Mitchell

Yeah, I agree with Jim. I wonder if something's gone screwy with your iso... would not be the first time. Also, if hardware is somehow an issue, have you thought about trying the 2008.0 live cd? That's a shot in the dark, but it might work. Good luck. ~Mitchell

Changed my mind about cooker. I'll play with that another day. I've simply removed the backported repositories, sorted for now.

Hi people, here's a simple, workable solution to the kde window decorator continually crashing in compiz-fusion. It's not ideal, but neither is a system which keeps crashing. Periodically my windows would loose their borders, and much of their functionality, when under compiz-fusion the kde window decorator kept crashing. One quick solution was to run as root # kde-window-decorator --restore Obviously this got old pretty quickly, particularly when after installing wbar (simple dockbar, great project) from source this would happen every session... So since then I've switched to using the gtk window decorator instead. There aren't as many feautres, it's not supported from the kde control centre, but it works solidly, and I've had no more crashes. Make sure it's installed in the MCC, then in konsole type: # gtk-window-decorator --replace After that, open the compiz config settings manager (should be under 'tools' in the menu bar), go to 'window decoration', and in the 'Command' box type "gtk-window-decorator --replace" without the parenthesis, of course. This will make sure the gtk window decorator starts in place of the kde one on login. If you decide to go back to the kde window decorator, and it's various problems, then in Konsole you can type: # kde-window-decorator --replace Then go into the compiz config settings manager again, and hit the little paintbrush next to the 'Command' option. This will return it to default. I've heard you can also use the emerald windows decorator, though I haven't tried it. In any event, I'm using a backported version of Compiz-Fusion, and this later release doesn't support Emerald yet. Good luck! [moved from Software by spinynorman]

Thanks for that. Groovy picture by the way Arctic! The bug report you pointed me to Jim says that apparently this issue is fixed in rpmdrake-3.123, which is in cooker currently. There has been discussion about backporting it to 2008, but it hasn't happened yet. I'm impatient, and a bit irritated, so I'm going to try and install it from cooker and hope it doesn't crash my system... will let you know how it goes. And yes Arctic, I did try and clear my cache first, but to no avail. Still same problem. I suppose I could remove the contrib media from my repositories, but that means adding them again the next time I need them. Thanks folks. ~Mitchell

Hi folks, just a quick question. A few weeks back I enabled the backport mirrors in the MCC of 2008.0. Was looking for particular updates, then after that was done, I disabled both the backport updates, and backports in general. Yet when the update applet runs (handy little red and white exclamation mark in my panel), it still picks up all the backport updates, which I do NOT want to install. What the hecks going on, and how do I get rid of this? Is there a way I can refresh this from the command line, or graphically? I've tried updating my sources through the MCC once I've disabled the backports, and they still show up? Odder still, when my update applet shows updates available. it only lists the official ones I'm wanting, but when I go to install them, I get a list of all the other backport updates. I'm sure there's a very simple explanation....

Looks like I'll have to play around then... how badly do I want this I wonder? Might actually be easier to invest in a card which already works...lol. Thanks mate.

My card is a Broadcom... any advice?

Got any advice on breaking WEP keys? Have been trying to do the same with my Belkin card using Airsnort and Kismet, without much success. Need to be able to put the card in monitor mode... what do you recommend? Are other programs better? Cheers.

Hi Antkeane, have you tried enabling Compiz Fusion through the 3D section of the Mandriva Control Centre (MCC)? This should install the correct packages for you, and tell you if your hardware won't support it. You can always switch back via the same process if need be.

