chris z

that's just the thing. there are things that need to run as root. my cdburning headaches, for example........file editing when/if necessary......anything having to do with MCC. mainly, the cdburner problems i keep having are what's driving me crazy the most. it just doesn't make sense that i can't use them properly as "chris". editing files........when i was going through the ide-scsi emulation thing, i needed to be able to edit fstab & lilo.conf, but i always had to go through the "root" routine. copying/pasting files..........can't access /etc/ files (for example) as normal user. just thought there was a hack (of sorts) that i could do things as "chris" instead of "root" when i need/want to. Chris

(note for administrators/moderators.......i have another thread started concerning cdburner permissions. i didn't add this question to that thread because the topic here is different, even though it has to do with permissions. if you feel it should be moved to my other thread, please feel free to do so.) ok, here's the scoop. been using MDK for 2 1/2 months now. i'm still a newbie, but i'm getting the hang of things more & more each day. one thing that i find to be an inconvenience is having to have root priveledges to access cetain files or run certain programs. before you tell me the dangers of "root", i am well aware of the damage that can be done with root powers. i know that there's a perfectly good reason that Linux is set up the way it is, with all powerful "root" & users given certain permissions by "root" so that they can do no real harm. BUT, i am the only user on my computer. no wife, no kids, no roomie, etc.... i am not on a network. i have a firewal in place & set up properly. i'm not going to do anything boneheaded that will jeapordize my system or setup. and there are ceratin necessary things that i need to do that i can't when i'm user "chris" unless i su over to root. (ex.....cdburning......editing fstab.......running MCC.......etc.) for instance, to access MCC as "chris" i can perform the follwing steps: 1. click kicker 2. click MCC 3.type root password 4.click "ok" or hit "enter" or....... 1. click on terminal 2.su 3.enter 4.password 5.enter 6.type MCC 7.enter is there a way i can do something with the permissions to give me (as user "chris") more powers so that i don't have to go through extra setps to do things? again, with MCC as an example, if "chris" had root power over that i could just do: 1.click kicker, move point to MCC 2.click MCC 2 steps..........done! same thing with altering/editing certain files (fstab, lilo, ....). i either have to go through the terminal thing, or what i do that's a bit faster is run the KDE super user file manager, but that still involves several extra steps due to password requirements. ok, i know that all may sound trivial in the big scheme of things, but i was just hoping to be able to get some things accomplished in 1 step instead of 3 or more. so, is there any magic setting that i can do to give "chris" who can get into "root" any time he wants, more "root" powers without jumping through hoops? (please be gentle with your answers) :wink: Chris (alias "root")

ya know, k3b is cursed! it's given me nothing but headaches since day one. more on that in a minute.......... see, that's what's confusing me. why are all of these burning programs fully functional as "root", but not as "chris"? that's why i was wondering about my permission settings. you can see in my post above that user "chris" has permissions for everything needed to burn cd's. but when i run any of those program as "chris", they tell me that i can't do certain things unless i run them as "root". and, i do have xcdroast set for "non-root mode" with chris added as a user & given all permissions. same for k3b. cdbakeoven doesn't have a user permissions setting that i could find. and now, to add insult to injury, when i ran k3b as "chris" this morning, it isn't recognizing my burner or cdrom..........AGAIN!!!! i've been through this headache before & i know what needs to be done to set up k3b (no supermount........ide-scsi emulation..........fstab settings.......etc.) funny thing is, i just used k3b as user "chris" to burn a cd 2 days ago. it recognized my burner & rom then. that's when i realized that i couldn't do disc at once. the only thing i can think that i did since last using k3b that might affect the settings was install texstar's cdbakeoven. i haven't tried using that to burn anything yet, 'cause that won't let "chris" do anything. why does burning a cd in Linux/MDK have to be so freakin' difficult?! ok, enough ranting. i'm at work so i can't play with stuff now. aRTee, if you come up with any solutions or answers, i'm all ears. that goes for anybody else that cares to offer their thoughts, too. Chris

