chris z

Googled & searched the forum, but found nothing about this annoyance specifically...... a bit of background..... i'm running Moz1.4 on my MDK machine at home. during initial MDK install (months ago) i had video driver problems until i settled on a less then stellar screen setting of 800x600 res. just to get things working. i was playing around with drivers & settings last night & found a driver that works just wonderfully with 1024x768 res. :D now, the annoyance........ i'm using KDE. i know i can change font styles, sizes, etc. in KCC, which i have done to make things easier on the eyes at 1024x768. that's good for KDE system settings. but.......my Moz fonts are horribly small & i can't figure out how to change the font SIZES in Moz. in edit->preferences i've played around with different font styles, DPI settings & proportional size & monospace size, but that doesn't increase the font sizes, per se. it only renders pages slightly different. the question....... where the fork do you go to change font sizes in Moz1.4???!!!! :? if it's something obvious that i'm missing, feel free to give me a virtual kick in the a$$, but at least clue me in. i'm at work now, so i won't be able to try any suggestions 'til tonight. well, actually, i can use my browser here as a guinea pig 'cause i'm also using Moz1.4 at work. :wink: awaiting your wisdom, am i......... Chris

hey WilliamS, ok.......let me try to make things more confusing for ya! :shock: i started this thread ages ago. since then, with the help of Ixthusdan, aRTee, & a few others, i mastered k3b & it's been working fine ever since. first, what i would suggest (probably much to the changrin of others) is doing this......... first, get rid of those last 2 lines in your fstab: /dev/ide/host0/bus1/target0/lun0/cd /mnt/k3b.reader/ auto ro,noauto,user,exec 0 0 /dev/scsi/host0/bus0/target0/lun0/cd /mnt/k3b.writer/ auto ro,noauto,user,exec 0 0 they are the lines that k3b writes to your fstab. i found by letting k3b do that, it makes things screwey, in that you can only see both your cd drives if you run it as root. also, look in your /etc directory & if you see a file (or files) like fstab-k3b or k3b-fstab, delete them. they are fstabs that k3b writes to your /etc directory that further tend to confuse things. the only fstab file you need is the /etc/fstab file. second, make SURE that you have scsi emulation enabled correctly. it looks like you have that already, but to make sure, here's how the lines in your lilo.conf should read, under the "append" section......... append="devfs=mount hdX=ide-scsi hdX=ide-scsi acpi=off" where the hdX should be the letter of YOUR corresponding cd drives. after you edit lilo.conf, go to terminal, su to root, then type: lilo -v hit enter, then reboot for the changes to take effect. third, start the k3b setup program. read through these very well written instructions for k3b setup procedures: how to set up K3B some words of note. DO NOT let K3b write to your fstab. it just tends to screw things up. when you get to the part of k3b setup that asks for your cd mount points, make sure they are correct. you're mount points are currently reading "k3b.reader" & "k3b.writer". they should point to "cdrom" & "crom2". at the end of setup, make sure you give permisions to you (IE: user) for cdrecord & cdrdao. let k3b make THOSE changes when it asks. next, after all is said & done & you click "apply" or "save" (i forget the final button to click) when k3b asks you that poorly worded & confusing question at the end "do you really want to discard changes?" answer YES. i know it sounds illogical to do that, but that's what you gotta do. like i said, it's a stoopid, misleading question. finally........REBOOT. yes, again, it sounds horrific in Linux, but you must reboot for all this to take effect. so.......between what i just gave you & the other bits of info in this thread, you should be able to have k3b rockin' & rolling in a matter of minutes. please post back if it isn't so i can bang my head against a wall! :banghead: :lol: EDIT: one final, FINAL, thing........when you reboot after k3b setup, BEFORE running k3b, go to terminal, su to root, & type: userdrake & hit "enter". that will bring up the user permissions dialogue box. look for user WilliamS, click "edit" & another box will pop up with 2 columns. in the left column will be groups that you are already a member of. in the right column will be groups you can be added to. if you see any of the following in the right column, make sure you add them to the left as a group you belong to: cdrdao cdrecord cdwriter xcdwriter mkisof after you add any of them, click "save" & close the userdrake dialogue box. THEN run k3b.......... (i really gotta get some work done now :shock: ) Chris

