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johnnyv thanks a lot that worked. Took me a couple of attempts but O got it it eventually. I like this forum and find i useful as well as entertaining. The only criticism is that some of the contributors have forgotten what it is like as a newbie with basic problems like my mouse doesn't work or that going ctrlalt f1 etc opens up the graphical bits (console that's the word) and once there what do you do. rtfm is useless advice if you can't access it in the first place. Its like trying to get inside a building, once you know what the door looks like its easy and obvious but personally I've only just got inside and am now looking for the lightswitch. "yeah ctrl+alt+F7 to get back sorry i didn't even consider that you wouldn't know how too . " Now I know thanks a lot everybody. No doubt I will be back with other stupid questions!

I've lost my mouse. It was working but now mandrake doesn't seem to see the mouse at all. The mouse is not faulty as it works fine in windows (I have it dual booted). Any suggestions how I get it back. Don't say rtfm as I can't access it without a mouse. keep it simple I really am a newbie. thanks

It is powerquest bootmagic, also powerquest partition magic.

I have windows with powerquest 5 installed on it. The computer was built for me and this was installed. I intend to dual boot with Mandrake but have'nt screwed up the courage to try yet. I have read in other sites abouit problems with pq and linux. Should I just take this off or does the partition tool with Mandrake overwrite power quest? So far I have just experimented with md on an old computer with a 2gb hard drive that seems to be knackered, although it does work after a fashion, I need to do thgis guys so your comments would be appreciated. But please be gentle I really am a newbie. I wo

TI 56000 modem. MD seems to detect it and then not configure

MD 9. When trying to connect modem open wizard.bet as far as connection types normal modem connection. click next and then rather than getting the dial up options screen get message saying now configured and then nothing. go back in repeat proicess still no dialup screen just cpmpletion message when it isn't. Any suggestions?

The biggest difference is the database that star office has and oo does not. If all you want to do is word processing and use a spreadsheet oo is fine. If on the other hand you need a database then go for star office. So is equivalent to ms office professional and includes e-mail and presentation software. i.e the equivalent of internet explorer, access and powerpoint. So of you need those kind of functions you get whole lot in one. The m9powerpack also comes with Koffice which looks pretty good as well, but as yet has no database. I've have not yet managed to get adabas working but find that the dbase format works fine for my needs. OO and star office were the same until fairly recently so interoperability is not an issue. If you need to switch between different office applications then so lets you do so. You can save your documents in office format if you have to do so. Theres no point sending a star office document office to someone that can't open it. The powerpack contains applications I don't know I need yet but that was part of the appeal. Star office will install on either windows or linux. I bought the box set originally as an alternative to office professional and later on started looking at linux. bit rambly but I hope that helps

It's Working!! Thanks for the help guys. Pmpatrick. I could'nt get the x configuration utility working but reading your post again I realise i did'nt follow your instruction correctly. Your commemt about the vga gave me a clue. i went back and did a complete new install this time taking the settings picked up by the install programme leaving it vesa and this time it worked and I can now see things properly. Previously I had changes it to svga cos I knew I had a svga monitor and thought I knew the correct refresh rate. In this case a little knowledge can be a bit dangerous. I'm stiill having trouble with the system 11 error. It comes up when a programme fails "due to a system 11 signal". I have been told that this refers to a fault in part of the disc. I do not know how accurate this is. In the meantime I have this working on an old computer on which windows had failed completely. My intention is to experiment till its more familiar and then try dual booting on a newer, faster bigger computer. Once again thanks very much for your help.

pmpatrick. Thanks very much for your suggestion. At the command style login I entered my user name and then the password. I finally got a screen that i recoignise but with absolutely huge icons that make it hard to use. I suspect I may have done something basically suipid at the monitor confuguration point that will be really obvious once I work out what it is. I also still suspect that my computer is knackered but at this point I am using it to learn on. Cannonfodder. I'll try that next. thanks

Thanks for that. I'll try it tomorrow. My computer has a reset button so I was'nt just turning it off and on. I have'nt a clue what the x system is. I had major failures with it previously that seem to come back to this signal 11 error. I have been told that this is indicative of a major problem with the disc. I decided to try linux on it so perhaps it did me a favour. If it just worked I would probably have stuck with windows. As it is I don't have to worry about wrecking it so I can practice with the likes of mandrake till i'm satisfied i know what I'm doing. (positive thinking that is).

After installing md9, after reboot everything seems o.k. however I get a message that says fsck.ext 3 fordevices/dev/hda1 exited with signal 11. things then continue I get to localhost login there is a pause then the screen goes black and stays that way. The monitor is an axion that is supposedly compatible with a multitude of systems. Actually I did get it working with 7.2 after a great deal of trouble. I also got it working with md9 although it took me several tries before I could get past the monitor section during installation, I did eventually manage it. system 11 I believe is something to do with a fault in the hard drive. I was wanting to experiment with mandrake on an old computer prior to installing on what i think of as my good computer. However, I do suspect I may have a completely knackered drive. I am now trying to pluck up the courage to try dual booting but am wary of screwing things up, cos I need my computer for work. As you may have gathered I am a total novice at this so what do you reckon, is my hard drive just knackered or have I missed something simple in installation? If this is a not very coherent question its because its now 11 pm AND i'M FED UP.