Kieth

Go into System - Configuration - Control Center - KDE Components - File Associations. There, you can change which program opens the files you want.

Instead of lib, it's in lib64. Kieth

In a terminal, type uname -a This will tell you which kernel you are using. Then in root, type urpmi kernel-source 2.6.17-5 (or what ever your kernel is). Or, you could go into MCC (system - configuration - configure your computer), software management, then install the kernel source from there. What graphics card do you have?

In 'configure your computer', go to 'software management', then 'rpm', then delete 'contrib'. After that, go back to easy urpmi and reinstall another 'contrib'.

Thanks for your help. I'll get out a live CD and check it. Kieth

Well, I have tried on more than one occasion to run reiserfck /dev/hdb1, but it won't do it. The message I get is 'Partition /dev/hdb1 is mounted with write permissions, cannot check it. So this time, at lilo, I typed 'linux 1', then I typed 'su', then my password, then 'chmod u+x /dev/hdb1' and then finally 'reiserfck /dev/hdb1'. It still would not check it, but gave me the same responce as before. Write permissions for hdb1 are: # ls -lg /dev/hdb1 brwxrw---- 1 root 3, 65 Dec 10 2006 /dev/hdb1 Before changing it, it was: # ls -lg /dev/hdb1 brw-rw---- 1 root 3, 65 Dec 10 2006 /dev/hdb1 I actually have very few problems any more. Once in a while it stops at 'checking root filesystem', but not too often. If there are no other ideas on how I can get this working 'perfectly', I'll close out this post with [solved] written in the title space. Thanks for your help. Kieth

OK, I've done a few things trying to get my system working. First, I updated my kernel, as Timppl suggested. I didn't remove my old kernel, but just booted with the new. It didn't help. After that, I did a new install, using reiserfs, as ian mentioned. Since I have an AMD 3000+ cpu, I decided to instal Mandriva 64 bit. I then installed # urpmi dkms-ati to get my graphic's card working. Unfortunately, my system still stopped at the above 2 mentioned spots. I then changed /etc/sysconfig/init to: # Set to anything other than 'no' to allow hotkey interactive startup... PROMPT=no Still no change. I then changed /etc/stab to: /dev/hdb1 / reiserfs notail 0 0 Also at lilo, I pressed esc, typed in linux 1, then typed in fsck /dev/hdb1. If I wait to see if it really checks the root filesystem, after 10 minutes the screen goes blank, and nothing else happens. I still have to re-set my computer. Anyway, I tried all the suggestions mentioned in this post, with the exception of up-dating my kernel. The outcome? It still stops at "checking root filesystem", but not as often. It also still stops, all the time, at 'Waiting for network to be up [failed]' (which is not really the purpose of this post, I know). I'm happy with the fact that it doesn't "block" as often, but if it would be possible to improve the situation, I would be even happier. Any last ideas? Should I try again up-dating the kernel? As always, I appreciate the help. Thank you. Kieth

Below is my kernal version. If up-grading would solve the problem, is there an easy way to do it? # uname -a Linux localhost 2.6.17-5mdv #1 SMP Wed Sep 13 14:32:31 EDT 2006 i686 AMD Athlon 64 Processor 3000+ GNU/Linux

Dummy me, I never thought about the network time protocol. I just disabled it. So much for that problem. Can I easily change to reiserfs or do I need to re-install, which I'll do if necessary?

Would it be a bad idea if I ran this command, which I found on http://puggy.symonds.net/~rajesh/howto/ext3/ext3-5.html? 5.4 Filesystem check intervals A feature of e2fsck is that it will regularly force a check of a filesystem even if the filesystem is marked clean. Typically, this happens on every twentieth mount or every 180 days, whichever comes first. This still happens with ext3, and is quite possibly not what you want to happen - one of the reasons you chose ext3 was to avoid the downtime which is caused by a long fsck. So it is a good idea to turn this feature off for ext3. Use the command tune2fs -i 0 /dev/hdxx To disable the checking. .

OK, I just re-booted. Unfortunately, it stopped at all the same places mentioned above. It seemed to have booted faster, which is nice, though. That I like.

