Hi !
Here are my answers to some of the questions in brief:
>1. How does one search the archives? I might find answers there and
>spare the severs some work. I know from reading all the posts that a
>lot of questions get asked over and over.
Good question, here is the answer from Michael Jones ([EMAIL PROTECTED])
the address you are looking for is:
http://www.mail-archive.com/linux-newbie%40vger.rutgers.edu/
if you don't find what your looking for, i have kept a semi-complete
archive of the list from may of 1998. i have lost some stuff along the
way, but i am willing to try and help you find what you are looking
for if you provide some details.
>2. With that said; How do I get X to mount the CD and the floppy when it
>starts or when bash starts? Both would be great, assuming there is a
>difference.
You can set in the fstab file that filesystems are mounted automatically,
but this is not very clever, because CDs and floppies are removable medias
and you can't mount something that isn't there. If i recall correctly
(sorry, still using Windoze for emails, can't get away from my Eudora,
hehe), one entry in /etc/fstab for the cdrom and floppy drives is noauto,
you may change that to auto, but i am not that sure about it. If you
dislike typing so much you can write an alias script for bash like mcd
which will then execute the full mount command.
I myself use KDE and was very suprised that a CD got automatically mounted
after i put it in the drive, i don't know if this is a 6.1 or a KDE
speciality.
>3. I don't have a modem operating yet, thus no outside connection. The
>last couple of times I booted the machine and logged in as root, it said
>"You've got mail"
>What's that about? How do I check it? Where'd it come from?
It comes from your Linux box and normally contains sth like "Hi ! Welcome
to RedHat Linux !" or sth like that. You can access it with the command
mail (see man mail for details).
>4. I have one slot left on my board that is NOT PCI. I want to install a
>modem and later a SCSI card. Which one can be PCI to avoid the most
>trouble?
I would say the SCSI card will cause less problems if this is the PCI
card. PCI-Modems are normally Winmodems which reject to work with Linux. My
hint is to use an external modem that is connected to a serial port. I
think that has some advantages, it is easy to setup even under Linux, if it
hangs, you don't have to reset your whole system, you can shut down the
line immidiately by switching it off and you can use it for different
puters. Check the supported hardware database at www.redhat.com before your
go out shopping.
To set up a ppp connection i used kppp as pppd frontend and was on within
some seconds. Some linuxers are against using GUI tools and rather like to
hack the config files. A graphcial frontend is the easiest way to approach
it if one doesn't know exactly what to do - which is somehow bitter truth
for any linux newbie.
>6. There seem to be several media players installed.
>KDE(menu)=>Multimedia=>CD player is the only one that works. The others
>say no CD or invalid media and some other negative replies. Is it just a
>setup problem or an Xconfig problem?
Mhhh, depends on what players you mean. If you talk about a MIDI player or
any other sound player, it will only work if you have a soundcard installed
and running. The CD player works without a soundcard. I have 6.1 running
for a week now and haven't played that much with it, but i got my favourite
mp3 player kmp3 running. It is a KDE based frontend for the mpg123 player,
which is a console mp3 player. Works like a charm. I haven't tried
wav-playing and midi, but i bet wav works too if an mp3 can be played. For
some players you have to specify a directory where to find the playable media.
First you should check if your soundcard (if you have one) is working,
best way is to use the sndconfig tool for that. Then start your desktop,
choose a player and a file to be replayed. It should work.
>8. When I open a window in X the only option (as far as sizing) is the X
>in the upper right corner. There used to be a (-) Minimize (half
>block)Maximize option. What changed that made them go away.
Mhh, dunno what the change was, but normally you can resize a window when
you point to one the edges. The mouse pointer changes to an angle with an
arrow pointig to it and when you click and hold the button you can resize
the window. Somehow i doubt that this is what you were asking for, hehe.
>9. Finally How do you put Icons (shortcuts) on the desktop?
Well, as i said, i use KDE, but it may work the same way for your desktop.
Click on the desktop with the right button and then a menu appears which
lets you choose what kind of link you want to create. For a program link
choose application, for a drive or directory choose the filesystem type
link. Best way to figure out is to play around with it. You can erase the
test icons thereafter without damaging anything.
My advice is play around with Linux as much as you can. I did this and
learned many things and especially what not to do. Last help is
reinstalling and starting over. Maybe that is a wierd way to deal with it,
but it worked for me. Besides that feel free to post more questions here
and read manuals and docs. I know they are not the answer to everything,
but sometimes they help.
HTH, Greez
Dave
