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Mandriva LE 2005 monitor problem


richfly
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Apologies if this is in the wrong place, but I'm completely new to this!

 

I bought a specially packaged edition of Mandriva LE 2005 from WH Smith (large newsagent outlet in the UK) this morning, wanting to see what Linux/Mandriva was like.

 

The install went OK (3 CD's), but when the time came to reboot into the GUI for the first time, all I got was a shell command line.

 

I re-installed, with no improvement, and after staring blankly at this for a while, and fiddling a bit with the few commands I knew or could discover, I took it back to WH Smith and told them it didn't work properly, that I didn't know why, and got my money back.

 

It has dawned on me, 3 hours later, that the possible reason it didn't boot 'properly' was that it doesn't recognise my monitor (an old Compaq 171S). I had noted in the final listing that this was unconfigured, but thought, like Windows, it would sort out some kind of default for anything it needed to run effectively.

 

Does anyone know of any command sequence I can use in the "bash shell" to sort this out?

Edited by richfly
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To reconfigure your video options, run the following command as the root user: XFdrake

 

Pick the closest monitor you can find to yours, or pick one of the Generic ones.

 

Be sure to select the Test option so you can test your changes.

 

One of the Options is to start X when booting.

 

After making the changes using XFdrake, you can either reboot or go directly into KDE with the following command (as a regular user, not as root): startx startkde

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If you have selected kde to be your default during install, or later in MCC ---> System ---> Display Manager, then when you need to type in startx it is not necessary to type in the extra startkde

 

Also install the RPM package monitor-edid. Should be available on your cdroms so it can be selected with MCC ----> Software installation. When it is installed then again in MCC ---->Hardware ---------> Configure your Monitor, click here and at the top you will see an item titled Plug'n Play. Double click on it and after a short time hopefully you will see your monitor type appear. If it doesn't then it will mean that the monitor is unknown however this is fairly rare for older models.

Cheers. John.

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To reconfigure your video options, run the following command as the root user: XFdrake

LOL! SO easy to write, but harder to do! I got a "localhost login", which - after trying various options - I went into as just me, then used "su" (something I remembered from a brief brush with Unix last year), then the root password, and finally! - "XFdrake".

 

THAT was a story unto itself, mind you, and after some more guesswork and a bit of luck, I finally found an option that worked (SiS 630, again, remembered from a previous encounter some months ago in Windows).

Be sure to select the Test option so you can test your changes.

Thank you thank you thank you. This was a life-saver for my blood pressure.

If you have selected kde to be your default during install, or later in MCC ---> System ---> Display Manager, then when you need to type in startx it is not necessary to type in the extra startkde

Yep, I (finally) did manage this, after finally just crashing XFdrake because it kept going round in circles. Redoing it all the second time was easier, then this "startx" command took me into the GUI.

 

Of course, the internet doesn't work, because in Unix/Linux you have to start up some other thing which I can't remember the name of, before you can use email or browsers..

 

But at least I was able to find the "Control Center" and change the default bootloader option to Windows. Phew! At least now I get to go where I want!

Also install the RPM package monitor-edid.

Er. No. This doesn't mean squat to me. Sorry.

Should be available on your cdroms

No - remember, I took it all back to the seller.

 

What I was after was to se if the average computer user could install this Linux package and get going, just (mostly) WinXP does. Well, on this experience, not so. I'm glad I took it back to W H Smith and got my money back.

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I am sorry if I get the feeling that you were more than a little hasty in your judgement. The fact that YOU had difficulty in doing a straight forward install of Mandriva does not prove in any way shape or form that Mandriva is a lot more difficult to install than the mighty ??? Win-XP. If someone presented you with some sleek looking machine, the likes of which you had never seen before, the first sensible response would be to find out as much about it as possible, read articles and reports about how to use it and set it up and especially read the machines Manual.

I feel you may have assumed too much about Mandriva based on what you know about Windows which is an entirely different animal and not a particularly nice one at that.

If you are inclined to give Mandriva a real chance then you can be assured that we at MUB will be pleased to help you go smoothly. After all Mandriva and this board are the most rapidly growing group of all and this cannot be by accident or occur if your presumptions were in any way correct.

 

I hope you decide to persevere. Cheers. John.

