Cannonfodder

We will just have to vote this longest running thread in MUB.. although it is nice to finally have an answer to this question.. its been keeping me up at nights..

The debug output is saying that an error occurred during unpacking.. So, either your computer can't unpack it because its a corrupted file or something on your computer is not working for unpacking.

Why don't you go get the file manually and manually install it? If its installed via RPM then its installed. You don't have to get it from that source necessarily. If you can't install it and get an error during installation,, then you can focus on why that is happening rather than skippig an update..

An alternative would be to copy the root partition to a subfolder on another drive and reformat it. . pretty sure the cp -pax command would copy everything correctly..

Just to toss an idea out there, maybe you should be starting witih a different distro, one that is more minimalistic?

Osom, part of the problem is focus. You are all over the place with problems. Start with one task and learn it then you can re-apply the knowledge to other tasks. Lets look at getting software.. I'm using Studio64 Linux (deb/Ubunto). It does not use RPM but the concepts are the same.

Getting software in Linux works in one of two ways.

In linux, you have registered repositories which are basically pre-compiled catalogs of software that are designed for your distribution. You can run the package manager (someone else chip in here because I havent used Mandriva since it was Mandrake) GUI that will allow you to search for software in the repository and it will install it for you.

When this doesn't work, usually because the software you want is new or not specific to the distro you can go to a website and download a file to install. However, at that moment, you might notice several different types of files to install. E.g. RPM is the best way for you, because then you can install and uninstall through the package manager or by using the URPMI program. It keeps track of the files just like windows installer does. A tar.gz file is a compressed file that uncompresses into individual files. But it is not registered with the system like a Windows installer. Instead it just puts files where they belong.

So, start with the program you want the most and see if you can use the Mandriva Package Manager (someone else chip i here, I'm rusty). Is it in there? If not, then go to the web site and get the RPM. If it's not available, look for the tar.gz.

Regarding playing of AVI, try downloading and installiing VLC Movie player. Very robust, gets codecs for you and shouldn't have any problem playing avi..

Why don't you find some alternative tool for reporting memory and see what it says?

Andriano, please go read the board guidelines and refrain from personal attacks on other members. For all involved, plese return to the topic which is the original questions..

thanks

You may also want to boot in rescue mode and see if you can mount the drive. Since you are booting off a CD Image it eliminates the possibility that your installation is corrupted.

you could try opening them with a browser..

You could write software that imports them in and presents them in some way.. puts them in a database or searches the contents..

You might want to read this website.. I"m not 100% sure, but I think you will find detailed descriptions of what the journaled file system does..

http://www.namesys.com/v4/v4.html

so anyone can reset my root password just by restarting my computer and entering a few commands at lilo?!

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

This is often the subject of debate but with Linux, physical access and a litttle knowhow means you are root..

However, accessing the box through network communcations means you have to deal with linux security..

I tried Firefox for awhile but even though I was able to get it to do many of the same things that opera uses (long time opera user), the big thing I didn't like about Firefox is the lack of an email client within the same process. The opera email client is a big part of my decision to stay with opera. It's right there and supports views. I don't have to launch it separately.

At work, I tried Firefox for awhile, but ended up going back to IE for speed and compatibility. *SHOCK* *THE HORROR!*

Before you guys pile on me :)

I think Firefox had to negotiate the company's firewall so it often took way too long to start up. I had issues with some password negotiations too. SO the real reason is that my company favors IE and has designed their interfaces to work with it.

However, to play devil's advocate, firefox is a nice browser. I like that its open source too. I wonder how much my decision to stay with opera is simply based on what I'm used too. But I ain't kidding about how much I like opera email..

Are you checking TOP while logged into root? Isn't there an option to make sure you see all processes vs just your own. Wait.. I'm thinking of the visual gnome process monitor (forget the title).. but you get the idea?

Whoops, behind the times :)

Before you do that ..

Here's a link to LILO error messages

http://www.wlug.org.nz/LiloErrorCodes

Note that 07 07 IS related to your BIOS.

Here's a suggestion..

Try locating an option that restores your BIOS DEFAULTS. Then save and reboot. Then try re-installing..

Now that's a fellow who used his brains... applause all around :)

Find the file and try to view it.. can you?

For those of you who have been away..

welcome back :)

When you installed it, did you select the development packages? Most linux users do not do development and shouldn't have it on their machine.

Why don't you try re-installing some of those dev files? Just because you think they are installed doesn't mean all the files are there. Maybe something got deleted?

RegExpressions are powerful, but they can be a pain in the ass if you don't use them regularly..

The way LILO works when you use the default settings is:

BIOS starts with the first drive (windows). It grabs the first sector and gets information on where the boot menu program is located. This boot sector will have a pointer to to your linux drive. From there, it runs the lilo program on your linux drive.

In this fashion, windows remains the first drive and lilo exists on the second drive. That's why the default settings look confusing as you may assume that you want lilo on the second drive. It really is on the second drive, but to get there BIOS has to go through the first drive. It's just a daisy chain process.

Thus, some caveats

1. You can't change the order of the drives and expect LILO to keep working. The pointer definitely points to the second drive address.

2. You can't unplug or remove the second drive. If LILO can't be found, it won't boot.

3. You can't delete linux and expect LILO to keep working. Same reason, LILO can't be found. The fix for this is to boot off the Mandrive/drake CD 1, hit F1, type rescue, and then select from the menu the option to restore the Windows Boot Loader. This reprograms the boot sector to point to the first partition of the first drive (windows).

4. Each time you make a change to the lilo text configuration file /etc/lilo.conf, you need to follow up with the text command

lilo

This processes the lilo.conf file and rewrites the boot information to update it.

Additionally, if you don't understand partitions, do a search on the board for partitions and author is cannonfodder. I think I've written it up a few times..

You should just go with the default for LILO, easist this way..

Also, when you get to the partitioning step, you can select custom partitioning and do it yourself. There is an autopartition button within custom that will help you setup, but you can see for yourself what you are creating..

Regarding your prompt (GUI isn't work). When linux starts up, it goes through what is called run levels. Runlevels go from 1 to 5 (roughly, and skipping some numbers)... if your configuration file has a inittab value of 3, it will never even startup the GUI and you are placed into a command line prompt. The prompt allows you to type commands you would normally do though a GUI (actually other way around, GUI came second).

Typing

init 5

would put you in a run level 5. But if your video board configuration is screwy, then it will just fail when it tries to start the GUI, so that's a separate issue.

So, what you would need to do is learn to configure your video.. gotta run!

Regarding your mouse, if its a USB, you might want to try plugging it into a different port and see if it behaves differently.. especially if you are using a hub or something like that..