chris z

thanks for all the input........ sorry about your failure Scoopy. i told ya not to do that! :wink: since i don't have the time or the desire to hose my system just so i can fix it, i think i'll give resizing a miss. if i ain't broke, i'm not gonna break it. i have more important things to do with my free time than rebuilding Linux just because i screwed with something that didn't need screwing with. :lol: thanks again for the info....... Chris

still alot to learn....... that's why i asked about this before diving right into it. see, i have no idea what that means? :shock: copy? force/remove? rename? well, unless somebody has a fool proof way, i guess i'll be leaving this alone........for now. Chris

okay........with all this ranting & raving about the big 9.2 release, i wanna know this. is it worth it for ME to try to upgrade to it, or should i leave well enough alone? here's my situation....... been using MDK9.1 since June of this year. i've learned lots during this time, but i still have lots to learn. i have a smooth running, tweaked to my liking 9.1 setup. i have gotten every update & security patch that MDK has put out. i have the latest versions of OpenOffice, Mozilla, Opera, KDE, Gnome, MPlayer, & other stuff that i'm sure i'm forgetting right now. i have absolutely no problems with my current MDK9.1 setup. so, what's 9.2 have to offer ME that would make upgrading beneficial to ME? other than the 2.6 kernel, which i can always get via other sources, would there be a reason for me to try 9.2? a few things that i wouldn't want to happen or have to do....... i DON'T want to do a fresh install. does the "upgrade" feature have the bugs worked out of it so that it's safe to use? i DON'T want the chance of my current setup being hosed in any way, shape, or form. i DON'T want to have to retweak everything i've done in these past 4 months. i would like some performance (IE: speed) increase (faster boot time, faster program response times, etc.). is that something that 9.2 would give me? basically, i love to tinker & tweak & play........to a point. i really don't have enough free time or knowledge (yet) to try to (or want to) redo what it's taken me all of this time to achieve. (yeah.....i'm a wimp, so sue me! :lol: ) any thoughts on the matter? i'll take any & all advice into consideration. Chris

thanks for the info! i filled out the form too, FWIW.............. Chris

Roland, i wouldn't be trying to change the start of my partition. (at least that's not my intent. :shock:) i just wanna take a chunk of swap & add it to usr. i did read other horror stories about DiskDrake screwing up things, so that's why i asked first. also, don't know if this info matters, but my partition numbering is like this.... /root-hdc7 /swap-hdc8 /usr-hdc9 /home-hdc10 Chris

yep, using DiskDrake through KDE on MDK. and, don't feel the need to experiment on account of my inquisitiveness. but if ya do, i'll be watching this thread. Chris

i know DiskDrake has been discussed before, but i couldn't find anything conclusive to answer this question. if it has been answered, then please link me to the correct thread. i would like to increase the size of my /usr partition. i have a way too big /swap partition that rarely, if ever gets used. here's my MDK partition set up as it stands now..... /root (ext2) 1482MB total 923MB free /swap (swap) 800MB total 800MB free almost all of the time /usr (ext3) 5111MB total 2823MB free /home (ext2) 2455MB total 1949MB free i would like to know if i can shrink my /swap & add the gained space to /usr, using DiskDrake, SAFELY & with MINIMAL RISK of hosing my setup. if there's a good chance that it will screw me, then it's not worth it (to me) just to gain a few hundred megs of space. if anybody has had experience doing this successfully, i would like to hear your input. awaiting on you all........ Chris

first, make sure you have your sources set. the easy method for that can be found here easy urpmi . then, once your sources are set, open a terminal, su to root, & type this urpmi (name of package) hit enter, & it will search your sources. it may find one match, or several. if the latter is the case, do urpmi (exact name of package) & enter. it will tell you if it needs any depends & ask you if you want them too. answer "yes" & let it do it's thang. Chris

if you have Texstar in your urpmi data base, he has Moz1.4 in rpm format. it's really nice, 'cause he also has the Java plugin in that installs automatically & works right off the get go. also, he has a Flash plugin that integrates flawlessly. just do urpmi mozilla1.4 it SHOULDN'T give you any depend troubles. at least it didn't with me. Chris

hmmm......not exactly sure what you're asking. in kmail, if a file is attached to your message, it'll appear in the list of attachments in the lower part of the window. to save, remove, or open an attachment either right click on it & choose "remove", "save", or "open", or choose "file" in the upper toolbar & select an action from there related to an attachment. there's also settings in "configure kmail" where you can fine tune stuff (attachments included) & set default actions. i'm not at my MDK box right now, so i'm just going from memory. Chris

in terminal, as root, do the "top" command as i posted above & look for the process urpmi to kill it properly. or, you can do ps -u root & get the same info as "top", but less detailed. if your urpmi database is locked, that means that it's still running & it can't be opened again 'til it's shut down. try either of those commands, kill urpmi, then try adding the sources. sorry, but i gotta get going. if that doesn't help, hopefully somebody else can pick it up from here. :? Chris