 

PS. The monitor-edid rpm is an application designed soley to try and detect and identify the actual model of monitor and then place the appropiate settings in the appropiate files for controlling monitor behavior.

JB

Edited by AussieJohn
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Hi AussieJohn. I was, and still am, looking for a Linux that an average computer-user can use from scratch, and not need to go poking under the bonnet until they feel more confident. Windows, I have to say, does that. I have NEVER, EVER, had a problem installing Windows - right from 95 through to XP. You always end up with something you can use, even if you have to customise later on. (Or even sooner!).

 

Linux never does that for me. It's always 50:50, and when it fails, like yesterday, it's not easy to sort out.

 

From that perspective, it fails to live up to Windows. As for manuals, yes of course, but where are they? Have Mandriva put anything online to download? Not as far as I can tell. On the other hand, books about Windows (Media Center/XP/NT/2000/98/95) are available in my local library.

 

I am no fan of Microsoft. I find them extortionate, manipulative, and under-hand to the point of criminality. But one thing (the only thing) they get outstandingly right is to make user-friendly software. Linux, so far, doesn't.

 

Linux will persevere, and expand, if only because a mixture of economics (esp, in the Third World), ethical integrity and sheer inventiveness won't let it die. But it's frustrating not to be able to find a distro that can just 'do' things, the way that Windows can.

Edited by richfly
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Thanks richfly for your response.

Nowdays there are really only two broard reasons for not being able to install Mandriva easily and neither of them has anything to do with Mandriva.

 

1. The cdroms may have not been burnt or printed correctly. This can be because the manufacturer of the printed Cdroms have made faulty pressings. Burnt cdroms can be faulty because the downloaded ISOs are corrupted by or during the download process. When burning the ISOs, if the burning speed is too high for the disc it can corrupt the data once again.

That is why when you download the ISOs you should run the checksum on them to be certain that they have not been corrupted and secondly should burn at the slowest speed possible.

 

2. Hardware incompatability is the other likelihood. This generally tends to be a problem only with the latest cutting edge hardware but even then is still rare because Linux is very adept at preparing for new hardware designs in advance.

By far the biggest problem is with Windows centric hardware such as winmodems and winprinters and so on. Old hardware nominally is not usually a problem because drivers and so on have been written for most of it.

 

Some companys such as Nvidia, Epson, Hewlett Packard, to name just a few, have joined or are joining in supporting Linux by helping produce drivers for their products.

 

I think your install problems result from one or both of these categories I list above because the vast vast majority of Mandriva users have next to no difficulty in installing Mandriva. Many sources not related to Mandriva claim that Mandriva is the most installed of all the LINUX OSs regardless of claims about Fedora or Suse or Debian or whatever. Mandriva would not be described by Computer Journals as the most user friendly and easiest to install and use, if this was not really the case.

 

This is why I hope you try to find what it really is that is preventing you from having an easy install so you can enjoy the wonderful computing world of Mandriva. I have said on many ocassions in the past, that "if you cannot install Mandriva then it is unlikely you can install any other Linux OS" and I have been proven correct practically every single time (there will always be the odd exception).

 

I only started with computers in about 1999/2000 and had no computer training yet I am often installing Mandriva on other peoples ( women ) computers because they too want to get away from the greedy horror that is Microsoft. The only problems I ocassionally met were winmodems and it took little effort to persuade the owners to get an external serial modem if they were on dial-up or to use LAN if they had ADSL.

 

If this oldie non geek can do it then I am certain you can easily.

 

Please let me know what your system consists of in detail and we will see what we can work out and whether you have adsl or dial-up.

 

Cheers. John

Edited by AussieJohn
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... As for manuals, yes of course, but where are they?  Have Mandriva put anything online to download?  Not as far as I can tell....

Here are some good doc manual packages for LE2005 to install using the MCC software installer or urpmi from the CLI:

 

mandrake-doc-Drakxtools-Guide-en-10.2-2mdk

mandrake-doc-common-10.2-2mdk

mandrake-doc-Starter-en-10.2-2mdk

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Apologies if this is in the wrong place, but I'm completely new to this!

 

I bought a specially packaged edition of Mandriva LE 2005 from WH Smith (large newsagent outlet in the UK) this morning, wanting to see what Linux/Mandriva was like.