WilliamS, i'm not exactly sure what you're asking. :? are you talking about K3b setup when it's trying to detect your drives? what link are you trying install & for what purpose? please elaborate. Chris

i'm not sure why this would change for Gnome & not KDE, but try going to OOo->Tools->Options & look in the left column. click on the plus sign (+) in the OpenOffice.Org box & click on the word "view" in the tree that opens up. look to the right where it says "display" then below that "icon size". you should have 3 different settings there. "automatic", "small", & "large". if it's not set there already, try changing the setting to "small" & click "ok". if that doesn't work, try the "automatic" setting. just a guess............ Chris

if you wanna disable supermount, forgo MCC & use the quick method.... open a terminal su to root supermount -i disable (to disable supermount on all drives) supermount -i enable (to enable supermount on all drives) Chris

just an update, for anyone who might care.......... installed OOo1.1rc5 from the .tar yesterday. tested it out thoroughly. it's running fine, no problems, & is a helluva lot faster than 1.0.2. once i migrated user settings over from 1.0.2 to 1.1rc5, i uninstalled the old version & cleaned up residual leftovers. all of my Kicker shortcuts have been linked to rc5 & i'm lovin' it! so, if anybody was thinking of taking the plunge into this build, go for it. you shouldn't have any problems. (shouldn't......... :roll: ) Chris

how to disable supermount....... there's several ways to go about it (as is usually the case in Linux :wink: ). here's 2 simplified methods. 1. manually edit your fstab file. you can find fstab in the /etc directory (/etc/fstab). it's only a text file, so if you're running KDE & you click on it KEdit should open it by default. you can also right click it & open it with a text editor of your own choice. once opened look for lines that look like this. none /mnt/cdrom supermount dev=/dev/scd0,fs=auto,ro,--,iocharset=iso8859-1,codepage=850,umask=0 0 0 none /mnt/cdrom2 supermount dev=/dev/hdb,fs=auto,ro,--,iocharset=iso8859-1,codepage=850,umask=0 0 0 none /mnt/floppy supermount dev=/dev/fd0,fs=auto,--,iocharset=iso8859-1,sync,codepage=850,umask=0 0 0 in front of each instance of the word "none", simply put a #. so, for instance, a line would look like this. #none /mnt/cdrom supermount dev=/dev/scd0,fs=auto,ro,--,iocharset=iso8859-1,codepage=850,umask=0 0 0 you don't really need to do that for your floppy if you don't want to, since yer probably never gonna need to use your floppy drive in a cd burning situation. it's up to you. save the file with the changes you made. noteonce you disable supermount, whenever you insert a data disk, you must first right click on the corresponding drive icon & select "mount" to be able to access the data. before you can eject the disk, you must right click again & select "unmount". you will still be able to play music cd's as you normally would. (IE: no "mount/unmount" needed for a music cd) 2. open terminal, su to root, & issue the following command: supermount -i disable that will disable all instances of supermount, so that's why i showed you the fstab method if you want to keep supermount for your floppy. using that same method, if you'd want to enable supermount, simply do.... supermount -i enable now, about K3b..... if you're gonna use that for cd burning, there's another issue to tackle. if either of your cdrom drives are ide, you must enable scsi emulation for K3b to work properly. here's how you'd do that if you're using Lilo as your boot loader. if you're using Grub then somebody else will have to guide you 'cause i've only ever done this with Lilo. (though i'd think it's a very similar procedure)..... 1. open your lilo.conf. that's also in your /etc directory & it's also a text file, so you can open it with the same method you used for editing the fstab. 2. find a line that looks like this: append="devfs=mount hdb=ide-scsi hdc=ide-scsi acpi=off" that's from my lilo.conf file. hdb & hdc are my cdrom & cdburner, respectively. if either of your cd drives are ide, you must add an entry in the "append" section of your lilo.conf to reflect scsi emulation. so, for each drive, between where the word "mount" ends & "acpi" begins in the above example, you'd simply type: hdX=ide-scsi (where X is to be substituted with the letter for your own cd drive) 3. save the file with the changes you made. 4. finally, for this to take effect, you must open a terminal, su to root, then type.... lilo -v then hit "enter" exit terminal & reboot. (yes, you must reboot for this to take effect) and, lastly, here's a few tutorials on how to properly set up K3b. an excellent tute can be found here . and, here's another one from the forum faq's K3b how to . hope this all helps you out. Chris

yep........like was mentioned above, the binaries are .tar'd, so it's all good (IE: no eternal compilation)..... i might just do that to make sure everything is running smooth with rc5, then get rid of 1.0. it's been running like a charm on the Win machine at work. just wanted some input from the Linux end. thanks for all the suggestions & info! Chris