OK, here are the results. Thanks for your help, I really appreciate it. # urpme lisa removing lisa-3.5.4-3mdv2007.0.i586 [root@localhost kieth]# chkconfig atd off [root@localhost kieth]# chkconfig avahi-daemon off [root@localhost kieth]# chkconfig clamd off [root@localhost kieth]# chkconfig freshclam off clamd is needed by freshclam in runlevel 2 [root@localhost kieth]# rpm -qf /etc/init.d/atieventsd ati-8.28.8-3plf2007.0 [root@localhost kieth]# rpm -qf /etc/init.d/hplip hplip-1.6.9-1mdv2007.0 [root@localhost kieth]# chkconfig netfs off [root@localhost kieth]# chkconfig wltool off [root@localhost kieth]# chkconfig xinetd off

My modem is connected to a card - it's not USB. # chkconfig --list acpi 0:off 1:off 2:on 3:on 4:on 5:on 6:off acpid 0:off 1:off 2:off 3:on 4:on 5:on 6:off alsa 0:off 1:off 2:on 3:on 4:on 5:on 6:off atd 0:off 1:off 2:off 3:on 4:on 5:on 6:off atieventsd 0:off 1:off 2:on 3:on 4:on 5:on 6:off avahi-daemon 0:off 1:off 2:off 3:on 4:off 5:on 6:off clamd 0:off 1:off 2:on 3:on 4:on 5:on 6:off crond 0:off 1:off 2:on 3:on 4:on 5:on 6:off cups 0:off 1:off 2:on 3:on 4:on 5:on 6:off dkms 0:off 1:off 2:off 3:on 4:on 5:on 6:off dm 0:off 1:off 2:off 3:off 4:off 5:on 6:off freshclam 0:off 1:off 2:on 3:on 4:on 5:on 6:off haldaemon 0:off 1:off 2:off 3:on 4:on 5:on 6:off harddrake 0:off 1:off 2:off 3:off 4:off 5:off 6:off hplip 0:off 1:off 2:on 3:on 4:on 5:on 6:off keytable 0:off 1:off 2:on 3:on 4:on 5:on 6:off kheader 0:off 1:off 2:on 3:on 4:off 5:on 6:off lisa 0:off 1:off 2:off 3:on 4:on 5:on 6:off messagebus 0:off 1:off 2:off 3:on 4:on 5:on 6:off mtink 0:off 1:off 2:off 3:off 4:off 5:off 6:off netfs 0:off 1:off 2:off 3:on 4:on 5:on 6:off network 0:off 1:off 2:on 3:on 4:on 5:on 6:off network-up 0:off 1:off 2:on 3:on 4:on 5:on 6:off ntpd 0:off 1:off 2:on 3:on 4:on 5:on 6:off numlock 0:off 1:off 2:off 3:on 4:on 5:on 6:off oki4daemon 0:off 1:off 2:off 3:off 4:off 5:off 6:off partmon 0:off 1:off 2:off 3:on 4:on 5:on 6:off pppoe 0:off 1:off 2:off 3:off 4:off 5:off 6:off sound 0:off 1:off 2:on 3:on 4:on 5:on 6:off syslog 0:off 1:off 2:on 3:on 4:on 5:on 6:off wltool 0:off 1:off 2:on 3:on 4:on 5:on 6:off xfs 0:off 1:off 2:on 3:on 4:on 5:on 6:off xinetd 0:off 1:off 2:off 3:on 4:on 5:on 6:off xinetd based services: cups-lpd: off cvs: off rsync: off

Reading a post where ian was helping someone else, he said to use the command less /var/log/messages to get some information. I did and here's the result. Does it mean anything to someone (it doesn't to me :woops: )? Nov 21 15:50:34 localhost kernel: via-rhine.c:v1.10-LK1.2.0-2.6 June-10-2004 Written by Donald Becker Nov 21 15:50:34 localhost kernel: ACPI: PCI Interrupt 0000:00:12.0[A] -> GSI 23 (level, low) -> IRQ 20 Nov 21 15:50:34 localhost kernel: eth0: VIA Rhine II at 0x1a000, 00:13:d4:8c:3a:57, IRQ 20. Nov 21 15:50:34 localhost kernel: eth0: MII PHY found at address 1, status 0x786d advertising 01e1 Link 0021. Nov 21 15:50:35 localhost ifplugd(eth0)[2513]: ifplugd 0.28 initializing. Nov 21 15:50:35 localhost kernel: eth0: link up, 10Mbps, half-duplex, lpa 0x0021 Nov 21 15:50:35 localhost ifplugd(eth0)[2513]: Using interface eth0/00:13:D4:8C:3A:57 with driver <via-rhine> ( version: 1.2.0-2.6) Nov 21 15:50:35 localhost ifplugd(eth0)[2513]: Using detection mode: SIOCETHTOOL Nov 21 15:50:35 localhost ifplugd(eth0)[2513]: Initialization complete, link beat detected. Nov 21 15:50:35 localhost ifplugd(eth0)[2513]: Executing '/etc/ifplugd/ifplugd.action eth0 up'. Nov 21 15:50:36 localhost kernel: Floppy drive(s): fd0 is 1.44M Nov 21 15:50:36 localhost kernel: FDC 0 is a post-1991 82077 Nov 21 15:50:36 localhost kernel: end_request: I/O error, dev fd0, sector 0 Nov 21 15:50:38 localhost dhclient: DHCPDISCOVER on eth0 to 255.255.255.255 port 67 interval 7 Nov 21 15:50:45 localhost dhclient: DHCPDISCOVER on eth0 to 255.255.255.255 port 67 interval 13 Nov 21 15:50:58 localhost dhclient: DHCPDISCOVER on eth0 to 255.255.255.255 port 67 interval 8 Nov 21 15:50:58 localhost ntpdate[3789]: can't find host 0.it.pool.ntp.org Nov 21 15:50:58 localhost ntpdate[3789]: can't find host 1.it.pool.ntp.org Nov 21 15:50:58 localhost ntpdate[3789]: can't find host 2.it.pool.ntp.org Nov 21 15:50:58 localhost ntpdate[3789]: no servers can be used, exiting Nov 21 15:50:58 localhost ntpd[3807]: ntpd 4.2.0@1.1161-r Sat Sep 30 08:42:47 MDT 2006 (1) Nov 21 15:50:58 localhost avahi-daemon[3842]: Found user 'avahi' (UID 72) and group 'avahi' (GID 72). Nov 21 15:50:58 localhost avahi-daemon[3842]: Successfully dropped root privileges. Nov 21 15:50:58 localhost avahi-daemon[3842]: avahi-daemon 0.6.13 starting up.

