chris z

did you try running sndconfig? that will detect your sound card. if not, got to terminal->type sndconfig->enter. follow the promtps & let it do it's thing. it takes a little while & may even look like it's hanging or doing nothing at some points, but be patient. when it finds your sound card, it will tell you what it found & ask you if it's ok to use it. after you give it the ok to do that, there will be a test sound button so you can check if it worked. and, as was mentioned above, you need to have aumix & kmix (if you're using KDE) volume levels set to your liking. aumix seems to over ride kmix when it comes to keeping your volume level where you set it upon log in, so make sure you set both & save the settings afterward. one final note, with sndconfig...........when you type that in terminal, if you get "command not found", that means that you have to install sndconfig first. it's on one of the installation cd's, so go to "install software" in MCC & type sndconfig in the search area. hope this may have helped. Chris

not an expert on the subject by any means, but do you have APM (Advanced Power Management) set up, too, by any chance? when i first installed MDK, i was having the same problem. i'd leave the 'puter for a while & when i'd come back, my screen was black. i thought this was normal, like in Window$ sleep mode. but i couldn't do anything to get the screen "awake". mouse movement, keyboard.......nothing would make the screen come back on, even though i knew the hard drive was working. i knew i wasn't using ACPI, but i realized i had APM set up for the monitor to go to sleep after 15 minutes. also, APM was running under services in MCC. i stopped APM from running, disabled it at boot time, & now my monitor comes back on from sleep mode. not sure, but i think it's being controlled by the bios settings instead of letting MDK APM control. regardless, that's what solved it for me. might be worth looking into if you haven't already. Chris

aze wrote: thanks for the offer, but i really don't want to have to manually block hundreds of different sites. i just thought privoxy might sorta work like some of the popup stopper progs that run under Window$. i've been playing with the settings some more, but still don't have it figured out. if Moz would just run as fast as Konq, then this would be a moot point for me! :x Chris

i read about this program called privoxy http://www.privoxy.org/ . it's supposed to supresss popups, ads, etc. i installed via rpm & i've set up my browser (Konqueror) according to the web sites instructions. proxy address 127.0.0.1 for http, https, ftp on port 8118. my browser works but i still get popups & fail the test at their website that can be found here http://www.privoxy.org/config/ . i saw a couple of references to privoxy doing a search here at the forums, but it didn't tell me much. does something else have to be done to set this up properly, other than just adding those settings to the browser? it installed to /etc/privoxy via the rpm installation. there's no "read me" file, but there is a config file in that folder. do you have to do ./configure to get this working? is it even worth it? i know Mozilla & Opera have built in popup controls, but Moz is slow as a snail in super glue on my machine & i don't want Opera with banners & ads. any help, anybody? Chris

there should be nothing wrong with your cd's if you've been using them without a problem up to this point. Andrewski, are you more comfortable with terminal or a gui interface? that's why i suggested doing this through MCC. that way it should be fool proof (or Chris proof :wink: ). this is the exact way i reinstalled my cd sources when i did the exact oops you did (urpmi.removemedia -a ) i'm not in front of my Linux machine, but from memory, the exact steps should be as i posted above. also, if you have supermount enabled, then you can ignore the part about mounting the drive. 1. go to terminal 2. su to root 3. type mcc & hit enter 4. open software sources manager 5. insert cd1 6. mount the cdrom drive containing that cd if supermount is not enabled 7. highlite any/all cd sources you see there & click "remove" to remove your old cd sources 8. click "add" 9. chose the "new removable media source" button 10. instead of typing the source, browse to it & click "ok" or "save" (should be /mnt/cdrom, cdrom0, cdrom1, cdrom2, etc. depending on which cdrom drive you have the cd in) 11. choose a name for that cd source 12. (this is where i'm hazy) click "save" or "update" or "ok", whatever the button says beside "cancel" it should then tell you it's reading the source, downloading the packages, updating the source. follow that same procedure for each remaining cd. when it's all done, make sure you click the boxes beside each cd source you created & click "save & quit". it all should be good to go then. if anything went wrong, since you were running MCC from terminal, you will be able to see an error report. if you do get an error report, post it back here. i don't know why it wouldn't work following these instructions. if it doesn't, then somebody else will have to take over here. :? Chris