are you root when you're trying this? first, you need to be root to run rpm packages. that's an error you'll usually see if you try running that command as user. second, in some instances, it can be caused if another root session has locked the data base. make sure you only have 1 root session open. third, if it's because you're missing that data base, you need to create it. you can do that via MCC->update sources. i think it's looking for the 3rd (international) MDK install cd database. (somebody correct me if i'm wrong here :roll: ). if that's the case, (i'm at work so i'm doing this from memory) open MCC->update sources, insert the 3rd install cd in your cdrom, click on add->cd source-> then browse to the device you have your cd in->ok->name it->then save (or ok, or apply, whatever the choice is). it will build the data base. when it's done click "save & quit". Chris

when you upgraded KDE, did you by any chance use Texstar's upgrade rpm? (either KDE3.1.2 or 3.1.3) if so, the missing icons are by design, per Tex. here's the solution to the problem, per his web site: it occurs if you had supermount enabled. those instructions should get your icons back. as a side note, i've found it makes things easier to disable supermount. there's less cdrom related problems, especially concerning cd burning. if the above doesn't help, please post back. either i, or somebody else will walk you through things. Chris

thanks for the info....... that was my plan (to use the .tar.gz file from OOo). just wasn't sure about the uninstall first, because they (OOo) don't mention anything about that in the install docs. here's what it says on the OOo site about KDE/Gnome integration using the .tar file. by the way that's worded, i was assuming that the icons & such would be integrated into those 2 DE's. maybe i'm wrong, though. :? if so, it's easy enough for me to add those things after the fact. i think i'll download it tonight & install it over the weekend. that will give me more time to screw with things if i need to. thanks again for the input, Chris

{bump} anybody??? Chris

don't know if this helps, but i found this info doing a Google Search for ksoftirqd . Chris

hey all, i've been using OOo1.1(rc5) at work (on a Win2K machine ) & found it to be very stable & bug free. i want to give it a whirl in my MDK machine at home. (i'm currently using OOo1.0 on MDK) i have 2 questions before i take the plunge........ 1. if any of you are using this version of OOo on MDK, are there any bug or stability issues that you've come across that i should be aware of? 2. is it necessary to uninstall OOo1.0 before installing OOo1.1, or will the newer version just overwrite the old version? TIA, Chris

ummm........usually when i need a new toothpick, i just get the tar.gz file & tar -zxvf toothpick4-1.6-i586.tar.gz ./configure make make install dependencies are rarely a problem, unless you're trying to use a coloured, plastic toothpick. that's why i stick with natural wood. :wink: great analogy, though, Gowator. :lol: me thinks i'll forego rpm --rebuild, at least for now. not in the mood for any surprises. i finally got my CD's from Amazon, so it's gonna be a relaxing night for me. (sssshhhh........don't spread this around, but i actually PAID for those CD's. i hope this doesn't ruin my rep as a criminal that doesn't pay for any of his luxuries. :wink: ) Chris

Gowator........ thanks for the words of encouragement! but....... i'm still not understanding this. i guess what my questions should be concerning rpm --rebuild are...... 1. what EXACTLY does that command do? does it rebuild all of my RPM data bases by cleaning up old/un-needed entries? or, does it look for all RPM data bases on my system & rebuild them to keep them up to date? (as in dependency issues, install locations, etc...) 2. does that command need to be run as a regular cleanup/maintenance procedure? and, if so, (most importantly for me at least) will it do any harm? IE: will the command rpm --rebuild "break" things or make stuff go "fubar"? the Linux motto may be "if it ain't broke, then break it!", but i (personally) don't subscribe to that motto. i don't want to have to spend the whole night (or several days) rebuilding my system just because i issued a command that i didn't need to do. 3. if the answer to my questions are "yes, you should do it, it's harmless, & nothing will get screwed up", then (finally) does that command need to be run as root, or can it be run as user, or doesn't it matter? (see........i still have lot's of learning to do :? ) thanks again for your time & help....... Chris

ummmm........ so, what does it do exactly? (rpm --rebuild) do i need/want to do that on a semi regular basis? Chris

