Desperatly need help with Linux PLEASE save me (frustrated)

[Morfik]

This is my first time ever installing Linux (never even seen one before this). I have checked the documentation, but didn't find any info on the questions asked:

I downloaded and installed MANDRAKE 9.2 as I heard that it is the best for a beginner...
Installed no prob. HOWEVER:

1) I have a radeon 9700 PRO, but when I try to play some of the built in games that barely require graphic power, they run very slow and sluggishly (worst than my old 8 Mb Video Card). I tried to download ATI drivers for Linux, and I needed to download this Shell Script file called Check.sh to find out which of the drivers I am supposed to downlaod. I couldn't run the file in Konsole, and although it was a root Konsole it gave a permission error.

2) How the **** do I play an Audio CD or DVD etc? My devices are all recognized. But when I try to use play a CD or DVD using some built in Audio player (Totern Media Player), it doesn't do anything. For CDs it doesn't even recognize that there is an audio cd in "cd-rom" and for DVDs it gives an error saying: "The source is encrypted, and can't be read. Are yu trying to play an encrypted DVD without libdvdcss?", I tried to seach for "libdvdcss", but it didn't help.

3) I have a SoundBlaster soundcard which Linux recognized and installed drivers for. But my sound is just very bad comming through only one of the speakers in my 5.1 setup.

4) How do you make a shortcut of something?

5) How do I change or disable the root password and is there any way to make Linux not ask for the ******* password every 30 seconds when I try to change settings?

My hardware is all OK since I had XP pro about 2 hours ago and everything was functioning...

 

[Zelmo3]

Video: I don't know what good that shell script is. I tried to run it, too, and it gave me some complaints. Easiest thing to do is just look at the box your distro came in (if you bought it) or check the website to see what version of X you're running, then get the drivers for that version. It looks like Mandrake 9.2 is very recent, and uses XF86 4.3.something, so use these drivers.
2D will work right off the bat, just make sure you drop to console mode with 'init 3' and cd to '/etc/X11' before running fglrxconfig to configure the driver. Getting 3D to work can be a b!tch (I haven't successfully done it yet, but I think I'm getting warm).

The CD player may not be mounted when you try to play a CD (Microsoft constantly watches for new discs in the drives and mounts them automatically, but Linux won't touch a disk until you tell it to). If you have an icon on the desktop for the CD drive, open that. It should mount the CD and either open a file manager or start playing the music.

What kind of SoundBlaster do you have? If it's a Live or original Audigy, check out this page at www.sourceforge.net. I don't know if the emu-tools work with the kernel's OSS driver, but it's probably worth trying. It's a package that lets you control some input and output variables for Live and Audigy cards. The tools are also included in the emu10k1 driver on that page, so you could just get the whole driver-and-tools set and install them together. The tools alone are packaged with RPM, making them easy to install and uninstall if necessary, but the drivers are just in a tarball. They're still plenty easy to install that way if you just follow the includec README, but uninstall is another matter. Of course, if your system uses ALSA by default rather than OSS, then there are some more files to tweak to get either the tools or the driver working.

Not sure about Mandrake, but I assume it uses KDE (most major distros do). If you're wanting to make a desktop shortcut, I think it's done the same way Microsoft does it. Do a right-click on the desktop, pick 'shortcut' or 'link' from the menu (not sure which it says, but 'link'='shortcut'), and find the target of what you're shortcutting to. On the K-Panel (taskbar), right-clicking should reveal an option to add any of a variety of shortcuts, including menus, KDE applications, other apps, and some stuff I don't remember.

You don't disable the root password. Having to type it in again whenever you need to do something important is what makes Linux secure. It keeps hackers from doing things that only root can do, and the less you use it the safer your system is (from both the outside world and from you). If you want to change it, bring up a shell prompt, su to root, and type 'passwd'.

Be sure to come back with more questions, there are plenty of people here who know Linux much better than I do and can provide the answers you need!

