scoopy

EEEEK, I think I am in over my head on this one. Luckily bvc is giving some solid info here.

From your last report, looks like xinit and Xtart, are working (see "well") but it seems this "args" and "argrect" are broke and I have no clue what they are for --- or from.

So if we have already tried # 3 Windowmaker or #7 IceWM and they also give some cryptic message, you should probally give bvc's last set of directions a shot because then X is most likely totally hosed. (in plain English: uninstall, then install X)

Just curious if we did start this round from a clean, reformatted harddrive, or are we still trying to clean up the hosed system?

wish ya luck and keep trying!

Just for comparison I ran "whereis startx" and came up with something just a bit diff.

[root@localhost teddy]#urpmi xtart

if it installs, then type xtart in place of xstart, and it should give you the options of choosing kde, gnome, or fvwm.

dam, copy and pasted the code wrong --- should have been:

[scoopy@localhost scoopy]$ kde

just "kde", small letters, no quotes.

sorry bout that.

I believe this really ain't as bad as it looks and glad your persevering through all this.

At this point, we should try and see if kde starts and also take notes if not.

[scoopy@localhost scoopy]kde$

or

[scoopy@localhost scoopy]startx$

Also, lets note on where it hangs during the boot up process --- we will want to fix that problem sooner or later. (I am still working on the 10 minute delay with sendmail on my boot up process)

Also remember, I am a GUI user and shy away from that command line stuff and favor pepperonis on my pizza, so hopefully, the command line users will jump in to help as needed here.

EDIT: just seen previous info posted as I was typing this. Try "kde" and maybe try whatever it is for gnome or any other window managers that may be install. I don't know the others offhand.

I too am a GUI type of user and felt similiar about Linux about a year and half ago.

Let's pretend we are talking more about cars. We all can jump in any vehicle and drive right off if it has an automatic, right, but now we have the option of using this new one with a standard tranny. We also know we are gonna get better gas milage now, and it is going to run much faster (NASCAR doesn't use automatics). But we can't just jump right in before knowing how to work the clutch first, unless we want to burn it up and break the transmission.

See where that rambling is going? Now back to your problem.

I am thinking maybe, seeing the other problems around the community, that MDK 9.1 for some reason is not being installed correctly (I had a problem with install which turned out to be a simple USB mouse plugged in --- where it should be -- but caused havic on the install).

Now this could be the way you are installing, or the filesystem you are choosing to install to, or could be the many problems that Mandrake failed to address, until they issued their latest updates.

Once you get to the point you have a working system, whether the gui works or not, you may have to spend some time on the command line to get it working the way it should. At that point, you will be rewarded with the system you have been dreaming of.

Until then, I believe many here will be willing to work out the problems with you --- but you need to specify the exact errors you get, preferrably one at a time, and don't be making hastly decisions on typing commands you are not familiar with (you wouldn't be dumping in strange oils in that new tranny?)

I believe your next step is to get Linux running, hopefully at a point you can run either KDE or gnome, and then we should install those updates first before running any thing else. Maybe time to start at the beginning--- one more time?

http://www.mandrake.tips.4.free.fr/install.html

I know your not gonna give in to the system now - you almost got it licked. Plus I am sure there are users here willing to pull their own hair to help solve this.

I looked back at your previous post and seen something about:

there is a warning about inconsistent panel vertical dimension: 768 and 767, another warning about cannot shadow an accelerated frame buffer,

and this about your system:

The screen is driven by an ATI "Mobility M1" graphics chipset with 64-bit graphics accelerator, 8 MB of video SDRAM (synchronous DRAM), and runs on a 2X AGP (accelerated graphics port) bus

I was thinking most seem to know to turn off pnp in their bios, but I found other things that need attention in the bios that I had never bothered with before. From:

http://www.mandrake.tips.4.free.fr/install.html

Shadow Video Bios = No

Just a wild guess, but maybe kde is acting finicky because of something like this?

Yes, you would think that should have taken care of the problem.

Wish I could help further... Maybe you should list your hardware in case someone else would recognize any possible problems. I'll keep an eye out for any solutions.

PS: Allentown is a nice place, and not too far away... I've been noticing there are quite of few Penn Stater's here now.

The upgrading option seems to be causing havov everywhere.

I looked up what ldconfig is:

Ldconfig is a basic system program which determines run-time link bindings between ld.so and shared libraries. Ldconfig scans a running system and sets up the symbolic links that are used to load shared libraries properly. It also creates a cache (/etc/ld.so.cache) which speeds the loading of programs which use shared libraries.

which makes me wonder if you emptied/reformatted your partition(s) before the re-install? Maybe something is getting confused.

If so, I would try letting it install whatever it wants first, and then go back to install / remove other apps later.

Also - you anywhere near Schuylkill County?

Frozen Bubble seems pretty popular and the rpm is on your MDK 9.1 discs.

You fire colored bubbles, matching them up to clear the screen (sorta along the lines of tetris I guess)

FYI:

Nobody was able to access MUB's FTP site for like the past week. See:

http://www.mandrakeusers.org/viewtopic.php?t=4120

or

http://www.mandrakeusers.org/viewtopic.php?t=4121

but all seems well now and is working.

