i have no need for it now. i watch movies on my television. if i ever decide to go the DVD route, there's plenty of power & room for expansion. why not a more powerful vid card &/or sound card? again, no need. i don't game at all. i listen to music on my stereo. and, budget wise, these choices work for me. what i'm planning to do is run Mandrake9.2 with the 2.4.22-28 kernel until 10.0 becomes final/official/stable/rc7 or whatever it's gonna be known as. what i'm hoping for (& why i'm posting this) is that all of the above hardware choices will give me no troubles. my dream is to load MDK9.2, have everything detected, & be able to boot to a fully GUI enabled system with no problems, other than maybe dloading & installing an external driver here or there for fine tuning of things. so, i'm all ears. i've been working on this & saving for this for a while now & i'm just about ready to start spending the $$$$. any & all advice will be appreciated & taken into consideration before i take the plunge. Chris

i think it's because you installed via DVD, but the default for the cd sources is cdrom. check out This Thread & look for my reply for a solution. Chris

just had another thought........... do you have a cd burner? if so, just reburn the ISO's on to CD's, then you won't have to change anything in MCC. Chris

why did you use a DVD for the ISO's? ok....moot point. here's what i'd do.......... if i'm understanding correctly, MCC is looking for a CD in your CDROM, but you need to use the DVD player instead. so........... go to MCC (Mandrake Control Center)->software media manager. try the easier method first. this should work. if it doesn't then try method 2, to follow........... first, insert MDK CD1 in your DVD player, mount it (unless you have supermount enabled, then ignore that). select your CD1 source in MCC, then select "edit". at URL: it should say "removable://mnt/cdrom". change that to say "removable://mnt/dvdrom" (or whatever your DVD is called under /mnt) (also, no quotes "" surrounding the words) click "save changes" & it should rebuild your hdlist from the new source location. unmount the DVD, insert another & follow the same procedure for each additional DVD. when they're all done, click "ok". you should be good to go. if not, then do the following.......... again, in MCC->software media manager, select each CD source & click "remove". once they're all gone, insert the DVD, mount it if neccessary, click "add". choose "local files" as type of medium, give the source a name where it says "name" (you can put anything there, but try to keep it simple, like MDK CD1, CD2, etc.), and then follow the rest of the instructions i listed above for each additional DVD. hope that helps.......... Chris

when you click on the icon to change it, choose the "system icons" button, then change the type to "applications" & scroll down a bit. it's part of the stock icon set. Chris

you might have to manually add the Mozilla shortcut to the KDE menu after the tar.gz installation. it's been a while since in installed 1.6, so i forget now. to do so, right click on the kicker K, choose "menu editor", in the left panel drill down to "networking->WWW" & check if the old Mozilla shortcut is still there. if it isn't, click the "add application" button. for "title", name it what you like (Mozilla, Mozilla1.6, Moz, etc.). for "command", put in the complete path to the Mozilla executable. if it's a normal install, it should be /usr/lib/mozilla/mozilla. your path may differ, depending on where you installed it to, but the above path is the default if you didn't use any special install flags. choose an icon for it, then click the "save" button. it will take a few seconds to save the changes, then close menu editor. if the shortcut doesn't appear in the KDE menu, restart KDE. if the shortcut to your old Mozilla would still be in the menu editor, just check to make sure the path is correct & adjust as neccessary. to add a desktop shortcut for Moz, it's a similar process. right click the desktop, choose "create new"->"link to application", then fill in the blanks with the same info as you did above for the KDE menu. Chris

i've never had problems using cdrw's for data, either. you generally don't wanna use them for music 'cause most cd players won't read them. and, on the rare occasion you can run into a cdrom that will have problems reading them. (usually an older one) but, it's rare........ and, as for capacity limits, both k3b & xcdroast have a place in the settings/options where you can set the size (capacity) of the burning medium. k3b defaults to 650megs, but you just need to set it to 700megs & apply the setting for future use. Chris