 

[Morfik]

Thanx for the informative reply...

The driver didn't install due to a "conflict"... oh well, I have given up gaming on Linux by now anyways.

I tried your solution for mounting the Cd drive, but it doesn't even show the "audio tracks" on my Audio CDs.

I found the option to create a "link" to an application, but where are the apps installed? Sorry if this sounds too simple and stupid to ask, but I went through many directories and could not for example find Mozilla".exe" like in Windows (whatever the Linux executable extention is) anywhere... looks like the organization of dirs in Linux is kinda confusing and "un-organized" if you may, perhaps I am just not used to it.

Is there any easy way to install/uninstall "stuff" other than going through all the installed "packages" with confusing names??? I know Linux is suppose to be a programmers language and that things just aren't as straight-forward as windows. But i expected my core hardware (video card) to work right "out of the box", looks like it's a lot more than I though.

Any help will be greatly appreciated and thanx again to Zelmo3 for taking the time to reply.

 

[n0cmonkey]

1. make sure permissions are set correctly.
2. Search for libdvdcss on rpmfind.net
3 ALSA or OSS drivers?
4. ln
5. passwd will change the password. If you change settings that require root permissions, either do so as root, or type the password.

Thanx for the informative reply...

The driver didn't install due to a "conflict"... oh well, I have given up gaming on Linux by now anyways.

The ATI driver or the sound driver?

I tried your solution for mounting the Cd drive, but it doesn't even show the "audio tracks" on my Audio CDs.

Check the manpage for the application you are trying to use.

I found the option to create a "link" to an application, but where are the apps installed? Sorry if this sounds too simple and stupid to ask, but I went through many directories and could not for example find Mozilla".exe" like in Windows (whatever the Linux executable extention is) anywhere...

There are no extensions for the most part. Sometimes sh scripts end in .sh, and perl in .pl, but for the most part, these are irrelevant. Applications are stored in certain directories. man hier should answer some of this for you.

 

[Morfik]

the drivers for the video card did not work

update: I downloaded and installed libdvdcss without error, but I still get the same error message if i try to play a DVD movie. BTW, it does mount the devices correctly, except that if it is an audio file, it mounts the cd, but no files can be seen.

Update: just a simple question that bugs me: how to I change the speed of the mouse pointer??

Update: I set my user to have permission to use all apps, it didn't help though.

 

[Nothinman]

Sounds like you might want to invest in a Linux book to get the basics figured out.

Linux applications have no extension, they're marked executable via rights on the file. Even as root if the file isn't marked executable you can't run it, that's probably your problem with the shell script you couldn't run.

I don't know about Mandrake, for dvds I just installed mplayer and libdvdcss and it 'just worked', but that was on Debian.

 

[chorner]

Morfic, good luck with trying to get the DVD's to play in Mandrake 9.2, its hell and a half. Use Windows, or try out SUSE 9 which is IMO much better than Mandrake 9.2 if you're still keen on using Linux.

Otherwise save yourself the hassle, and use Windows as your multimedia center; much better suited out of the box with no hassles at all to get anything working.

If you find you can't run a certain program (config programs especially) try running them as root from the coonsole ( type su, then your root password ) which is the same thing you must do to install any drivers, or multi-user packages other than games or programs which install into your usr/local/ folder which is writeable by everyone by default. Pain in the butt yes, but if you really are intent on gettings things to work in Linux set yourself aside for a good day and do some reading.

I am surprised Nothinman would reccomend you grab a book; as he seems to suggest Linux is much easier to get working 100% than Windows 😉

Eh Nothinman? Riiggghhttt.

 

[Nothinman]

I still stand by my statements that Linux is easier than Windows given equal knowledge of both. But since you're still poking around repeating things I never said it's obvious you're not really paying attention. Once you get filled with all the Windows-isms it's really hard to wrap your mind around something different and Linux (and unix in general) is very different. But once you have your head around the basics they apply to just about everything so the learning curve becomes a lot less steep and eventually you begin to become annoyed at all the hurdles Windows puts in your way compared to the simpler ways Linux does things.

