moonhowler

Hi adamw, Been away for a couple days - and big changes... Mandrake wouldn't boot into X, and I decided I'd had enough - for some reason, it just was not going to work on my box. So, I decided to try Yoper. Words just cannot describe its speed - it's nearly as fast on my old vacuum-tube-equipped PII as any current P4 XP box I've used. It's just crazy-fast, and extremely stable too. Thanks so much for your help and encouragement...and since Scribus didn't come with Yoper, your advice is still a great help. I'll be installing it right away. And I'll still be hanging around here - this is a great forum. Thanks again adamw! : )

Hi aRTee, Hi cenobite, I appreciate the responses - been away a couple days. I solved these problems completely, but not in the way you might expect: Mandrake eventually refused to boot into X - would only boot into command line - and I decided to take drastic action: I gave Yoper a try. For some reason, Mandrake just didn't seem to like my box...or me : ( It clearly works great for a lot of folks, it was just some weird combination of things that made it unworkable for me. I hardly know how to describe Yoper...it's stunningly fast, hardware detection is nearly flawless, and it's extremely stable. It's just breathtaking. Clunky installer, and not a lot of software in the repositories, but I don't even care - I'll just learn to install a few things from source. It's everything I had hoped Linux would be. I'd like to thank you all very much for your help. This site is great...and since there's a forum for other distros, I don't even have to leave! : )

A couple more possible clues: Downloaded Kaffeine to try; when launched, no Kaffeine - just this error msg.: "Can't init Video Driver! (auto)' This may not be related, but every 2nd or 3rd time I use KDE, this error msg. comes up on startup: "Sound server informational message: Error while initializing the sound driver: device: default can't be opened for playback (Permission denied) The sound server will continue, using the null output device." Should KDE/GNOME sound be enabled or disabled? Either way, xine/Totem/Kaffeine problems are a graphics issue, not a sound issue. Any ideas? I'm just about to give up on Mandrake...

Totem was installed from the 10.0 OE CDs - nothing extra there. I installed only the basic xine pkg. (w/urpmi) at first; it did its disappearing act, and I only installed the xine extras (like xine-arts, xine-flac) afterwards to try to get xine to stop disappearing. Changed audio setting to ALSA, instead of auto-detect; played with video settings (resolution, color depth) but no change. I can't change skins because neither Totem nor xine lasts long enough to do anything. All codecs are installed. Not sure how to delete config files...? This thread describes the identical problem with Xine, but no solution was posted. How can I safely delete config files? Any other ideas if this doesn't fix?

Grrrr...Mandrake is LAUGHING at me now... I installed every libdvd there is, and all xine pkg.s. Totem crashes instantly when trying to play a dvd. I typed "totem" as root,and got this error message: # totem ** ERROR **: file bacon-video-widget-xine.c: line 1385 (bacon_video_widget_new): assertion failed: (bvw->priv->vo_driver != NULL) aborting... Now I've got bacon problems?! And after installing (via urpmi) xine, it launches, appears for 3 seconds, and then vanishes. Typing "xine" as root gave this error message: # xine This is xine (X11 gui) - a free video player v0.9.23. © 2000-2003 The xine Team. main: all available video drivers failed. A bacon_video_widget?

Hi adamw, Great explanation of some really strange stuff. I understand what's happening now, but... I got this when I typed in "urpmi libfreetype6-devel": # urpmi libfreetype6-devel The following packages have to be removed for others to be upgraded: libfreetype6-2.1.7-4plf.i586 (in order to install libfreetype6-2.1.7-4mdk.i586) (y/N) Uhh...would that be a "yes" or a "no"... : (

Hi, I'm a linux newbie - had a rough introduction battling hordes of bugs (10.0 OE), but up & running now...and have encountered problems installing software. I want to try the DTP program Scribus, but having trouble installing it. In urpmi, only the old version 1.0 is offered, so I manually downloaded v1.2...and when I typed ./configure, it said Freetype 2.1.0 or later was required to install Scribus. The currently installed Freetype version is 1.3.1. So, I downloaded the current version (2.1.9) and tried to install it, and this is what happened: $ ./configure cd builds/unix; ./configure ./configure: line 36: conf4676.sh: Permission denied ./configure: line 37: conf4676.sh: Permission denied chmod: cannot access `conf4676.sh': No such file or directory ./configure: line 424: conf4676.file: Permission denied ./configure: line 1383: config.log: Permission denied make: *** [builds/unix/unix-def.mk] Error 1 I'm not sure what to do next...can anybody help?

