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Linux at Long Last!!!

Discussion in 'Fred's House of Pancakes' started by daniel, Jul 6, 2006.

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  1. maggieddd

    maggieddd Senior Member

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    I went to Network Settings and it keeps saying "Disabled Wireless Network Device"
    I tried to enable it but it keeps goina back to disabled
     
    #41 maggieddd, Jul 9, 2006
  2. Jonnycat26

    Jonnycat26 New Member

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    <div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(maggieddd @ Jul 9 2006, 06:25 PM) [snapback]283511[/snapback]</div>
    Is it an airport wireless card?
     
    #42 Jonnycat26, Jul 9, 2006
  3. maggieddd

    maggieddd Senior Member

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    <div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Jonnycat26 @ Jul 9 2006, 06:47 PM) [snapback]283516[/snapback]</div>
    yes
     
    #43 maggieddd, Jul 9, 2006
  4. Jonnycat26

    Jonnycat26 New Member

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    <div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(maggieddd @ Jul 9 2006, 06:49 PM) [snapback]283517[/snapback]</div>
    Well, you may be in luck then. :)

    The airport card is supported, but you do have to do some work to get it running. I think it involves extracting bits from the mac drivers to the linux side, but I'm not sure. More information is here:

    http://www.ubuntuforums.org/forumdisplay.php?f=133

    Search for airport, there are a lot of threads on this...
     
    #44 Jonnycat26, Jul 9, 2006
  5. daniel

    daniel Cat Lovers Against the Bomb

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    <div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(maggieddd @ Jul 9 2006, 02:52 PM) [snapback]283502[/snapback]</div>
    I had the same problem with my old Averatec. Neither Kubuntu not SuSE would connect to the web. Both connect from my new Compaq.

    Well, to continue with my own Linux adventure:

    I decided to try viewing some media files in SuSE Linux. I tried a WMV file and an MPG file. Clicking on either one opened the Totem movie player, which then reported that it was unable to play either one. The help file says you can add proprietary plug-ins by clicking on the Add Proprietary Plug-ins button, but there is no such button!

    RealPlayer 10 is included with SuSE, and I think RealPlayer can play mpg and wmv files on Windows, but when I use it to open them in Linux, it reports that it cannot play them

    So I went online and found a question about playing media files on the justlinux board. Someone replied with a suggestion to use the Mplayer program, at this web page: http://www.mplayerhq.hu/design7/dload.html

    I followed that to this web page http://www.mplayerhq.hu/DOCS/README which looked to me like the place where Murphy's Law breeds. There's no way I'd get through all that successfully. (One of the points is that they give you the source code and you have to compile it yourself. I don't even know if SuSE includes a compiler. I did try typing "cc help" at a terminal command line and it said "cc: command not found." So I don't have a basic C compiler at any rate.)

    At the present moment I'm thinking that Linux isn't so much an operating system as it is a playground for computer techies. I wanted an OS I could use to run applications without all the nonesense of Windows. I didn't want an OS I'd have to spend more time configuring than using. Why the bleep didn't they even include a working media player???

    My uncle once bought my cousin a Jaguar XKE. He wanted to show off how rich he was. My cousin hated it because it was in the shop more than it was on the road. It was a powerful performance car that could do anything you wanted it to, but it needed constant repairing. Is Linux just the Jaguar of operating systems? Powerful and high-performance but requiring more time being fixed than doing its job?

    Is there a Linux or Unix distribution that you can just install and use, without being a computer wizzard? If not, I'm afraid this won't be the system for me. I am not interested in playing at trying to make a computer work. I just want the confounded thing to work. I'm willing to pay. But I want more than this crippled thing can do in its present condition, and I'm not willing to spend hundreds of hours on the web researching how to fix it.
     
    #45 daniel, Jul 10, 2006
  6. micheal

    micheal I feel pretty, oh so pretty.

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    Sadly, I don't think that there are distros out there that are going to run for everyone fresh out of the box like Windows does. I don't think this is a problem with Linux per se, but rather with hardware manufacturers with proprietary drivers/codecs and such.

    I'll admit that I am pretty much a Linux newbie, although I am currently trying out Linux again, so I am fresh with the difficulties with it. I am refreshing myself with Ubuntu with the new 6.06 version after having the 4.10 dual booting with XP for about a year. I haven't done much with it the past year, mainly because I could only get on the internet at my school computer.

    I have found much better look with accessing the internet this go around, but my dell laptop modem still won't work without paying for a $20 driver. I did luck out with my wireless card though. I also ran into the same problem with Totem, which seems kinda pointless and ended up getting Xine and I am able to play everything but WMV. Havent' tried mplayer yet.

    It seems that the flexibility of Linux can make it harder to get a machine up and running as it doesn't give you a bunch of crap programs that you will never use when you install. I would agree though the distros should be better about providing basic applications that most individuals will use without any need to tweak them. In my experience, most of the things that need to be done in Ubuntu don't seem to be repairs, I just need to tell it what I want it to do.

