Sunwatcher

Thanks Joste. Can I just go in with gedit and change fstab? Does leaving out the ro option mean just deleting it? Should something replace it?

How do I get Mandriva to detect as ntfs? (Under Vista the drive is shown as ntfs.) "cat /etc/fstab" gives: /dev/sda5 / ext3 defaults 1 1 /dev/sda7 /home ext3 defaults 1 2 none /proc proc defaults 0 0 /dev/sda6 swap swap defaults 0 0 /dev/sda1 /media/hd ntfs umask=0022,nls=utf8,sync,ro 0 0 /dev/sdb1 /media/hd2 vfat umask=0022,users,iocharset=utf8,sync,noauto,exec 0 0 /dev/sr0 /media/cdrom auto umask=0022,users,iocharset=utf8,sync,noauto,ro,exec 0 0 /dev/sdb5 /media/hd3 ntfs umask=0022,nls=utf8,sync,ro 0 0

I dual-boot Mandriva and Vista. My vista partition is rather small, so I got another sata hard drive to use for data. Everything works well under vista. Here's my problem though: I'd like to use the drive as a "common drive" for vista and Mandriva, but Mandriva will not mount the drive. I have ntfs-3g installed. Under local disks in MCC, I can see the drive listed as "sdb", a mount point is listed "/media/hd2", and under type is "vfat" (vista formated it as ntfs). When I hit "mount" I get the following error: "mounting partition /dev/sdb1 in directory /media/hd2 failed." What am I doing wrong?

Well, I have had success. Not being able to use usb drives was going to be a distro-killer for me, and I was about install Ubuntu. I decided to give Mandriva one more shot, so I re-installed with the usb drive plugged in. Again, I just accepted all the default installation values, and this time everything just worked. I guess there was something strange with the original installation. All is well now, and I have my favorite Linux distro! Again, thank you very much Yves.

A real stumper I guess. Yves, thank you very much for all your patient help. If you (or anyone else) thinks of something, please let me know.

In a terminal as user, typing "mount" gave: /dev/sda5 on / type ext3 (rw,relatime) none on /proc type proc (rw) /dev/sda1 on /media/hd type ntfs (ro,sync,umask=0022,nls=utf8) none on /proc/sys/fs/binfmt_misc type binfmt_misc (rw) none on /sys/fs/fuse/connections type fusectl (rw) So, when I typed "gnome-mount -d /dev/sdb1", terminal showed this: gnome-mount 0.6 . . . and a window popped up saying, "Cannot mount volume. You are not privileged to mount the volume 'TRAVELDRIVE'." I then went to su, and I got a slightly different message in a pop up window: "Cannot mount volume. Invalid mount option when attempting to mount the volume 'TRAVELDRIVE'."

I did it. (In Gnome: System>Preferences>Removable Drives and Media Preferences) The first three boxes were already checked. And thanks for the link to Kilimanjaro's problem -- not that I follow it yet, but I do want to learn! What's next?

Success! Thanks Greg2. After following your instructions, I went to dvdrip and edit>preferences, clicked on "Check all settings" and the rar command setting was good. Ripping also seems to work fine now. Many thanks!

