Crashdamage

I can't guess from your description just what your problem might be, but I've never had any trouble installing on Mandrake 8.0-8.2, and I know many people have installed Win4Lin on Mandrake 9.0-9.1 with no problems whatsoever - easy-greasy. Install problems discussed on the Win4Lin mailing list almost never even mention Mandrake - seems like RedHat and Debian have the most problems (those RedHat kernel mods can be a pain for the NeTravese guys), but they're usually easily solved. Since you have issues with installing rpms in general, you may have another problem causing the trouble with Win4Lin as well. As for supermount, it should probably be left floating face-down, we'd probably all be better off. You should have to reboot only once to install Win4Lin, in order to load the new kernel. After that, you can upgrade Win4Lin or even reinstall Windows in Win4Lin without rebooting. Post your problems on the Win4Lin mailing list and you'll get a quick response. Win4Lin support is absolutely second to none!

Quoted from www.netraverse.com: "New Features in Win4Lin 5.0 Increased Network Support - NeTraverse has implemented the Winsock2 standard for the default network stack. This will improve performance for a number of users who don?t choose to use the virtual network card and second IP address. Improved Audio Integration - The ability to use audio daemons such as esd, artsd, and our own nnaudio network audio plugin. These features will help integrate into the KDE desktop or improve remote sound capabilities. Improved Video Performance - Win4Lin now has the ability to run Direct X applications that do not require direct hardware access. As our users give us feedback we will include a list of Direct X applications that run well on Win4Lin. New Supported Distributions - NeTraverse has been committed to supporting the latest Linux distributions. Our latest supported distributions include Lindows, Xandros, Gentoo and many others." After I upgrade, I'll see if I have any Windows stuff that use DirectX and try them out. Probably not - I'm not a gamer, (no time) and I always avoided DirectX crap like a bad odor. Just another attempt by MS to control everything. DirectX was always a reboot waiting to happen anyway. BTW, in a post in their mailing list, one of the developers mentioned that DirectX w/hardware support is in the works.

Netraverse just announced Win4Lin 5. New features include support for Direct X, Novell clients, Winsock2, better sound support and more. No Win2000/XP yet, but they're working on that for a later release. Win4Lin 5 should be really nice. I'll be upgrading my Win4Lin install in the next day or two. I expect no problems at all, I've never had a problem with Win4Lin, but if there are I'll post them here.

Ahhh...found it! I was looking in /usr/src/RPM/BUILD. Shoulda had a little more patience and kept looking. Well, I'll have it ready whenever I do a reinstall. I'll use the rpmbuild --rebuild command next time I use a .src.rpm, too. Slowly, slowly, I'm gettin' the hang of some of this stuff... Thanks for the help!

Thanks, aru! Installed libgtk+1.2-devel-****** and that got me past the GTK+ error, but then I ran into another package error for libgdk-pixbuf, and trying to install that ran into another bunch of dependencies...ARRRGGHH! For some reason I could not get Software Manager to install all the necessary packages, itjust kept giving errors. But everything's ok, 'cause I just found the packages I needed on the MDK CDs, copied them to a working directory and carefully installed each in order manually, first with: rpm -ivh --test <package> then without --test. After that, rpm --rebuild danpei-2.9.1-1.src.rpm completed sucessfully. Problem was, I didn't know what to do next. I thought I would have a finished rpm in my working directory to install, but no. So after some reading of rpm how-tos again, I still didn't get it and I'd been fooling with this for hours by now. Screw it, I just did #make install and all is well. Nothing broke,a nd Danpei runs perfect. Great little app, Danpei, I'm tickle pink. It was worth the effort. But I still wanna know - for the next time I use a .src.rpm - what should I have done after compiling with $ rpm --rebuild danpei-2.9.1-1.src.rpm?

I have a SB Extigy too, but I've been workin' my ass off lately and haven't had time to mess with getting it going, but I intend to Google around and work on it more soon. I got as far as downloading Cochran's Extigy driver from his website but couldn't get it compiled and installed. For what it's worth, I do know that he says he uses his driver with OSS 'cause ALSA sound is terrible, and hasn't even tried his Extigy with ALSA, so trying to get it going with ALSA may be an excercise in frustration. The remote has at least some funtionality and the mic input works, but it will only output stereo - no multi-channel output. No matter to me, I only want the mic input and stereo anyway. If anyone can tell William & I how to compile & install the Exitgy driver (in cake-recipe style) I would REALLY be interested! The Extigy is a nice sound "card". An external is the way to go for hookup flexibility and really good sound - gets the analog stuff out of the computer with all it's electronic "noise". Running it in Windows (ACK!), the Extigy really makes stuff sound nice. Anyone with the answer gets dinner and drinks on me if you get to Kansas City...