I'm typing this in gnome! Finally! The main problem boiled down to a very buggy terminal window that kept hanging; I didn't know how to unfreeze it except shutting it down, which left urpmi addmedia still running in the background, locking out any further attempts to download & install it. I finally terminated urpmi addmedia by killing it through KDE System Monitor. This has been an ordeal for a couple reasons: First, um, "operator error". For those of you who are experienced linux users, it may be hard to imagine (or remember) the frustration that newbies go through in trying to solve weird, baffling problems with a strange new OS. My ignorance of the workings of linux/Mandrake has made solving all these bugs a lot tougher. I'm learning, but it's way harder than it should be because Mandrake released 10.0 with WAY too many serious bugs. I know this is a complex issue, but they're going to lose a lot of potential users if they can't make it reasonably usable out of the box. Speaking of bugs: still have the no-shutdown problem mentioned above (fairly serious) and still can't play DVD's (not as serious, but way irritating). Installed all 4 libdvd's & win32 codecs; both Totem & Kaffeine crash instantly when trying to play (Totem error msg: "Application "totem" (process 3214) has crashed due to a fatal error. (Aborted)". Before installing the libs/codecs, I'd just get the NAV error; now both apps crash hard. Any ideas? Thanks bvc, arctic and adamw for the help. You and this board as a whole are a godsend for anyone trying to learn and use Mandrake. NOTE: Shutdown problem solved, thanks to a member's suggestion in another thread: Open Mandrake Control Center => Boot=>Bootloader, check "Enable ACPI"; then, in BIOS, make sure Power Management is "Enabled" or "On". Problem solved.

That's exactly what I needed to know - urpmi was running in the background; finally shut it down through KDE System Monitor (don't know why it was constantly running w/o any apps open using it...?), and finally (sort of) got urpmi downloading again. The terminal window is really buggy - it keeps hanging - so between that & a dial-up connection its been a pain. But I THINK (hope) gnome is downloading right now. Updates too, hopefully. Keepin' my fingers crossed...Thanks!

I think updates would fix some of them (that's why I was trying to get easyurpmi set up), although in prior installs, many were still left after updates. But I'm still confused about easyurpmi - what does "database locked" mean? Does it mean that the easyurpmi-supplied mirrors are unusable? If so, can I use urpmi through MCC Media Mgr.? If easyurpmi has inserted its sources there, and "database locked" means easyurpmi's sources are unusable, how can I substitute usable sources, so I can at least update? What's stopping me from going to 10.1 is the idea of "doing the same thing over and over and expecting a different result": the many bugs reported in 10.1 means that I'd probably just be trading one set of bugs for another. Would they be easier to resolve? Harder? Don't know. I'd rather go with another, more reliable distribution if I give up on 10.0 (mepis? yoper?). I realize that no distro (or OS) will be perfect, but I've just got to have an OS that's at least as reliable as Win98. I don't think that's too much to expect. I'm willing to spend some time fixing bugs, but I don't like any product - computer-related or otherwise - that either cannot be fixed or will not stay fixed. Mandrake's so far been pretty wobbly on both counts (for example, a new [old] bug popped up again: 10.0 will not shut down the computer - must hold down the power button to force it off...Mandrake tech support was baffled; it finally fixed itself after a BIOS update - and now it's back). Random, intermittent bugs like this breed mistrust (will the OS crash repeatedly at critical times? will I lose my data unless I back it up every few minutes? will I spend all my time in a futile quest to fix bug after bug just so I can get some work done?) Maybe 10.1 is a big improvement, but I'm not convinced yet. For now, I'd just like to get 10.0 usable again. Anyone have any ideas on the urpmi/how-to-update issues? I do appreciate the help, BTW; I'm just way frustrated right now.