While booting up this time, I noticed that I did not get everything written down where it "fails". It goes by so fast it's hard to get it. Is there a record of the boot sequence somewhere that I can just go to and copy? Otherwise I don't know if I'll be able to get it all.

OK, I was able to write it down. I had to start my computer several times to get it, since it goes by so fast. As I mentioned, it stops at: Waiting for network to be up [failed] Here it waits for about 10 seconds. Then it stops at: Looking for host 0.it.pool.ntp.org and service ntp [failed] Looking for host 1.it.pool.ntp.org and service ntp [failed] Looking for host 2.it.pool.ntp.org and service ntp [failed] Here it does wait at all, but comes and goes fast. You mentioned a dhcp connection. I have a an adsl modem, and I connect by way of pppoe, from the command line: adsl-start. I also just checked MCC, and of course there is also an eth0 connection. The portocol is DHCP. There is not netmask or IP address. The dhcp client is dhclient. Two boxes are checked: Assign host name from DHCP address, and Get DNS servers from DHCP. The option is to start at boot. Network hotplugging is not marked.

It's always at the root partition, although it also stops at: 'Waiting for network to be up [failed]'. It waits for a few seconds (10?), then goes on. Then it also looks for something else (I forget what), and then 'fails', and goes on. The next time I boot up, I'll write it down. It only hesitates a moment or 2, though.

Well, "back to the drawing board". There must be something I didn't understand that I should have done, or something I could have done better. I thought I did everything you mentioned. When I originally installed, I formated everything but /home. Then this weekend, from WXP, I deleted all the partitions. While I was at it, I also deleted one of my ntfs partitions. Anyway, after that, I re-installed Mandriva, making new partitions and formatting them all. I have 2 disks, 80 GB each. One has only linux and the other has WXP. On the WXP disk, I have a ntfs partition and a fat32 partition (for swapping files to and from linux). I don't remember, but I don't think I deleted or formated the fat32 partition. I mention it because I do not know if the problem could be coming from there. Did I miss something? From WXP, should I delete all the partitions again, re-formatting them (all from WXP) and re-install again? If need be, I'll do it again, afterall, it's a real "pain in the neck" having my system stop all the time while booting. Thanks.