the easy way that i added my cd sources were: open MCC choose "software sources manager" remove your current cd sources insert cd1 mount the drive click "add" click "new removable media source" set the path to your cd source name it click "add" or "save" or "update" (sorry, i forget what it's labeled) it will then add the source from the cd you have inserted. remove that cd & follow the same steps for the other 2 cd's. it should work. speaking of work, i'm at work & it's lunch time. gotta go. Chris

in addition to what anon said, it is important that you insert each installation cd before you go to update each source. it will then read the cd & add the contents to your sources. also, during this procedure, you can name each cd source to your liking. that third "international" cd always bothered me, so i just renamed mine to cd1, cd2, cd3. but, you can name them to whatever floats your boat. Chris

hmmmm, again........... aumix should do the trick. when you set the volumes in it, did you make sure that all were enabled? the "line" control is what controls your computer's main volume. if it was enabled, there would be a green light in the button beside that. what dm/wm are you using? if it's not KDE, maybe there's something else that indigenous to your dm/wm that over rides aumix. just guessing there, 'cause the above methods worked for me. Chris

I FIGURED IT OUT! ARRRGGHHHHH!!!!! Open Office can't print out certain fonts for some freakin' reason! i was using the fonts "dance" & "thorndale" for my text. i was reading through the help files & came across the "character" option, where it will give you info on the fonts. the info for those fonts said "this font font style will be simulated or the closest matching style will be used". i went "hmmmmm......." & changed the fonts to something universal (times & arial) & it printed immediately! anybody ever hear of something like that? and, i never booted into Window$! i perservered! :lol: if yer bored or wanna test that theory, try printing something in either of those fonts & let me know if it printed. Chris

hmmm.......i had the same problem using KDE at first. but, what solved it was actually a combo of the above instructions. setting Kmix & saving the settings there, then setting AUmix & saving the settings there, too. my volume level is always where i left it when i log into KDE since then. if you are using KDE, do you have the "save settings" option checked in KCC? i think that's what it's called. (i'm at work & not at the MDK machine right now) it's a setting in Kontrol Center that saves your desktop settings when shutting down so they stick the next time you log in. other than that, i'm at a loss. :roll: Chris

i'm stumped! i cannot get that template to print, no matter what i do! i've renamed it, changed the file extension from swx to std, i've remade it on a clean template, i've renamed the master template, i downloaded a new template........i can't get the damn thing to print as a finished product, which makes no sense to me. i've also tried changing the print properties from cups to generic & back again. i was wondering if somebody here could do a test for me? would somebody be willing to: 1. go to the link in my first post, download that template, & make some design on it & try to print it & let me know if you could print it, & if so, was there any special thing you needed to do? or......... 2. allow me to e-mail you the template i'm trying to print (which might be better, if it's something specific to this project) & tell me if & how you managed to get it printed? it's only a small file, something like 20k. if you go to the link above & look at that template, what i've done to it is added a thatched background to one label & a colour gradient to another, both from OO sources, & put text on them using OO fonts, so there's no third party fonts or artwork involved. if anybody is willing to give it a try, please let me know. i'll play some more with it tonight & if i can't get it to work, then i suppose it's time to fire up the Window$ parttion, which i don't wanna do. :( Chris