yeah, i can use k3b as user chris to burn iso's fine. just thought it was something i was missing or didn't have something set up correctly. still think it's weird, though. as chris (k3b, for instance) shows under "configure k3b"->"prgrams" cdrdao as not being found. when i run it as root, it shows as being found. hmmmm...... :? Chris

basically what devries said to do....... myplayer can be a bugger to set up. open myplayer, right click on the mplayer screen, select preferences. under the audio & video tabs, select different drivers & try playing various video formats (ie: mpg, avi, .....) until you find the drivers that will work for you. different drivers work for different people, depending on what your audio & video set up is like, so there's no "correct" driver that i can tell you to use. also, in preferences, check the "codecs & demuxer" tab & make sure you are using the correct codecs. the codecs that work for me are "video codec family-win32/vfw video codecs" & "audio codec family-win32/direct show codecs". yours may differ, though. (providing you have the codecs installed.......do you?) if not, you can get the wincodecs some others from the myplayer site: http://www.MPlayerHQ.hu/homepage/design6/dload.html hope that helps. Chris

hi all, this has me boggled. some of you may remember my infamous, neverending thread about k3b & my problems getting that set up properly. well, i'm still having this nagging issue with user recording/burning rights. i am the only user on my computer, so i have "root" (naturally) & "chris". i know the dangers of "root" power, but i think i have enough knowledge now that i'm not gonna do anything boneheaded like renaming my lilo.conf file because i'd think it would sound better as coolchris.conf. anywho, onto the questions....... no matter what i do, i can't seem to make any of the burner programs (k3b, xcdroast, & texstar's cdbakeoven) to give user "chris" all the rights i need to burn correctly. for example, cdbakeoven won't let me burn anything as "chris", i need to run it as "root" to get anything accomplished. it tells me that user doesn't have enough rights for cdrdao & cdrecord. k3b will not let me burn with the "disk at once" option, but i can burn as an image. that tells me that cdrdao can't be found when i run it as "chris" (even though it's installed & found when run as "root") same thing with xcdroast......no "disk at once burning allowed as "chris". using "userdrake" & "kuser" i've added everything i can think of to give "chris" permissions for the following.....cdrdao, cdrecord, mkisofs, cdwriter, xcdwriter, k3b, xcdroast, cdbakeoven. i've created groups for all of those & added chris, adm, operator, & root as members of those groups. i "save" after adding. it even shows "chris" as members of those groups when i do "id" in terminal: [chris@default chris]$ id uid=501(chris) gid=501(chris) groups=501(chris),1011(cdwriter),1004(k3b),1003(mkisofs), 1002(cdrecord),1001(cdrdao),1007(umount),1006(unmount), 1005(mount),73(gdm),233(slocate),232(slipusers),231(popusers), 230(pppusers),105(postdrop),72(postfix),71(xfs),70(rpc),69(vcsa), 104(ctools),103(ntools),102(xgrp),101(rpm),65534(nogroup), 100(users),81(audio),43(usb),24(utmp),22(cdrom),20(games), 19(floppy),15(man) [chris@default chris]$ su Password: [root@default chris]# id uid=0(root) gid=0(root) groups=0(root),1011(cdwriter),1004(k3b),1003(mkisofs), 1002(cdrecord),1001(cdrdao),1007(umount),1006(unmount), 1005(mount),501(chris),22(cdrom),502(xcdwrite),1008(scd0), 1009(scd1) [root@default chris]# is there another way, other than "userdrake" or "kuser" to give access rights to goups, specifally the aforementioned cd burning groups, so i can do any type of cd burning as "chris"? does it have anything to do with the numbers it assigns to those various groups, & if so, how can i change the numbers? when i add groups in "kuser" it automatically assigns it a group id number (ex. cdrecord 1002). any input would be greatly appreciated. Chris

spacecadet, right click on the kicker icon. you'll see "menu editor". click on that. it'll open up MenuDrake. from there you can add, remove, & generally tweak the kicker menu (& other menu items) 'til your hearts content. Chris