OK, I did it. From WXP I eliminated all the partitions, then re-installed everything. I got my ati video card working, and now I'm ready again to try and resolve this on going problem of it stopping (about 2 out of 3 bootups) at "Checking root filesystem". First I changed /etc/sysconfig/init to read '# Set to anything other than 'no' to allow hotkey interactive startup... PROMPT=no'. /etc/sysconfig/init is now: # color => new RH6.0 bootup # verbose => old-style bootup # anything else => new style bootup without ANSI colors or positioning BOOTUP=color # Turn on graphical boot GRAPHICAL=yes # column to start "[ OK ]" label in RES_COL=65 # terminal sequence to move to that column. You could change this # to something like "tput hpa ${RES_COL}" if your terminal supports it MOVE_TO_COL="echo -en \\033[${RES_COL}G" # terminal sequence to set color to a 'success' color (currently: green) SETCOLOR_SUCCESS="echo -en \\033[1;32m" # terminal sequence to set color to a 'failure' color (currently: red) SETCOLOR_FAILURE="echo -en \\033[1;31m" # terminal sequence to set color to a 'warning' color (currently: yellow) SETCOLOR_WARNING="echo -en \\033[1;33m" # terminal sequence to reset to the default color. SETCOLOR_NORMAL="echo -en \\033[0;39m" # default kernel loglevel on boot (syslog will reset this) LOGLEVEL=3 # Set to anything other than 'no' to allow hotkey interactive startup... PROMPT=no # Set to 'yes' to allow probing for devices with swap signatures AUTOSWAP=no After changing /etc/sysconfig/init, it was still stopping. Therefore I changed the first line of /etc/fstab like scarecrow mentioned. Now it's: /dev/hdb1 / ext3 defaults 0 0 /dev/hdb8 /home ext3 defaults 1 2 /dev/hdc /mnt/cdrom auto umask=0,users,iocharset=utf8,noauto,ro,exec 0 0 none /mnt/floppy supermount dev=/dev/fd0,fs=ext2:vfat,--,umask=0,iocharset=utf8,sync 0 0 /dev/hda1 /mnt/win_c ntfs umask=0,nls=utf8,ro 0 0 /dev/hda5 /mnt/win_d vfat umask=0,iocharset=utf8 0 0 none /proc proc defaults 0 0 /dev/hdb6 /usr ext3 defaults 1 2 /dev/hdb7 /var ext3 defaults 1 2 /dev/hdb5 swap swap defaults 0 0 It still stops, though. When it does, I usually have to press the computer's reset button another 2 times for it to boot up. Any ideas that might resolve the problem? Thanks.

Mine "dies" right there. A couple of times I waited a lonnnnnng time, and nothing.

I was wondering what that Qilinux was!! Earlier this summer, I was "messing around" with my computer, and . . . messed it up!!! I then had a disastrous trip to the computer store (he wiped out everything, both in Mandriva 2006 and WXP). Amongst all the expences and frustrations he caused me, he also installed a new graphics card, which has been my "headache" ever since. Anyway, he re-installed WXP and I tried to re-install Mandriva 2006. It installed fine, but there was always a blank screen at boot up. Therefore, I tried to install other distros and use live CDs. Only one live CD worked (I forget now which on, but it wasn' Knoppix), and only one distro would load up - Suse. I think I tried all the majot distros, and I know I tried all the live CDs. I just decided to use Suse until Mandriva 2007 came out. As I feared, I loaded Mandriva 2007 and had a blank screen on boot up, which is when I came once again to this forum, read the posts and asked for help - which I was given (and as I have always been given - thanks!). Anyway, I only have Mandriva and WXP on my computer. I don't know if it is related, but in terminal, when I use the command update-menus -v, it always "complains". $ update-menus -v run-parts: executing /etc/menu.d/icewm /etc/menu.d/icewm: line 9: /home/kieth/.icewm/menu: No such file or directory writing to /home/kieth/.icewm/menu /etc/menu.d/icewm: line 14: /home/kieth/.icewm/menu: No such file or directory run-parts: /etc/menu.d/icewm exited with return code 1 # update-menus -v run-parts: executing /etc/menu.d/icewm writing to /usr/share/X11/icewm//menu

I do use lilo, and no, I don't suspect anything.

OK, thanks. I understand now.

I wanted to be able to use the programs I wanted, and to remove from my computer the ones I didn't want. Internet Explorer was "stuck" in W98, and I couldn't "manipolate" the programs like I did with Windows 3.1, so I went to Linux.

It's ext3 (If you would have asked me if it was ext3, that I would have understood!!! :P ). Here's my /etc/stab file. /dev/hdb1 / ext3 defaults 1 1 /dev/hdb8 /home ext3 defaults 1 2 /dev/hdc /mnt/cdrom auto umask=0,users,iocharset=utf8,noauto,ro,exec 0 0 none /mnt/floppy supermount dev=/dev/fd0,fs=ext2:vfat,--,umask=0,iocharset=utf8,sync 0 0 none /proc proc defaults 0 0 /dev/hdb6 /usr ext3 defaults 1 2 /dev/hdb7 /var ext3 defaults 1 2 /dev/hda1 /windows/C ntfs umask=0,nls=utf8,ro 0 0 /dev/hda5 /windows/D ntfs umask=0,nls=utf8,ro 0 0 /dev/hda6 /windows/E vfat umask=0,iocharset=utf8 0 0 /dev/hdb5 swap swap defaults 0 0