didn't post to the other thread 'cause i'm not "clean". why? 1. i'm still a NOObie (3 months old in Linux years) & don't know nearly enough in Linux to permanently give Window$ the boot. 2. like some others have said, i have tons (IE: years) of important & semi important data on my Window$ partition. it will take some careful planning, weeding out the needed stuff from the junk, & some major backing up/transferring of data. 3. using Linux at work exclusively is not an option, since i have no say in the matter. (even though our server runs Unix & i've done as much as i legally can to not use M$ products on my work computer..........IE: i'm using Mozilla 1.4 & Open Office 1.1 exclusively. ssshhhh........don't tell the IT dept. :wink: ) 4. and, finally, & i must say this may have a lot to do with my NOObieness & not understanding Linux thoroughly enough yet, BUT.......i honestly don't think Linux (MDK) is ready to be my only OS. there are just too many minor bugs & nuisances that i feel need to be worked out before i'd let go of M$ completely. i realize a major strong point of Linux is it's endless configurability, but sometimes i don't want to have to configure. i just want to install & use. there are many issues i've had in Linux that i would never have to deal with in M$ (cd burning......cd label & cover design......scsi/ide drive emulating......java hell..........browser plugin hell, in general.........streaming video/sound........slow boot & program response times........). i could name more, & again, a lot of that is because i'm a Noob & don't know all the ropes yet. but, until i either do know (at least) enough of the "ropes", i can't get rid of Window$. i've stuck with Linux through many problems, when it would have been so much easier (for me) just to boot into Window$ to get the job done. i like to geek & tinker, but sometimes i don't want to, nor do i feel i should be required to. i guess the acid test for me would be that i could (with complete confidence) tell a computer neophyte (like my brother who only knows how to turn the comp on & off, my friend Eric who can't set up anything without calling me repeatedly or having me doing it for him.........you know the types.........the average "let the store set it up so i can turn it on & forget it" user)..........when i can tell somebody like that they should forget M$, use Linux & you'll never have a worry or computer headache again, then i guess i'll be ready to come completely clean. sadly, i can't do that...........at least not yet. :wink: Chris

thanks kmack! i never realized that mirror status page existed! i changed my update mirror source to one that was updated on 8-25 (the psu.edu site) & i got the missing updates. now, if i could only figure out why my cd template won't print! :? i guess that will be my next project. thanks again......... Chris

thanks Gowator, but i've already discovered easyurpmi. yes, it does make things easier for adding sources! :wink: as an update to my original post...........i updated all of my "update sources". checked for updates, & found the unzip update from a source i can't remember. installed it no problem. but, there were no other updates at this mirror even though MDKLinux has several other listed that i know i don't have. i went through each mirror, finally found 2 of them at the stealth.net site. the updates are for GDM, perl-cgi, & eroaster, but stealth.net doesn't have the eroaster update. so, i figured i'll just download the 2 they do have (GDM & perl) but after it begins the download process, i get a message that it can't download the packages. (i forget the message.......i'm at work at the moment) this all happened yesterday. i'll try again tonight & see what happens. why do the different update mirrors only have certain updates, or none at all? Chris

thanks for the tip BooYah. i'll give that a try tonight. i was pulling my hair out trying to figure this out yesterday, but i finally gave up. i'll post back with the results tonight or tomorrow. Chris

this is driving me nuts & i wondered if anybody had a possible solution. i have this OO template to make labels for cd's that i burn. (see link below for the template) http://ooextras.sourceforge.net/downloads/...bel_memorex.std i've printed labels using it several times. now, all of a sudden, i can't print the labels. after i finish doing the artwork & text & i click "print", the "sending to printer" dialogue box pops up, but nothing will print. i can print the template as a blank, but anytime i try to print it as a finished product it won't print. i've tried changing the printer options several different ways, tried cups & generic printer drivers, but it just won't work. i can print anything else fine, text, pictures, spreadsheets, etc., both in OO & from other sources. i can print anything except for the above cd label template as a finished product. i'm stumped! :x any thoughts or ideas as to why this might happen? i haven't changed the template format or any of the template settings. the last time i printed one was a week ago, but i can't even print templates that have printed successfully in the past. makes me want to lie down in the tall grass & wonder. :shock: Chris if it matters any, my printer is a HPdeskjet 940c, on a parallel port.

don't know if this applies, but are you using KDE as your desktop? if so, i've noticed that when ever i download something, weather it's KDE related or a totally separate package/program, my KDE kicker menu gets all screwed up. i lose most of the entries in it & i have to open the configure desktop dialogue & just click apply & it all comes back to normal. i never had my desktop icons screwed up & never checked fstab when this happens, but it's a quirk i've noticed. as i said, it's not really an answer & don't know if it applies to your situation, but that's what happens to me. Chris