 

[chorner]

If you mean gathering everything within a single interface with intuitive names and easy to understand prompts; then you must be talking about Windows. Linux is a mess, files are scattered everywhere with no real organization in its directory structure.

If it were like :

Boot/
Source/
Drivers/
Root/
Services/
Programs/
Home/
Mount/
Temp/

I could understand. Now there is a great directory structure.

But this directory structure :

bin/
boot/
dev/
etc/
home/
lib/
media/
mnt/
opt/
proc/
root/
sbin/
srv/
tmp/
usr/
var/

Extremely disorganized. Some files are here, some files are there. Some configs are here, some there. The compiled modules are here, while the source and kernel tree is over there. Its like they said "oh hey, we could use an extra dir for this ... we forgot, mays well just tack on the 50th /bin directory, 50th /lib, 50th /bin etc. directories.

What a joke.

Linux does things that amaze me. Such as being understood without years of use.

Its not hard for me to wrap my mind around Linux. I've been using it for 2 weeks now, and I know how to do MUCH more than most people who have used it for ages ... only for the reason that I'm a little more adept and speedy when it comes to learning and matters of mind. I have my web server with php running, secured SAMBA shares, print services, all drivers installed, DVD's blazing, games roaring, system security top-notch, ftp going, user accounts/user groups configured; custom init scripts, custom kernel, MySQL install with my custom back-end for my work and design duties setup installed and running beautifully; everything. I know alot about Linux. Again I've used it for about 2 weeks now.

It is easy for me; but then again everything like this is. It seems natural; and it also seems natural to admit the truth of the matter. MOST people would never even get this far, and even for those above-average people, they find no use for Linux unless they have a pickle against paying for quality software, or for whatever their reason -usually has something to do with not liking Microsoft-.

It was easy for me to learn Linux, but it is NOT organized, and it is NOT ready for desktop use outside of the 'enthusiast' market, and it is NOT as far along in useability as Windows as far as ease-of use and confidence which Windows instills. Linux does not instill confidence like Windows does; because Windows is so darn easy. Its great; Windows just works. Windows XP just works. Wait for Longhorn; Windows will REALLY work.

Linux is not simpler .. nothing that is contributed to by thousands of people not in the same organization will ever be simple because each person has their own ideals, and ways of doing things in which they see fit. When you have a team leader organizing everything from the very beginning, your system retains a certain amount of flow; a certain amount of organization directly related to the organization of the contributing programmers.

Figure it out man .... its not anybody else other than you who does. Shesh! You'll never be able to admit what you know is right pal; hell would freeze over before that happened I am sure of it 🙂

 

[chorner]

p.s - have you ever installed something from RPM and not known where the heck it installed to? I shouldn't need to use Kfind to search where I just installed my ftp server to, and where the heck it looks for its configuration file. Little odd don't you think? You would think after all this time they would figure that showing the install path during an RPM package install would be beneficial ... but I guess Linux users are supposed to know everything before they even start 😉 Or so it would seem by the Linux theory of intuitive design.

 

[Nothinman]

I could understand. Now there is a great directory structure.

Sounds like you want OS X.

Linux does things that amaze me. Such as being understood without years of use.

You mean decades of use as unix don't count?

Its not hard for me to wrap my mind around Linux. I've been using it for 2 weeks now, and I know how to do MUCH more than most people who have used it for ages

It's very obvious the inverse is true, sorry.

I have my web server with php running, secured SAMBA shares, print services, all drivers installed, DVD's blazing, games roaring, system security top-notch, ftp going, user accounts/user groups configured; custom init scripts, custom kernel, MySQL install with my custom back-end for my work and design duties setup installed and running beautifully; everything. I know alot about Linux. Again I've used it for about 2 weeks now.

Well all that stuff is about 6 hours worth of work in a Debian install, none of it is terribly impressive.