Found a very cool little image viewer called Danpei that seems like exactly what I've been looking for. No pre-built rpm available, only danpei-2.9.1-1.src.rpm, so I downloaded that and did: # rpm --rebuild danpei-2.9.1-1.src.rpm which starts and runs along fine 'til near the end, then it exits with this error: checking for gtk-config... no checking for GTK - version >= 1.2.6... no *** The gtk-config script installed by GTK could not be found *** If GTK was installed in PREFIX, make sure PREFIX/bin is in *** your path, or set the GTK_CONFIG environment variable to the *** full path to gtk-config. configure: error: GTK+ >= 1.2.6 not found. error: Bad exit status from /var/tmp/rpm-tmp.82282 (%build) As a side note, working from the tarball with: $ ./configure; make gives the same error. Anyway I know I have GTK libraries installed (Gnome 1.4, Gimp, other GTK stuff) but no package specifically called GTK+*.*.*-*, so to try and satisfy things I download gtk+-1.2.8-6.1mdk.i586.rpm and try this: # rpm -ivh --test gtk+-1.2.8-6.1mdk.i586.rpm but that gives numerous conflicts with libgtk+ such as: file /etc/gtk/gtkrc.bg from install of gtk+-1.2.8-6.1mdk conflicts with file from package libgtk+1.2-1.2.10-25mdk file /etc/gtk/gtkrc.ja from install of gtk+-1.2.8-6.1mdk conflicts with file from package libgtk+1.2-1.2.10-25mdk (etc,etc...ends with) file /usr/lib/libgtk-1.2.so.0 from install of gtk+-1.2.8-6.1mdk conflicts with file from package libgtk+1.2-1.2.10-25mdk At this point I'm kinda stuck 'cause this is getting beyond what limited Linux knowledge my weak mind has soaked up so far. Can anyone tell me how I can install this?

Ah-HA!! You have solved the Mystery of the Gray Keys! It's the keypad "+" & "-" keys. The link you gave to the MC docs did it. I hadn't seen that in there before, but then I'm not the most diligent RTFM guy. Stoopid questions answered - thanks guys! Oh, and as for XNC, yeah, when I started messin' with MC, naturally I installed and played around with XNC for just a few minutes. It's ok, but I'll take Midnight Commander. Like I said, for me, simpler is better. I was looking for a text-only file manager anyway. I've long missed XtreeGold. Now if I can just get MC to run transparent in an aterm window...I think it will, it will in xterm, and I think I'm close, just need some time to fool with it some more.

Sorry, guess I wasn't clear about that...yeah, there's no reference to a "gray" key in MC. Lately I've come across it in 2 Windows programs, a business app and a MC/Norton Commander clone for Win2000 called File Commander. Looks and acts almost exactly like MC, pretty usable, but not as polished. Anyway, they have key bindings like "gray +" "gray -" etc. First thought was it meant the "Windows" key (arrrgghhh!) but no, unless for some reason it's just not working in either app. I can't remember ever seeing a reference to a gray key in Linux, but figured maybe I just haven't run across it.

Thanks - annoyingly dumb question, I know. I just couldn't remember...brain fart from self-abuse, I guess. That and been doing things the GUI way much too long. Tryin' to get in touch with my inner keyboard again. I'd forgotten how fast and easy it is to get stuff done with text apps like Mutt and MC once you get away from the friggin' mouse. Still haven't figured out what a gray key is though.

Recently I tried using Mozilla, including the plugin you suggested but Mozilla was little or no more effective than Opera and I like Opera much better - faster, less bloated, etc. I've tried changing the ID of Opera to IE but it doesn't help too much, and besides, I want webmasters to know that something other than IE is accessing their site. Opera 7 is supposed to solve at least some some of the compatiblity problems, not that 6.12 gives me much now, it really doesn't, just here & there. I tried Opera 7 Beta1, but couldn't get Java going. And Opera 7, like Mozilla, includes a lot of stuff I don't need or want, so I may stay with Opera 6 for quite a while. It's fast, stable, and resonably lean. Everything's a trade-off, but to me, given a choice simpler is better. I mean, I do most ordinary surfing with Links... Now at my business, we have no choice - IE it is, and that's that!