I followed your instructions in steps 1-6 above. The output to newdevice.txt was: 2c2 < Dumping 88 device(s) from the Global Device List: --- > Dumping 96 device(s) from the Global Device List: 969a970,1177 > udi = '/org/freedesktop/Hal/devices/usb_device_8ec_8_0C90D850A280DA15' > info.bus = 'usb_device' (string) > info.linux.driver = 'usb' (string) > info.parent = '/org/freedesktop/Hal/devices/usb_device_0_0_0000_00_1d_7' (string) > info.product = 'TD Classic 003C' (string) > info.subsystem = 'usb_device' (string) > info.udi = '/org/freedesktop/Hal/devices/usb_device_8ec_8_0C90D850A280DA15' (string) > info.vendor = 'M-Systems Flash Disk Pioneers' (string) > linux.device_file = '/dev/5-3' (string) > linux.hotplug_type = 2 (0x2) (int) > linux.subsystem = 'usb' (string) > linux.sysfs_path = '/sys/devices/pci0000:00/0000:00:1d.7/usb5/5-3' (string) > usb_device.bus_number = 5 (0x5) (int) > usb_device.can_wake_up = false (bool) > usb_device.configuration_value = 1 (0x1) (int) > usb_device.device_class = 0 (0x0) (int) > usb_device.device_protocol = 0 (0x0) (int) > usb_device.device_revision_bcd = 256 (0x100) (int) > usb_device.device_subclass = 0 (0x0) (int) > usb_device.is_self_powered = false (bool) > usb_device.linux.device_number = 7 (0x7) (int) > usb_device.linux.sysfs_path = '/sys/devices/pci0000:00/0000:00:1d.7/usb5/5-3' (string) > usb_device.max_power = 200 (0xc8) (int) > usb_device.num_configurations = 1 (0x1) (int) > usb_device.num_interfaces = 1 (0x1) (int) > usb_device.num_ports = 0 (0x0) (int) > usb_device.product = 'TD Classic 003C' (string) > usb_device.product_id = 8 (0x8) (int) > usb_device.serial = '0C90D850A280DA15' (string) > usb_device.speed = 480.0 (480) (double) > usb_device.speed_bcd = 294912 (0x48000) (int) > usb_device.vendor = 'M-Systems Flash Disk Pioneers' (string) > usb_device.vendor_id = 2284 (0x8ec) (int) > usb_device.version = 2.0 (2) (double) > usb_device.version_bcd = 512 (0x200) (int) > > udi = '/org/freedesktop/Hal/devices/usb_device_8ec_8_0C90D850A280DA15_usbraw' > info.capabilities = {'usbraw'} (string list) > info.category = 'usbraw' (string) > info.parent = '/org/freedesktop/Hal/devices/usb_device_8ec_8_0C90D850A280DA15' (string) > info.product = 'USB Raw Device Access' (string) > info.udi = '/org/freedesktop/Hal/devices/usb_device_8ec_8_0C90D850A280DA15_usbraw' (string) > linux.device_file = '/dev/bus/usb/005/007' (string) > linux.hotplug_type = 2 (0x2) (int) > linux.subsystem = 'usb_device' (string) > linux.sysfs_path = '/sys/class/usb_device/usbdev5.7' (string) > usbraw.device = '/dev/bus/usb/005/007' (string) > > udi = '/org/freedesktop/Hal/devices/usb_device_8ec_8_0C90D850A280DA15_if0' > info.bus = 'usb' (string) > info.linux.driver = 'usb-storage' (string) > info.parent = '/org/freedesktop/Hal/devices/usb_device_8ec_8_0C90D850A280DA15' (string) > info.product = 'USB Mass Storage Interface' (string) > info.subsystem = 'usb' (string) > info.udi = '/org/freedesktop/Hal/devices/usb_device_8ec_8_0C90D850A280DA15_if0' (string) > linux.hotplug_type = 2 (0x2) (int) > linux.subsystem = 'usb' (string) > linux.sysfs_path = '/sys/devices/pci0000:00/0000:00:1d.7/usb5/5-3/5-3:1.0' (string) > usb.bus_number = 5 (0x5) (int) > usb.can_wake_up = false (bool) > usb.configuration_value = 1 (0x1) (int) > usb.device_class = 0 (0x0) (int) > usb.device_protocol = 0 (0x0) (int) > usb.device_revision_bcd = 256 (0x100) (int) > usb.device_subclass = 0 (0x0) (int) > usb.interface.class = 8 (0x8) (int) > usb.interface.number = 0 (0x0) (int) > usb.interface.protocol = 80 (0x50) (int) > usb.interface.subclass = 6 (0x6) (int) > usb.is_self_powered = false (bool) > usb.linux.device_number = 7 (0x7) (int) > usb.linux.sysfs_path = '/sys/devices/pci0000:00/0000:00:1d.7/usb5/5-3/5-3:1.0' (string) > usb.max_power = 200 (0xc8) (int) > usb.num_configurations = 1 (0x1) (int) > usb.num_interfaces = 1 (0x1) (int) > usb.num_ports = 0 (0x0) (int) > usb.product = 'USB Mass Storage Interface' (string) > usb.product_id = 8 (0x8) (int) > usb.serial = '0C90D850A280DA15' (string) > usb.speed = 480.0 (480) (double) > usb.speed_bcd = 294912 (0x48000) (int) > usb.vendor = 'M-Systems Flash Disk Pioneers' (string) > usb.vendor_id = 2284 (0x8ec) (int) > usb.version = 2.0 (2) (double) > usb.version_bcd = 512 (0x200) (int) > > udi = '/org/freedesktop/Hal/devices/usb_device_8ec_8_0C90D850A280DA15_if0_scsi_host' > info.capabilities = {'scsi_host'} (string list) > info.category = 'scsi_host' (string) > info.parent = '/org/freedesktop/Hal/devices/usb_device_8ec_8_0C90D850A280DA15_if0' (string) > info.product = 'SCSI Host Adapter' (string) > info.udi = '/org/freedesktop/Hal/devices/usb_device_8ec_8_0C90D850A280DA15_if0_scsi_host' (string) > linux.hotplug_type = 2 (0x2) (int) > linux.subsystem = 'scsi_host' (string) > linux.sysfs_path = '/sys/devices/pci0000:00/0000:00:1d.7/usb5/5-3/5-3:1.0/host8' (string) > scsi_host.host = 8 (0x8) (int) > > udi = '/org/freedesktop/Hal/devices/usb_device_8ec_8_0C90D850A280DA15_if0_scsi_host_scsi_device_lun0' > info.bus = 'scsi' (string) > info.linux.driver = 'sd' (string) > info.parent = '/org/freedesktop/Hal/devices/usb_device_8ec_8_0C90D850A280DA15_if0_scsi_host' (string) > info.product = 'SCSI Device' (string) > info.subsystem = 'scsi' (string) > info.udi = '/org/freedesktop/Hal/devices/usb_device_8ec_8_0C90D850A280DA15_if0_scsi_host_scsi_device_lun0' (string) > linux.hotplug_type = 2 (0x2) (int) > linux.subsystem = 'scsi' (string) > linux.sysfs_path = '/sys/devices/pci0000:00/0000:00:1d.7/usb5/5-3/5-3:1.0/host8/target8:0:0/8:0:0:0' (string) > scsi.bus = 0 (0x0) (int) > scsi.host = 8 (0x8) (int) > scsi.lun = 0 (0x0) (int) > scsi.model = 'TD Classic 003C' (string) > scsi.target = 0 (0x0) (int) > scsi.type = 'disk' (string) > scsi.vendor = 'Memorex' (string) > > udi = '/org/freedesktop/Hal/devices/storage_serial_Memorex_TD_Classic_003C_0C90D850A280DA15_0_0' > block.device = '/dev/sdb' (string) > block.is_volume = false (bool) > block.major = 8 (0x8) (int) > block.minor = 16 (0x10) (int) > block.storage_device = '/org/freedesktop/Hal/devices/storage_serial_Memorex_TD_Classic_003C_0C90D850A280DA15_0_0' (string) > info.addons = {'hald-addon-storage'} (string list) > info.capabilities = {'storage', 'block'} (string list) > info.category = 'storage' (string) > info.parent = '/org/freedesktop/Hal/devices/usb_device_8ec_8_0C90D850A280DA15_if0_scsi_host_scsi_device_lun0' (string) > info.product = 'TD Classic 003C' (string) > info.udi = '/org/freedesktop/Hal/devices/storage_serial_Memorex_TD_Classic_003C_0C90D850A280DA15_0_0' (string) > info.vendor = 'Memorex' (string) > linux.hotplug_type = 3 (0x3) (int) > linux.sysfs_path = '/sys/block/sdb' (string) > storage.automount_enabled_hint = true (bool) > storage.bus = 'usb' (string) > storage.drive_type = 'disk' (string) > storage.firmware_version = '1.02' (string) > storage.hotpluggable = true (bool) > storage.lun = 0 (0x0) (int) > storage.media_check_enabled = true (bool) > storage.model = 'TD Classic 003C' (string) > storage.no_partitions_hint = false (bool) > storage.originating_device = '/org/freedesktop/Hal/devices/usb_device_8ec_8_0C90D850A280DA15_if0' (string) > storage.partitioning_scheme = 'mbr' (string) > storage.physical_device = '/org/freedesktop/Hal/devices/usb_device_8ec_8_0C90D850A280DA15_if0' (string) > storage.removable = true (bool) > storage.removable.media_available = true (bool) > storage.removable.media_size = 515899392 (0x1ec00000) (uint64) > storage.removable.support_async_notification = false (bool) > storage.requires_eject = false (bool) > storage.serial = 'Memorex_TD_Classic_003C_0C90D850A280DA15-0:0' (string) > storage.size = 0 (0x0) (uint64) > storage.vendor = 'Memorex' (string) > > udi = '/org/freedesktop/Hal/devices/volume_uuid_98F2_33C2' > block.device = '/dev/sdb1' (string) > block.is_volume = true (bool) > block.major = 8 (0x8) (int) > block.minor = 17 (0x11) (int) > block.storage_device = '/org/freedesktop/Hal/devices/storage_serial_Memorex_TD_Classic_003C_0C90D850A280DA15_0_0' (string) > info.capabilities = {'volume', 'block'} (string list) > info.category = 'volume' (string) > info.interfaces = {'org.freedesktop.Hal.Device.Volume'} (string list) > info.parent = '/org/freedesktop/Hal/devices/storage_serial_Memorex_TD_Classic_003C_0C90D850A280DA15_0_0' (string) > info.product = 'TRAVELDRIVE' (string) > info.udi = '/org/freedesktop/Hal/devices/volume_uuid_98F2_33C2' (string) > linux.hotplug_type = 3 (0x3) (int) > linux.sysfs_path = '/sys/block/sdb/sdb1' (string) > org.freedesktop.Hal.Device.Volume.method_argnames = {'mount_point fstype extra_options', 'extra_options', 'extra_options'} (string list) > org.freedesktop.Hal.Device.Volume.method_execpaths = {'hal-storage-mount', 'hal-storage-unmount', 'hal-storage-eject'} (string list) > org.freedesktop.Hal.Device.Volume.method_names = {'Mount', 'Unmount', 'Eject'} (string list) > org.freedesktop.Hal.Device.Volume.method_signatures = {'ssas', 'as', 'as'} (string list) > storage.model = '' (string) > volume.block_size = 512 (0x200) (int) > volume.fstype = 'vfat' (string) > volume.fsusage = 'filesystem' (string) > volume.fsversion = 'FAT16' (string) > volume.ignore = false (bool) > volume.is_disc = false (bool) > volume.is_mounted = false (bool) > volume.is_mounted_read_only = false (bool) > volume.is_partition = true (bool) > volume.label = 'TRAVELDRIVE' (string) > volume.linux.is_device_mapper = false (bool) > volume.mount.valid_options = {'ro', 'sync', 'dirsync', 'noatime', 'nodiratime', 'noexec', 'quiet', 'remount', 'exec', 'utf8', 'shortname=', 'codepage=', 'iocharset=', 'umask=', 'dmask=', 'fmask=', 'uid=', 'flush'} (string list) > volume.mount_point = '' (string) > volume.num_blocks = 1007584 (0xf5fe0) (int) > volume.partition.flags = {'boot'} (string list) > volume.partition.label = '' (string) > volume.partition.media_size = 515899392 (0x1ec00000) (uint64) > volume.partition.number = 1 (0x1) (int) > volume.partition.scheme = 'mbr' (string) > volume.partition.start = 16384 (0x4000) (uint64) > volume.partition.type = '0x0e' (string) > volume.partition.uuid = '' (string) > volume.size = 515883008 (0x1ebfc000) (uint64) > volume.unmount.valid_options = {'lazy'} (string list) > volume.uuid = '98F2-33C2' (string) > > udi = '/org/freedesktop/Hal/devices/usb_device_8ec_8_0C90D850A280DA15_if0_scsi_host_scsi_device_lun0_scsi_generic' > info.capabilities = {'scsi_generic'} (string list) > info.category = 'scsi_generic' (string) > info.parent = '/org/freedesktop/Hal/devices/usb_device_8ec_8_0C90D850A280DA15_if0_scsi_host_scsi_device_lun0' (string) > info.product = 'SCSI Generic Interface' (string) > info.udi = '/org/freedesktop/Hal/devices/usb_device_8ec_8_0C90D850A280DA15_if0_scsi_host_scsi_device_lun0_scsi_generic' (string) > linux.device_file = '/dev/sg2' (string) > linux.hotplug_type = 2 (0x2) (int) > linux.subsystem = 'scsi_generic' (string) > linux.sysfs_path = '/sys/class/scsi_generic/sg2' (string) > scsi_generic.device = '/dev/sg2' (string) > 1864c2072 < Dumped 88 device(s) from the Global Device List. --- > Dumped 96 device(s) from the Global Device List. The three other commands gave the following output: [root@localhost george]# id uid=0(root) gid=0(root) groups=0(root) [root@localhost george]# mount /dev/sda5 on / type ext3 (rw,relatime) none on /proc type proc (rw) /dev/sda1 on /media/hd type ntfs (ro,sync,umask=0022,nls=utf8) none on /proc/sys/fs/binfmt_misc type binfmt_misc (rw) [root@localhost george]# ls -l /media total 28 drwxr-xr-x 2 root root 4096 2007-10-09 06:31 cdrom/ drwxr-xr-x 2 root root 4096 2007-10-09 06:31 floppy/ dr-xr-xr-x 1 root root 12288 2008-02-06 08:44 hd/ drwxr-xr-x 2 root root 4096 2008-01-23 17:16 hd2/ drwxr-xr-x 2 root root 4096 2008-02-05 09:36 hd3/

