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AussieJohn

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Posts posted by AussieJohn

  1. Thanks Isadora for your all effort.

    The problem has been solved and resolved.

    It was all due to a very dumb and idiotic mistake on my part very early in the piece. :wall: I fouled up my email address so naturally the Mageia person couldn't reach me or the system send me a password via email.

     

    Cheers. John. Cheers also to the Mageia person, who, like you, tried to help me out.

  2. Yes Pandora, it is AussieJohn. and part of the internet address is @bigpond.net.au so they can track the connection. I don't think I need to expose the whole internet address here.

    Thanks for doing this for me.

    Cheers. John.

  3. Isadora.

    In MCC I simply typed in <pulse> and then hit enter and what showed up with the word <pulse> in it I uninstalled. There were only 3 libs that had significant dependency's that I left. That did the trick. I haven't had to make a single setting change to any of the applications that use sound and I have tested them all.

     

    By the way, do you have any significant involvement over there at Mageia ??. I have been having trouble trying to log in to Mageia ever since I signed on shortly after it started up. I try to re-register but it tells me that the login name and Internet Address are already registered. But when I type in the user name and say I forgot the password and ask it to send me a new password it tells me that there is no record of the Internet Address. In other words it contradicts itself. I have now sent two emails to the appropriate official but have not had a response. So do you know who in Mageia can resolve this impasse for me, please ??.

     

    If I cannot log in then I cannot post, as much as I want to.

     

    Cheers. John.

  4. I tried constantly mucking around with pulse-audio, trying changes in all the usual places and no matter what I tried, the only success came when I got rid of it and thus was able to make the appropriate single change in Skype.

    Interesting fact that my audio throughout the various apps that use audio are working perfectly as I outlined. which leads one to think that pulse-audio is an unnecessary and waste of resource.

    As I also said, I believe that sound quality has improved. Unless someone can explain to me how I would be better off with having pulse-audio in my system, not someone elses with perhaps different needs and uses, then I wont even consider reinstalling pulse-audio. I remember way way back during the introduction of pulse-audio that the benefits of the use of pulse-audio was questionable. I now think it is questionable still. It was described as a great way to make a system that was reasonably operable, vastly more complicated for no really proven benefit. I am starting to think that that is still the case.

    If that was not the case then how come all my various audio using programs are still working perfectly and even seem to be improved without Pulse-audio ??.

     

    Cheers. John.

     

    P.S. My webcam has its own inbuilt stereo microphone unlike other webcams that have mono mikes or use external mikes. Pulse-audio was constantly pointing to an imaginary external microphone. namely Microphone 1 or Microphone 2 instead of allowing me to point to the Webcam device itself

  5. I don't have to worry about it now because I fixed the problem.

     

    The problem was caused by pulse audio controlling things. It prevented Skype's Audio Device settings from displaying alternate device options and it was obviously selecting the wrong one.

    I got rid of everything pulse audio, and rebooted. When I then brought up Skype, there was a whole heap of options in the Skype Audio Device selection. It was a piece of cake to select the correct one, which I did. My next door neighbour kindly reactivated Skype on her Windows 7 computer and we successfully tested back and forth many times over the day.

     

    Just finished a delightful 20 minute connection to my friends in Maine. Sound and picture were great. I had a little fluctuation with the colour of my received image when using full screen (24 inch) but they said they had a steady colour on their received image. This might be because they are using a laptop built-in webcam perhaps of a lower video quality because when I reduced the screen size to half screen the image colour was very good and steady. My image send was for a large screen size so would have been scaled for their laptop.( I am using a 24 inch LG monitor).

     

    With Pulse Audio out of the system I decided to check that my audio was OK in Firefox, Audacious, Kaffeine and Movie Player (Totem). All worked great. In fact I would say the sound quality had improved in all them. A problem I had previously of the audio cutting out when playing back video clips I had recorded with my HD Digital Video Camera has also disappeared. The audio used to cut out about 30 seconds into the video most times but not every time.