Little odd don't you think?

No, because if the RPM is made properly (and this means you have to know the source you get the software from) the daemons binaries are in /usr/sbin, the config files are in /etc/<packagename>, the docs are in /usr/share/docs/<packagename>, any libraries (which should be in a seperate package) should be in /usr/lib and any other binaries should go in /usr/bin.

You would think after all this time they would figure that showing the install path during an RPM package install would be beneficial

Not really, any decent package will add menu entries to the menu system so you don't need to know where the binary is. And you can ask rpm where it's at after the fact if you really feel the need.

but I guess Linux users are supposed to know everything before they even start

No, but you assume reasonable defaults which happen to be accurate most of the time.

If all you're going to do is run around crapping on every Linux thread go see a hockey game or something, you're not doing anything but wasting a lot of people's time, including your own.

 

[chorner]

Gah, look whose talking bud .... how many post per day on average does it take to post 8,637 posts since September 2001?

All I can say is you have a hell of alot more posts per day than anyone else on here that I can see, and I'm sure we could all agree on why.

6 hours? I can have everything I need installed that is listed there under Windows, including a full format of a 120GB partition(no quick format) in a good 2 hours max; and I have done it. You're right ... none of it really is very impressive. I find it impressive you can do it in 6 hours under Linux however. Thats what is impressive. My 2 hours in installing Windows + apps is nothing ... and thats on a slow day 😉
I could have 3 windows boxes done and on the network in the time it takes you to complete 1 fully configured Linux box by your speed record for whatever its worth that is.

I suggest you take a look at your own post count. Might tell you something.

I've had enough .. I wouldn't want to make my post count per day higher than yours responding to your obvious d*ck up the rear for Linux, and all things denial 😉 Assuming reasonable defaults isn't something we should be having to assume at all; take it or leave it. What would it take to write the code to show the install path before installation? Not much I'll tell you that. Same goes for cleaning up the directory structure from the mess it is to something more intelligently thought out.

Adios bud.

 

[Sunner]

Hey chorner, why don't you go do something useful, like polish the grille of a moving car?

 

[drag]

Originally posted by: Morfik
This is my first time ever installing Linux (never even seen one before this). I have checked the documentation, but didn't find any info on the questions asked:

I downloaded and installed MANDRAKE 9.2 as I heard that it is the best for a beginner...
Installed no prob. HOWEVER:

1) I have a radeon 9700 PRO, but when I try to play some of the built in games that barely require graphic power, they run very slow and sluggishly (worst than my old 8 Mb Video Card). I tried to download ATI drivers for Linux, and I needed to download this Shell Script file called Check.sh to find out which of the drivers I am supposed to downlaod. I couldn't run the file in Konsole, and although it was a root Konsole it gave a permission error.

To make a file executable you need to set a executable flag for it. It's kinda like adding .exe in the back of a file, but it's a bit different.
You use the chmod command to make things exacutable.

Open up a shell prompt.
Use the "su" command to become root.
goto the directory were the file is located. (the cd command like dos.)

chmod 777 Check.sh

./Check.sh

2) How the **** do I play an Audio CD or DVD etc? My devices are all recognized. But when I try to use play a CD or DVD using some built in Audio player (Totern Media Player), it doesn't do anything. For CDs it doesn't even recognize that there is an audio cd in "cd-rom" and for DVDs it gives an error saying: "The source is encrypted, and can't be read. Are yu trying to play an encrypted DVD without libdvdcss?", I tried to seach for "libdvdcss", but it didn't help.

This a legal thing. DVD's use a propriatory encryption that is illegal for Distro's to distribute. One good program for playing DVD's is Xine. So learn to use the urpmi tools to download and install software easy and then install Xine. Then check out the http://xinehq.de/ website for some help with this. Depending on the sources you choose to use to download and install Xine then it can be set up pretty much automaticly.

3) I have a SoundBlaster soundcard which Linux recognized and installed drivers for. But my sound is just very bad comming through only one of the speakers in my 5.1 setup.