I agree with John. Coustasse, something's not quite right here. For a start, Mandriva is very easy to use. Secondly, according to your last post you have had networking happening in Linux before, it's only with this last reinstallation it's not working properly. Also, as you've now been messing about with settings and config files, chances are you've botched something up. Are you able currently to connect to the internet through MS Windows? If not, then perhaps the problem is with your modem, or connection itself. If you are, then something's happened in Mandriva. If it's within Mandriva, and if your connection was previously working in another installation of the same version (powerpack 2008, you said), the most likely case is that you've somehow botched it up. Either that, or some update you've installed since then isn't playing happy with your system. Try John's advice, and see if that helps. If not, then try and think really carefully about what are the exact steps you did this time that you didn't do last time you installed 2008. There's a difference somewhere that's making things difficult, and I think it will be something really simple. I don't think you'll have much luck continuing to play around with config files, unless you need to put them back the way they were previously. Reinstalling is rarely supported in these forums, so I won't waste my breathe telling you to when I'll likely be contradicted in the next post. That said, if there's anyway you can return your settings to where they were before you started editing config files, then try and find the problem by there, you'll probably have more luck. Cheers.

Thanks Scoonma, will leave it at that. I suppose it I don't know much about them, and don't seem to need to, no reason to start now...lol. Thanks.

Any idea which problem after vt-switching was fixed? I'm unable to log in as other users while a user session is running, and the research I've done about the problem has pointed to this being something very difficult to fix... basically there is no windows manager available if I try to log in as another user... Has this driver fixed that? Also, I know very little about Nvidia Drivers to begin with, except that under 2008.0 I don't seem to need them, or they are built into the kernel. Can I still use them if it will fix this problem. I'm a bit confused. Thanks

Hi tbrownarcher, welcome to MUB. I don't know about your video card, that may or may not be an issue. There are other people here who could tell you that, I don't know much about video cards. Sounds very strange to me though. Using the free version of Mandriva MAY effect what your viedo card is capable of doing, as it comes minus some propriety drivers otherwise included with the paid versions, but it still sounds very odd that it should effect Ms Windows that way. Anyone else got any thoughts on this? What version of Ms Windows are you using, and how did you install them on the same hard drive? I noticed some issues when I installed Windows XP alongside Mandriva... I think this was due to Windows not liking being resized (I resized the partition to make room for Mandriva), and to having both my Linux and Windows partitions side by side. There were always issues with Windows XP after I booted into Mandriva. The easiest solution for me was to put a swap partition between Linux and Windows XP, that solved most of my problems. Are you mounting your Windows XP partition under Mandriva? Basically, can you see Windows XP and all your files from Mandriva? If not you likely haven't mounted it, so I'd be surprised if Mandriva is messing up your configuration directly. How did you install them?

If you're on the right track to solving this, just ignore my post. That said, I don't understand why you need to edit any files to get your internet conneciton working. You said that "My Internet connection, broadband, is on Windows." This makes no sense to me. Mandriva should be able to detect your internet connection, and use your hardware to do so. It's possible your hardware isn't supported by Mandriva, but have you tried everything to check this? Mandriva seems to support a very wide range of hardware configurations, especially ethernet (assuming that's what you're using). What do you mean by "My Internet connection, broadband, is on Windows."?

Haven't used dspam, but have been looking at using "ask" lately, a little program that holds your mail until the user confirms they are not spamming. Basically this stops most spam getting through. Haven't honestly taken the time to look into how to set it up yet... what's dspam and do you recommend it?

I don't know about that scarecrow... anecdotal evidence would point elsewhere... Linux is my main system now BECAUSE of all the maintenance, including regular defrags I had to do. Only ever had 512 mb of ddr RAM, and if I didn't run regular defrags every few months my box got VERY slow. Perhaps if I never installed, uninstalled much it might have been different, but as a user it just seemed to use things... well... very inefficiently. Suffice it to say that even with current bug issues still being sorted out, Mandriva Linux 2008.0 is far above anything MS Windows offers. Re your original question Zac Medley, the only other thing I would suggest would be a backup program. Mondo is my favourite, it's in the 2008.0 repositories. Highly recommend it. It's nice if you can automate something to happen regularly, but I'm using it at the moment manually. It's worth it to be able to restore my box when I've stuffed everything up. You can choose whether or not to restore everything from bare metal, or to restore only parts (like leaving your home partition intact, for instance). Highly recommend it. Good luck!