I'm just about to give up on linux - at least Mandrake. When you find yourself yearning for the stability and reliability of Windows 98, something's badly wrong. Here goes: After reading many posts about dual-boots with Windows causing many linux problems, I decided to just reinstall 10.0 and let the installer wipe the hard drive completely clean - no trace of Windows left. Install went smoothly (installing many gnome files along the way); rebooted, login window came up, and...no gnome. OK, well, at least I had a fresh, clean install that should eliminate the many problems i've fought with after each install. Then, after working in KDE for a bit, things got downright creepy: *as happened on both prior reinstalls, KPPP appeared nowhere in the menu - I had to locate the file and manually create a link to it. Not too hard to fix (hard-won knowledge after spending many hours in the first reinstall trying to figure out how to connect), but why no link? An internet connection seems like a pretty basic function to me...irritating, but a minor problem. *the menu refused to change after I saved changes in Menudrake - nothing I did altered the menu's appearance in any way, and nothing I did would put "Connect to the internet" on the menu. The progress window kept freezing - just hung for 10-15 minutes at a time - had to use Ctrl-Alt-Esc each time to get rid of it. Another irritating-but-minor problem. *the terminal launcher button on the panel at the bottom of the screen suddenly stopped working. Fortunately, I was still able to launch a terminal window from the menu. After several tries, the button suddenly started working again. *the "configure desktop" function (from a right-click on the desktop) suddenly stopped working: nothing happened at all. After many tries, it suddenly started working again. *the "KDE Crash" window popped up, helpfully explaining that the traceroute had no information about the problem. Closing the crash window had no effect on KDE or the programs I was running. *I decided it was time for a Windows-style reboot to hopefully fix things. When the login window came up, the person's-head icon had changed all by itself into a plain orangish button. Not a good sign. *when KDE came back up, about half the application-link buttons I had installed in the panel at the bottom of the window had disappeared. *these were all non-critical problems - but they were piling up. I decided to do easyurpmi again. After fighting with it for a while, I found a thread that suggested the firewall might be the problem. So I disabled the firewall, and finally got all but jpackage installed. jpackage's installation would just hang for an hour or so. OK, no jpackage then... *all the other urpmi sources were added, but all said "database locked". Sounds bad, but I don't have a clue what that means. So, I opened MCC's Media Mgr. - at least I tried. MM kept giving the error message saying "please close other app.'s working with packages' database". OK, so maybe urpmi is still running in the background. A thread explained how to force an app running in the background to shut down: type <top> or <ps -u> in the terminal as root to list all processes, then type <k> (ENTER), then type the process number (ENTER). Did that, but got the message "command not found". I've got to start getting some actual work done, and I'm just never sure what's going to happen when I boot Mandrake, so I'm forced to return to Windows until I can get this sorted out. Anyone have any ideas? I'm frustrated and stumped.

Hi bvc & arctic, I finally got a chance to look in MCC Media Mgr., and both CD's are already listed as sources, along with update_source, plf, and updates. So, that's not the source of the problem. This is insanely frustrating. I'm just baffled. Any thoughts?

Yea, I got the magical easyurpmi installed (it really is magical - worked wonderfully before), but it said "no such pkg" for gnome-session. This is really strange, because this is a pkg. that it happily installed before. When I reinstalled urpmi this time, I chose different mirror sites - I wouldn't think that would make a difference, but...? Still not in front of my linux box yet, but as soon as I am, I'll add the CD's. Thanks arctic! Stay tuned...

Two installation CD's - It's the "Discovery" edition, which has a third CD, but it's Move, not an installation CD. In the initial install, right after purchase, gnome was installed, listed in the login GUI, and usable. It's just in the two reinstalls that it's disappeared. Not sure what you mean by having the CD's in the MCC Media Manager. I'll look in MM tomorrow (today!) and see what's there...still finding my way. Thanks guys for the help so far.

Hey Guys, I'm not at my linux box right now...typing this on W*****s :( I'll try your sugg.'s tomorrow when I've got it back...in the meantime, a couple of thoughts: bvc, I tried urpmi gnome-session, but it said "no such package". This surprised me, because I thought I'd remembered installing it before. Also, in MCC Software Install, neither gnome-session nor gnome-desktop is listed...I don't understand what happened to them. Arctic, I checked everything there was under gnome in MCC Software Install - I even checked under System -> Libraries, and no more gnome stuff is listed. I just can't figure out where they went. BTW, the reinstallation was done with 10.0OE CD's, so the complete gnome pkg. "should have" been installed...but 10.0's installation does seem a little buggy. I'm also confused about why urpmi said "no such pkg." I've loved using linux - it's just amazing that an OS exists that is this usable and versatile. I'm no IT whiz, but I'm learning to use it and am impressed. It's just that there have been a few really aggravating problems like this that I'm anxious to solve so I can get it up and running again.