Are you using SPDIF (digital ouput) to your 5.1 setup?

This depends on what drivers your using for the soundblaster. OSS or Alsa. I personally use Alsa, but I don't know what Mandrake uses.
As root use this command:

lsmod |grep emu10k1

emu10k1 is the generic name for the drivers (modules realy) used for Soundblaster 5.1 live, Audigy, and Audigy2 series sound cards. So if your not using one of those cards this may not work.

If you get a bunch of snd_name modules listed then it's Alsa, if it's just emu10k1 then it's OSS.

OSS has specific tools for these cards that I am unfamilar with. But there is plenty of documentation on the web.

If your using Alsa you need to make sure that you have the line
snd-emu10k1 extin=0x3fc3 extout=0x1fff
in your /etc/modules.conf configuration.
This turns on the digital output support. If it's not there then add it. Be sure to make a backup of the original config file.


run the command:
/etc/init.d/alsa restart
or simply reboot.

Then use alsamixer program and find the volume setting "Audigy A" with the discription of "Audigy Analog/Digital Output Jack".
unmute that. Then turn the volume up on "RCA SDI" that has the discription of RCA SPDIF. That should turn on the digital out.

Sometimes you have a /etc/modutils/alsa file, then you want to be sure to add that extin and extout stuff to that, too.

Here is some info on ALSA's emu10k1 drivers
Note that putting qoutes around the 0x0fc3 stuff makes it not work on my setup.

here is a link if Mandrake happens to use OSS drivers They have good links to other information included and FAQ page.

4) How do you make a shortcut of something?

Linux doesn't realy do shortcuts so much. It has something close called "symbolic links". Each file you see is just a bunch of ones and zereos on the HD. When your dealing with filenames, they are just information in the directory file that contains a pointer to that specific section of data, these are hardlinks. A symbolic link is another pointer that is pretty much like a hard link, but more flexible.

To create a symbolic link you go:

ln -s /path/to/original/file /path/to/new/link

Also depending on your desktop manager (kde or gnome) you can create new icons that contain information that can be a "shortcut" to programs or files. You just pretty much right click and play around with creating new icons and stuff, it's not to hard.

5) How do I change or disable the root password and is there any way to make Linux not ask for the ******* password every 30 seconds when I try to change settings?

well yes and no.

You definately want to keep a strong root password, that's a basic part of good security. Without it it makes it childs play for others to gain control of your computer.

What you want to do then is use the "sudo" command. Using it from the command line you can run any command as a super user (root basicly)

I depending on how Mandrake has sudo setup, using the command like "sudo ls" can give you root access using sudo command password-less for like five minutes or so. You can turn off the password prompting completely if you want, basicly making your account a administrator account time to time.

My hardware is all OK since I had XP pro about 2 hours ago and everything was functioning...

Yep a Linux is a big difference from XP. But after a while using it it's easy to become as proficient at it as you are in windows.

After all, how long have you been using windows products for? Now that stuff is easy, at some point it was all very difficult. Linux and most othe operating systems are the same way.

 

[ntrights]

Originally posted by: Morfik
Thanx for the informative reply...

The driver didn't install due to a "conflict"... oh well, I have given up gaming on Linux by now anyways.

I tried your solution for mounting the Cd drive, but it doesn't even show the "audio tracks" on my Audio CDs.

I found the option to create a "link" to an application, but where are the apps installed? Sorry if this sounds too simple and stupid to ask, but I went through many directories and could not for example find Mozilla".exe" like in Windows (whatever the Linux executable extention is) anywhere... looks like the organization of dirs in Linux is kinda confusing and "un-organized" if you may, perhaps I am just not used to it.

Is there any easy way to install/uninstall "stuff" other than going through all the installed "packages" with confusing names??? I know Linux is suppose to be a programmers language and that things just aren't as straight-forward as windows. But i expected my core hardware (video card) to work right "out of the box", looks like it's a lot more than I though.

