intel ethernet
Hi, I have a compaq presario 1800XL 190 with an Intel Pro/100 S Mobile LAN built in. It's basically as simple as Debian just can't find it. I have the correct device driver installed (installation is successful and I think it essentially knows the hardware is there) but I always get timeouts trying to find load the driver at boot. When I installed the driver while installing Linux, it said that the self-test failed, and to make sure that the card is a/in a bus-master compatible slot. I've also heard that the fact that ethernet cards used ranges for I/Os instead of fixed numbers is a problem that needs to be fixed when using Linux with them. Is there any truth to this? What further steps need to be take to get Linux to recognize my ethernet card? Much thanks in advance.
Gnome/X stuff
Okay, here's what's going down. I've put Gnome on a few ways. First setup I had going I was originally running Debian 2.1, then I went up to 2.2, and downloaded Gnome with apt-get. So it's kind of working fine, but it's also giving me some flak kinda. First of all the whole session save thing's not happening. When I log of using the foot menu it cuts right out, and the console informs me that the X server was unexpectedly cut. I can't do the save session command off of the menu either. If I click nothing happens, and I always get the same screen when I log back in. So yesterday I got a three CD set of Debian 2.2 from Linux Central, so I decided to just knock the whole partition out and reinstall with those disks. I hadn't anything installed in Linux yet, so that was fine. The first time when it gave me options for packages, I went wild on it, selecting things like Gnome complete, X complete, etc. That resulted in having way mroe programs then I'd use, of course, and X autostarting so that I could never see the command line, which I generally prefer, again. I don't know how to change all of that auto-launch stuff (can anyone help me out there), so I just knocked out the partition, and this time installed only the base system. After that I used apt-get to grab X and Gnome off the CDs. So up until this point I've been using enlightenment as a window manager, by the way, but it's got way too many things going on that really don't need to be there, in my oppinion :-) So I've tried icewm, which I like a bit more. Nowhere in all of this has session save worked. I ended up taking panel out of my Xsession file just to see what would happen. With the Gnome panel gone, logging off from icewm let's the thing gently log off (when I get back to the console it was perfectly aware that X was shuting down). However, session save still isn't working. Also, when I did this last attempt in which I just installed the base system and then X and Gnome, I no longer have a Debian menu. I was thinking maybe that's because X and Gnome are the only things installed, but shouldn't there be an empty Debian menu at least? That's kind of all that's going on. I'm using kernel 2.2.17 if that's important. Anyway, if more info is needed I can give it, but basically what I'm asking is: How do I get session manager working? Where'd my Debian menu go Am I short any packages I really should have d/led? Is there a window manager you guys prefer? I heard sawfish mentioned, where do I get that? (less/not so important question) How do I edit what programs are gettting launched at boot (e.g. making X *not* load at boot for the graphical log in). Thanks in advance for help on any of those. -Chris
small problems
Hi, These are a few easy problems that have got me confused. There are one or two I can't remember the specifics of, but the really simple ones are as follows. 1. Touchpad! In windows it defaulted to no tap-clicking... you know, where tapping the pad is taken as a mouse click. Well now it's on, and it's really driving me crazy because everytime I press a little too hard I end up bringing something up. So if anyone can help me get rid of this feature (besides 'get a real mouse'... I have one, but I use this laptop on the road and such and can't usually get room for an external mouse) I'd be very thankful. 2. CDROM. Once I load up my GUI, if I hit the eject button it pops right out, but at the command line it doesn't. Now I'm probably ignorant to some basic truth of Linux here, but since I prefer to work at the command line when possible, is there anything I can load or configure so that I can open my CD Drive there? 3. I just need some general info on plug and play. Someone who had this page on a Compaq laptop which was *almost* the one I had was saying something about newer kernels supporting it, and that it makes it a lot easier for getting my card in particular running. I have a fourth problem, but I have to copy down the error. It's nothing much though, and I'll post it when I straighten that out. Thanks for any help, bye! -Chris