hi SpaceCadet, to accomplish all of those things in KDE, & many more things, you can use KDE Control Center. to access it, either go to kicker->configuration->control center.....or, from terminal type kcc & hit enter. either one of those methods will open it up. (you don't need root priveledges to run it) once it's open, click on the + beside "look and feel". you can tweak virtually anything from there. there's also seperate areas to play with mouse, keyboard, & other settings. if you want KDE themes, other than the stock ones that they give you, here's a good place to start: http://themes.freshmeat.net/browse/957/?topic_id=957 and here's another place: http://www.kde-look.org/ or you can just do a Google search for KDE themes: http://www.google.com/linux?hl=en&lr=&ie=I...G=Google+Search hope that helped ya out! Chris

ok, ok......no mas! no mas! (or at least move this to a thread of it's own!) :D basically, i was just curious about the upgrade thing, being the NOOb that i am. i'm sorta like Ixthusdan said.....i've stayed up way past my bed time, many times, trying to fix something or get something to work because of an upgrade to a perfectly fine working piece of software that i probably didn't really need to do. i just hear all this talk of MDK9.2 & get excited & want to jump on the bandwagon. i guess i'll crawl on the bandwagon, instead. what i was hoping for in the upgrade was a faster boot time with a new kernel, some snappier response times when i run certain progs, (my lack of speed in some areas has a lot to do with the age of my system, i know. there's no way of getting around that without a new computer, but i was hoping for at least a little performance increase.) maybe some new usefull bells & whistles, some software upgrades without having to go get them individually & install them manually, etc. i really appreciate all the input to my harmless, little question. be prepared to hear me scream when i finally do take the 9.2 plunge. now, will it be a scream of elation or horror???.........that is the question. :shock: (also, thanks for making me waste valuable company time while i sit here typing response, after response. i thank you, my boss thanks, my paycheck thanks you. it was a nice diversion to this otherwise dull day. but, at least it's Friday!!! 2 hours 'til gin time! WOOOHOOO!!!) :lol: Chris

static, that's what i don't know.........& what i want to know! :D i mean, why put out an upgrade/new version of something if it doesn't mean there will be improvements, perhaps significant improvements. latest kernel, latest wm's, newer better software packages, etc., etc. if 9.2 is bigger, badder, & better than 9.1, then i want in! i just don't want to have to be afraid, or see the need to be afraid, that the "upgrade" won't do anything but just that......"upgrade", without causing me any other problems. i mean, if the "upgrade" option is so much of a headache to people, why does MDK even offer that option? why don't they just put out a new version with an "install" option only? or at least with a strong disclaimer that by choosing "upgrade", you are taking the chance of losing everything, so proceed at your own risk. i love Linux.....love MDK.....love what i've accomplished in this short time i've been using it & love the things Linux can do vs. MS. again, don't want to start a war or the great debate. i was just asking a question. i guess i'm getting some answers, though, huh? :roll: Chris

hey tyme, don't want to start a war or anything. i understand that bug reports are very important when developing/testing software. but, can you understand my point? i'm loving MDK/Linux for many reasons that probably have been covered before, so i won't go into them here. i'm learning tons.........still have tons to learn. it's frustrating at times (when i f**k things up, can't figure out what should be a simple problem, etc...)......immensely enjoyable other times (when i fix something on my own, figure out something on my own, help somebody here, etc...). but, i also can't be left in the dust & stick with a software version that's several revisions old just because i have to worry about losing everything. wherein lies my dilema......do i do an upgrade where my system can become too unstable to use effectively, where i need to spend endless hours fixing things because of an upgrade, or (worse case) that my system gets hosed (Window$ too)? then that's too much of a risk to take, IMHO. i have years of tweaks on my Window$ partition that would be mind numbing to even try to redo. i have 2 months of tweaks on my MDK partition that (for a still NOObie like me) would also be mind numbing to redo. so, what do i do? well, i'm a bit of a risk taker, so like i said, i'll lay low & see what kind of reports come in, then make the leap when i feel i'm ready. hopefully i'll land on both feet with only minor scrapes & bruises. :D gotta get back to work now. thanks for your comments, though. Chris PS: do you think it might be a good idea to start a forum section for MDK9.2 all on it's own? you know, where all the talk can be about 9.2 specifically? that way, everybody knows where to go for the latest info, bugs, reports, etc. about the newest MDK verisons. just a thought.........