    One of the reasons I like Ubuntu is that there are some great guides out there to help (like http://www.ubuntuguide.org) and that it is pretty easy to get new programs to try out if others aren't fitting what you want or make changes. Usually I can find what I am looking for whenever a few minutes of searching for and can have the changes made in about the same time. The only thing extra I really had to do was to first try installing the multimedia codes then a different media player (about ten minutes total).

    After all that rambling, it seems that Linux still has some room for improvement, but it is getting closer to being for the mainstream than just a place for techies to play around. And part of the hold-up seems to bes hardware difficulties
     
    #46 micheal, Jul 10, 2006
  7. Jonnycat26

    Jonnycat26 New Member

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    <div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(daniel @ Jul 10 2006, 12:09 AM) [snapback]283638[/snapback]</div>
    Daniel,

    Please go to packman.links2linux.org

    Download the w32codecs RPM for your version of suse.

    All 'foreign' formats should now work.
     
    #47 Jonnycat26, Jul 10, 2006
  8. daniel

    daniel Cat Lovers Against the Bomb

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    How is a newbie supposed to get programs when they come as a collection of files that you then have to figure out how to install, or when you're told you have to compile the source code but you don't have a compiler, or when you are told that after installing the program you need a collection of binaries but you're not actually told how to get them or what to do with them when you have them?

    As for Totem, last night I tried to view a DVD, and it would not even do that. It said it required a plug-in, but as I said in my last post, it does not even have the button for getting/installing plug-ins. Maybe it needs a plug-in which creates the button to get plug-ins???

    I'm feeling pretty grumpy about this. My problem is not drivers. My hardware seems to work. It's the programs that do not work or are missing.
     
    #48 daniel, Jul 10, 2006
  9. Jonnycat26

    Jonnycat26 New Member

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    <div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(daniel @ Jul 10 2006, 09:33 AM) [snapback]283771[/snapback]</div>
    That's part of the reason I recommended ubuntu/kubuntu.

    The community support for things like that is very good.

    https://wiki.ubuntu.com/RestrictedFormats


    FYI, Windows out of the box doesn't play Divx or Real. But somehow people figure out how to install those codecs. :)
     
    #49 Jonnycat26, Jul 10, 2006
  10. NuShrike

    NuShrike Active Member

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    <div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(daniel @ Jul 9 2006, 09:09 PM) [snapback]283638[/snapback]</div>
    man gcc. Modern UNIX don't using their own custom C compiler anymore, but use the general GNU one.

    <div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(daniel @ Jul 9 2006, 09:09 PM) [snapback]283638[/snapback]</div>
    Patents and software licenses. It comes prepaid with Windows, but the only way to bypass licensing fees on say MPEG4 patents is to distribute source only.

    IMO, Linux is the Ferrari of UNIX OSs. BSD is the Toyota/Honda, sometimes Mac truck. :)

    <div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(daniel @ Jul 9 2006, 09:09 PM) [snapback]283638[/snapback]</div>
    Depends on how you define it. Doesn't SuSE have a package manager that helps you download precompiled/packaged software such as mplayer?

    Looks like SuSE is also part of RPM Hell. Welcome!

    I found this Google cache link that might help you: http://66.102.7.104/search?q=cache:KhEwPDz...lient=firefox-a

    work rant:
    Gotta say, in my 14 short years of UNIX experience, I would've thought most of the Linux distributions would've gotten a clue for effective and easy 3rd party software package management, but still not there.

    Red Hat has its head in the sand, Debian/Ubuntu has the very beautiful apt/dpkg system, Gentoo avoids it all together by making it easy to re/compile everything, and seems SuSE mashes Red Hat & Debian technology together.

    So anyways, hope that Google cache link helps.

    UNIX does have a higher learning curve, but it does get easier once you get past it, and you have a better understanding of what your OS is doing without the crutches/training wheels you are hobbled with with Windows. Of course, could just use them all, with the OS best suited for each purpose.
     
    #50 NuShrike, Jul 10, 2006
  11. daniel

    daniel Cat Lovers Against the Bomb

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    Okay. You guys have given me several links to read through and try to digest.

    I started out with SuSE because coming on a DVD with book it appeared more supported. But I have no particular committment to it, and I could install ubuntu or kubuntu instead and try one of them.

    Windows is so much easier precisely because obtaining and installing new programs involves nothing more than buying or downloading a single executable file, which when run installs itself with essentially no user input. Accept all the defaults and you have a working program. You don't have to search for additional unincluded files.

    My system does not seem to have gcc. I tried "man gcc" "apropos gcc" and just plain gcc. Nothing. That last resulted in "bash gcc: command not found" I guess that's another program I'd have to install before I could get any of those programs distributed as source code.

    Apparently there's a local Linux users group. I think I need to hire a tutor.

    More later.
     
    #51 daniel, Jul 10, 2006
  12. jtullos

    jtullos New Member

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    <div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(daniel @ Jul 10 2006, 05:06 PM) [snapback]284142[/snapback]</div>
    As I recall, Ubuntu/Kubuntu does not come with gcc either by default. It is available from the repositories, though since you're using SuSE I'm not sure how to access it there. Try

    apt-get install gcc

    It will spew a bunch of information at you, but as long as there are no errors, it should install gcc appropriately for your system. I had to do this on my home (Ubuntu) system, and will probably do this at some point on the two servers at work that have Kubuntu.