Thanks Yves. I did not change anything about mounting, etc. Nor did I change security level from what came with the standard installation. (I'm not so clear on all this, so I just went with all default options on installation.) I can use my usb ports for other things: I had an external hd attached, and a wireless mouse. The problem extends to different usb drives, different manufacturers.

Thanks Greg2, but I would not know where to go for another source (still very new to Linux). Nor do I understand "symlinking". Assume great level of ignorance with me!

Here are my repos: [root@localhost george]# urpmq --list-media main main_updates contrib contrib_updates non-free non-free_updates plf-free plf-nonfree [root@localhost george]# And here is the full answer I get when I do urpmi rar: [root@localhost george]# urpmi rar No package named rar The following packages contain rar: koverartist libopenlibraries-devel libopenlibraries0 librarian-devel librarian0 maven2-plugin-rar openlibraries-media perl-Data-Hierarchy rarian rarpd unrar

I have searched the forum, and I've found some things about mounting a usb drive -- but my knowledge of linux is still so sketchy that I just didn't understand what was being said. I have a fresh install of 2008 on my desktop with, as far as I can tell, the latest kernel. I inserted a usb drive and got an error message: "Cannot open volume. You are not privilieged to mount the volume '. . . .'" If it doesn't work through the gui, then I am rather lost. Is there a way that I can get Mandriva to mount usb drives automatically as user -- as it already does on my laptop with 2007 RC1? Do I have to do something through the command line? (If so I need step by step instructions.) Is there some clear documentation avaible that will teach me about mount points and mounting devices? Thanks for any help.

Well, I tried "urpmi rar" and got "No package named rar" as an answer. I do have unrar already installed. My repositories seem to be in order. Why no rar package?

Hello all. I am trying to use dvdrip, but I have a couple of problems. First, the configuration dialogue that runs on first start said that I was missing some kind of "rar" plugin (or something) that had to do with "vobsub". I'm not sure what that means, but I suspect that it is needed to get English subtitles from a dvd in another language. I tried ripping, and indeed I got the dvd but no subtitles. Does anyone have any ideas?

Success! Thanks to Tyme's advice about editing xorg.conf. (I did try running XFdrake, but this did not work. Nothing seemed to reset.) All seems well now. Many thanks to you all.

Thank you Tyme. I will try this as soon as I get back to my Linux box. The monitor is connected via DVI. (I did 'mis-type' in my original post: My video card, the 7100GS, is the only card I have had in this newly built machine. Mandriva defaulted to the GeForce FX - GeForce 8800 on installation. I don't know if this is relevant, but the Mandriva hardware detection doesn't seem to see my video card correctly.)