    I think it is safe to say I have no need for Pulse Audio so I will leave it out of my install in future installs.

     

    Isadora, I will follow your suggestion and copy my two posts over to Mageia because it may prove to be helpful to others over there.

     

    Problem can be marked as SOLVED.

     

    Cheers. John.

  6. I have setup Skype on my computer and connected to my friends in Maine USA. (I am using a Logitech HD Pro Webcam C910 with Stereo Microphone.) They got my Video image AOK but no sound so it meant that the Microphone connection was not working. I got their video and sound perfectly.

    The problem with the Microphone took ages to work out and the solution was to get every thing related to pulse-audio off my computer because that was the only way to enable the ability to select the correct device in Skype options.

    My neighbour set up Skype on her computer again so I could check the full in and out before I retry to connect to my friends in Maine in the morning. She got my Video and Sound AOK which meant that the Microphone problem has at last been resolved. However While I get her sound AOK I am not getting a reliable image and when there is an image it is not in time with the sound. The difference in timing can be anywhere from 30 to 60 seconds. The lady said that seemed like it was being recorded and then playing back somehow. I cannot find anywhere a mention of recording so I think that is ruled out.

    She is running a Windows version of Skype so I am wondering whether there may be something amiss in her settings regarding sending video.

     

    In both Skype windows we can each see our own video miniatures showing that our own cameras are working but I feel hers is not sending. Would I be correct in this or is there another possible explanation ???.

    Any quick advise would be welcomed.

     

    Cheers. John.

     

     

    [moved from Hardware by spinynorman]

  7. For a number of years now (in Mandriva and now Mageia) it has always been among a large number of items that I un-install immediately after doing a system install. I have never felt it needed to be there so just I got rid of it.

    Having never had trouble being without it, it confirmed I didn't need it.

     

    As Daniel has suggested, just get rid of it and don't waste your valuable time over it. I'M sure it has some use but I haven't found just what that is.

     

    Cheers. John.

  8. I have never used the default screensaver in Mandriva in 7 years and have never experienced a time problem so I would say it is almost certainly a bug in the default screen saver. It surprises me that this hasn't cropped up before unless others have had the problem and solved it simply as you did and just moved on, not worrying anymore. I use the OpenGL-screensaver "Euphoria"......Beautiful. :D

    Of course you need the appropriate proprietary driver to be installed and this may not be suitable in your particular environment.

     

    Cheers. John

  9. I am truly curious.

     

    Why are you doing an update via the CLI when you could be doing it with the well tried and proven MCC (Mandriva Control Centre).

    In all the 7 years I have been using Mandriva and now Mageia, I would have used the cli about twice and that was due to some problems I had in the early years when I misguidedly used rpms that were not from the Mandriva Repository.

     

    Cheers. John.

  10. Thank you Jim for the info. I am glad that the frei0r-plugin is in the pipeline now. Looking forward to it.

     

    I really miss Xmms. It is simple and does exactly what I need and can be made attractive simply. All the other MP3 players are bells and whistle things that I can do without. Gapcmon was originally introduced into Mandriva by the remarkable Adam Williamson I think, on a request from me for an application to use the USB monitoring facilities of APC Backups. I don't know if he wrote it or found it somewhere and modified it to suit Mandriva. I have an impression that APC might have been involved in writing the programme. It covers the APC Backups as fully as the programme written for that other O$.

     

    Regarding Rosa, so my suspicion was correct. That means we can surely kiss Mandriva goodbye as we came to know it.

    Thank goodness for the Mageia startup.

     

    Viva Mageia.

     

     

    Cheers. John.

  11. Well I have done it. Mandriva is no longer on my computer. I am leaving an empty / and an empty /home partition to try 2011 final release when it comes out.

    Despite everything I tried, time and again, I could NOT get wifi to work in Mandriva2010.2. I am using a TP-Link USB Adaptor (Raylink chip)

     

    It is now only Mageia.

     

    One thing I have determined about Mageia is that if you install it from the DVD then it too is almost impossible to get wifi working. However using a Live-CD and going in that way and then installing from the running Live-CD it is apiece of cake (i.e. easy).

