Re: Newbie comments & queries
Ian Balchin wrote:
>1. The old machine had a sound card after all. How can I
>configure that without another reinstall?
You'll have to recompile the kernel modules. Since your using potato, I'd recommend that you do
apt-get install kernel-source-2.2.19pre17
It would prompt you to insert the appropriate CD then will bring out
a kernel tarball in /usr/src. Uncompress the tarball, then recompile
the kernel (there's a lot of documentation about this, so i'd make
this brief).
Basically there's the standard way, and the debian way (make-kpkg)
>2. I have read some of the HOWTO files particularly the one on
>printing. This is a file ending in .gz and I cannot get it to
>print out. Do I have to extract that particular file out of the
>eng.txt first ? If so, how?
You can either extract it (gzip -d foo.bar.gz) then print it via lpr
(you need to have lpr/lprng/CUPS installed and parallel printer
support either as modules or compiled in the kernel); or
pipe it (zcat foo.bar.gz | lpr) or extract it then redirect it (>) to
/dev/lp1 (your 1st parallel port should you use the 2.2.x kernels).
>3. I note that my selections for lp (port 0x378 & irq7) during
>initial install resulted in a failure; even with no entry on the
>line it was also a failure. Why would that be?
have parport also installed as a module should you choose to reinstall. else, you'll have to recompile the kernel modules for
lp and parport.
>5. I see that my SiS6215 video card is listed on the Xfree86 site
>as a supported card, but it was not detected in the initial
>install. xviddetect does not now detect it properly, listing it as
>maybe a SiS 82C204 along with other possibilities. I declined to
>write the xwin (?) config file on the last install as it would not
>detect the video card and came up with error 111 when i tried to
>write it previously. What do I do now? It detects a borrowed
>Trident TGUI9440 OK but maybe I can't keep that.
potato comes with XFree 3.3.6. You'll need to find the appropriate
entry in XF86Setup. I'm not so sure on SiS cards, but I think you
should also install the xserver-vga16 and xserver-svga packages.
sorry for not being too much of a help.
btw, the XF86Config file is in /etc/X11. You can tweak it by hand,
use XF86Setup, or use anXious. be ready to have read your hardware
docus...
>6. My PS2 mouse does not work on this machine (not in dos either,
>so maybe the port is broken) so how do I change this to a plain
>serial mouse? In XF86Setup I cannot get the serial mouse to go
>with _any_ settings either.
do check your ps2 port to know the real problem.
in XF86Setup, make sure the device is /dev/mouse, then the mouse
type to serial/normal.
Ok, with those hints, you've got a long way to go! If you plan to
use the newest 2.4 kernels in potato, be sure to grab adrian bunk's
packages for potato, as well as the gcc-2.95.3 compiler backported
for potato, as you'll need it to compile kernels higher than 2.4.9
(just search the web -- can't remember it). Since you're just
starting - make do first with 2.2 kernels, then when you feel you
can jump overboard to 2.4, you know what to do.
btw, the documentation is in /usr/doc or /usr/share/doc. go figure
and read on. Also check the info and man pages. That's the hard, but
enlightening way of learning unix. also invest in a good book on
linux (i'd recommend the books by o'reilly and assoc), as well as
a good book on unix system administration (my personal fave is
Unix System Administration handbook, 2nd ed). There are also a lot
of documentation available on the net - just search on. It's a long
process but it would enlighten you very well (why windows just sucks
and unix rocks... it worked for me too, as i also started like you,
and am still searching to learn more abt unix and linux).
Additional places would be #debian at the debian irc server, and
#linuxhelp at undernet. Happy hacking!
Paolo Alexis Falcone
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www.edsamail.com
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