ok...use the easy method! :) first, since i'm not sure what point you're currently at, as root in teminal, do... urpmi.removemedia -a that will ensure that all your rpm sources are banished to the netherworld. next, go the to easy urpmi & follow the instructions there to add new sources. copy & paste the final output from there into your root terminal. let that do it's thing & build your external rpm sources. next, (still as root) type mcc->enter to open up MDK Control Center. click on Software Sources Manager. when that opens, click "add". follow the instructions i posted above for adding your cd sources. finally, click "add"->"security updates". click the button to "choose a mirror". click "ok". when that's done, click "save & quit". then, you should have everything back in working order. chris

here's a forum link refering to what Steve was talking about....rebuild rpm database i've done it that way myself without a problem, so i'm sure it's safe or else it wouldn't be posted here! :wink: you need to be root for urpmi unless you give the user permissions otherwise. if you do urpmi.removemedia -a as root from terminal, that will wipe out all of your rpm data bases. then, issue the command Steve gave you to rebuild them. i just suggested using MCC because you get the GUI effect & it might be a bit easier for somebody new to this. either method should work, though. Chris

are you using KDE? if so, try KCC->sound->system bell. you can set volume, pitch, & duration from there. if you're not using KDE, then.......i dunno! :shock: Chris

Jiawen, when you use xkill to stop a non responding program, it only kills the GUI (i a lot of cases). the actual program process will (more than likely) still be running in the background. to properly kill a program, open a terminal, su to root, then type "top"->enter (without "quotes"). that will give you a list of running processes. look for the process you want to kill in the far right column. look for the corresponding PID# (Process Identification#) in the far left column. type the letter k->enter. it will ask you for the PID# to kill. type in the number->enter. it will ask you if you really want to kill the process (y or n). type y->enter. sometimes that doesn't kill it. if that's the case, it asks you again. repeat those steps & the second time is always a charm. if you ever use xkill to kill a program then find that the program wont run, follow the above steps. or, as was said above, use the Window$ method & reboot. :shock: Chris

did you recently change your screen resolution, by any chance? when i switched from 800x600 to 1024x768 it made all of my fonts look tiny. you have to also adjust them in Konqueror. try opening a Konq window, select "settings"->configure Konqueror->fonts. adjust things in there & see if that makes a difference. Chris

if you're using KDE you can also use Kmix. it's in kicker->multimedia->sound. if you go to the preferences in it, there's an option to have it load on boot & stay docked in your kicker bar, like the volume icon in Window$. then, you can adjust your volume on the fly by right clicking the icon. Chris

if you want your CD sources back, to add to what Steve said, you have to do a few more things. MCC->software sources manager->add->removable media before you do that, though, first insert CD1 in your drive (& mount it if necessary). then, do the above steps. it will ask for the source location. just use the browse button & navigate to your cdrom drive that contains the CD. choose a name for the source, then click "ok". it will add that source. follow the same procedure for each additional CD. when you're done, click "save & quit". Chris

thanks! (right click "delete".....right click "delete".......... ) Chris

looking to free up some space, i was fishing around in the /var/log folder. i have a HUGE (18meg) file called "messages" & one sorta huge (3.5meg) file called "wtmp". i turned off system logging a week ago, & that seems to be the last time the "messages" file was written to. the "wtmp" file is current as of today (10-11-03). was Googling for an answer, but found nothing definitive. so, before i get rid of them & regret that move, i seek wisdom here. is it safe to delete those files? Chris

Ixthusdan wrote: yeah, that's what i was talking about concerning data CD's. i have supermount disabled & used to have to "right click drive icon->mount" before it would read the CD. now i just pop in the CD, click on the icon, & bang! it's mounted & readable! and, i also get an extra icon on the desktop when it's mounted, even though i don't have that feature ticked in KDE desktop controls. my first thought was my fstab had been modified, but it wasn't. some Texstar magic, perhaps? :shock: Chris

if you installed Mplayer from the MDK cd & you're using KDE, it (should have) put a shortcut in..... kicker->multimedia->video check there. Chris

i think the setting to change that is KCC->look & feel->fonts->menu. if not, try general. Chris

just to update & close (for now)............ played with style sheets a bit, but that didn't seem to help. guess i'm at the mercy of the web designers for now. :x maybe i'll stumble on to something. if so, i'll post it here. thanks for everybody's help & suggestions, though. gonna go check out those skins now! :) Chris

sorry..........i just assumed that everybody would know where to get the updates. my bad! to get the mplayer & openssl, just use MCC->Mandrake Update. they're on all the update mirrors. for KDE, as was mentioned, you need to add Texstar to your repository. the easiest way to add update sources is to use easy urpmi . just go there & follow the instructions. you can add several update sources as well as contribs & such. once you have the sources added, you can either use MCC->install software & do a search for what you're looking for. or, open a terminal, su to root, & type........ urpmi (name of package you're looking for) that will find the package from one or more of your sources & tell you what depends are involved, if any. answer "yes" when it asks you if you want the packages & depends installed, & let it do it's things. basically, it's just like using MCC, but without the GUI. hope that helped! Chris