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Re: Frustrated Windows user making switch



Chad Scott wrote:
> 
> Let me preface this by admitting that I hadn't seen a lick of Linux or Unix
> until I installed the Potato a couple of days ago. So I basically have no
> idea what I'm doing. I successfully installed Linux, but I can't get X
> Windows to work.

Well, you're past the first hurdle, so keep at it!

> My first problem is that my mouse doesn't work. It's a Logitech serial
> mouse, and I've tried the Logitech, Microsoft and Auto options in XF86Setup,
> but none work.

Maybe you have gpm installed? Try removing it from your system:
# apt-get remove gpm

Gpm is a console mouse utility. It could be using the mouse device,
causing X to not be able to use it.

> My second problem is that XF86Setup tells me I need to have
> the SVGA server installed. I don't know how to do that.

You have to install the xserver-svga package:
# apt-get install xserver-svga

> Understand that referring me to XF86Config means nothing to me.
> I don't even
> know how to open the file. I'm sure this type of help request is common and
> annoying, but I'd certainly appreciate it if somebody could at least point
> me in the right direction. Thanks.

I usually recommend the editor 'pico' to new users, but licensing issues
prevent it from being included in Debian. Try 'nano' instead, which is a
free clone of pico.
# apt-get install nano

When using pico/nano, the "^X" etc commands mean "control-X" etc.

HTH,
Matthew



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