donald hinds wrote:
>
> I put in a standard LM-7.2 setup from a 4 CD set.
>
> First it took two weeks to figure out what was wrong in fstab so I could mount
> the CDROM (and Mandrakesoft couldn't help), and finding a place to put
> mem=56K so the shared video ram would work.
>
> Still no one can tell me how to use a USB modem. The kernel supports it, my
> modem is listed as a supported modem (linux-usb org), LM-7.2 put in a huge
> amount of USB files and recognized two USB ports.
>
> I still get a Aieee kernel panic, swapper no syncing error if I boot in
> anything but graphical mode.
>
> Corel Photo loads but won't run because Fonttastic is missing. The MAndrake
> help page give directions to install it from the Install CD, but it is not on
> the Install CD.
>
> Corel WP-8 won't install, not from the Wbesite, not from two differenct CD's,
> one of them a Mandrake 6.5 CD.
>
> Windows may crash a lot, but at least it WORKS in between crashing. What good
> is Linux not crashing, if you can't get anything working?
>
> I'm new to Linux, but not to computers. I do tech support for modems. I can
> follow instructions, but when it says (man 8 mount) to look in
> /linux/fs/filesystems.c for a list of supported filesystems, when /linux/fs
> directory doesn't exist how can you do anything???
> When it tells you to load 'fonttastic.... rpms' from the Install CD and it
> doesn't exist what can you do???
>
> Don
>
>
Face it--Linux is not for everybody. First, if you're going to install
linux be very careful about what hardware you put in your machine. USB
modems may work, but avoid the hassle of a "new" technology and get a
modem that is proven to work with the operating system. I use NT4.0 a
lot, and hardware is definitely easier to configure with linux. But,
NT4 is the MS equivalent of linux, and you wouldn't even THINK about
anything USB with 4.0, would you? By the way, the Mem= solution is
posted all over the internet (I had the same problem a couple of years
ago and found it in 15 minutes). And sometimes, the BEST learning
experience is to re-install and re-install until you get it right.
Especially when dealing with X-servers--and since you have a vidcard
built into the mobo--well, I see that as a problem right from the
get-go. Linux does not work well with with half-assed hardware
solutions.
The only card that I'll even consider when built into a mobo is scsi.
I've gotten soundcards and video cards to work, but they were a hassle
every time. Once you've made the same mistake a couple of times, then
it'll sink in (not a criticism, I've been there--many times).
Second, linux actually has several different versions, with the file
systems slightly different. Where one system (which the help file is
written for) says a file is may not be exactly correct. It's a failure
of the help file, and possible one of the "forking" difficulties that is
being talked about all over the linux community.
And finally, check the archives of this list for the problems associated
with the "fontastic install". I recall someone posting the solution to
this within the past month. I seem to recall someone posting a
difficulty with WP8 fairly recently, too--I didn't pay much attention
since I've installed it on 7.0 and 7.1 and then never used it.