small problems PS
Hi, Another one I forgot: I'm running GNOME with enlightenment, and when I'm in root, the pager (GNOME's pager, I got rid of enlightenment's) displays the icons as if they were programs. Each of these (the link to home and then 3 urls) are called 'gmc'. If I close the programs the icons go away. I was having this problem under my other user name for a bit, but when I got rid of e's pager it was randomly fixed. Thanks for help, bye. -Chris
LILO-rific
Okay, I pretty much get LILO... Here's my deal: Windows in on hda1, Linux is on hda3 (hda2 is a compaq backup, and hda4 is Linux Swap). What I want to have happen is that when I start my comp without any boot floppies or CDs, I have the choice to load Win or Lin. I would like Win as default, and I would like a password protecting Win, although that's not so important. What I've got as my lilo.conf at this point (which I have not yet loaded with the lilo command) is: boot=/dev/hda3 root=/dev/hda3 install=/boot/boot.b map=/boot/map vga=normal delay=20 other=/dev/hda1 label=Win table=/dev/hda password=secret image=/vmlinuz label=Linux read-only I'm a little confused about boot being set, since shouldn't that maybe be hda1, since windows MBR, er... I really don't get that part so well. The last question is: As of now I'm using a floppy to boot to Linux. Otherwise the system boots to Windows no questions asked, since I haven't touched the MBR. If I load lilo into the MBR, and I decide it's not working out for me, is there a quick way to pull it back out? Much thanks, bye! -Chris
upgrading kernel
Hi, I did an upgrade recently just using apt-get --fix-broken dist-upgrade and I figured this would upgrade my kernel as well. Nope. So that's my goal... what do I do to update to the newest kernel Debian's got on their FTP? Also, as a side note, when I upgraded, kbd was held back. I used dpkg -r kbd and then apt-get install kbd. That deleted the file kbd-console and put in the files something-console (now I can't remember, I think it was system-console or something like that) and a new kbd file. I don't even really know what kbd is, but I figured it would probably like to be upgraded as much as everything else. So any help on that one as well is much appreciated, thanks!
configuring X
X is a big meanie :-) Okay, well actually it's my own inability to configure my video properly (I *think* that's what's going on at least.) So my setup: I'm using Debian 2.2. I just did a full upgrade of whatever Debian's newest of everything is, so I'm not quite sure what version of X I've got, but I'm pretty much positive it's 3.6 or greater. My computer is a Compaq Presario 1800XL 190 Laptop. My video card is an ATI Rage Mobility AGP, although when you really get into the diagnostics it's listed as ATI Rage Mobility p, which is one of the cards I can choose when using xf86config. I've been told what refresh rates to use by several people, and I haven't fried my monitor, so I'm set there. As far as RAMDAC, I'm a little stuck there, the closest I found was a diagnostic that read DAC: Internal but I just type 'q' for that one since it says it can generally auto-detect. Clockchip I do without, and I use the Mach-64 server, which is what my card is meant to be used with. So the problem is really simple to describe :-) I type 'startx' and I get a nice little flicker of what's probably X for aprox .5 seconds, and then the screen goes blank. I can't power off my computer, so I have to yank the powercord and the battery out. Ctrl + Alt + Backspace also does not work. Any help is much appreciated! -Chris
LILO/Boot floppies
I upgraded my Debian system today, so the kernel is the newest Debian's got up, but since I'm booting off a floppy right now, I'm still loading the old kernel. I'm still a little stuck on getting LILO working. I'm dual-booting Linux and Windows, and I chose Windows as default from hard disk. Someone told me to edit LILO's config file and change default from win to linux. However, there is no default option so I can't do that. My basic question(s) are: 1. How do I configure LILO so that, without a floppy or cd, I have the option on boot to choose which OS I want to load 2. how do I create a new Linux boot disk so that I can boot from disk with the new kernel? Thanks much, bye! -Chris