Any help will be greatly appreciated and thanx again to Zelmo3 for taking the time to reply.

I have trouble getting my AIW9700Pro working with Debian. I had no probs with the geforce card but then i dont have access to the the TV tuner and all other stuff that comes with the ATI card... 🙁


Edit : has anyone got linux working with ATI AIW card? The featueres im intrested in is TV tuner (Rage Theater) and also video capturing.

 

[Nothinman]

Gah, look whose talking bud .... how many post per day on average does it take to post 8,637 posts since September 2001?

I'm not going to do the math, but why does it matter? The majority of my posts aren't running around spreading FUD and crying about how hard some things are like you have been.

All I can say is you have a hell of alot more posts per day than anyone else on here that I can see, and I'm sure we could all agree on why.

I doubt we would agree on it, you seem to come up with random reasonings for things all the time.

My 2 hours in installing Windows + apps is nothing ... and thats on a slow day

I find that hard to believe, but that's nothing new because all of your posts these past few days have been full of totally unrealistic ideas.

I suggest you take a look at your own post count. Might tell you something.

It tells me that I answer people's questions, if you're reading more into it than that it wouldn't surprise me though.

Assuming reasonable defaults isn't something we should be having to assume at all

When we're talking about where Linux packages install thing, yes we should. Atleast with Debian, it's possible I've been spoiled by their high quality with reguards to standardization and working defaults.

What would it take to write the code to show the install path before installation? Not much I'll tell you that.

I didn't say it would, but it's not necessary because A) 99% of the time you should know where it's at if you understand the directory hierarchy and B) you can ask RPM to list the files the package owns if you need them.

Same goes for cleaning up the directory structure from the mess it is to something more intelligently thought out.

There's no mess, the reasons for them are clear if you'd take the time to read about the filesystem hierarchy.

I've had enough .. I wouldn't want to make my post count per day higher than yours responding to your obvious d*ck up the rear for Linux, and all things denial

That won't change anything, you havn't really responded to any post I've made. You just post a few quips and smiley faces and think that'll make it seem like you know what you're talking about but you don't and everytime you post you just show us a little more of your ignorance. Must be those great Canadian public schools.

 

[n0cmonkey]

Originally posted by: chorner
Gah, look whose talking bud .... how many post per day on average does it take to post 8,637 posts since September 2001?

10.06. Now, how many does it take to get 18,203 since Jun 2001? 😉

All I can say is you have a hell of alot more posts per day than anyone else on here that I can see, and I'm sure we could all agree on why.

You missed me. I have no life. I post a lot. 🙂

6 hours? I can have everything I need installed that is listed there under Windows, including a full format of a 120GB partition(no quick format) in a good 2 hours max; and I have done it. You're right ... none of it really is very impressive. I find it impressive you can do it in 6 hours under Linux however. Thats what is impressive. My 2 hours in installing Windows + apps is nothing ... and thats on a slow day 😉

It takes more than 2 hours to install the patches for Windows. Win2k, SP1, SP2, SP3, SP4, and other various patches would take more than 2 hours, by itself. Forget installing extra software. And it will only work at all, if you have some kind of firewall protecting you from the crap worms flying around, or a slipstream/patches on a disk.

I could have 3 windows boxes done and on the network in the time it takes you to complete 1 fully configured Linux box by your speed record for whatever its worth that is.

I suggest you take a look at your own post count. Might tell you something.

I've had enough .. I wouldn't want to make my post count per day higher than yours responding to your obvious d*ck up the rear for Linux, and all things denial 😉 Assuming reasonable defaults isn't something we should be having to assume at all; take it or leave it. What would it take to write the code to show the install path before installation? Not much I'll tell you that. Same goes for cleaning up the directory structure from the mess it is to something more intelligently thought out.

Adios bud.