anon... yeah, i realize that the beta's can be buggy. i think i'll stay away until the final comes out. thanks for the warning/disclaimer, though. :D static brings up a good point, i think. what's the point of offering an upgrade, if everybody seems to scream "DON'T DO IT! YOU'LL HOSE THE SYSTEM OR IT WON'T WORK PROPERLY!" i mean (no offense meant here) but isn't MDK far enough into the game that if they offer an upgrade option, then it should work as an upgrade should & be safe to use? like i said, i may have only 2 months invested into MDK, but it's been a big learning curve in those 2 months. and (my bad ) even though i've learned a lot, there's things i've forgotten or can't do without "cheat sheets" & i don't think that when a new "final" version of MDK comes out that i should have to start from scratch with a fresh install. in all seriousness, i want to stay away from Window$. i'm accomplishing that. the only times i boot into Window$ anymore is to upgrade the anti virus or install MS security updates. :lol: BUT, when MDK9.2 comes out, i'm gonna take a deep breath & go for the upgrade. if it should hose my current install, or make me start from square 1 again, i honestly don't know if i'll keep trying to use MDK/Linux as my main OS. simply put, i have a job & a life & i can't afford, nor do i have enough free time, to keep playing with/starting over/fixing things on my computer on a daily basis. so, when the "final" release comes out, i'll hang a bit & see what you people think & report, & if i get a good vibe, i'll do it & hope for the best. i mean, an upgrade shouldn't be something to be afraid of, should it? and, i can't stick with MDK9.1 forever. do people still use Window$ 3.1? this probably has strayed a wee bit off topic, but any comments or thoughts on the "upgrade issue" would be appreciated. Chris

:shock: an .exe file for Linux??? :lol: :lol: :lol: Chris

question......... now that my MDK9.1 is running pretty much flawlessly, if i should want to test drive this 9.2 beta, or when it's "final" & i want to install it, can you use the "upgrade" feature without it whacking my currently installed 9.1? i mean, i'm still new at this, & even though i've come a long way in these past 2 months, i really don't relish the thought of having to do a fresh install & retweaking things, downloading & installing things again, etc. what does an "upgrade" do? does it leave your /home & /usr directories alone & just update /root & various libraries? do you have to reconfigure hardware, or does it use you current settings? (ex: does it automatically supermount your drives so that you have to dick around with disabling that?) sorry if this question sounds naive, but before i try this beta, or even the final release, i'd like to have an idea of what to expect. thanks, Chris

hi 83mercedes, silly question perhaps, but have you tried inserting a floppy, right clicking the icon to "mount", then trying to read the floppy contents? if you disabled supermount, then you must mount the drive before you can read it. how did you disable supermount? by editing your fstab file? if so, it might be helpful to post the contents of your /etc/fstab file. also (i'm not at my MDK machine right now) but if memory serves me, your floppy icon should not point to /dev/fdo, but /dev/floppy instead. Chris

banjo, KMail syncs it's time with your system/KDE clock time. is your clock showing the correct time? you can adjust the time format in KMail by opening KMail, click "settings", click "configure KMail", click "appearance", click the "headers" tab, & look down to where it says "date display". as far as i know, you can't set the time, per se, via KMail. make sure your system/KDE time is correct. got company, gotta run......... Chris

olunic, glad to hear you got the sound working! :D i'll have to defer to somebody else on the modem issue. i have DSL, so i never had to deal with a dial up modem (if that's what you're using). if it is a DSL modem, then i can offer some assistance, but as mtweidmann said, you have to give some specifics about your hardware, ISP, etc. the more info you give, the easier it is to help. :wink: Chris