     

    I carefully tried to record all the most likely packages related to wifi that were ticked in the Live-CD install as against the DVD installs (both 32 and 64 versions) and even when some packages in DVD install were installed was different from the Live-CD install, the DVD install still couldn't setup wifi. I just can't seem to find the package or packages missing from the DVD install that the Live-CD has.

     

    There is still no XMMS or gapcmon (APC UPS Back-Ups) packages.

     

    Nor can the Frei0r-plugins for OpenShot be easily installed even though the present version of OpenShot and its previous version call for the installing of feri0r-plugins during OpenShot startup. Seems like some of the packagers are not actually looking at the programs running. I tracked down the package and its three dependencies which seemed to install OK but OpenShot still can't find the plugin.

     

    Very well put Dexter. I agree entirely.

     

    I am wondering whether the deal with the ROSA crowd has anything to do with the Mandriva takeover. Are they perhaps part of the takeover setup. If that happens to be the case then it is goodbye to the Mandriva as we knew it.

     

    Cheers. John.

  12. I suggest you don't waste your time on this one. The following are just a few of the negatives.

     

    Dolphin has been stripped down. No tool bar so there is no preferences etc., so one cannot select "show hidden files". Rosa is being shoved at you since it is the default (with emphasis on fault :-) )

     

    Takes almost three times as long to reach a desktop from the insertion of the dvd. There is no way to do package selection prior to installation. You are left in the dark most of the times as to what is happening during the install process, so much so that it gives the impression that the process has frozen numerous times when it really hasn't. It seems that most of the more popular applications are missing from the dvd. The dvd is quite stripped down being only about 1.5Gb or there abouts.

     

    If this is what Mandriva has come up with after such a long delay then I can only conclude that they are in a very bad way. Putting it mildly, Mandriva-kde doesn't look even vaguely like Mandriva-kde anymore whereas Mageia still does thank goodness.

     

    Mageia-1 on the other hand is looking rock solid. I am using it so much that it is nearly my main OS.

     

    I am so disappointed in Mandriva2011-beta3 that I am about to un-install it and abandon it just then waiting to see what the final looks like. I wont even bother with the RCs in between.

     

    I'll close so I don't bore anyone with an extended rant. I appreciate that some will like it but it sure has lost me.

     

    Cheers. John.

    • Upvote 1
  13. One thing I have never had a problem with is installing packages in Mandriva2010.2.

     

    The only prominent problem I have with it is I cannot get wifi working (PC not laptop) even though I had it working prior to doing a clean reinstall. I have it working in Mageia2011 RC however.

     

    There is a minor weird thing though. I use 6 desktops and number 5 and 6 have suddenly got almost full screen black panels over them. You can still see some of the background picture and part of the weather plasmoid. Nothing seems to get rid of the black panel.

     

    I endorse Daniels suggestion. When I had similar troubles to yours in the dim past. I usually found that deleting the ineffective packages and then selecting a different download site, fixed the problem.

     

    Cheers. John.

  14. Hello Banjo.

     

    I too have the same problem with kmail.

    It is truly screwed up at the moment regarding addressbook.

    It is definitely kmail at fault since I am having the same trouble in both Mandriva2010.2 and Mageia2011-RC.

    Both are fully up to date with all updates. I suspect this akonadi thingo being now involved in everything is somehow involved in the screwup but I am not a programmer so I may be wrong.

     

    I habitually save kmail, from hidden folder in kde4 and then copy it back into kde4 whenever I do a full clean reinstall including reformatting /home. In the past this caused no problems with kmail but now that does not work entirely because only the email folders are copied back and not the addressbook details.

     

    I haven't tried to resolve the problem too much since I presently do not need to send new emails very often and I get round it by clicking reply on an earlier email of the person I wish to correspond with, deleting everything in it and typing a new message.

     

    I too might have to look into a kmail alternative if the problem isn't fixed in a kmail update very soon.