Bummer, eh? If I was in your shoes I'd probably reinstall everything, barring my home partition if I had one... but that probably comes from a Ms Windows mentality. I'm sure if you stick around long enough someone will be able to solve your problems, I rarely have enough patience for that when things go bung... That said, what exactly is going on? Are you getting error messages about not being able to use a 3d desktop? One place you could check, and post your output here, would be /var/log/messages. Assumiing you're using KDE, type (as root in konsole) "kwrite /var/log/messages". This is your system wide log message where your errors will be kept. You might work some things out there yourself, and if you post them here someone else might be able to. I'm wondering if you might simply have had your windows manager crash, there are still some bugs in Compiz-Fusion (3D desktop program), and this happens periodically. You may have been lucky and it's only now just happened... this basically means your windows decoration goes kaput, and sometimes you can't type in your windows. Try this command, first as a regular user, and if that doesn't help as root in Konsole, "kde-windows-decorator --replace" Other options which usually work for this problem are to log our of your current session, hit "Alt+e", (this restarts your X environment), then log back in again. Barring that, try a system restart. If none of these options work, then there is something else gong on. Good luck, and please let us know what happens, you will help other people if you post a fix.

Hi Fugue, I'm relatively new to Linux as well, but did have some problems with my network connection under 2007.1. Since I've done a clean install with Mandriva 2008.0 everything appears to be working fine. This latest release uses a much newer kernel, which has more support for networking. Apologies if I'm not sending you on the right track, but if you still continue having problems perhaps ask on this forum if upgrading to 2008.0 would help. Cheers.

Yeah, I'm really confused here as well. The best way to get help in these forums is to give as much detail as possible, it's really difficult to offer advice if we don't know what's actually going on... too many unanswered questions from me. A good rule of thumb is to start every post with the operating system you are running on your computer (or systems), Version number or name (XP, Mandriva 2007.1, Mandriva 2008.0, etc.), and sometimes the kernel you are using. I've recently updated my kernel in Mandriva, and found some issues with configuring Virtualbox, thus my earlier question. As pointed out by ixoye777 in the past post, my understanding is also that you need the installation disc for Windows XP to install it under virtualbox. Any other operating system will need an installation disc.. The only iso image you should need under virtualbox is for the add on modules, which add more features. Depending on your installation with virtualbox, this comes included. Please write more if you need help still, but try and be clear as to what you are actually doing. The more info the better. Cheers.

Looking good ian, just a couple of points. First off, really professional, I'm impressed. I like the format of your page, and seems there has been some thought that's gone into making it readable and simple. I think the 'about us' page and the 'services' need to be clearer. In the first place, you don't tell us enough about your company. Who are you, what have you done, who you've worked for, etc. Most importantly, this page should include credentials. This can be you saying who you've worked for, what you've done for them, or ideally, testimonials from customers who've loved your business. While a totally different industry, I found that as soon as I started including testimonials from happy customers my business skyrocketed. Suddenly we looked professional, and that there were many people who used our services. I think this carries across. While you say what you've done in the past in your 'about us' page, it is very general. Can you be more specific, and include projects, and names, that you've worked on? Secondly, your services page has less information than 'about us'. This page should be your hook. This is where people see what you offer and say 'wow! I want that!' You could afford to make it bigger, and go more in depth about what you offer. I would consider having links on this page to each of the services you offer, elaborating on them, and wihtin those links directing them back to your 'about us' page with lots of info from happy customers. Final point is your contacts page. Most companies I know of which use forms don't display their emails on the page, for the simple reason the forms are there so they don't get spam. I'm not personally worried about this for my site. Is this an issue for yours? The form looks good, but is there a reason you don't simply have your email address? The form looks professional, but is it necessary? Anyway, hope some of this helps. If not just, ignore it. Cheers.