Justin, check out this thread http://mandrakeusers.org/viewtopic.php?t=6...1646cd98d207431 it contains setup info for XCDRoast. look for my posts there & you should be able to get it up & running. also, what aRTee said has merit. K3B is another useful cd burning tool. especially if you want to burn .iso files, which you can't do in XCDRoast. word of note.....if you decide to try K3B, search the forum for some threads on how to set that up, or i (or somebody else) would be glad to help you with it. K3B can be a little tricky to set up because it involves some fstab editing depending on if your cd burner/rom is ide or scsi. nothing that somebody here couldn't walk you through, though. :wink: Chris

i think i found another KDE3.1.3-1 texstar rpm related bug. i was trying to view a web site (in Konqueror) that told me i needed a newer version of MacroMedia Shockwave. i installed it, then opened KCC & tried to scan for new plugins. i got an an error message saying "nsplugin scanner not found". i tried again from Konqueror->configure Konqueror, & still no go. i checked texstar's downloads & found he has a new version of that (KDE-nsplugins3.1.3-1tex rpm). installed that, tried plugin scan again, & it worked fine. anybody else try scanning for plugins lately? anybody else have this problem? just wondrin'..... Chris

BobGuy, my posts were yanked :( so that's why that don't work. we dupe posted about the same problem. i just urpmi'd texstar's ftp site (5:00 am EST) & it's working again, so it must have been maintenance related or a temporary glitch on his end. Chris

oops! wrong link..........here it is.......... http://mandrakeusers.org/viewtopic.php?t=7...cd4f3838342bf47 Chris

see my link a few notches down........... http://mandrakeusers.org/viewtopic.php?t=7...cd4f3838342bf47 Chris

olunic, i just checked. i have a Crystal PNP integrated sound card. Mandrake is detecting it as Yamaha OPL3-FM. it's loading sound device Crystal CS4236 when i boot. how i got it working was exactly how i described it above. do you have the sndconfig package installed? (shouldn't that be automatically installed???) when you say you can't find it, what do you mean? you must open a terminal->su to root->type sndconfig. a very basic looking program will run & ask you permission to try to detect a soundcard (device). it will scan things for a while, then give results & ask if it's ok to use the sound device it found. after that, there's a button you can click to test if sound is working. please don't be offended by this, 'cause i'm still a NOObie & still screw things up, but......i see in another post that you are having other major problems due to your install. if things are buggered up too much, might i suggest (since you're not too deep into things yet) a fresh install. if you should go that route, pay special attention the the final configuration settings screen near the end of the install. if anything isn't configured correctly, it will say so in red lettering. i'm not sure else what to suggest at this point. maybe somebody else can offer better advice. sorry :( Chris

judland........ i played around with OO & those templates before work this morning. that is the shit! thanks soooo much. you saved me from booting into Window$! you are correct, too...........i get the best of both worlds with OO.......i can manipulate the graphics how i want, & it's a kick ass word processor to boot! Chris

olunic & tyme....... i have the very same integrated soundcard in my system. i had headaches with it at first, but the sndconfig method finally got mine working fine. a few additional notes...... (forgive me some incomplete instructions, but i'm at work & not at my Linux machine.........if you want, i can give you my exact settings for things tonight when i get home) when i installed MDK, at one of the last installation screens, you have an opportunity to set configurations for all hardware if you don't think it was set right or if it tells you it wasn't configured (modem, internet, monitor, SOUND, etc....) when i was at that stage, it told me that my sound card wasn't found. i ran the sound card set up, & it told me that it still couldn't find the sound card & i had to run "sndconfig" once i was in MDK. so, i did that (as i described a few posts up) & it was working. still, there was some other fine tuning i needed to do. i needed to go into KDE control center->multimedia (i think that's what it's called......again, not at my Linux machine)->sound. in there, you can change settings around. one of the things i needed to change to get better sound quality was set the mhz frequency to 48,000. also note, don't try to find your sound card in KCC under information->sound, 'cause it still won't show the sound card there, even though it's operational. another note........ before i did all this, i tried to configure the soundcard in MCC->hardware (as tyme said to do), but i still got the message that i needed to run sndconfig in terminal. one final thing i had to do, was, run KMix & set the volume level in there->save. then, finally, to make the volume setting hold that level at each boot, i needed to run AUMix & set those volume levels & save it. i now have the KMix volume control load during boot, so it runs in the tray & i can adjust volume with the slider as neccessary. and, i am using the ALSA sound system, not OSS. hope that made sense & it helps. again, if you want to know my extact settings, let me know & i'll post the info here tonight when i'm home. Chris