    I'll be glad to help you get set up and started with Linux if you're interested. Part of my job is one of the two network administrators for my company, so I do have some expertise.
     
    #52 jtullos, Jul 12, 2006
  13. Jonnycat26

    Jonnycat26 New Member

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    <div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(jtullos @ Jul 12 2006, 04:17 PM) [snapback]285152[/snapback]</div>
    SuSE doesn't (or didn't, do not know about 10.1) come with APT set up by default, so that probably won't work.
     
    #53 Jonnycat26, Jul 12, 2006
  14. daniel

    daniel Cat Lovers Against the Bomb

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    I would be very grateful for your help. It's too late in the evening for me to boot up the laptop right now to see if apt-get does anything on SuSE (Johnnycat thinks it does not) but I'll try it tomorrow.

    I'll say that, while I have SuSE on the DVD distribution disk with its book, I am not committed to any particular distro. Any one that I can get to work on my laptop and do all the stuff I want to do with it would be fine. So if you are serious about helping me get it up and running I'll take you up on the offer.
     
    #54 daniel, Jul 13, 2006
  15. daniel

    daniel Cat Lovers Against the Bomb

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    Postscript: "apt-get gcc" on SuSE returns "command not found"
     
    #55 daniel, Jul 13, 2006
  16. jtullos

    jtullos New Member

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    <div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(daniel @ Jul 12 2006, 09:29 PM) [snapback]285449[/snapback]</div>
    I'd be glad to. While I'm at work, I'm usually on Yahoo Messenger (actually using GAIM, and I believe I have an AIM account too, so I can be on that as well), so if you're interested, let me know and I'll send you my username. I don't guarantee 100% perfect results, but I'll do the best I can.

    <div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(daniel @ Jul 13 2006, 07:31 AM) [snapback]285607[/snapback]</div>
    Well, it was worth a try. A quick google search pulled up something that might work for SuSE. Having no experience with SuSE, I have no idea if this will work or not.

     
    #56 jtullos, Jul 13, 2006
  17. daniel

    daniel Cat Lovers Against the Bomb

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    YaST does not seem to have an "Add Programs" option.

    Browsing around, I came across Mandriva Linux (formerly Mandrake, I think). It claims to be the easiest Linux to install, use, and add programs to. It claims to be the best for non-IT people, as well as people who don't want to spend a lot of time configuring their systems.

    Do you (or anyone else) have any knowledge or opinions about Mandriva? I have no objection to paying for a Linux that's actually going to work for me.

    P.S. I don't have instant messaging. A few years back I read it was a security risk and never installed it.
     
    #57 daniel, Jul 13, 2006
  18. jtullos

    jtullos New Member

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    <div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(daniel @ Jul 13 2006, 09:54 AM) [snapback]285695[/snapback]</div>
    I've never used Mandriva, or Mandrake, so I've got nothing to help there. I have access to (between work and home) Windows XP (Pro and Home), Windows 98, Ubuntu, Kubuntu, Fedora Core 3, and an old SunOS (soon to be taken down hopefully, when I have time to migrate its functions to one of the Kubuntu machines), with possibly another OS or two at work that I don't regularly use. Anything else, I can play guessing games and Google searches, but that's the best I can offer.

    As for instant messaging, yes, it's a security risk, though it's one I'm willing to take for the convenience, especially being able to ask my wife a question while I'm at work and she's at home, without tying up a phone line here or the line at home.
     
    #58 jtullos, Jul 13, 2006
  19. NuShrike

    NuShrike Active Member

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    #59 NuShrike, Jul 13, 2006
  20. tumbleweed

    tumbleweed Senior Member

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    <div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(daniel @ Jul 13 2006, 09:54 AM) [snapback]285695[/snapback]</div>
    I'm not sure if this is what you were referring to but there are a lot of SUSE Linux RPM packages available. After you download them you should be able to right click (or maybe it's left click) the RPM and select "install with Yast".

    The following may be of interest to SUSE users:

    I had an interesting experience yesterday when I used Yast to download some upgrades from SUSE. It downloaded a bunch of security fixes in addition to a new kernel and a new version of open office. Everything went fine and the computer run just fine after it was finished with the installation. I shut it down last night and when I restarted it this morning I couldn't get in, the KDE logon screen wouldn't accept any of my user names or passwords including root. I had horrors of a corrupted password file or worse.

    Fortunately I was able to use the failsafe mode from the GRUB login screen and it let me into root, so my passwords were OK. I was able to use the startx command to get x running as root. After looking for a while I discovered that it had reset the KDE logon manager to it's defaults which apparently won't let any users log in. The problem scared me because I had visions of reloading the whole system, but it was an easy fix.

    Anyway I thought I would bore you with the story in the ulikely event anyone else running SUSE 9.1 does the upgrade and has the same problem.

    I later talked to a friend and he says he knows a way to change the root password if it does get corrupted but that's not likely to happen.
     
    #60 tumbleweed, Jul 13, 2006
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