83mercedes said: thanks! i'll look into that tonight when i get home! umm.........before i have to post again, where would i find "knetload"? is it an applet in the Kicker somewhere, or is it a "right click"->add tray applet type of thing? Gowator said: well, embarassed 'cause i've been using MDK for almost 4 months now & i realized that after all of that time i didn't know how to connect to the internet manually. what is "updatedb"? do you just run that command from terminal as root? what exactly does that do/show you? Chris

the update mirrors have been squirrely on my end for sometime now. i'm constantly changing mirrors. some work sometimes, some don't. some tell me i have all of the updates even when i know i don't. i do urpmi.update -a on a regular basis, but that doesn't always solve the problem. there were 3 updates available yesterday......2 MySQL security updates & something to do with palm pilot). i installed the 2 SQL updates, but didn't get the palm pilot one because it didn't apply to me. this morning i checked for updates & it told me the list is void (blah, blah blah), even though i know i DIDN'T get the plam pilot update. go figure......... all i can suggest to anybody having trouble with getting updates from the various mirrors is be patient, try different mirrors, & eventually you should be able to get through to one that works properly. you are not alone on this problem. Chris

dammit.......i was hanging by a thread (pun intended) too!!! Brit, if you & Gowator can't get this worked out & you should decide to go the reinstall route, here's what you need to look for & do....... towards the end of the install, after you've picked your packages & everything's been installed, you get to one final screen that will show all of your settings & configurations. hardware, sound, internet, boot loader, etc. look here for your monitor/video settings. EVEN if it says that your monitor is detected, open up the configuration dialogue for it & double check things & change if necessary. this is where MDK fooled me the first time around. it told me that all was ok, but i learned differently & had the same problems you are having. don't go by how your monitor runs in Window$, because that may not necessarily work in MDK. a couple of things to check are......is the driver correct? if not, change it to something compatable......what is the refresh rate? if it's 70hz, bump it down to 60hz (remember, you can always go to MCC once you're up & running & change & tweak things from there).......what's your screen resolution? if it's 1024x768, try bumping that down to 800x600. and, with my card at least, there was a setting for various 3D excellerators. i can't remember all the particulars right now, but i do remember i had 3 choices & MDK told me that i SHOULD be able to use a particular one, but i may be better off using another, so i chose the safer one. once you configure things, you'll get a chance to test those settings & it will bring up a test screen. if the test screen looks good, then you can save those settings & be on your way! Gowator......by all means keep coaching her if you think you can get this fixed without reinstalling. the only reason i suggested that was because she doesn't have any thing really tweaked or set up in MDK, so it's not much of a loss for her to go the reinstall route right now. Brit......good luck, whatever you decide. you'll get things working, i'm confident of that! Chris

thanks MottS, the first 3 work for me. i stand humbled & embarassed. Chris

ok...i'm embarassed, so heap piles of ridicule upon me..... i have a DSL (actually an ADSL) internet connection. i have it set up to connect on boot. welllll..........tonight, due to the impending hurricane Isabel, my internet connection went down for a while. when i wanted to check if i could connect, i realized that i don't know how to manually connect to the internet, since it's always done it automatically during the boot! (my bad, i know) i figured out how to get connected via MCC->DrakConnect, but there has to be a better way, via command line, isn't there??? if so, what would that command be? don't know what other info you might need. if you need more than just "how do i connect?", let me know & i'll post it. also....... is there a way to have an internet conncetion icon show in the Kicker, sorta like the little flashing computer in the Window$ toolbar, to show when you're connected? and, if so, can that be used to connect & disconnect at will? thanks in advance. i humbly await your answers........... Chris

what do you make of this? strange bedfellows??? :roll: Chris

Brit........ not to beat a dead horse, but that's the EXACT problem i had on my first install of MDK & it turned out to be the incompatabe monitor/video settings & driver that i spoke of earlier in this thread. as i'm still a bit of a newb, i can't really help you they way Gowator can. my solution, (back then before i knew any better or found this forum) was to reinstall MDK & reset the monitor/video settings & driver manually when it gives you that chance during the final stages of install..... Gowator....... does what i'm saying make sense to you? i know exactly what Brit is experiencing. all seems to boot fine, you get to the login screen, you log in, the KDE boot screen appears, it starts loading, it disappears, the Kicker & KDE desktop flash several times like it's trying to load, then it just stops & kicks you back to the blue wave background screen with an alternating cursor & timer (wait icon). i just don't have the knowledge to help Brit like you can. sorry if i'm stomping on your toes here. it's just that i know what's going on here, but i can't explain to Brit how to fix it other than reinstalling & i'm sure there's an easier way. Chris

now if i only knew enough to understand what that guy said...... :? actually, i sorta understand what he's talking about. unfortunately, i'm at work on a Win2K machine, so i can't play. :( thanks for that link, though. i'll have to reread that several more times when i'm home. my current MDK boot time is around 4 minutes, which has always aggravated me. i've disabled every start up service that is not absolutely necessary for my purposes, & that's the best boot time i can get. if i can even knock that in half, that's just one more incentive for me to give Window$ the boot! (pun intended :wink: ) Chris