Hi Fizban, I haven't run into that problem before, but I don't think I ran the driver through the partition. I'm not sure why it's happening, but try copying the driver from your ms windows partition into Linux. Easiest is probably to create a folder somewhere in your home user partition, so it's easy to access, move, delet, etc. Only don't delete it...lol. WHen that's done, point your configuration to that location when you're asked for it again. THis might fix your problem. Also for the record, I've been having difficulties with my wireless connection on my Hp omnibook6000. (yes it's old, and apart from 3d effects not able to work and it running a bit slower, 2008.0 is fantastic on it!) I think I must not be configuring it properly, because one day it's working, then the next I can't connect to my network. It's not the network's fault, or my router (as far as I know), and is highly irritating. Can anyone point me in the right direction for a good tutorial about using Mandriva with wireless connections? Under 2007.1 there were major issues with support for my Belkin wireless card, which seems to be fixed now. I think my problem lies in not knowing quite what I'm doing yet. Cheers.

Sounds like it's sorted then, thanks for you feedback adamw. Do I need to uninstall the unneeded packages? Ta'.

Hi people, just though I'd post this if anyone else has any problems. I've managed to solve it for myself, but nowhere near as smooth as the update from kernel 2.6.22.9. Like most of you I found the latest kernel update to 2.6.22.12-desktop-1mdv from my updates tool yesterday, and tried it out this morning. This fixes some security issues, so I thought it was a good idea. The last update was flawless, this less so. The problem (so far) was with Virtual Box, which I'm using for a few business files which I have. Here are the packages I installed to get it working properly again. Some of them might not have been needed, I'm pretty sure it was the very last package which got it working again. Hope this helps anybody else who runs across this. - dkms-vboxadd-1.5.0-6mdv2008.0.i586 - dkms-vboxvfs-1.5.0-6mdv2008.0.i586 - vboxadd-kernel-2.6.22.12-desktop-1mdv-1.5.0-6mdv2008.0.i586 - vboxvfs-kernel-2.6.22.12-desktop-1mdv-1.5.0-6mdv2008.0.i586 - kernel-desktop-devel-2.6.22.12-1mdv-1-1mdv2008.0.i586 - kernel-desktop-devel-latest-2.6.22.12-1mdv2008.0.i586 - virtualbox-kernel-2.6.22.12-desktop-1mdv-1.5.0-6mdv2008.0.i586

Hi Fizban, that's basically what I did about a year ago, though I never went back to Windows. After trying Mandriva, I ported across in about 4 months. Still finishing that port, but have made the decision to get rid of Windows, though I still have some business programs (database I'm porting to Mysql and SugarCRM, actually) I run under Windows XP in VirtualBox. (open source linux emulation tool) Advice I found out the hard way when I installed both Linux and Windows on the same hard drive using Mandriva 2007.1: 1. Make sure you have a swap partition, or some kind of neutral ground between your Windows and Linux partitions. It may not always be a problem, but it was for me. Windows really didn't like Linux, and I wasn't writing to Windows under Linux either. Lots of things screwed up, and most of them were fixed when I put a Linux Swap partition between Windows XP and Linux. 2. defrags are really important. Do a disc defrag before resizing with your live cd, and after in Windows XP. This will help things run much smoother. 3. If I was doing this again, I'd actually consider re-installing XP, especially if you have any problems. From memory it seems XP is made to be reinstalled periodically. SOmething to consider in case you run into problems. 4. Consider installing 'Mondo' when Linux is on your machine, it's an awesome little program that can back up your windows partition as well as your linux one. If you need to reinstall ANYTHING at some point, this will make it so much easier for you, providing you've done a backup prior. I haven't tried it like this, but it should make life much easier if you do need to reinstall Windows XP as well. 5. Have fun, and don't let any of this scare you! Linux is a truly grat operating system, and I wouldn't go back to Microsoft Windows if you paid me. Also, these forums are really friendly, don't be afraid to post. Good luck!

I'm a bit unclear here. Are you running Windows XP, and wanting to get Virtualbox running under it, or are you running Mandriva/Linux and wanting to get Virtualbox running under this? Also, what Iso image are you referring to? If you mena the virtualbox additions module, then yes, that's an iso, and located in different places depending on which operating system you're using. Also, if you are running Mandriva, which version (2007.1, 2008.0, etc) and which kernel are you using? We need more information.