     

    I notice the release schedule for Mandriva2011 has been pushed back quite drastically now. There is a new schedule listing of beta3 that was never there before so I am guessing they have a heck of a lot of problems on their hands, especially since they got rid of all the real talent they had, and who now form the basis of Mageia. I have found Mageia to be so stable that even though it is at RC stage (Final is due on 1st June and judging by their record so far I think they will deliver on the time they predicted and planned) that I am using it as my main OS already, with Mandriva2010.2 as just a backstop. I long gave up fiddling around with Mandriva2011 -beta2, It was just a waste of time.

     

    Cheers. John

  15. Am downloading Mageia2011 RC right now. (35percent already.)

     

    Beta2 has been very stable thus far with lots of updates but will do an upgrade process to see how that goes and then I will do a clean install to also see how that runs.

    I expect both runs will be very good. Anyone care to join me ???.

     

    Cheers. John.

  16. Special thanks Isadora and Ian. :thumbs:

    I chased down the guvcview, aMSN and the v4lucp, and installed them. In googling for these packages I discovered the amazing website...linux Packages .org.

    This has to be one of the best kept secrets on the net. Wow and double Wow. :party0046:

    I am dumping aMSN. No guesses why.

    guvcview seem to do all I want to be able to do so it will stay. v4lucp abilities seem to be in guvcview so I think it can go as well but I will hang on to the rpm in case I find that it can do something that guvcview cannot.

    I will leave Cheese in place for now.

     

    I have not been able to exercise your joint suggestions regarding VLC since I cannot seem to work out how to do so.

     

    I have Skype installed but have not tried to really use it yet so time will tell. I am going through such a vast and fast learning phase at the moment that sometimes I am not quite sure where I am at. :D

     

    I am currently building a second (backup) desktop box and have succeeded in setting up my main computer to Wi-Fi using a TP-Link Wireless Usb Adaptor and it took quite some mucking around to finally stumble on to what needed to be done. It runs very well even after some dozen reboots (I am trying out Mageia beta 2 as well). I am doing this so I no longer will have a physical connection to the phone line during Cyclones, Lightning storms etc. During such conditions we routinely pull all power plugs which we did during Cyclone Yasi, however our computers were still connected by the phone line to the ADSL modem. A Lightning bolt hit the footpath just 30 metres away from us, straight over the top of the underground Telstra phone lines. All the phones and computers connected to those lines in our street were ruined. We were without phone lines for 15 days because every cable had to be replaced, wall sockets repaired and so on. The Telstra Techs did an amazing job especially considering the miserable wet weather at the time. :thumbs:

     

    With the additional box it will be able to go on line quickly no matter what room it is in so it will be a bonus.

     

     

    Cheers. John.

  17. Thanks Isadora.

    Cheese showed my Webcam to be working just as you suggested. Blue activity lights lit up both sides of the webcam.

    Wow, are those pictures incredibly sharp, and the Auto-focus is something else again. I am thoroughly delighted with my choice.

     

    Below is what I get in MCC Hardware. Strange isn't it ???.

     

    Now to find what other packages besides Cheese can show webcams

     

    Cheers. John.

     

     

     

    Identification

    Vendor: ‎Logitech, Inc.

     

    Description: ‎Unknown

     

    Media class: ‎Audio|Control Device

     

    Connection

    Bus: ‎USB

     

    Bus PCI #: ‎2

     

    PCI device #: ‎2

     

    Vendor ID: ‎0x046d

     

    Device ID: ‎0x0821

     

    Misc

    Module: ‎snd_usb_audio

  18. Hello Isadora.

     

    I now have my new Logitech C910 Webcam and have connected it up but am not sure where to go from here. There is no activity light showing as connected or anything.

    In hardware it is listed as an audio device and the maker number and model number are shown correctly. (I read somewhere that this is usual ???.) The two numbers also appear in the program Camstream as <UVC Camera (046D:0821)>.

    I think therefore that it is being detected.

     

    What programs have you installed and use to get action ???.

     

    Cheers. John.

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