wvdial
Hi, The story thus far: I'm using Debian 2.1. I loaded up the ltmodem.o driver and all that's working just perfectly. I linked ttyS14 to my /dev/modem (or maybe the other way around, either way I did it out of a book, so I know it's right :-) The problem is, when I run wvdial, it displays a few a-o-k messages, then gives me a warning: no dialing defaults section in wvdial.conf or something very close to that. Since it can't find that section, it then continues to tell me my number, user id, and password are all not to be found. However, I do have the wvdial.conf file, which reads as such: [Dialer Defaults] Modem = /dev/ttyS14 Baud = 115200 Init1 = ATZ Init2 = ATQ0 V1 E1 S0=0 C1 D2 S11=55 +FCLASS=0 Phone = 696-1586 Username = Password = So, to my knowlage, it looks like my setup is damn good :-) However, I wouldn't know really, so that's why I'm asking. The section is definately there, I created wvdial.conf with the wvdialconf program, so it automatically put it where it needs to be. Anyway, if anyway can help me out I really appreciate it, thanks! -Chris
ppp problems
Hi, I'm not sure if I sent something to this effect already, I've tried a few lists and I kind of lost track (does anyone ever use debian-isp? I haven't gotten one message from it yet) so I apologize if you've already heard this. ---BeginMessage--- Hi, I've been having manymany problems with ppp :-) My current setup, for some basic info is that I'm running Debian 2.1, I've got kernel 2.2.12, and that's about all I can give right now since I'm not sure what you'd need to know. Anyway, I'm trying to connect to an ISP. I've tried both MSN and ATT Worldnet, and both have the same problem. They don't match the user name and password and reject me, as if I'm getting them wrong. I've used both wvdial, and the pon command, after setting it up. I have DNS IPs established. Do I need to put my username and id in quotations, or is there something I'm missing? It keeps insisting my username doesn't match my password or, **Bad Password, on all the different accounts I've tried. Thanks much for help in advance. -Chris ---End Message---
Configuring Mouse in X
Hi, I just installed all the files for X Free 86 3.3.6 onto my system, and I'm having a little trouble (ironically). While I'm quite sure of how to get my card and monitor up, I can not get my mouse to work at all. I have a Compaq Presario 1800XL 190 Laptop, which uses a touch pad for mouse control. While I do have an external mouse I'm sure I could make work, I will need the touchpad for using the system on the road and such. Thanks for any help in advance. -Chris
LILO
I could not ask this one more ignorantly :-) How do I make LILO work, or what prompt would I see if it were? When I installed Linux, I set it to boot from hard drive (making win defaul, however) and also made a boot floppy. I'm stuck using the boot floppy because I don't know how to choose Linux. What's the boot: prompt about? If I don't put the disk in, it goes straight to windows without any second thoughts, so I'm assuming I do not have LILO set up. Where would it be, and how would I configure it to ask me from the start (without a boot floppy) which OS I want to load? Much thanks, bye. -Chris
Help with installing X
---BeginMessage--- I'll try to give as much information as I can. I'm using Debian 2.1, it came with X 3.3.2 or something around there I *think*. I know for a fact it's older than 3.3.6. Anyway, I'd like to install 3.3.6. Apparantly for 4.0.1 (or whichever the newest stable release is, if I got that wrong) I need to update my kernal, and, unless someone can help me out on that one (I can't go past 2.2.14 since I'm using a linmodem) I'd much rather just stick with 3.3.6. I need to upgrade X because any version older than 3.3.6 doesn't support my video card, and I don't really need more much than that since I'm just learning linux. Anyway: the point. For downloading the Linux binaries for Xfree86 3.3.6, I have the choices for OS of: Linux-axp-glibc21 Linux-ix86-glibc20 Linux-ix86-glibc21 Would anyway be able to tell me which I need, or is there a program that will tell me which I need, similar to the sh Xinstall.sh -check command that can be used with 4.0.1? Thank you very much in advance. -Chris ---End Message---