 

I have a sneaking suspicion that you got The Mandriva "Special edition" of Linux Format (not cheap either, £10 I believe). The magazine attached was all about getting started, or at least it was supposed to be, did you read it? (May be a silly question, but one to ask). Personally, I bought LF once for the CD's, and vowed never to do it again, I had numerous problems with the version of Mandriva they gave me, (and I know for a fact that they have messed around with the iso's before releasing them). the problems disappeared when I downloaded Mandriva, from Mandriva itself!

 

My advice to you is:

 

If you have broadand, try downloading and burning the iso's yourself!

 

OR

 

Ask a friend to do it (tell them there's beer in it for them)

 

Ultimately stick around here, most of us were newbies once (some of us still are, like me) as I have learnt more here from these guys than anywhere else!

 

Cheers

Edited by Reiver_Fluffi
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Thanks, AussiJohn, but they weren't ISO's, but 'real' CD's, just as Reiver Fluffi mentions in their post.

 

jboy, thanks for the info, but it's all 'geek' to me, I'm afraid! What I would be after would be a pdf file, or the online version of the manual that goes in the box version. (You know, the one that starts "Hallo John. Hallo Janet. Have you switched your computer on? ")!

 

Hi, Reiver Fluffi, yes, I think you're right. Actually, the install went OK - I could tell that from the way it booted up into the command line. When I put in my user name and user password, I was in the right place. Just not the GUI I was expecting, and since I don't know command-line-speak, I couldn't go any further!

 

Unfortunately, I don't have have broadband (can't afford it). I will wait for the new version due out next month, as a cover disk (BOUND to happen sooner or later!).

Edited by richfly
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Unfortunately, I don't have have broadband (can't afford it).  I will wait for the new version due out next month, as a cover disk (BOUND to happen sooner or later!).

 

Try www.linuxworld.co.uk, and get your cd's from there. I believe it will cost you less than what you paid for that particular magazine. Once you have your discs, install, any problems, come back here, no doubt someone will put you on the right track.

 

As for the next version, not sure how quickly one will appear as a cover disc, although like I said, I tend to stay away from cover discs where I can. I believe that it wont be publicly released until early November (club members should be able to access it from early October, the public release is supposed to be happening about a month or so after!)

 

Cheers

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  • 2 weeks later...

Hi richfly,

I agree with Aussie John from steamy Cairns.

Linux is very different from windows, and sometimes things need to be done very differently. Once you understand how and see how much better it is, you won't want to settle for crap when you can have the real thing.

 

Mandriva SE2005 is what I bought in the June issue of "Linux Format" magazine from WH Smith's.

You said you got youre's there too, so you probably have the same. It took me quite some time to start understanding Mandriva, all by myself. But with the help of other users showing me how, my understanding improved very quickly. May I seriously suggest contacting other users in your area. Then of course, this website really has loads and loads of information, but it only helps if you take a little time to look for what you need. Don't be too impatient.

regards, Helmut

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I know I may be a little late on this post as I just read and joined this forum today, but since nobody has answered this one..............

 

The latest officail Mandriva Linux documentation in PDF format to include a "Starters guide" can be found at:

http://www1.mandrivalinux.com/en/fdoc.php3

 

Cheers,

Bill

Edited by congdonb
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so, i've been using linux since the late 90's. i'll be the first to admit that even Mandriva sometimes has flaws. but that's no reason not to use it.

 

go back and install windows 95. (if you can find the disk, that is.) and then try to use it. i did this not long ago and was appalled at what i had settled for in the past. the same for windows 98. i got a blue-screen every 30-40 seconds. no kidding. windows ME wasn't much better. windows 2000 was the first windows that i truly found reliable. i then went to windows XP. in about 6 months i had issues with stability. i demanded too much.

 

linux was no doubt a change when i started using it. it took a little while. just like picking up the gui for windows back in the day did. but now....i leave my linux box (quite literally) for months on end. i install software (using the command line urpmi) for free and quickly.

 

something else that linux affords me is complete (i mean god-like) control. i can make that os do anything i want it to do (well almost). with windows, the control IS there....but most of us have no idea how to get to it.

 

another difference is the user-roots of linux. back in the day linux gained alot of popularity among college kids and then slowly filtered its way into the rest of the world. windows gained it's popularity when there was really no other alternative. it then gained it's strength.

 

so give Mandriva a shot. really. once you get the hang of it, it will treat you very well. good luck!

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