well........... if your stuck with dial up, you're in for a long night. and day......... both mdk9.1 & 9.2 are 3 iso's (3 cd's) with each being around 650megs (plus or minus a few megs). then, you're gonna need the security updates, bug fixes, etc. not sure of the total, but for mdk9.2 it's easily 400megs worth by now, if not more. soooo......... you can either bite the bullet, start the iso downloads, walk away from your computer for a long while, then install, get updates & walk away from your computer for another long while, hoping & praying that your connection don't die during the process. or, if you can find somebody with broadband (a friend, family member, etc.) you can at least get the iso's rather quickly & then you'll only have to sit through the updates. or, as you said, you can just sit tight until 10.0 is official & buy it. Chris

unfortunately.......yeah. my bad.......i forgot you are using mdk9.0. may i ask why? no offense, but you might want to think about upgrading to mdk9.2. it's very painless to do & it's very stable. just get all the updates, fixes, etc. after installing. and, if you decide to go that route, i'd say try the upgrade option instead of a clean install. while others have disdain for upgrade over fresh install, i've never hd a problem with it. it's a matter of choice/opinion i suppose. worst case scenerio with upgrade is that it wouldn't work so you'd have to do the clean install anyway. i'd suggest just backing up your /home directory, just in case something would go wrong with upgrade, or if you do a clean install. that way you have all your personal settings & files & you can use them where needed if you have to by copying them into your new /home directory. good luck..... Chris

like phunni said, the double forward slash (//) just means it's looking some place under that directory. you can try getting the latest version of pkg-config HERE . or, as i quoted you above, don't bother with the source install. try the easy method & go to the following link for a Mandrake RPM of the latest version of GAIM . Chris

i was just gonna suggest what aRTee said, but he beat me to it! :D short story....... back in my Windows days (and, please, i know Windows problems don't usually apply to Linux & vice versa, so no comments from the peanut gallery :P ) i had a power off problem that had me totally stumped. same as you're having, basically. if i used "shutdown", the computer would power down, screen went black, all looked fine. but.......a minute later, the computer would spontaneously reboot! i spent a week going through everything i could think of that might be causing this, eliminating every possibility. what ended up solving the problem was as aRTee stated....... i shutdown the computer, turned the power off at the power supply switch, then unplugged the computer from the electrical outlet & let it sit for a half hour. plugged it bck in, turned the power back on, booted, shut down, & walla! it stayed shut down. so, for lack of a better answer, give it a try. couldn't hurt........ Chris

another vote for 9.2 here. 10.0 is chock full of bugs & problems, from what i gather. (read the numerous 10.0 posts here & abroad) i have 9.2 & it's very stable for me & hasn't given me any problems. just make sure you get any available updates, bug fixes, security fixes, etc. right after you install, no matter which version you choose. (/me whispers install 9.2 & save yourself some headaches.....) Chris

the command........ cd (then enter) will let you change directories. a couple of things to know, if you don't already........ Linux is caps sensitive. so, if New Folder is spelled that way, you'd need to make sure you have the proper capitalization. also, if you have a space between those words (New(space)Folder) you'll need to use an asterisk (*) between New Folder. Linux doesn't read spaces between words as empty spaces, per se'. if for some reason you created New Folder as root & are trying to enter it as user, you may run into permission problems. IE: user (you) don't have the necessary permissions to enter the directory. also, when cd'ing from a one directory to another you need to type the complete path to that directory. meaning, if you are currently in /usr/lib & New Folder is in /home/user(you) you'd need to type the complete path which would be....... cd /home/(yourusername)/New*Folder so, i would give this a try. if you are already in the directory that contains New Folder, in terminal as user (you) issue the following command if the above capitalization & space between the words conditions are true..... cd New*Folder there is no need for the /(forward slash) if you're already in the directory that contains New Folder. if you get a permission denied message, then do the same as root. hope that helps a bit.......... Chris

from what i was told in #kde, it is not configurable, unless you know how to work with the KDE base code & make the changes in there. as far as other DE's that might let you do that...........i dunno. i use KDE 99.9% of the time, so i never tried elsewhere. if yer really itching to find out more about this, just go to IRC #kde & ask around in there. if there's a way to do it, somebody in there would (should) know. or, go to kde.org & submit a request or ask a question in there. that's about all the info i can give on the topic. :unsure: Chris

hmmm..........never thought of that. there is a Konsole directory. it's in /home/(username)/.kde(hidden directory)/share/apps. just to be safe, instead of deleting it, you could just rename it konsoleold then fire up konsole & see what happens. Chris