to elaborate a bit on what MottS said, when it asks you for those extra packages (dependencies) it will automatically install them if they are located in the source from where you're downloading. IE: if you're downloading a texstar package (for example), if there are dependencies it will tell you & will automatically download them from his source. if you're installing something from one of the MDK cd's, it will tell you what dependencies you need, then tell you which cd to insert. sometimes you may even need to insert more than 1 cd, but it will also notify you about that & prompt you when a different cd is called for. and, welcome to the forum! Chris

i just downloaded/installed fluxbox. booted into it & went :shock: forgive me, but i'm still in KDE land & fluxbox was like landing on mars for me, sorta. are there any good "how to's" out there on fluxbox configuration, tweaks, settings, etc.? i don't have time to play right now, but at least it's installed. the blank desktop threw me for a loop. i was expecting all kinds of pretty icons & such. i found the right click desktop option where you can configure things, but i was hoping for a cheat sheet of sorts, to get me started. if nothing like that is available, then i guess i'll have to hunker down & start learning more things. (sheesh......i haven't had to study this much since i was in school!) but, it's fun! :lol: anywho, sorry to stomp on this thread, but i didn't think i should start a new fluxbox thread since this one was still active. Chris

anybody having any luck yet? anybody trying? i still can't get connected to a mirror. are there other sources for updates, other than the stock ones that come with MDK? just wondrin'........... Chris

just my 2 cents.......... as has been said above, it's great that to see more MDK specific help out there. but, back in the infancy of my NOObieness, when i was searching & Googling for help & answers to things, i lurked for a while at the LinuxQuestions site & here. the main thing that made me sign up here was that the responses to people's questions were always polite & generally more helpful. the people here always seemed to really care & want to help others out. at LinuxQuestions, it seemed (& still does.......just read through the threads) that for every polite & usable answer to a question, there were half a dozen RTFM's, or various other smart ass comments, basically telling people that they're morons for not being able to figure something out. not trying to start a battle here, but that's just my obseravtion. i'm glad i chose this forum & i really appreciate all the people here that have helped me out with things & i am grateful that this forum exists. and, i'm glad that i can actually contribute some answers & solutions on occassion. you guys (& girls) really helped me through the beginings of my learning curve. without the kind help i received here, i'm possitve that i'd have given up on Linux & still be in Window$ exclusively. so, a big thanks to all here. great site, great people, hope it always stays that way! Chris

it's weird that it's tripping up on your cd rom drives. does it just stop booting & hang there, or is there an error message? if there's a message, please post the message, exactly as it reads. the "old" hardware, as you put it, shouldn't be an issue. something else is going on there. were there any problems/errors during the install? did it have any trouble with mount points during install? like MT said, try failsafe. it may get you booted, or you'd at least get some more specific output as to what's causing the boot failure. Chris

thanks for checking & posting. at least i know now that it wasn't something with my configuration. i'll just try again tonight, or until i can get through. Chris

once again, i'm unsure if this is the appropriate place to post this. feel free to move if neccesary........... just wanted to see if anybody else is having problems connecting to any of the MDK update mirrors. i saw on the MDKLinux site that there have been several updates/security fixes put out in the past several days. i tried to get them this morning using the updater in MCC, but it kept telling that it couldn't connect to the mirror. (i didn't have time to try to connect from terminal, so i can't give any error outputs.) i've had this happen before, & i'd always just select another mirror & could always conncet. this time, it wouldn't conncet no matter which mirror i chose. i tried all of the US sites, plus a couple of the Euro sites. it was a no go with all of them. i'm at work now, so i can't try again 'til tonight, but i was just wonderin' if anybody out there could try to connect to an update mirror & let me know if you're having the same problem. thanks, Chris

oops! Ix is correct. (told ya i was at work & in a hurry) if any of your drives are ide, you also have to have scsi emulation for k3b to work properly. instructions for that are in one of those links i supplied. a quick explanation to what that means, is, you must edit your lilo.conf file, under the "append" section, to read: hdx=ide-scsi (where "x" is the drive letter IE: hda, hdb, hdc, etc...) ........for any cd drives on your computer. also, here's another link, that's quite useful. a complete how to on setting up k3b. http://www.jennings.homelinux.net/k3b.html .........& here's static's "how to" from this forum: http://mandrakeusers.org/viewtopic.php?t=6...660e85d53d09c08 any questions, post back. somebody here will surely help you out. Chris