Hello all. I just upgraded my monitor, but I can't get the optimum resolution (1680x1050). I have an NVIDIA GeForce 7100GS card. I have checked several things: 1. Hardware detection shows GeForce 7100GS present; 2. I went to the x system configuration in MCC, but it shows my video card as a GeForce FX - GeForce 8800, and the monitor as my old one (Acer AL1716); 3. Going to System>Administration>NVIDIA Display Settings, this shows my new monitor correctly (Acer AL2216W), it also shows my new video card. I have tried setting the maximum resolution, which is available as a choice under the NVIDIA Display Settings, but I get a screen of rather colorful mush. It seems that I have conflicting settings, but I am not sure how to fix it. I am posting the contents of /etc/X11/xorg.conf -- which seems to show my old monitor and card. Any ideas? Contents of xorg.conf: ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- # File generated by XFdrake (rev 230776) Section "Extensions" Option "Composite" EndSection # ********************************************************************** # Refer to the xorg.conf man page for details about the format of # this file. # ********************************************************************** Section "ServerFlags" #DontZap # disable <Ctrl><Alt><BS> (server abort) AllowMouseOpenFail # allows the server to start up even if the mouse does not work #DontZoom # disable <Ctrl><Alt><KP_+>/<KP_-> (resolution switching) EndSection Section "Module" Load "dbe" # Double-Buffering Extension Load "v4l" # Video for Linux Load "extmod" Load "type1" Load "freetype" Load "glx" # 3D layer EndSection Section "InputDevice" Identifier "Keyboard1" Driver "kbd" Option "XkbModel" "pc105" Option "XkbLayout" "us" Option "XkbOptions" "compose:rwin" EndSection Section "InputDevice" Identifier "Mouse1" Driver "mouse" Option "Protocol" "ExplorerPS/2" Option "Device" "/dev/mouse" EndSection Section "Monitor" Identifier "monitor1" VendorName "Plug'n Play" ModelName "AL1716" HorizSync 31-81 VertRefresh 56-75 # TV fullscreen mode or DVD fullscreen output. # 768x576 @ 79 Hz, 50 kHz hsync ModeLine "768x576" 50.00 768 832 846 1000 576 590 595 630 # 768x576 @ 100 Hz, 61.6 kHz hsync ModeLine "768x576" 63.07 768 800 960 1024 576 578 590 616 EndSection Section "Device" Identifier "device1" VendorName "nVidia Corporation" BoardName "NVIDIA GeForce FX - GeForce 8800" Driver "nvidia" Option "DPMS" Option "RenderAccel" "false" Option "AddARGBGLXVisuals" EndSection Section "Screen" Identifier "screen1" Device "device1" Monitor "monitor1" DefaultColorDepth 24 Subsection "Display" Depth 8 Modes "1280x1024" "1152x864" "1024x768" "832x624" "800x600" "640x480" "480x360" "320x240" EndSubsection Subsection "Display" Depth 15 Modes "1280x1024" "1152x864" "1024x768" "832x624" "800x600" "640x480" "480x360" "320x240" EndSubsection Subsection "Display" Depth 16 Modes "1280x1024" "1152x864" "1024x768" "832x624" "800x600" "640x480" "480x360" "320x240" EndSubsection Subsection "Display" Depth 24 Modes "1280x1024" "1152x864" "1024x768" "832x624" "800x600" "640x480" "480x360" "320x240" EndSubsection EndSection Section "ServerLayout" Identifier "layout1" InputDevice "Keyboard1" "CoreKeyboard" InputDevice "Mouse1" "CorePointer" Screen "screen1" EndSection -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Just to wrap up this post, I actually found a dark theme that works well with Openoffice: from gnome-look.org, the theme called "Cillop-Midnite". Thanks Greg2 for the link to the theme tutorial, I will check that out! (Now just send me some extra time! :D )

Thanks you all. And John ... you're a real cut up! No really, love your posts man, especially all that great music stuff you did a while back. Well, I might be biting off more than I can chew here -- still being new to Linux -- but how can I learn to create a good, well-behaved theme that actually does work with Openoffice? I've gotten everything I have from gnome-look, but I have no idea how to make one myself. Where would I start?

I love dark themes, but they cause Openoffice to crash. Does anyone else experience this? Here's the situation: I've tried the distro version of Openoffice on both Mandriva (One 2008) and on Ubuntu 7.10. I've also tried several versions of Openoffice from 2.2.1 to the current stable release 2.3.1. Also, I've used both my older P3 HP laptop and a new Core 2 Duo desktop, but in all situations Openoffice crashes with dark themes -- which I really love. Crashes always occur when I go into the options and try to change something. They also occur when I try to export to pdf. Sometimes they've occurred when I try to save. I work around this by simply going to a light theme, usually Clearlooks, and all is well. Go back to dark and . . . CRASH! Any ideas?

I often have to extract pages and add pages to existing pdf files. In XP I use the full version of Acrobat, but I was hoping to find something similar in Linux. Any suggestions?

I just installed 2008 Free to my laptop. Most everything is working (as far as I know), except that I can't seem to add any newly installed apps to my Gnome menu. I go to System>Preferences>Main Menu to try to modify things. The cursor chugs away like a window is about to appear, but then it stops chugging and nothing happens. I know that I can manually start apps from usr>bins, but I'd like to have them in my menu. Any ideas?

I cannot say how one would mount the Zen player to transfer data files, but I was able to connect to transfer music files with Amarok. I went to Amarok>Settings>Configure Amarok>Add Device. Under 'Select the plugin. . .', I chose 'MTP Media Device'. This disabled the 'Enter the mount point. . .' line. I put in a name (Creative Zen V Plus) and clicked OK. I connected the player and then clicked on the 'Connect' button. This gave me a complete list of existing music on the player and the ability to transfer. Hope this helps a bit.

OK. I did figure out how to change colors and 'Window decorations', but only one of the theme/style files I downloaded shows up there. Tried another (http://www.kde-look.org/content/show.php/Full-Black?content=66144). This one came as a Theme File (.kth at the end). It was detected by "Install New Theme" and appears in the theme box. BUT, when I click on it, nothing changes at all that I can see. Hmmm...