Write a patch. Send a patch to RedHat to show the install path. The rest of us know it. man hier should help. And please, keep the statements about your freetime (italicized for those that don't know), in ATOT or off the forum in general. Thanks 🙂

 

[Flatline]

OK, back to the poster's QUESTIONS for God's sake. For DVD under Mandrake, there is a site for PLF (Penguin Liberation Front) HERE that will even walk you through how to set them up as a urpmi repository. After you've done that, all you have to do to install libdvdcss is type "urpmi libdvdcss" in a terminal as root or look it up in the Mandrake Control Center's software installer.

You may have a problem installing the Nvidia drivers because the kernel-source package might not be installed (that's the most common problem). Linux doesn't mount audio cds like data cds (although there are programs to rip cds); Kde and Gnome both come with decent cd player apps...just open one up and it will start playing the cd.

If you want desktop shortcuts and you're using KDE (which is the default in Mandrake) then right-click on the desktop, select Create New and click on Link to Application. If you want Quick-Launch style shortcuts, right-click on the panel and select Add then select Application Button, then click on the app you want the shortcut for.

 

[Smilin]

Originally posted by: chorner
Gah, look whose talking bud .... how many post per day on average does it take to post 8,637 posts since September 2001?

All I can say is you have a hell of alot more posts per day than anyone else on here that I can see, and I'm sure we could all agree on why.

6 hours? I can have everything I need installed that is listed there under Windows, including a full format of a 120GB partition(no quick format) in a good 2 hours max; and I have done it. You're right ... none of it really is very impressive. I find it impressive you can do it in 6 hours under Linux however. Thats what is impressive. My 2 hours in installing Windows + apps is nothing ... and thats on a slow day 😉
I could have 3 windows boxes done and on the network in the time it takes you to complete 1 fully configured Linux box by your speed record for whatever its worth that is.

I suggest you take a look at your own post count. Might tell you something.

I've had enough .. I wouldn't want to make my post count per day higher than yours responding to your obvious d*ck up the rear for Linux, and all things denial 😉 Assuming reasonable defaults isn't something we should be having to assume at all; take it or leave it. What would it take to write the code to show the install path before installation? Not much I'll tell you that. Same goes for cleaning up the directory structure from the mess it is to something more intelligently thought out.

Adios bud.

As one of the more Microsoft-biased people on this message board I'm afraid I'm going to have to come to Nothinman's defense and let you know you need to STFU. I often disagree with him when it comes to "Linucks -vs- M$" issues but I can see he's intelligent enough to see the merits of both OS's. The reason he has a high post count is he literally combs the forums looking for places to offer help. If you want to actually take the time you are welcome to dig through his previous posts and you'll find they are generally polite and constructive for both Linux and MS topics.

Also, I think I should point out that although he is a Linux user he's not an idiot when it comes to MS so before you go flame him you better know your sh1t. Mind you, I could have the both of you together for lunch. 😉

 

[n0cmonkey]

This document looks to be pretty decent. I haven't read thruogh the entire thing, but there is a section on video capturing, which was asked in the thread (not by OP I believe). It looks to be supported.

There is also information there about DVD playback, but unfortunately it is very non-technical information:

DVD playback

The GATOS project is currently working toward hardware assisted IDCT, which is an important component for DVD playback.

Currently, there are legal difficulties regarding DVD playback in any Open Source environment such as Linux. OpenDVD.org provides a detailed discussion on this topic. It is an excellent resource for anyone trying to configure a Linux system for DVD playback.

I haven't played with DVD on Linux, so I'm almost useless. mplayer is probably your best bet, but I haven't checked thier documentation yet.

The file you probably want to download is here, but I'm not positive. I don't feel like reading all of the documentation for a product I'll never buy 😉

Update: just a simple question that bugs me: how to I change the speed of the mouse pointer??

Check through the xfree86.org documentation. I did a quick search, and I think Mandrake 9.2 uses XFree86 v4.3 (which is why I recommended the download I did) I think there are some options for this, but I've never cared 😉 If I get bored enough to look up the documentation, I'll make another post. But don't count on it today.

Update: I set my user to have permission to use all apps, it didn't help though.

The password thing is probably just something you are going to have to live with. Changing permissions to the point where you can do everything without root probably isn't something you want to do. Security issues aside, Linux was designed this way. Mass changes of this sort could cause problems, and the solutions that might be worthwhile are out of your league (and mine at the moment). No offence meant, just there is a lot of reading that assumes you know what you are doing involved. Anyways, good luck.

 

[Nothinman]

As one of the more Microsoft-biased people on this message board I'm afraid I'm going to have to come to Nothinman's defense and let you know you need to STFU

Wow, even as zealous as I probably seem here you're on my side. I guess a common enemy (in this case the voice of stupidity) can unite any groups =)

 

[Vad3r]

Question 4) Right click on desktop, Create New - Link to Application. This will create a shortcut on desktop.
Lets say it's for XMMS (linux winamp), Right click your new shortcut,goto Properties, choose "Execute" tab, in this field is the execute command (exe). But it's not like Windows, it doesn't have .exe. It's simply "xmms". Most everything works this way, and CAPS do matter. Xmms will not work.
Going back to 1st Tab will let you give it a name, and choose an Icon for it.
Most programs work this way for shortcuts, the ones that don't, I have a quick look on google.

Mplayer, you would think it's mplayer, but it's not, it's "gmplayer", g = gui for graphics in kde.

 

[Nothinman]

Mplayer, you would think it's mplayer, but it's not, it's "gmplayer", g = gui for graphics in kde.

just 'mplayer' works too, you just don't get the VCR-looking control thing.

 

[Carrot44]

Originally posted by: ntrights

Originally posted by: Morfik



I have trouble getting my AIW9700Pro working with Debian. I had no probs with the geforce card but then i dont have access to the the TV tuner and all other stuff that comes with the ATI card... 🙁


Edit : has anyone got linux working with ATI AIW card? The featueres im intrested in is TV tuner (Rage Theater) and also video capturing.

go to www.rage3d.com and head over to the forums and click on the Linux thread lots of how to's and answers to your questions about ATI cards in Linux.

Ken

 

[Drift3r]

Originally posted by: chorner
Morfic, good luck with trying to get the DVD's to play in Mandrake 9.2, its hell and a half. Use Windows, or try out SUSE 9 which is IMO much better than Mandrake 9.2 if you're still keen on using Linux.

Otherwise save yourself the hassle, and use Windows as your multimedia center; much better suited out of the box with no hassles at all to get anything working.

If you find you can't run a certain program (config programs especially) try running them as root from the coonsole ( type su, then your root password ) which is the same thing you must do to install any drivers, or multi-user packages other than games or programs which install into your usr/local/ folder which is writeable by everyone by default. Pain in the butt yes, but if you really are intent on gettings things to work in Linux set yourself aside for a good day and do some reading.

I am surprised Nothinman would reccomend you grab a book; as he seems to suggest Linux is much easier to get working 100% than Windows 😉

Eh Nothinman? Riiggghhttt.

You don't know what the hell you are talking about. With URPMI he can install anything he wants and have it working.

http://urpmi.org/easyurpmi/index.php
http://norlug.org/~chipster/index.pxml?rpms
http://www.linuxlots.com/~buho/seminario.htm

All he needs to do is log into root either via logging out of his user account and then logging into the actual root account. Or he can open a console as a regular user and type 'su' and then his root password. Then after this all he needs to do is copy and paste from the links I provided. After that he opens up Mandrake's Control Center and goes to software manager and selects 'add software' and does a search for ogle, mplayer, or xine.

P.S. Grabbing a book like the one sold by Mandrake does help because it introduces terms, ideas and features that he might not have a clue about since he is very new to linux.

http://www.mandrakestore.com/mdkinc/index.php?PAGE=tab_0/menu_3.php&id_art=360&LANG_=en#GOTO_360