Seeing our FTP is undergoing upgrades at this time and may not be accessable, you can go right to sun for their rpm.

http://java.sun.com/j2se/1.4.1/download.html

<excited> This was a pleasant surprise to find that not only was my scanner recognized, but I can actually scan images with it now with 9.1. Previous version recognized it in harddrake, but Xsane wouldn't. WooHoo! </excited>

Now only if I could get photoshop working with it. (I keep trying things in gimp, but it just ain't the same)

Had to share this with y'all.

Did you try running "mousedrake" ?

Which setting did you choose? I would try both standard and wheel settings to see if that helps.

Things are running much smoother now, No more 15 minute boot ups or other hangups with harddrake, mousedrake, or mcc. Seems it is a problem with the USB... at least the onboard ports.

Instead, I plugged my mouse into the add-on pci - usb2 card, and things started to rock and roll... wheel and all.

Still need to figure out then, what happened to my onboard USB ports. They still work with windows.

In "Configuration/Packaging start "Software Sources Manager" The three CD's should be listed there... if not, you should be able to add them one at a time and that should solve this.

Emacs is on one of the discs, but I didn't see pico listed.

Very Cool, definiately earns a special spot in my bookmarks.

Just a couple notes from what I saw:

Spellcheck, "thrash your d: partition" or should it be "trash" ?

Might want to add section on the ISO burn on the installation page (such as md5sum, burn the image on a quality blank, use a slower speed, etc.)

You will need to update your configuration page to reflect NVIDIA's change from the rpm format.

Maybe use .jpg format for your banner. 91K is a bit large and slows down the page loading time. It does look nice, tho. I try to keep these under 14K for my work.

Nice work, I will visit again.

Yep, those messages must be related to the USB CF card reader. If I boot without a CF card inserted I get those messages. If I boot with a CF card inserted in the card reader, those messages dissappear. Must be one of those new features they introduced.

My harddrive checked out fine with the manufacturer's utility and I also ran a virus check, just to be sure.

System is still hanging on "checking for new hardware." I am thinking it may just be something with my USB mouse, since setup didn't give me the "test" option after selecting it. I will do some searching on this since mousedrake did not want to fix it either. Another one of those new features I guess. Version 9.0 never gave me these problems even though it is one of those 5 button scroll jobs.

Thanks for answering.

9.1 does not want to boot up. It freezes at "checking for new hardware".

Some things I notice before it gets to that point:

Finding Module Dependencies: ldm_validate_partition_table (): Disk read failed

modprobe: insmod scsimon failed

I first tried to update, did not work, wipe the partitions, try clean install, try again and again. No luck with anything. Installs take about an hour each, with partial freezes along the way (unaccounted for blank dead space/windows).

I can boot failsafe, but don't know what to do then, since above makes no sense to me.

ISO's checked out with md5sum, and I burned them with X-CD-roast, which I thought maybe a bad burn, but then I had also tried to reinstall 9.0, which went flawless last time, but acted the same as 9.1 did this time.

I never had any luck upgrading since I started with 8.0. Always the same thing, gets stuck about the same place. I think you may be right with the package database, seeing the troubles I always have (among others) with rpmdrake and having to remove and rebuild the database on occasion.

Maybe try removing the sources and allowing the upgrade to replace them with the new cd's? Sorry I don't know the commands off hand.

Personnally, I am still trying to decide to attempt the upgrade (I've done so much to 9.0 and it works) or continue to just upgrade my apps one at a time. What I need still ain't available.

dam, three iso's lost in cyberspace. Hey, we tried.

At least not all was lost, I have learned my upload speed must have been increased while I was not looking. I noticed things were moving at a steady 29 K up, when I was expecting 12 K at the most.

Can this be... Am I still with Comcast... Or is this a mistake???

I would try starting using konsole/terminal. This will normally give some sort of clue as to where the hangup is when something doesn't work.

Thanks Tyme, that seems like a fat upstream.

I figured since I don't have to worry about any upstream caps (only speedwise) I started upping disc 3 to this site.

So at this time, we should have disc 1 and disc 2 available to paul and other site admins here. My disc 3 upload should be finished by 5 pm Eastern time.

To everyone else sharing via the eDonkey, Limewire, etc. Thanks.

OK, I went ahead and began uploading disc 1.

Looks like Tyme has volunteered to take care of disc 2.

Still need a volunteer for disc 3.

other notes:

I have renamed the RC3 filenames as followed:

Mandrake91-cd1-inst.i586.iso

Mandrake91-cd2-ext.i586.iso

Mandrake91-cd3-i18n.i586.iso

gFTP is reporting to be moving currently at 29 KB/s and expects to be finished by 6 a.m. Eastern Time. (whatever that works out over down under)

Oh, its listed, but they hide it under the "MandrakeSecurity MNF for i586 and more." heading. I have used it before seeing it is only a few hours away from me and thought it would help my speed.

I saw Motts was offering. What kind of upload speed does Motts have?

Would you like me to try uploading disc 1 tonight Paul? (to the site's ftp incoming directory?)

Guessing we probally are all about the same speed --- Maybe Motts, me, and another each offer up one disc would help get this uploaded quicker.