I've found as good or better-than-Win Linux stuff for everything but TaxCut, IE & pcAnywhere. TaxCut is no big deal and I rarely use IE, but every now & then some website I gotta deal with refuses to work with anything else. I absolutely MUST run pcAnywhere. It's the only reason I have to have Windows at home (with Win4Lin). I think GnuCash is great, it was one of the 1st apps I switched to after going Linux. Double-entry is the way to go. And the support for it is very good.

A couple of really dumb questions... I've been using Midnight Commander for a while and really like it. Kinda takes me back to the old days of DOS & Norton Commander or XTreeGold. Anyway, there's a keyboard command I just don't get. In MC's keyboard inputs, "C" is the Ctrl key, "M" is Meta, or Alt, etc. So" C-t" means hold down Ctrl while hitting t. OK, anyone reading this knows that, but what is "C-x t"? I mean, what key is "x"? Holding down ctrl+x while hitting t isnt't it, or ctrl+alt+t, or ctrl+shft+t, or etc, etc...I think I tried 'em all. I know this is a really dumb question. In fact, I can't believe I'm asking and probably deserve a flame or 2, but it would be worth a little abuse to know. Second, when documentation mentions a "grey" key, what key is that?

I forgot to mention Mutt does have a "bounce" command. It will also sort email into multiple mailboxes and color-code the indexes according to whatever parameters you set. If you don't want to write your own spam filters, it'll work with spamassassin, etc. Takes lotsa setup, but Mutt will do *almost* anything.

You might look into Mutt. You can set it to check for certain things in headers to "tipoff" suspected spam, or mailing lists, etc., and it color-codes the header list accordingly - then just hit "d" to blow 'em out as you go through the list. Not a perfect solution, (neither is spamassassin or anything else) but very fast! I'll probably never use anything but Mutt again. Text-based, and very cool in a transparent aterm window. GUI mail clients just seem slow and clunky after getting used to Mutt. But beware! - setup can really be a bear! I can help some, but I'm still trying to figure out a couple of things myself...

ral said: >I would not mind sticking with one (RH9 or ML9.1) for at least one year.< I agree. Like I said early in this thread, I'm still using 8.2 and will for quite a while. I run Fluxbox and some text apps like Mutt and Links anyway, so I don't much care about the latest KDE or Gnome eye-candy. And my setup is so complicated that reinstalls just to keep things on the cutting edge is just too much hassle. Besides, I need this machine for daily money-making activities too, so I'm more concerned with stability and reliablity than new goodies. I am gonna put another machine together out of spare parts just for fooling around with. I had one for a while, played around with Debian, RedHat, etc., but I gave it to charity. As for my main machine, I think I might upgrade it on the next version. But then again, I might stay with 8.2 'til the next hardware upgrade, probably in a another year or so. It depends on how bug-free new releases seem to be and if there's anything new I feel a real need for.

How about this: http://streamripper.sourceforge.net I haven't yet tried it myself, but it sounds pretty cool...

"...MDK is made up of thousands of different components, programs, dependencies, etc. All it takes is one weak link in the "chain" (ie; a bug in some component, etc) and the entire OS can start acting up." This is certainly just as true of Windows as it is Linux. I wish I had a dollar for every Win re-install I've done for this reason. At work it's rare that one of our Win98 or 2000 workstations runs well for more than a year without a re-install, and we make *very* few changes to them. At home on the other hand, my MDK 8.2 box with a very complicated setup has not been re-installed since 8.2 came out. In that time it's had way too many changes to count, but it's still rock-stable, runs for weeks or even months without even a reboot. In fact, I don't remember ever having to reboot except for power failures or to make hardware changes. Oops, I take that back - to be 100% honest, I remember once a few months ago, I lost the sound. Tried logging out, restart the sound, etc., no good. So after about 10 min of fooling around I just took the Windows way out and rebooted and everything was fine. But, if I wanted to keep messing with it, I very likely could've got it going the Linux way, without a reboot. I just didn't take the time. Anyway, that's still pretty good stability...

I didn't think about the slocate thing. He makes a good point there. It does spin the HD pretty good, and would also slow things down, especially if you have a bad chunk of menory and are down to 64MB. And Mandrake might still try to go to runlevel 5 (GUI). At boot, does the bios report the correct amount of memnory?

I haven't noticed anything about it lately, but I might've missed it 'cause that's not a subject I pay attention to. If you really want to know, go to: https://www.netraverse.com:9100/lists/win4l...users/List.html and search the archives. Someone's probably asked lately. If not, post a question there. The developers check in there several times a day, and you can get an answer direct from them.

