Re: Troubles: Internet, Printer, Sound More.
David R. Litwin wrote:
Alright. I'm Useless (clearly) when it comes to Linux. The three
things mentioned in the subject line I can not even get to work.
Please, help!
You might have better success breaking this thread into three separate
threads; one for each topic.
I have tried to download the print-driver. I tried to install it. All
was going well: Then, it said to enter: /etc/init.d/hplip (or, in my
case, hpijs 1.7.1) restart. At this point, it says that that folder
doesn't exist: It doesn't.
What version of Debian are you running? Issue the command "cat
/etc/debian_version" and let us know the results.
Also, it might be useful for us to know if the lines in
"/etc/apt/sources.list" point to stable (or Woody), or testing (or
Sarge), or unstable (or Sid), or some combination thereof. It might be
easier just to post the contents of that file.
What kernel version are you running? The command "uname -a" will provide
this information.
I suspect you're running Woody/Stable. This version is extremely ancient
now, and for a non-server (that is, for a user's desktop machine that
doesn't need 24x7 reliability but does need better reliability than
you'd probably get with MS-Windows), you'd probably be better off to use
Sid/Unstable. You'll get newer software that is more likely to work with
your hardware.
You're probably also running a 2.2 kernel; again, upgrading to 2.4 (or
even 2.6) will improve your chances of getting working hardware.
Of course, it'll be easier to upgrade with a working network connection ....
Next, sound. It simply will not work.
In addition to knowing what version of Debian and what version of the
kernel you have, we need to know the results of the command "lspci".
Also, you'll need to be a member of the "audio" group in order for sound
to work. If you issue the command "groups" you can see the groups of
which you're a member. If "audio" is not one of them, issue this command
as root: "adduser litwin audio" (where "litwin" is your login name),
then logout litwin and log back in. You should now be in the audio
group. (Of course, that's just one step among a possible several; like I
say, more info is needed.)
Internet is last (and most complex). I have good reason to suspect
that some thing is using it.
I don't understand this statement that something is using it.
I have an Ethernet card and use High
Speed Internet (DSL, yes?).
I don't know. It might be DSL, it might be High Speed Internet from you
cable company. It might be a LAN in your office. It might be a wireless
connection. It might be a satellite connection.
The two most common high-speed connections for home users, at least in
the States, is cable and DSL. Do you have another machine (or another
OS) that connects? If so, does it just plug into an ethernet cable and
you have Internet Access, of did you have to install some software from
the ISP, or do you have to click a button to initiate your connection,
or what?
I also have need of ppp or what ever verb
I use there.
PPP is for dialing up. It's unrelated to high speed internet.
Unless you meant PPPOE, which is sometimes used with high speed
internet. But I've never had to use it and don't know anything about it.
Do you really mean you also need to dial-up? If so, this is yet a fourth
topic that should be broken out into a separate thread. Chances are
_really_ good that you have a "win-modem" (aka "piece of garbage" -
okay, so I feel strongly about these things). In that case, your chances
of getting it to work in Linux are about 50-50; I wouldn't hold my
breath, and I wouldn't expect it to be easy.
At the startup scripts (by the bye: How do I access those
(I. E.: what I actually saw) when in normal usage?) I think I saw some
thing like IRQ 0 may not work. Some thing like that. Then, it keeps
saying (when I run the ASDL / PPP Config (and what not) that
sciosfflags (or, what ever it is) says network is down or busy.
During boot up, there are two types of messages.
There are those generated by the kernel as it loads and probes. These
can be accessed with the command "dmesg" (which also shows kernel
messages after booting, so if it's been a while since you booted, the
boot messages may have been pushed out of the way by more recent
messages). You can also see these types of messages (and others) by
prowling around in the log files, generally stored in "/var/log".
The other type of messages during booting are those generated by the
start-up scripts. Generally these are not logged (although prowling
about in the log files might net you some of that info). As long as you
haven't left the console screen on which these boot messages display
(that is, if X hasn't started, or tried to start, and you haven't
pressed a keystroke like Alt-F3 to switch to a different virtual
terminal (VT)), then you can scroll up through the messages with
Shfit-PgUp (and Shift-PgDn).
This second type of messages are being generated by the startup scripts,
located in "/etc/init.d". Not all these scripts are run at every boot-up.
When you boot up, the BIOS runs its POST (assuming an x86-type system,
Pentium, AMD, etc). Then the BIOS looks for a boot medium, finding it on
the hard drive in most cases. This starts loading the Linux kernel. Once
it's loaded, it runs the "init" program, which uses "/etc/inittab" as
its configuration file. This configuration file generally specifies
runlevel 2 to be the default runlevel, and instructions the "rc" program
to run all the scripts in "/etc/init.d" which are referenced in
"/etc/rc2.d" by a similarly-named file which starts with an "S" (for
"Start"; "K" scripts "Kill" things).
There are several ways of capturing the output of these startup scripts.
But perhaps the easiest is to make sure you don't try to start X on
boot-up, so that you can Shift-PgUp through them on the console.
Accomplishing that is itself dependent on what method you're using to
start X, if indeed you are.
If any of this is too vague, I'll get you precisely what you need.
Hopefully the above will help you provide better information for us to
take a stab at helping you.
Thank you kindly and consider me a dunce with Linux: Treat me like a
child and explain every thing fully. Thank you again.
--
Kent
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