Well, you don't give any details about any error messages you get during boot or anything so it's pretty hard to say what the problem might be. But it sounds like it may be a hardware problem, not a Linux problem. I've seen very similar things happen twice on Win machines. Once it was a slowly dying hard drive, the other was a bad IDE controller. Patience will pay off with Linux. Like anything else with computers, it's not so tough after you get the basics. I thought Linux was pretty strange at first, had no idea what I was doing and like you sometimes got kinda frustrated. But now Windows is a constant frustration to me. People forget how much time and effort they had to put into learning the Windows way. Suppose all you'd ever known was Linux - like imagine Linux was everywhere and Windows was the new kid on the block - Windows would really drive you crazy to learn. You'd be wondering...Why I can't just do a quickie edit to a file instead of hunting for some button hidden under 5 layers of GUI menus? Why do I have to constantly reboot for crashes, and rebooting for installs??? With Linux I didn't reboot for weeks or months...and what do you mean I gotta install printers, nic cards, sound card? - Mandrake set all that up for me...and why is there an A: drive and C: drive but never a B: drive? Why is Windows so stupid it doesn't even SEE a Reiser or ext3 partition? What's defrag, and why do I have to do it? Why didn't it TELL me when I installed one thing it would break another? - rpm did...Where's the man pages? I got something called the nimba virus and it trashed my ENTIRE friggin' hard drive!!! Now I gotta call Uncle Bill Gates and beg him to please, PLEASE gimme a code to reinstall XP...and then spend more money on frickin' anti-virus software so it doesn't happen again!! AAACCKK!!! Yeah, Windows would be LOTSA fun... Relax, you'll get it...nothing really worthwhile is easy.

All this just makes me want to keep running and updating my rock-stable 8.2 install. Not much new in 9.1 I have any need for or interest in, and I have a very complicatied installation that takes a long time to get just right. That said, after playin' around some with RedHat, Suse, and Debian on a spare machine, I still think Mandrake is the best overall distribution and I'll probably upgrade to the next release (although I'd really like to wait for the 2.6 kernel). But I will IF, and only if, they really concentrate on the bugs. I mean, I understand they really needed to get a new release out to stay alive, but I'm not buying this one (though I admit I downloaded it just in case it's the last Mandrake). It's not the money - I've been a Silver Club member for 2 years and bought boxed copies of 8.0 Standard, 8.0 PowerPack, and 8.2 PowerPack. But I'm not going through days of re-loading and configuring unless I know I'm gonna be happy when I'm done.

You can install over an old version just fine with urpmi, saves all your bookmarks, etc. The beta disappointed me a little. I mean it's pretty cool, much like the Winshaft version of 7.1 that I've used a lot and fast for sure. Of course I didn't expect all the features to work, but I couldn't get Java working or use my registration code for v6.12. Java I could do without for a while, but I've got no use for the email client (gimme my Mutt!) and I ain't puttn' up with the ads, so I uninstalled and went back to 6.12 for now. And yeah, I did also try a clean install, but there was no difference whatsoever. I don't use Opera much in Linux anyway except for banking and paying bills. Mostly Links 2.1 for ordinary surfin' and downloads.

Netraverse has always maintained they didn't see enough demand or need to support Win2000/XP, but in a post yesterday on their mailing list by one of the developers, he admitted that this is now in the works. But he would not speculate on a release date. Must be enough people now with copies of Win2000 but no Win9x that they've decided they'll have to support it to maximize access to Win4Lin. Just thought some readers here might want to know it's coming...along with Direct X. Just have a little patience... Netraverse is just a kick-ass software company.

OK, OK... Let's put it this way... In light of recent actions by not only MS, but others such as Intuit, I refuse to feel guilty about any vendettas I may (and do) hold and and freely espouse against companies who do business by such methods. Monopolistic business practices, .net, Palladium, the dominace of the 'net by IE, EULAs that allow shutdown of your computer, spyware, etc., etc. are stacking the deck against us. The general public is almost totally ignorant to what's happening, blissfully clicking their friggin' mice while EULAs and idiot lawmakers keep chipping away at computing and the exchange of information as we know it today. Microsha, uh, soft, for one, is guilty as charged and deserves whatever arrows I can stick in 'em. They've stuck plenty in me, and I've got the reciepts to prove it. With things like Palladium, they're still shootin' at all of us. Even those of us who never have to watch Windows boot are still a target. But...yeah, you have a point, at least to a point. So in the spirit of "Can't we all just get along?" I promise to chill a little. Be more Linux-positive than Microsoft-negative. No more M$. Honest. But can I still call 'em Microshaft or Microsucks? Please? Just kinda makes me feel better... :lol: