Please
note: I will be archiving this page soon as it has become very
lengthly. I will be organizing it into past years as separate pages
with a links to them for people who just want to kill time reading
about my ranting and raving about all the trouble I've had with Linux. (breath) I have to admit, it has been a
learning process, and I am still learning.
If
by chance you've found this old blog page please note: The archiving
has begone. I'm copying all the blogs from this page to my new blog
page. Any new blogs will be on the new blog page. I will keep this page
as is for old time sake. Click her to goto my new blog page. Blog Page, Blog Page, Blog Page... Is there an echo in here?
joe@wolfspider.biz
All material on this and my new page is © Copyright Joe D'Angelo. Any material NOT
© Copyright Joe D'Angelo IS clearly marked as such. If you think
something on this page is your material, please contact me joe@wolfspider.biz
and I will give credit where credit is due. The
material on this and my new page is offered as is. I can not and will not be held
responsible for anything that happens to you or your computer or
anything else for that matter as a result of reading and/or using the
suggestions on this page or any pages linked to this page. No matter
what happens to you, anyone you know or don't know, your stuff, or
anyone else's stuff, it's not my fault. All content on this page is
intended for educational use only and is in no way intended for any
other use implied or otherwise. If you don't like the content on this or my new page, don't read it!
This page was last updated on 10/25//2009
Please check back here often. 
It's Only As
Good As The Code!
10/14/09
OK,
you're running openSUSE 11.0 and you want to get WoW to work in WINE.
First thing is DO NOT install any version of WINE higher then 1.1.26
That's the version I have and When I updated it to a higher version it
stopped working. When I downgraded it back it all came back and works
great! Also be sure to run winecfg and pick a sound driver. I use the
OSS. If that one doesn't work try another one. I just copied a working
WoW installation from a Windows hard drive to a Linux drive and created
a launcher to start The Launcher.exe file. That's it, 'till nest time,
Happy Linuxing!
10/10//09
To
64 bit or not to 64 bit? That is the question. I wrote earlier about
switching to 64 bit because of the memory issues. Well there is another
choice. In fact, you really don't need to switch if you're not going to
run any 64 bit software. The what you say? Yes in the wonderful world
of Linux you can have your cake and eat it too. So, you want to stick
to 32 bit because it runs faster and there are more apps for 32 bit,
even in the Linux world this is the case, although there are a lot more
64 bit apps in Linux then there are in the PC world, or the MAC world
for that matter. Although Mac is catching up a lot faster. So how do
you run 32 bit and still use that 6 gigs of DDR3 triple channel 1066
RAM anyway? (that's what I have) Simple, use the PAE Kernel. PAE is an
acronym for (Physical Address Extension) It's a Linux Kernel that sees
up to 64 gigs of RAM, not just 4. So feel free to stay with that 32 bit
install and just update the Kernel to PAE.
That's it for now. Happy Linuxing!
10/10/09
Buggy?
Maybe not as much as you might think. I had the misfortune to discover
the hard way that what I thought was a software bug, was in reality a
hardware problem. OK, so you say you've heard this before. Well, the
hardware in question was a sub-d cable (aka) VGA 15 pin din. I
bought what I thought to be of good quality gold plated male to male 6'
cable, I won't say where, let's just say the store sells good stuff. I
hooked it up and it worked great: In Windows. I then tried to use it
for my Linux install and I could not get the resolution to go past
1024x768 to save my life. I tried everything. I then by chance had to
change the cable to an older 25 footer because of the... Well I just
did. Then it all worked out fine, so I thought. I then hooked back the
6 footer and low and behold to my amazement and frustration, the damn
thing did it to me again. Well then I put two and two together and,
presto. The resolution went to 1360x768 where I wanted it in the first
place after switching back to the 25 footer. Lesson learned? Never
count anything out when trouble shooting, specially when it comes to
Linux. Now I can't say if there's some sort of conspiracy from Bill to
make parts that only work with Windows. I would however be very
thoughtful of the type of parts you buy. They are not all equal. This
all showed up with an nvidia 7600 GS video card running with openSUSE
11.1
Well, that's it for now and as always, Happy Linuxing!
08/09/09
Well
it's finely time for me to go 64bit. If you have a newer computer with
more then 4 gigs of ram you will need to go 64bit to see the memory
above 4 gigs. I was using a Celeron D and 2 gigs of ram, but I have
upgraded it to an i7 and I am now using DDR3 triple channel ram at 6
gigs to start off with, the stuff is expensive! SO, if you did not know
this please look into it, it will make your computer use the hardware
to its fullest potential. I'm also using the Gigabyte GA-EX58-UD4P
motherboard and I have to tell you the on board NIC is so new that
neither Windows or Linux sees it, Not even XP. I installed a $10 NIC
and solved the problem. So before you start pulling out your hair just
put in a PCI NIC and save yourself the trouble. Well, that's it for now
and as always, Happy Linuxing!
08/09/09
Hacker vs. Cracker
Author: Chad Perrin
Click on the link above to read this article. I think it's time to set the record straight. In
fact, I consider myself a hacker and I'm proud of it. After reading
this article I think you just might want to join the proud and
prestigious world of real hackers. Also read this. By: Eric Steven Raymond Thyrsus Enterprises <esr@thyrsus.com> Copyright © 2001 Eric S. Raymond
I think this is a great page to learn what a real hacker is all about.
07/04/09
Is
Linux growing too fast? I ask myself this question and I think you
should too. The fact is, well my opinion is that the open source
versions of Linux needs to slow down just a bit. The trouble is that
the desktops are chugging along at a pace that is faster then the other
software people are. This can get sticky and the whole thing seems to
be falling apart. If Linux wants to ever be looked at as a real
contender for the PC world, they all need to slow down just a bit... I
will still choose Linux over Windows any day of the week. That being
said, I don't like the idea of having to look for a new and better not
bitter tasting flavor. As of now openSUSE still looks great, and Ubuntu
is in the running. I would even consider switching to Fedora, but they
all seem to be in some kind of race. Please... SLOW DOWN... The version
I have now is working just fine (openSUSE 11.0) and I see no need to
update it for my needs. “If it's not broken, don't fix it”.
Till next time, Happy Linuxing! ;-)
06/02/09
OK,
so you just got a new usb wireless NIC and you want to use it with
openSUSE. First thing you notice, IT'S NOT detected when you plug it
in. Then you try to use the “edit connections” from the
right click menu or from System/Hardware/Network Setting menu. Still
nothing! Well, you also need to install the “NDISwrapper”.
Start Yast and then run “Software Management”. Do a search
for the “NDISwrapper” and install the packages for your
kernel. You can also install a GUI front end for it, this makes life
just a bit easier. I like the KDE version “kndiswrapper”.
Now you can run it, yes this will run inside Gnome too, in fact it will
run under any desktop environment or window manager. Just follow the
setup instructions and you will be wireless in no time. I have tested
this with Linksys and TRENDnet and they work just fine. I'm sure there
are others that will work as well. NOTE: I uploaded this new blog using
the wireless and as you might have guessed, it works !!! Oh ya, I
almost forgot, this also works with Ubuntu. Use Ubuntu's add/remove
software utility and search for the same thing, install it and run it.
Ubuntu will choose the GUI for you depending on what desktop you are
running. Now you have wireless with Ubuntu also. I tested this with
openSUSE 11.0 and Ubuntu 9.04 - I'm sure other dristros have this as
well.
Well, that's it for this time. Until next time, Happy Linuxing!
05/29/09
So,
you want to start writing programs in Perl or write some php pages. Why
these two together? Well as you learn more about the two different
languages you will start to understand how they can work together very
nicely. OK, I would suggest either installing openSUSE with all the
bells and whistles or, Slackware 12.2 full install. That way you will
be almost completely guaranteed that you have all you will need. What
is Perl? Well it is an open source programming language use in the UNIX
/ Linux world as a tool to make life just a bit easier. It is however
completely cross platform compatible. I would find a good book to read
up on for all the details. I am reading “Learning Perl” the
latest edition is 5. It’s always best to keep as up to date as
you can as Perl is changing as it evolves. I have the 3rd and I already
see some major changes. Now, php. This is a program language used to
create web pages and make them do some very cool stuff. I touched on
this in a previous blog. I would also suggest reading up on this. There
are also some great web sites to help you with php and Perl. Try these,
http://www.perl.org and http://www.w3schools.com/php/default.asp
Ya,
I know the php page uses an asp page – How ironic is that? Well,
that’s it for this time, and as always, happy Linuxing!
03/30/09
Four words for VMware 6.5
“I highly recommend it.” This is the best virtual machine
software I have ever used. I am running Windows XP inside a virtual
machine on top of an openSUSE Linux platform. This is a very useful tool
for software development. It allows you to run mutable operating
systems at one time and saves time on rebooting. Moreover, it allows you to
run a much greater variety of software applications. Screen-shot of VMware booting up Windows XP. It can run a guest OS of Windows, Linux/Unix and DOS. The host OS can be either Windows, Mac OS, or Linux/Unix based. Screen-shot of VMware running Windows 7 beta.
03/25/09
How to activate the play on hover feature in Nautilus. Open the Gnome Configuration Editor, choose apps > nautilus > preferences, right click on preview_sound and select edit key, change the value from “never” to “True”, other values that should work are, “always” and “local_only”. Now when you hover the mouse cursor over an .mp3 .ogg
or other sound file it should start to play. This is a great
feature built into Nautilus but in many distros it is not enabled by
default. See Screen Shot. As always, Happy Linuxing!
03/22/09
I feel like I am being raped my Microsoft. The very idea of the .doc
format makes me sick. It is so screwed up and you have to buy their
software to read and print some of the files created by this travesty.
I can only say that I hope there will be a revolution and soon. The
time has come for Microsoft to either go away or stop this injustice.
That's my beef for the day. Nothing more... Oh ya, Happy Linuxing!
03/16/09
Well,
in firefox I was on hulu.com and when I went to go full screen it
locked up on me. So, I disabled Flash hardware acceleration and that
did the trick for me. Just right click on the screen and choose
settings, uncheck the enable hardware acceleration in the display
settings and try it again. Now full screen should work, if not you may
have other issues that need to be addressed asap.
03/08/09
Another
way to resolve the previous problem with Firefox is to install Flash 10
from the adobe site. It will install in the directory /usr/lib/flash-plugin goto that folder and look for the file libflashplayer.so copy the file into the folder /usr/lib/browser-plugins tell it to replace the old file. NOTE: you will need to do this as root. Then restart the system wide version of firefox from /usr/bin/firefox and see if the buggy flash trouble goes away. E-mail me and let me know how, or if this works for you. joe@wolfspider.biz That's it for now... Happy Linuxing!
03/08/09
How
I fixed the Flash bugs in Firefox. I was getting a few strange errors
when I started Firefox and some flash pages would just make the thing
dump. So I downloaded the tar ball and unpacked it in my home
directory. It's a stand alone program and it will run this way. It will
squawk about not being the default browser and that's because you are
running a different binary. It should pull in all the plugins and other
settings from the installed version that comes with the distro. Then I
downloaded the latest version of flash and installed it.
It will
install in /usr/lib/flash-plugin folder. Open it and look for the file libflashplayer.so Now copy and past this file into /home/yourusername/firefox/plugins
folder that was created when you unpacked the Firefox tar ball. This
will add flash support to this Firefox and when you start it, it should
not have any errors. To confirm this start this version of Firefox from
a terminal and look for any error messages, if all went well you should
see none. Try starting the other version in a terminal and I assure you,
you will see some strange errors. If by chance you do not, count your
lucky stars and disregard this blog all together. This is because your
Firefox install is working as it should and you don't need to do this
at all. This also worked for Flock. Well that's it for now, and as
always... Happy Linuxing!
03/06/09
Make sure the web sites file character encoding is as friendly as possible for all operating systems.
This
sounds like a reasonable thing to keep in mind. Well, the fact is,
there are more and more pages out there that are designed and
maintained by people that do not ever test the pages they create on all
platforms. They wright it in Windows and test it on Windows. Did you
know that even Microsoft does not use a Windows based platform to write
their code on, and why? Because it's unreliable. So, a word to would be
web developers, Test it on at least the platforms that we all know are
out there.
Windows
Mac
Linux/Unix based
Open Source
Chances are, if it works in Linux it will work on any platform
That's my story and I'm stickin' to it!
Well, that's my blog for today, and as always... Happy Linuxing!
03/04/09
/home/joeuser/.config/banshee-1
This is where the user configuration files are for the settings in Banshee-1
Let's
say you re-install banshee-1 clean and you want all those extra radio
stations you added and don't want to look them all up again. Make a
backup of these files Then when the time comes put them back into the
directory listed above and presto, all your setting are back. This
works for openSUSE and Ubuntu, and as far as I know, if all the
permissions are identical, they are interchangeable. NOTE: The folder ~/.config is hidden and you will need to set your file manager to see them, that's nautilus if you are using gnome... Also change the folder name ~/joeuser to the one that corresponds with your local log in name...
That's all for now... Happy Linuxing!
03/04/09
Well,
I'm not ready to give up on Linux yet. I do have to say that The major
distros need to sloooow down. I would really like to see them start
putting out a new and improved version about every 18 months or even
two years. This every six months crap needs to stop. The most anyone
really needs in the way of updates is security. I have been fooling
around with Ubuntu and I decided to try it as my main distro. I had
hoped it would fulfill all my needs. It did not. Now I am getting just
a bit frustrated and have quietly switched back to openSUSE for the
time being. I know I had trouble getting all the stuff to work, but in
the long run it is still a better flavor. It has better graphics and it
has a lot more to offer in just about all aspects. So, I am humbly
reverting back to openSUSE and I think I will stay put and give it a
rest for now. I would encourage anyone who is thinking of switching
from another OS to Linux to either try Ubuntu 8.04 LTS or openSUSE 11.0
first, and leave the others alone. OK maybe fedora 10 or
Slackware12.2 Well, that's it for now... Happy Linuxing!
03/02/09
To former openSUSE users. Here is the open in terminal command hack for Ubuntu running gnome and nautilus...
There are two ways to do this...
Create a script: http://www.cyberciti.biz/faq/linux-gnome-open-terminal-shell-prompt-here
OR
Install this: http://ubuntu-tutorials.com/2007/05/13/nautilus-open-terminal-terminal-quick-launch
Click on either one of these links and follow the instructions and you will get great results.
I did both and they each work as you would expect.
If the links do not work, here are the instructions for both.
Create a script:
Create file as follows using gedit text editor:
gedit "$HOME/.gnome2/nautilus-scripts/Open Terminal Here"
Append shell script code:
#--------------------------------------
#!/bin/bash
# From Chris Picton
# Replaces a Script by Martin Enlund
# Modified to work with spaces in path by Christophe Combelles
# This script either opens in the current directory,
# or in the selected directory
base="`echo $NAUTILUS_SCRIPT_CURRENT_URI | cut -d'/' -f3- | sed 's/%20/ /g'`"
if [ -z "$NAUTILUS_SCRIPT_SELECTED_FILE_PATHS" ]; then
dir="$base"
else
while [ ! -z "$1" -a ! -d "$base/$1" ]; do shift; done
dir="$base/$1"
fi
gnome-terminal –working-directory="$dir"
#-----------------------------------------
NAUTILUS_SCRIPT_CURRENT_URI
variable gives current location for directory.
NAUTILUS_SCRIPT_SELECTED_FILE_PATHS sets a newline-delimited paths for
selected files.
Save and close the file. Now, setup permissions, enter::
chmod +x "$HOME/.gnome2/nautilus-scripts/Open Terminal Here"
NOTE: DO NOT Remove the quotes from the commands.
And you are done. Open nautilus file manager, select directory > Right Click > Scripts > Open Terminal Here:
OR:
Install this:
Nautilus
plugin for opening terminals in arbitrary local paths
nautilus-open-terminal is a proof-of-concept Nautilus extension which
allows you to open a terminal in arbitrary local folders.
To install this quick-launch to the terminal simply run:
sudo aptitude install nautilus-open-terminal
You
may need to restart gnome / nautilus for the change to take effect, but
afterwards you’ll have a “open terminal” button on
your right-click menu anywhere within nautilus or gnome-desktop
area. Enjoy. Well, that's it... Happy Linuxing!
02/23/09
How
to get a text only run level in Ubuntu. As you may or may not know
there are 8 run levels in Ubuntu, they are 0 – 6 and S. The
default is 2. Yes I know what about 5? Well in Ubuntu 2 – 5 are
configured the exact same. At first this might seem stupid and in some
ways it is. That being said I want to let you know the more I thought
about this the more I saw the light. This is what to do for that text
only level. Goto the folder /ect then look for the folders:
/rc0.d (Shut Down)
/rc1.d (Single User)
/rc2.d (Full Services With Display Manager)
/rc3.d (Same As 2)
/rc4.d (Same As 2)
/rc5.d (Same As 2)
/rc6.d (Reboot)
/rcS.d (Special Administrator)
All
of these folder contain symbolic links to scripts for their respective
services. Just look inside the folder /ect/rc3.d/ for the link to the
file named S30gdm and rename it to K30gdm
and now when you boot up, or switch to run level 3 there will be no
display manager and you are in text mode. Now here is where it gets
strange for me. I always thought that 3 and 5 were different as respect
to the services running and what you could or could not do, like have
multi log ins ect... So now what we have is a way to custom configure
the different run levels just by looking for the link for that service
and renaming it with the K. Please be very careful when doing this.
As always, Happy Linuxing!
02/21/09
I
had a major bug with Flash not working in Firefox with Ubuntu. I picked
and dug and searched and I came up with this... I installed every thing
I could find referring to Macro media and Flash including development
files and any libraries I could find and now it works great. I also
find that the main server is more stable then the USA servers for
package updates. As of now Ubuntu is working great and I will try to,
not fix, what is not broken. Happy Linuxing!
02/19/09
Well for now I am using Ubuntu. Why,
you may ask? The thing is, I can't keep installing a new and
progressively more unstable version of Linux. That's what openSUSE
has become for me. Ouch! I really like the older flavor of SuSE, but
it seems the development team is doing what I used to do in my
younger days, tinker too much. On the other hand, Ubuntu seems to be
a bit more refined to the standard user. It will of course still take
someone like myself to configure it and get it up and running. I
really don't see it being completely user friendly anytime soon. As
with all Linux distros I see that the OS is still a bit on the
complex side for the home user. I would recommend highly that you get
a system you don't use as your main system and install Linux on it
and play with it until you realize it's way better then some other
operating systems that claim to be the latest and greatest. Well I
really hope that openSUSE will get the bugs out soon. I want to
convert back to it if they do. I like some of the stuff you just
can't do in Ubuntu. On the other hand, I need a system for the home
that does what I need it to do. You know, Print, play DVDs Play MP3s,
Not crash... I know, I know, it's an open source OS. I guess in the
future I just might start using SLED. I tried it before and it seems
very stable. If I can get it to do all the stuff I want it to, I
would consider switching back. For now My Linux of choice is Ubuntu
8.04.2 LTS. AND if you are stuck on openSUSE... PLEASE don't even
think of going above 11.0 for now. It's just not worth it. That
version is tough enough to configure. Please note I run a system with
five hard drives on it and as of now three different Linux install
and three different Windows installs too. Yup, I running 7 beta.
Don't even get me started. I do this for educational purposes only,
trust me... Well 'till next time, Happy Linuxing!
12/24/08
OK,
I got Vista to work, I mean all the hardware is working now. It was a
chore to try and find drivers for the Damn thing. I sort of like it. I
can't believe I'm saying this, but it looks and feels OK, like I said
before, It looks like KDE 4.x.x Anyway, here is the lowdown. It's a
good OS. It works after it is configured correctly (that's what I would
expect it to do after a clean install right out of the box for
$250.00). However, it did not work right out of the box and I had to go
on line (thank my lucky stars it was connected to the Internet after
the install) and look for drivers for the printer and the sound card.
OK I find them, so I think. There was a slue of malicious download
sites that were flagged by Yahoo. You would think that good old MS
would really make security a priority. Well it's not. They are more
interested in getting your money in their greedy little pockets. I have
already had an attack on my system. Yes you heard right, only after one
day I had found spy ware and had to clean it off. WOW! OK, if
your going to use this OS you have to be on top of your game or you
WILL get infected with something soon, and you most likely will not
even know it. You will also have to pay someone big bucks to get it
working correctly and keep it that way. So you can see why I choose
Linux (ah, that lovely word). It has a less then 1% chance of getting
attacked successfully as compared to Windows nearly 100% chance.. To my
knowledge there are only a hand full of wild malicious software
programs out there for Unix/Linux operating systems, and most attacks
are directly targeted towards servers, not home users... The out of
pocket cost of Linux is by far cheaper. Not just the software but the
time spent working on something and not rebooting the computer all the
time. Let's break it down. I spent zero dollars on openSUSE as a
download. I will buy a boxed set or a tee-shirt or coffee mug to help
support the team. I don't have to buy anything to install it on every
computer in my house, or the hole damn neighborhood for that matter. I
have at my beckon call a support team that spans the world and it's all
for free. I can re-wright the code if something goes wrong with a
program. I could even make my own OS. I have choices. I like choices. I
like it a lot (Gump)! Well, that's enough rambling for now. As I always
say, 'till next time, happy Linuxing!
12/23/08
Well
I know I said earlier I would not give old Bill any more hard earned
bucks. Well, my teenager is a die hard Windows fan and wanted Vista. So
I bought it and just for giggles I put it on my system too. Don't
ask... ( OK here goes, We have identical hardware configurations and
with a little CPU and/or hard drive swapping you can fool Bill into thinking its
reinstalling on the same system). Anyway, I was pleased to see
that it was right up to specks. It did not see the printer or the sound
card, both work just fine under Linux, (every distro I have ever
tried). I am still trying to get the sound to work but I really don't
have time to keep rebooting the system all day long. Really, I must
have rebooted it about 20 or more times before I got sick of the whole
thing. It also looks strangely a lot like KDE 4.x.x Can you say
“Rip Off”! It has way too much eye candy that does no more
then eat up resources. If you want eye candy, go for a MAC or run Gnome
with Linux/Unix. You won't be disappointed. Well the the the the that's
all folks... Happy Linuxing!
12/23/08
Icons
not in the notification area? Well first thing is, are you running two
displays with separate x screens? If the answer is yes, and you have a
notification area in both panels you will confuse the notification
icons and they will not know where to go and end up on the desktop of
the default display. The way to fix this is simple. You need to have
only one notification area in place on the default x screen only. That
should solve the problem. This bug seems to be for openSuSE 11.0 or
higher running a Gnome desktop. Still have not found a work around for
the sound server trouble in 11.1 As soon I do I will post it. That's it
for now... Happy Linuxing!
12/22/08
Can't
get Banshee to see lame? Try installing grip and see if that does the
trick. Want your Windoze fonts too? Copy the font folder from Windows
into /usr/share/fonts then you will have /usr/share/fonts/fonts
Now you have all the fonts you wanted. Note: these hacks only work for
openSuSE 11.0 as far as I know. Happy Holidays and happy Linuxing!
12/21/08
Wow.
I never would have believed it. What a difference between Linux and
that other OS. I am at this time downloading and installing about 6
gigs
of new software and at the same time writing this blog and running gFTP
and Firefox as well as OpenOffice.org writer and gedit, oh ya, and
KompoZer aka NVU HTML page editor. I dare you to try that in Windoze
and not bog down the whole system. Just thought I would throw that out
there. And to top it all off, I won't even have to reboot. :-) (Note: I
am using an Intel Celeron D 2.8 GHz. nVidia 7600 GS 256 MB and 1 GIG of
RAM. This is a bare-bones system). Vista might not even run on this
system and I know XP is a lot slower. Just something to think about
before you go out and spend a grand or more on a new system, when the
one you have now will still run very fast with Linux.
12/21/08
Well
as always I am sticking with the predecessor of the latest version of
openSUSE until they fix all the little bugs (and some not so little).
The biggest bug for now seems to be the sound server is not working
correctly. I will keep testing 11.1 on a separate partition, but I will
use 11.0 for a bit more time. I have noticed one very strange thing. I
can get some of the bugs to cleanup when I install the source code for
the kernel and also install the development packages too, go figure...
Other then that I still think 11.1 is and will be the best openSUSE to
date. Nice job and keep up the great work. I am also keeping Ubuntu on
the system for the family stuff. I think 8.04.1 is still a bit more
stable then the latest release. As I have stated many times before, if
you are looking for a stable and user friendly flavor of Linux, Ubuntu is
a great choice. I plan on testing out Mint 6 soon. I have high hopes.
Another one that looks cool is Kiwi, it's an Ubuntu sister distro and
seems to be promising. Well, that's it for now. Happy Linuxing!
12/20/08
Well.
I’ve been farting around with openSuSE for a wile now. I have
been using it from version 10.0 and I have found it to be my favorite
flavor. That being said I have noticed something in general about Linux
distros, they seem to me to be like a recipe. They cook up different
depending on what is installed on the system. If I do an upgrade it
might crash all together, or it might work very well. Also, if I do a
clean install it might be buggy or it might work out just fine.
OpenSuSE has had some trouble lately with both. I have tried many
different distros and found Ubuntu to install the best, clean or
otherwise. It’s like a well-balanced recipe, the flavor doesn't
change as much even if you add or take away a few ingredients. True, it
lacks a lot of stuff for developers, however it is a well-tailored
distro for the common user. So, I will be using Ubuntu for the everyday
stuff and openSuSE for the more refined stuff like software
development. There are some things you just can’t do with Ubuntu
or other distros either. Well I could go into the fact that I am
building an Ubuntu server with the x server on top. Why would you do
this? Think of the possibilities… Ubuntu server edition is a
completely different animal. Well that's it for now, ‘till next
time, happy Linuxing!
12/19/08
I
downloaded it, I installed it, Oh ya, I'm talking about openSUSE 11.1
and it works rather well. I am stumped as to why the so called
restricted formats are getting harder and harder to find and keep
working. It really makes good business scene to allow people to play
DVDs and MP3s on there computer, after all, I never had to buy anything
special to play a record in the 70s. I bought a stereo and a record
player; right? Oh ya, I bought lots of freeking records too... OK I
bought a computer and it has a DVD drive in it and I CAN'T F$%K*&G
play a DVD until I pay MORE money! Well as long as I can still find
sites where I can get the software to make it work, I will. Also note,
I pay for my copy of openSUSE by ordering it in a box set and it still
ships without all the stuff you need. All the open source distros out
there have to do this, IN THE USA, the land of the free my ass. Hay
don't get me wrong, I love my homeland, but somethings go a bit too
far. One word, GREED! OK, back to the install. It took a long time to
install, about two and a half hours. Then I had to reinstall a bunch of
stuff to get it to work again. I have some older versions of Linux
distros on my hard drive, so I save some of the older files that work
still, when placed in the right directories. I will post more on that
when I get it all running again. I found the two icons on the desktop
locked, and where do you think they were? Not in the desktop folder,
no, they are in /usr/share/dist/desktop-files/ You need to use
nautilus file browser as root. I do this by opening a root terminal and
starting it from a command line. Not all distros will do this. Then I
cut and past them somewhere else and keep them for prosperity. I still
have not found all the quirks yet in this new version, but I'm sure I
will, and I will have them fixed in no time. As I find work arounds, I
will post them. All in all, this is a fine OS. Much better then I
expected too. I still prefer openSUSE to all the others. I will say
this; “They call them flavors for a reason” If you change
the flavor too much I will look for something new. I like the taste of
openSUSE, please don't make it too bitter! Let's hope that doesn't
happen too soon. 'till then, happy Linixing!
12/03/08
Well
Well, I think we have a winner. OpenSuSE 11.1 is on it's way, and I for
one think this is by far the most stable one yet. I've tested all five
beta versions and the RC-1, and bit by bit they have gotten better and
better. I never had a lock up or any other bug that I would not have
expected at the time of development. What more can I say.
Everything I tried to do, worked! I will as always keep my currant
version 11.0 installed for a bit even after the new release. You have
no idea the trouble that version put me through... I have found in the
past that if I wait just a few weeks, the upgrade goes even smoother.
My recommendation? If you are new to Linux, this is the one! If you
already use openSuSE or want to try it out, again I say, this is the
one! There you go, their new slogan. “This IS The One”.
Well that's it for now. As always, happy Linixing!
11/28/08
This
is a php script that will list the files in a directory if there in no
index.html file in place and you get the forbidden error and still want
to list the contents of that directory. This is a safe way to list
files on a server without sacrificing security. Some servers will
display the files in the directory when there is no index file, and
that's not the best way. However there are times when you might want to
list the files in the directory, and this script works very well. I
found it at http://woody.cowpi.com I modified it a bit for my needs. I thought I should pass this one along. Well, that's it... Happy Linixing!
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
<?php /*
dir.php (Current Directory Listing) by Mark Woodward,
July 2002 woody.cowpi.com/phpscripts/
-----------------------------
-----------------------------
index.php Modified by Joe D'Angelo and Chris D'Angelo November 2008
http://www.wolf-spider.com wolfspider@bigfoot.com
This modification allows you to list all file without showing the .php or .js extension.
You could also hide other extensions as needed.
-----------------------------
-----------------------------
This script simply list the files in the same directory as the script.
(Same as the dir command in DOS or l in UNIX.) Folders or directories are not listed -----------------------------
-----------------------------
You
can control what types of file extensions that are displayed using
$viewExt and $hideExt Any filename beginning with 'index.' will not be
displayed.
------------------------------
------------------------------ */
$viewExt = '.*'; // filenames with these extensions will be displayed
$hideExt = '.php|.js'; // filenames with these extentions will be hidden
// $hideExt overides $viewExt
$dirHandle = opendir('.');
while ($file = readdir($dirHandle)) {
if ($file != '.' && $file != '..' &&
eregi("($viewExt)$",$file) && !eregi("($hideExt)$",$file)
&& !eregi("^index.",$file)) {
$stack[] = $file; // append filename to an array
}
}
closedir($dirHandle);
sort($stack);
foreach($stack as $value) {
echo '<a href="'.$value.'">'.$value.'</a><br>'."\n";
}
?>
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
11/16/08
Well,
I've tried all 5 betas of openSUSE 11.1 and all of them seem very
stable. I did see some early trouble with usb devises not being seen
and still do. The sound works now and the video is stable and I have
had no lock ups, yet... I will most likely wait until the bugs are
worked out as I have done in the past with openSUSE. I think however
this newest release is much better then 11.0 was in the beginning. As
you might have read I was very unhappy with what I thought was an early
push of that version. I am using it now and it has worked out very nice
for me, but only after about 2 months after its first release. It has
had several bub fixes, security patches and kernel updates. So if you
are a first time user to Linux or to openSUSE I do think this one will
please even the most discriminating computer user. Can't wait for the
RC1 and final. I am hoping my expectations will be exceeded. Until
then, happy Linixing!
10/30/08
FileZilla
is an FTP client and server that runs on Linux, Mac OS and Win32. I
can't say enough about the ease of use of this software. You just have
to try it to see what I am talking about. So, rather then go on and on,
I will just suggest that you download it and try it for yourself. I'm
quite confident you will love it. I use it as well as gFTP and it works great for me.
09/01/08
Flock beta 2
was just released and it's great. If you like to do things like
blogging, GMail and Facebook this is the web browser for you. Now I'm
not saying to just drop good old Firefox
but, it's nice to have choices. Yo Bill, I bet you don't eat the same
Damn thing for breakfast every morning do you? How about eating the
same thing for breakfast, lunch and dinner every day for the past 13
years. Yes that when the famed 95 was released and started the
brainwashing process. Or should I say brain polluting? Flock, try it you'll like it... and for the ladies try Flock Gloss Edition
08/31/08
So,
you've started Firefox Linux 3.0.1 and you're on Yahoo. Now you want to
watch that latest news clip and WAM! The whole thing crashes. Well it's
not Firefox. In fact it is the new version of Adobe macro media flash
that is crashing. Work around? Use Flock. It's not the greatest web
browser, yet, but it will play that news flash for you. Until Adobe fixes
this bug this is the best advice I have to offer. Really, it's not a
Firefox thing and I have found no other plugins that works. I have sent
this bug report to the big boys but I am guessing so have about a
million others. Other then that, all seems well in openSUSE 11.0
I have read that Ubuntu and Fedora are having this same bug. For some
strange reason Slackware seems unaffected. Maybe they're on to
something?
08/25/08
K9Copy helps make DVD backups easy
By Federico Kereki on August 22, 2008 (9:00:00 AM)
K9copy is a nice little utility for making backup copies of your “bought and payed for” DVDs.
It should never be used for anything else. I know that in some
countries even this is considered illegal. Well I have an opinion on
that and it would take way too long to type out so let's just say, I
think those laws are complete bullshit! Spitting on the sidewalk is
illegal too! Now, back to K9copy. I found out about this program by
reading an article on www.Linux.com
See you should read that stuff. I used yast2 to look it up and install
it. Make sure you install the copy that corresponds to the version of
KDE you have on your system. Even though I use Gnome as my desktop if
you install KDE also you will find that many of the KDE applications
will run under Gnome as well. Cool yes? You also have to have all the
other goodies installed for DVD playback and alike. I put in a DVD and
presto, it backed it up to an .ISO file ready for burning to a 4.4 GIG
disc. You can also make other file formats so you can keep it on the
computer. This is really handy when you want to go on vacation and watch that new
DVD you just picked up at your local Best Buy on your laptop and you
would rather not bring the master copy along just to have it messed up
when your four year old decides to see how much it will bend before it
breaks in two (yes this really happened to me). Ya, now you see why the laws are Bullshit! ALL other
software you buy can be backed up, in fact they encourage it! So, try
K9copy and let me know what you think. I also use DVDshrink. This is a
Windoze application that will install and run using WINE. Unlike K9copy
it dose not need the files for decoding, it has them built into the
program, however it will not play DVDs on its own. That's it for this
installment, 'till then, Happy Linuxing!
08/23/08
Well,
I did it! I stepped up to the plate and upgraded to openSUSE 11.0 It
seems to be working just fine. The fonts look great and everything
seems to look just a bit more refined. The feel is indeed great and the
package manager Yast2 is blazing fast. All the bugs that I encountered
at first have been worked out. Thank you openSUSE development team for
your vigilance and hard work. It's amazing what an update of a
kernel and a few other software packages can do. I did un-install the
pulse audio. For my needs I just don't use it. All the sounds seem to
serve up just fine without it. The desktop effects are also something I
don't use so I leave them off too. Mplayer seems to be the multi media
player of choice in this distro. It can play all the proprietary files
including Windows Media Files, .AVI and .MOV as well as DVDs. Goto to http://opensuse-community.org/Multimedia
to install all the so called restricted formats. I wish the big boys
would realize that letting people play all those “restricted” formats
on there Linux distro will in fact increase sales. Helix-Banshee was
replaced by Banshee-1. It has lost the mp3 ripping option, however
there's still Grip. Make sure you have lame and twolame installed and
rip away all you want. Grip is highly configurable even allowing you
keep the .WAV file after words. The help files are very complete and
with a bit of effort you can have Grip doing back flips. I have my wide
screen LCD HDTV hooked up as a second display and it is now running in
the native resolution of 1360x768_60Hz_24bit my personal preference is
2 separate X screens. Read my prior blog on how to set this up. Note,
my setup is with Nvidia, ATI users will have to look elsewhere. Well,
that's it for now. As always, Happy Linuxing! Addendum: I now have Lame (mp3 encoder) working in Banshee-1... I'm so happy :-)
08/19/08
To
openSUSE 11.0 or Not? That is the question. A wile back I downloaded
two of the 11.0 versions. The live gnome CD and the DVD install disc.
Well, I should have guessed that when the live disc and the install
were disasters that the same thing that happened last time to me did
indeed happen again. I can't say for sure but, openSUSE seems to hold a
pattern. They seem to release buggy distros at first and then fix them
within two months or so. I had this same experience with 10.3 when I
first installed it. It just wasn't working right. So I went back to
10.2 for a wile before upgrading to 10.3 for good. Now its happened
again. I decided to download the files again and the live CD worked
much better this time. So I went for broke and installed the DVD as an
upgrade to my backup copy of 10.3. So now I have 10.3 and 11.0 on the
same system. I tinkered with it for a bit and the first thing I noticed
was it was not locking up anymore and yast now works the way it should,
even when you change the GUI. I think that whatever was wrong with the
first download has been fixed. This latest downloaded version seems to
work just fine. So what can we learn from this? When you want to
upgrade to the next version of openSUSE wait for about two months and
when the next kernel and other updates come out, try it again. Most
likely it will work out just fine. I will keep you posted on this as
things progress. For now 11.0 seems to be working just fine for me.
'Till then, happy Linixing!
08/14/08
I cleaned up my xorg.conf
file so you might better understand it. It still has all the components
from sax2 and Nvidia it's just cleaned up so you can see all the
sections without the redundancy. As I said before, this is my file for
my system. Yours will look different, however there are many generic
aspects that can be use in your file, if you would like to try them.
Remember, always backup you file first before editing it. Also, the
link below is a great place to learn all the functions of the Nvidia
Linux kernel module.
http://us.download.nvidia.com/XFree86/Linux-x86/173.14.12/README/index.html
08/09/08
I am getting really sick of the ongoing attempt of Microsoft®
to try and monopolize the Internet. More and more I am running into
brick walls when it comes to media streaming pages. Well maybe this is
a good thing for the Linux user. This will create a double Internet if
it keeps going this way. One for Windoze users and one for the real
computer users. In this way Linux will most likely stay safe from
crackers (hackers are the good guys). I have to admit I still have EX
PEE on my system for the un-tasteful times when I have no choice but to
use it. But I can say this for sure. In the near future I will be win32
OS free because, I have no planes of ever buying any more stuff from
Bill. As far as I am concerned Bill (no last names please) is no better
then the tobacco companies when they out right lied to the public and
said smoking was good for you. Next you'll be hearing stuff like “four
out of five Geeks prefer Vista®” Well here's one for you, “five out of
five Gurus prefer Linux”. By the way Netflix® is making a stand alone
box available for $100 so you don't need to use a PC, guess what OS it
uses... you guessed it, Linux!
08/09/08
How
I setup my system for multi display in openSUSE 10.3 using an Nvidia
7600 GS. First thing you must have is the Nvidia kernel installed. This
will also install the Nvidia X server configuration tool. It will be in
System/Configuration/NVIDIA X Server Settings/ in the gnome/suse
program menu, One thing before I go any further: If you want to just
clone the displays or use the Xinerama setting just use the sax2
utility, it will set things up for you just the way you want. You can
even set up the two different displays with different sync settings and resolutions. Now, if you want separate X screens,
that's a bit different. First you have to log in as root, this will not
work as a user in openSUSE. Now start the NVIDIA X Server settings and
goto X Server Display Configuration. You will see the option to
configure the displays. Open this option and select “separate X
screens” after that set up the displays the way you want them and save
the X configuration file (remember to merge the files: see my finale notes below). Then apply the changes, restart the X server
and you should now have two different desktops on each screen. A word
of caution, be sure of what your displays can handle in the way
of color depths, sync, refresh and resolutions settings so you don't fry out your
displays. A safe bet is to start out with 1024x768 @ 60Hz. @ 24 bit. This is a
very common setting and will look good with any new LCD
display/HDTV. If you know what your display will handle, by all
means go for it. Your choices will differ depending on your input
(analog (VGA ) or a DVI). That's it. If you need more info goto http://us.download.nvidia.com/XFree86/Linux-x86/1.0-9631/README/appendix-p.html Note: This link explains a very basic configuration. Below is what my xorg.conf file looks like.
_____________________________________________________________________
# nvidia-settings: X configuration file generated by nvidia-settings
# nvidia-settings: version 1.0 (buildmeister@builder63) Thu Jun 5 00:11:12 PDT 2008
# /.../
# SaX generated X11 config file
# Created on: 2008-08-09T03:06:43-0400.
#
# Version: 8.1
# Contact: Marcus Schaefer <sax@suse.de>, 2005
# Contact: SaX-User list <https://lists.berlios.de/mailman/listinfo/sax-users>
#
# Automatically generated by [ISaX] (8.1)
# PLEASE DO NOT EDIT THIS FILE!
#
Section "ServerLayout"
Identifier "Layout[all]"
Screen 0 "Screen0" 1024 0
Screen 1 "Screen1" LeftOf "Screen0"
InputDevice "Keyboard[0]" "CoreKeyboard"
InputDevice "Mouse[1]" "CorePointer"
Option "Clone" "off"
Option "Xinerama" "off"
EndSection
Section "Files"
InputDevices "/dev/gpmdata"
InputDevices "/dev/input/mice"
FontPath "/usr/share/fonts/misc:unscaled"
FontPath "/usr/share/fonts/local"
FontPath "/usr/share/fonts/75dpi:unscaled"
FontPath "/usr/share/fonts/100dpi:unscaled"
FontPath "/usr/share/fonts/Type1"
FontPath "/usr/share/fonts/URW"
FontPath "/usr/share/fonts/Speedo"
FontPath "/usr/share/fonts/PEX"
FontPath "/usr/share/fonts/cyrillic"
FontPath "/usr/share/fonts/latin2/misc:unscaled"
FontPath "/usr/share/fonts/latin2/75dpi:unscaled"
FontPath "/usr/share/fonts/latin2/100dpi:unscaled"
FontPath "/usr/share/fonts/latin2/Type1"
FontPath "/usr/share/fonts/latin7/75dpi:unscaled"
FontPath "/usr/share/fonts/baekmuk:unscaled"
FontPath "/usr/share/fonts/japanese:unscaled"
FontPath "/usr/share/fonts/kwintv"
FontPath "/usr/share/fonts/truetype"
FontPath "/usr/share/fonts/uni:unscaled"
FontPath "/usr/share/fonts/CID"
FontPath "/usr/share/fonts/ucs/misc:unscaled"
FontPath "/usr/share/fonts/ucs/75dpi:unscaled"
FontPath "/usr/share/fonts/ucs/100dpi:unscaled"
FontPath "/usr/share/fonts/hellas/misc:unscaled"
FontPath "/usr/share/fonts/hellas/75dpi:unscaled"
FontPath "/usr/share/fonts/hellas/100dpi:unscaled"
FontPath "/usr/share/fonts/hellas/Type1"
FontPath "/usr/share/fonts/misc/sgi:unscaled"
FontPath "/usr/share/fonts/xtest"
FontPath "/opt/kde3/share/fonts"
EndSection
Section "Files"
RgbPath "/usr/lib/X11/rgb"
EndSection
Section "Module"
Load "dbe"
Load "type1"
Load "freetype"
Load "extmod"
Load "glx"
EndSection
Section "ServerFlags"
Option "AllowMouseOpenFail" "on"
Option "Xinerama" "0"
EndSection
Section "InputDevice"
Identifier "Keyboard[0]"
Driver "kbd"
Option "Protocol" "Standard"
Option "XkbLayout" "us"
Option "XkbModel" "microsoftpro"
Option "XkbRules" "xfree86"
EndSection
Section "InputDevice"
Identifier "Mouse[1]"
Driver "mouse"
Option "Buttons" "5"
Option "Device" "/dev/input/mice"
Option "Name" "ImPS/2 Generic Wheel Mouse"
Option "Protocol" "explorerps/2"
Option "Vendor" "Sysp"
Option "ZAxisMapping" "4 5"
EndSection
Section "Modes"
Identifier "Modes[0]"
ModeLine "1024x768" 94.50 1024 1072 1168 1376 768 769 772 808
EndSection
Section "Monitor"
Identifier "Monitor[0]"
VendorName "--> VESA"
ModelName "1024X768@85HZ"
UseModes "Modes[0]"
DisplaySize 345 259
HorizSync 31.0 - 70.0
VertRefresh 50.0 - 85.0
Option "CalcAlgorithm" "XServerPool"
Option "DPMS"
EndSection
Section "Monitor"
Identifier "Monitor1"
VendorName "Unknown"
ModelName "XH@"
HorizSync 30.0 - 69.0
VertRefresh 50.0 - 76.0
EndSection
Section "Monitor"
Identifier "Monitor0"
VendorName "Unknown"
ModelName "Korea Data System Visual Sensations VS-7i"
HorizSync 30.0 - 70.0
VertRefresh 50.0 - 160.0
EndSection
Section "Device"
Identifier "Device[0]"
Driver "nvidia"
VendorName "NVIDIA"
BoardName "GeForce 7600 GS"
Option "SaXDualHead"
Option "TwinView"
Option "SaXDualMonitorVendor" "--> LCD"
Option "SaXDualOrientation" "RightOf"
Option "MetaModes" "1024x768,1024x768;800x600,800x600"
Option "SaXDualResolution" "1024x768"
Option "TwinViewOrientation" "Clone"
Option "SaXDualMode" "Clone"
Option "SecondMonitorVertRefresh" "50-76"
Option "SaXDualHSync" "31-61"
Option "SaXDualMonitorModel" "1024X768@75HZ"
Option "SaXDualVSync" "50-76"
BusID "2:0:0"
EndSection
Section "Device"
Identifier "Videocard0"
Driver "nvidia"
VendorName "NVIDIA Corporation"
BoardName "GeForce 7600 GS"
BusID "PCI:2:0:0"
Screen 0
EndSection
Section "Device"
Identifier "Videocard1"
Driver "nvidia"
VendorName "NVIDIA Corporation"
BoardName "GeForce 7600 GS"
BusID "PCI:2:0:0"
Screen 1
EndSection
Section "Screen"
Identifier "Screen[0]"
Device "Device[0]"
Monitor "Monitor[0]"
DefaultDepth 24
SubSection "Display"
Depth 15
Modes "1024x768" "800x600"
EndSubSection
SubSection "Display"
Depth 16
Modes "1024x768" "800x600"
EndSubSection
SubSection "Display"
Depth 24
Modes "1024x768" "800x600"
EndSubSection
SubSection "Display"
Depth 8
Modes "1024x768" "800x600"
EndSubSection
EndSection
Section "Screen"
Identifier "Screen1"
Device "Videocard0"
Monitor "Monitor1"
DefaultDepth 24
Option "TwinView" "0"
Option "metamodes"
"CRT-1: 1024x768_75 +0+0; CRT-1: 800x600 +0+0"
EndSection
Section "Screen"
Identifier "Screen0"
Device "Videocard1"
Monitor "Monitor0"
DefaultDepth 24
Option "TwinView" "0"
Option "TwinViewXineramaInfoOrder" "CRT-0"
Option "metamodes"
"CRT-0: 1024x768_85 +0+0; CRT-0: 800x600 +0+0"
EndSection
Section "DRI"
Group "video"
Mode 0660
EndSection
Section "Extensions"
EndSection
_____________________________________________________________________
Remember,
this is my file,
yours will look different. Another word of caution:
NVIDIA X Server Configuration and Sax2 DO NOT work the same way. Try
not to use them both over and over again or you will end up pulling out
your hair and
screwing up your xorg.conf file. If you end up with a broken x server
setting boot up in run level 3 and run sax2 as root and let it
set up a default setting so you can get the x server running again.
Then boot back up in run level 5 and start over. Oh, and for you Ubuntu
users, the NVIDIA X Server Configuration is the same so you should be
able to get the setting you want. Good Luck and Happy
Linuxing... One more thing, unless your two or more monitors are right
next to eachother, I would stick to the separate X screens. Xinerama
is only good for making one big desktop out of multi monitor setups.
Cloning will show the same thing on each display and is a good choice
to use in the office sometimes for plugging into a
projector or large display when you need to show a presentation. Oh ya
I almost forgot one more thing, if you do decide to run the sax2 and/or
NVIDIA
X Server Settings again, you will need to merge the file or you will
get some strange results. Also if you do this, using sax2 again will
gripe about not being able to deactivate all the screens and say at
least one screen needs to be active. Now, if you proceed with this and
use sax2 again it will over wright the xorg.conf file and set it up
with all sax2 settings. This is OK if this is the desired effect,
however if you still want separate desktops you will need to run
the NVIDIA X Server Settings again and set it up again. See the
vicious cycle you will end up in. Good luck and as I always say, Happy
Linuxing!
08/03/08
Web Browsers
IE vs. All the rest.
I sat down and tested all the web
browsers that are installed on my computer. I even tested the Windows
XP versions, if and when available . I found that my web page looked
very nice in all of them. I did notice that in IEv7 there was a
little bit of a quirk. The content of the page was off center. It was
in fact off to the left. I did not see this in any other browser I
tested with. Even the new IEv8 beta looked better then its
predecessor. The Wolf-Spider! Home page is in fact optimized for
Firefox (Linux) 2.x or higher. I used a resolution of 1024x768@24bit
as the default. If you go higher or lower it might not look quite the
same. However I did test my home page in resolutions up to 1280x1024
and saw no trouble, except with IEv7. All the others looked OK. All
that being said, I would have to recommend that you use Firefox or
one of the others listed on my home page. As for IE, I really don't
like it and I think it should only be used if there is a page that
must have it to view it correctly. OK, now some of you are reading this
and saying to your self “Why doesn't he just change the table and table
data cell settings from pixels to percentage?” Well that's exactly what
I did and it seems to work just fine. So, remember IEv7 is fussy, it
likes percentages better sometimes. If you have any comments or
suggestions, feel free to e-mail me wolfspider@bigfoot.com
Thanks for stopping by and I hope you will take the time to check out
the other pages on my site. http://www.wolf-spider.com
07/24/08
Just a word of CAUTION about using too many different software
repositories for getting your updates and new Linux software packages.
You should stick to as few as possible. There is a chance that there
could be conflicting versions of the same software. This could lead to
a broken installation of your Linux. For openSUSE I would stick to the
MAIN (OSS), MAIN (NON OSS) and MAIN Updates. All the other ones are
optional. Those three are all you will need for any current versions
that are stable for your distro. You can most likely add a video card
kernel repository if needed, however you do so at your own risk. Ubuntu
also has some outside repositories too. I have not had any trouble with
them, yet! However I do warn you to use extreme caution whenever you
use packages from other then approved repositories. A good way to know
if there is going to be trouble is if you start running into dependency
issues right off the bat. You bet there WILL be trouble if the
installer starts to give warnings about this. Try not to install
packages that are not for your distro. If you can't find a package and
need to use a third party one, note it could give you trouble. Try to
see if the software provider has packages for your distro. Most of them
have them for the more popular ones. If your distro use RPM and you
need a software package that only comes in a tar ball (*.tgz,
*.tar.gz), be careful when compiling it. Follow the compiling
instructions to the letter, and if you can't get it to compile try to
look for a package that was made for your distro, you might not have
all the software needed to compile installed on your system. If you
feel up to it you can use a package creation software utility and make
one yourself. That's a pretty good way to go, and it will help out
others who might be looking for the same thing. I will be doing this
soon and when I have a few packages that I have tested and they seem OK
I will post them for download. Now there are a few tar balls out there
that do install quite well on there own, BUT I still urge you to seek
out the distro version first. At least try to find a package that is in
the default format for your distro (e.g. *.RMP, *.DEB, *.tgz...) Note:
it still might not work. If the dependencies are not there you can have
trouble down the line. Now I know there is KPackage and it's tempting
to bypass the dependency checker. If you do this, you better be ready
for anything. Well that's about it for this subject. There are many
good sources out there, just use a bit of common scene and your Linux
should run very nicely. 'Till then, Happy Linuxing!
07/20/08
I can't take credit for this, however I thought I would pass it along.
Some people (I for one) have noticed that the scroll wheel sometimes
doesn't work with Slackware after an install, and no matter what mouse
setting you choose in the setup it still will not work correctly. Goto
this link for a solution.
http://humanreadable.nfshost.com/sdeg/scroll-wheel-mouse.htm
I can tell you this. You better know what you are doing. If you do this
wrong you will mess things up pretty good. Always back up any system
file you intend to edit. I also suggest you learn your way around in
text only mode when running Linux. So, if you think you can do it, go
for it! This hack works very well. NOTE: As far as I know this hack is
for Slackware Linux only. However it should most likely work with any
newer Linux distro, if you need it. Slackware is the only distro that I
have encountered with this issue, so far. If the link is
dead,
below is what the page says.
_______________________________________________________________________
Human Readable
GNU/Linux Journal How-Tos and Essays A Slackware
Desktop Enhancement Guide Home
A Slackware Desktop Enhancement Guide
Configuring xorg.conf for Mice with Scroll Wheels
© Copyright Darrell Anderson.
One of the most widely-asked questions regarding Slackware, and
possibly the most common question of all for new Slackware users, is
how to configure a two-button mouse with a scroll wheel. When asking
the question, many users are told to use the Slackware mouseconfig
program to configure the mouse. Unfortunately, the mouseconfig program
does not configure the mouse at all, but does little more than
establish the proper symbolic link in the /dev devices directory and
enable the console-based gpm mouse tool.
The mouseconfig program actually is a shell script and possibly one
day, hopefully, this script will be revised to actually configure mice
within the xorg.conf configuration file.
The xorgsetup utility might help users configure X, but will not help
configure a scroll wheel mouse. Neither will the user-hostile
xorgconfig utility. As unpopular as this recommendation might be with
Slackware die-hards, grab a copy of the Knoppix CD to configure X.
Knoppix is one of the best distros at providing auto-recognition and
configuration of hardware. After booting with the Knoppix CD, copy and
paste the resulting xorg.conf configuration file.
However, for the impatient, or those people unafraid of exploring
text-based configuration files, an easy solution is to edit the
xorg.conf manually. Fortunately, editing is not that tough of a chore
and requires about a minute of effort.
One tidbit that might help new users is understanding how the X
graphical environment sees a two-button mouse with a scroll wheel. The
wheel function is considered a button—actually two buttons. Scrolling
in the forward direction is considered little more than pressing a
button multiple times. Likewise in the reverse direction. Additionally,
the wheel itself can be pressed as with the other two conventional
buttons. This information means that for all intents and purposes, X
sees a two-button mouse with a scroll wheel as a five button mouse.
Another important option for users with mice using PS/2 connectors is
to use the IMPS/2 protocol rather than the standard PS/2 protocol.
To configure a two-button mouse with a scroll wheel:
1. Obtain root privileges.
2. Use a text editor to open the xorg.conf
configuration
file. In Slackware that file is located at /etc/X11/xorg.conf.
3. Search for a section titled Section
"InputDevice".
4. There will be at least two such sections, one
for the
keyboard and one for the mouse. The distinguishing feature will be an
entry titled Identifier "Mouse1" or something similar.
5. Next edit that section as follows:
Section "InputDevice"
Identifier "Mouse1"
Driver "mouse"
Option
"Protocol"
"IMPS/2"
Option
"Device"
"/dev/psaux"
Option
"Buttons"
"5"
Option "ZAxisMapping" "4 5"
Option "CorePointer"
Option "SendCoreEvents" "true"
EndSection
6. Save the file.
7. Restart the X graphical server. For newbies the
easiest
method might be to reboot. However, if having started X from the
command line by using the startx command, then merely exit X and
restart X the same way. Another method—but be sure no programs are
running other than the X desktop—is to press Ctrl-Alt-Backspace. That
keyboard sequence will forcibly restart the X server.
After having restarted the X server, the mouse scroll wheel should be
functioning!
Note: the CorePointer directive is useful for laptops to force whether
the internal mouse or external mouse will be used as the primary
pointing device. The SendCoreEvents is useful to force multiple
pointing devices to be recognized concurrently.
_______________________________________________________________________
07/19/08
OK, so you installed Slackware 12.1 and you love it. Now you notice
that the fonts don't quite look right. I have the answer to your
troubles. You have to edit the /etc/fonts/fonts.conf file. You will
need root privileges to do this. First make a backup copy of this file.
Using a plain text editor open the file and look for the font paths. It
will look something like this (see below) and it will be near the top
of the page. DON'T MESS with anything else!!! NOTE: This will only work
with a full install of the font packages that come with the distro.
Most likely you did do a full install. If not you might want to check
that the directories do indeed exist.
<!-- Font directory list -->
<dir>/usr/share/fonts/OTF</dir>
<dir>/usr/share/fonts/TTF</dir>
<dir>/usr/share/fonts/Type1</dir>
<dir>/usr/share/fonts/Speedo</dir>
<dir>/usr/share/fonts/cyrillic</dir>
<dir>/usr/share/fonts/misc</dir>
<dir>~/.fonts</dir>
<!-- Commented out font directories:
These are not indexed by default, as fontconfig then seems to prefer
bitmapped fonts in some cases...
<dir>/usr/share/fonts/100dpi</dir>
<dir>/usr/share/fonts/75dpi</dir>
-->
Notice that two directories are commented out. They give some strange
explanation as to why.
<dir>/usr/share/fonts/100dpi</dir>
and
<dir>/usr/share/fonts/75dpi</dir>
Now copy and paste the two missing directories from the comment and put
them at the top of the font directory list. The file will now look like
this.
<!-- Font directory list -->
<dir>/usr/share/fonts/100dpi</dir>
<dir>/usr/share/fonts/75dpi</dir>
<dir>/usr/share/fonts/OTF</dir>
<dir>/usr/share/fonts/TTF</dir>
<dir>/usr/share/fonts/Type1</dir>
<dir>/usr/share/fonts/Speedo</dir>
<dir>/usr/share/fonts/cyrillic</dir>
<dir>/usr/share/fonts/misc</dir>
<dir>~/.fonts</dir>
<!-- Commented out font directories:
These are not indexed by default, as fontconfig then seems to prefer
bitmapped fonts in some cases...
<dir>/usr/share/fonts/100dpi</dir>
<dir>/usr/share/fonts/75dpi</dir>
-->
Save the file and log out of root. Log back in as a user and Startx and
look at the fonts now. They should look much better. You will notice a
big difference in your web browsers. This hack is for Slackware,
however you could use this as a guide on how to change the font
rendering in other distros, however a word of caution, this can
be an XML file in some distros, you must leave everything else alone or
you will mess things up. Remember, use a text based editor only. That's it! Good luck and happy
Linuxing...
07/09/08
This blog has nothing to do with computers or Linux. I am
writing this
about a medicine I take for high blood pressure. It's call Troprol-XL
25mg. I was using a generic version of the drug and it worked just
fine. I took three of the 25mg. tablets everyday and they worked just
fine. Then the store switched to a different brand. I was in the ER
with life threatening complications within 5 days and stayed in the
hospital for 2 days. As a matter of fact, the last blog I posted in
this page was the first day I started to feel sick. I'm better now. I
am writing this to give a warning. If you are on a med and it works,
don't let anyone tell you you don't have the right to keep taking it.
Even if they tell you the new one is the same, don't trust them. Just
wanted to throw that out there. I'm on the brand name for now at 25mg
once a day and I'm keeping my fingers crossed. Hope everyone who is
reading this is doing OK. Take care. I will post some new Linux stuff
as soon as I have something I think might be of use. 'Till then, Happy
Linuxing...
Man. I just re-read my last blog from July 4th. I must have been
whacked out. I will post an easy to understand version of that last
attempt to explain how to fix a bug when I feel just a bit better. :-)
07/04/08
OK. A real quick and easy solution to a problem a lot of people are
having in Ubuntu's GDM resolution setting. You have the correct setting
at the desktop, (say 1024x768@85Hz), however the setting at GDM is
wrong (maybe higher or lower, and a different refresh rate too). Run
the following command “sudo dpkg-reconfigure -phigh xserver-xorg” then
log out. You should now see GDM at the same resolution as your desktop.
Yes! That's better, is it not? Not so fast... Now look at the new
"xorg.conf" file. It should look something like.
this...__________________________________(NOTE: As far as I know, this
hack works for Ubuntu 8.04 only!)
# xorg.conf (X.Org X Window System server configuration file)
#
# This file was generated by dexconf, the Debian X Configuration tool,
using
# values from the debconf database.
#
# Edit this file with caution, and see the xorg.conf manual page.
# (Type "man xorg.conf" at the shell prompt.)
#
# This file is automatically updated on xserver-xorg package upgrades
*only*
# if it has not been modified since the last upgrade of the xserver-xorg
# package.
#
# If you have edited this file but would like it to be automatically
updated
# again, run the following command:
# sudo dpkg-reconfigure -phigh xserver-xorg
Section "InputDevice"
Identifier
"Generic Keyboard"
Driver
"kbd"
Option
"XkbRules" "xorg"
Option
"XkbModel" "pc105"
Option
"XkbLayout" "us"
EndSection
Section "InputDevice"
Identifier
"Configured Mouse"
Driver
"mouse"
Option
"CorePointer"
EndSection
Section "Device"
Identifier
"Configured Video Device"
Driver
"nvidia"
Option
"NoLogo" "True"
EndSection
Section "Monitor"
Identifier
"Configured Monitor"
EndSection
Section "Screen"
Identifier
"Default Screen"
Monitor
"Configured Monitor"
Device
"Configured Video Device"
Defaultdepth 24
SubSection "Display"
Depth 24
Modes "1024x768" "800x600" "640x480"
EndSubSection
EndSection
Section "ServerLayout"
Identifier
"Default Layout"
Screen
"Default Screen"
EndSection
Section "Module"
Load
"glx"
EndSection
__________________________________________________________________________
Make sure the "subSection "Display"
Modes
"1024x768" "800x600" "640x480" is setup. You can use my
example
if you like. If you need a higher resolution, add them. Make sure the
first one on the list is the one you want the GDM to desplay at.. You
can add other "Depth" settings too. Just repeat the lines with the
different value. Some people like 16 as an alternitive to 24. You can
try 32 but it might not be supported by your system and it will fail if
it can't fall back to the next lower level. If you're not sure, stick
with 24 as the highest depth. Also make sure the "Module" setting is
still in the file. Note: my file puts it as the last setting in the
file. This is the correct way.
"Module"
Load
"glx"
MAKE A BACKUP of this file before you edit it. You should have a backup
file to compare too also if you ran the
“sudo dpkg-reconfigure -phigh xserver-xorg” command . It will look
something like this
"xorg.conf.200807042348" NOW you're set. That wasn't so bad now, was
it?(NOTE: As far as I know, this hack works for Ubuntu 8.04 only!)
06/25/08
Well, after screwing around with openSUSE 11.0 for a bit more I have
decided once and for all this is a BAD distribution. It works well with
a thin client running only an x window manager, but that's as far as it
goes. If you only use your computer for basic stuff then a thin client
is fine. However most people like myself use there computer for all
sorts of stuff, from banking and accounting to multimedia and gaming.
If this is the case you will need a full desktop environment for easy
use. Yes in theory you could get a thin client workstation to do
everything you want it to. BUT, you will need to know Linux inside and
out. I do know how to do this, but I would rather be like most people
and let the OS do the thinking for me. It can be an advantage to know
how to get an x window system to work well if you are an IT
professional like myself, however most people don't fall into this
category. So here it is. If you want to migrate from what ever OS you
are using now over to Linux, this is my top 4 list in order from best
to OK. Remember this is just my opinion, and theses are all open source
versions...
1 - openSUSE 10.3 **
2 - Ubuntu 8.04 LTS
3 – fedora 8 **
4 – Slackware 12.1
I will update this list as I continue to test different distributions.
( ** = not a current release. )
06/24/08
Well, It's done. I have installed a Gnome build in Slackware. Just go
to this link http://gnomeslackbuild.org
and follow the instructions to
the letter and you will have a great Gnome Desktop in Slackware. This
is in my opinion the main reason that openSUSE v11.0 in not working as
well as it could. I think they have not taken the time to update the
kernel to work well with this new version of Gnome. I'm going to play
around with openSUSE 11.0 with KDE 3.x.x and see if it's any better
then Gnome. I will post another blog when I come to a conclusion as to
what I find. Click here to see Gnome running in Slackware.
06/23/08
Installing packages in Slackware Linux v12.1. There is an installation
program that works very well. The nice thing is it's not limited to one
kind of package. It will work with RPM, DEB or Tarballs. You can tell
it to check for dependencies or, if you dare, you can skip it. In some
cases all will still work. I do recommend however you know what you're
doing before installing packages without checking dependencies, and it
does have a test only feature so you can see if the package will work
without installing it, cool!. Nvidia users, You need to compile the
Nvidia kernel from a command line without the x server running wile
logged in as root. If you do what it tells you to do on the Nvidia page
it will work. I have full 3D support on the system, and it seems to be
very stable. . I have xine-ui playing encrypted DVDs and Amarok works
very nicely with CDs and mp3s too. You will need to download some extra
files to get the DVD support. I'll let you know as things progress. For
now, I would say. “Job well done at Slackware”. NOTE: Slackware uses
KDE v3.5 (NOT GNOME) Sorry :(, and that's a good thing. It's very
stable. I noticed Slackware seems to stay on the conservative side when
it come to package versions that come with the distro. You can however
try to install any version of whatever you want from the Internet. Try
this site http://packages.slackware.it/
and you should do just fine. Or
just search the web and see what's out there. I do, and I find all
kinds of cool stuff. One more thing, install some extra fonts. The ones
that come with it are dull. Also you will need to tweak up Firefox, the
plugins that is... The extra fonts will make everything look just a bit
better too.
06/22/08
Slackware Linux... Well, where to begin. It's simple and clean. Runs on
the KDE aka K Desktop Environment. Installs clean with a text based
user interface. I think this distro is more suited for the old timers,
someone who knows a bit more about Linux to begin with. Other then
that, it's a very nice distro. If things keep going in the wrong
direction with openSUSE, I would consider this as a flavor to migrate
to. Also, the option to boot up from a USB stick was a breeze. Just
stuck a 1 gig stick ( that's the smallest you can use) in the front
slot and, PRESTO... I can boot from the stick by choosing it from the
BIOS boot menu. This option also works in fedora 8 (not so good in 9).
It's a great way to boot up different distros without trashing the
master boot sector of your hard drives. I also suggest using the live
Ubuntu CD to boot from and use Gnome Partition Editor to setup your
hard drives. DO NOT try to re-size an NTFS partition that has Windoze
on it. Also check with the documentation before messing with any
external USB or Fire Wire mass storage drive.
06/21/08
I CAN NOT in good conscious suggest an upgrade to openSUSE v.11.0. Why
you might ask? Well, it's not a stable release and I for one think it
is not a worthwhile step up. It has a lot of new cutting edge stuff in
it, however it is just not a stable running OS. So, if you are looking
for the latest and the greatest I would again, as I have said before,
go with Ubuntu v8.04 or, stick to openSUSE v10.3. Also don't use fedora
core 9 stick to 8. That is all...
06/20/08
If you ---------- Are thinking --------- Of ---------- Upgrading
---------- To ----------- openSUSE --------- v11.0 ------------------
DON'T ! ---------...
No, that's not the next movie I am going to see.
It's a suggestion to not upgrade to openSUSE v11.0.
That's it.
I am not going into details.
Just one word... ------
D O N ' T !!!
That said. I still like v10.3 and will keep using it.
06/11/2008
Well, only a few more days until the new openSUSE 11.0 is released. I
for one am going to wait just a bit to upgrade. I have two major
reasons for this. One, I don't think all the kinks will be ironed out
in time. For one thing the Nvidia driver is still buggy and needs a
hack to compile with the kernel. That in its self is a big reason for
me. The other is that the servers will most likely be bogged down for
quite some time with people trying to download. I have tried 11.0 RC1
a.k.a. Release Candidate One, and I think its very buggy. I can live
with 10.3 for a wile longer because it meets all my needs at this time.
Other distributions are ahead of the game already in some respects,
however I like openSUSE and see no need at this time to migrate to
another flavor of Linux just to get a few newer program versions, or
some eye candy I don't really need or use. So if your thinking of
upgrading to 11.0 and you are running 10.3 and it's working, I would
wait just a bit longer. Now, on the other hand if you think you might
want to change the flavor of the Linux you want to run, I would
strongly suggest Ubuntu v8.04. Yes it has some beta stuff and it has
some newer eye candy too. I think this versions is a bit more stable
then other cutting edge versions I have tried. My other version would
have to be Fedora core 8. Oh, you say why not 9. Well I tried 9 and I
think there are some issues that need to be addressed before I would
consider using it. The biggy for me is the way it seems to try to
wright to all the master boot records of my system even when I tell it
where to put grub. Even if I tell it NOT to install a boot manager it
will wright junk to the boot sectors of every drive on the system and
CRASH an NTFS drive. You might think all is well at first but after a
closer look you will find trouble. The only safe way I have found to
recover from this is to use fdsik /f from Windows, and it has to be an
NT version like 2000/XP/Vista... The fdisk utility in Linux
just
didn't cut it with NTFS. Maybe I didn't use it right. I don't know? I
know that if you are running a multi boot system and you want to
install fedora core 9 on it you should disconnect all other drives
first and install it as if it were the only OS on the system. This is
most likely the best way to setup any multi boot system. Why trash a
good USB or SCSI drive? Then use the BIOS boot menu to pick the hard
drive to boot from. Well that's it for now. Hope this helps out. I will
let you know if and when I do the update to 11.0. Next I'll touch on
why it might be a good idea to use a USB stick or an SD reader for your
Grub. In the mean time... Happy Linuxing :)
05/07/08
I had to do a clean install of openSuSE. Why you might ask? Well as
with any large OS you can get bogged down when you install too much
stuff. As with Windows, Linux systems also can get too big for no good
reason. If your system starts to act up The best thing to do sometimes
it to just start over. Be sure to back up all you important stuff. If
you are not sure how to save stuff like e-mail address books and book
marks you should read the help files that come with the software you
use. Other thing to back up are documents and pics as well as some
configuration files. Depending on the system you can pretty much
restore it back to the way it was before. It will be time consuming and
you will need to re-install the apps them self. But sometime it's all
worth it. I did and the system is running much faster now and
everything seems to be working again.
(Like, Totem in back on the xine back end. Really, stay away from
gstreamer as much as you can.)
If this seems like way too much for you to do, I would seek out a Pro.
Like Me! Really its worth the money to have some peace of
mind.
05/02/08
Well, the last XP only computer in the house is now a dual boot system.
I now have two openSuSE systems, one tri-boot (openSuSE, XP and Ubuntu,
that's my system) and one with only openSuSE, and now an XP/Ubuntu
system. I loaded Ubuntu 8.04 on it using the Windows install onto the
NTFS file system and it worked great. I had all the extras up and
running in about two hours. Full multimedia support and a few other
bells and whistles. I really like how fast it connects to the
repositories and loads up for software installations. It uses the
Debain system. Different from RPM but they work great too. This is as
of now my second choice in the Linux world. I can really see the appeal
it has and why it is one of the most popular versions out there. Hay
Ubuntu! Keep up the great work...
05/01/08
things are starting to look up with Ubuntu. I just found the site to
install the files to play DVDs. Here it is,
https://help.ubuntu.com/community/Medibuntu#head-57a5050d451985de1b87ea87a3ccc1a4895e57d3
Go here and it should be no time at all you are up and running with all
the so called restricted formats.
Gstreamer is handling the mov files and mp3s are working well with
lame. Ubuntu work very nice and I would tell anyone who wants to switch
to Linux to consider it.. I will however continue to use openSuSE. Just
a personal choice for me. Click here to see my Ubuntu Gnome
Desktop with Kaffeine running just fine :)
04/30/08
Well, I've installed Ubuntu v8.04 LTS and it went off without a hitch.
I use the option to install from inside Windows because I think a lot
of first time Linux users will feel OK with this option. It nests its
self on the NTFS drive as a file and boots up from a choice from the
Windows boot menu. The install was quick and easy. Very nice are the
first words that come to mind. Still having trouble with the restricted
formats. I guess it will be a wile before the copyright holders realize
it will be to their advantage to let people play copyrighted stuff on
their computers. I do, and all items I play were bought at a store, and
they made money off of me. I say. “Why should I have to buy a DVD
player or MP3 player if I use the Damn computer for that.” Just a
thought... Other then that its a nice alternative to Widows down the
road for most home and/or small business use, The biggest reason is
it's free . I will tinker with it a bit more and keep you all
posted on what I find. I Still prefer openSuSE. And I have tried 7
different distributions so far. Red hat, openSuSE, fedora, Ubuntu,
Debain, FreeBSD, and Solaris. Maybe more. They were all good. Some
easer then other to install and set up. These are the one I like the
most, in that order... The only reason I don't use Red hat is they want
too much money for it and I can't afford it. $179.00 USD per year to be
exact. Ouch!!! I'll stick to openSuSE, even if you buy it, it's only
$59.00 bucks and you are free to copy it and give it away to anyone you
like. And you never pay for updates on any open source versions. Fedora
and Ubuntu also fall into this category. FreeBSD does, but its a bit
different. Most others I've tried do this also but you might need to
pay for some stuff. It can get confusing with Linux when it comes to
support issues.
04/12/08
Here is something I thought you might like. This is a screen shot of
Windows v3.1 running in a dos box inside of Linux. Yes Windows 3.1 was
a dos app. I thought it was kind of cool... Click here to see
it
04/11/08
Well, where to start. I installed the
Gnome version
of fedora core 8 just to tinker a bit. OK you are now scratching your
head and wondering “What is fedora? It's another flavor of Linux. It
worked very well. Some of the inner workings were a bit different, but
that's why they are called flavors. I liked it very much. If you do not
like openSUSE (for the life of me I don't know why) or you have not yet
tried Linux this a great alternative to Windows. Hay look I have no
beef with Microsoft, it's just that I can't afford the price. I have 4
computers in my house and all but 1 has openSUSE on it. The cost of 1
copy of XP was $100.00 and that was an upgrade... The fact that Vista
is a complete flop is beside the point. Microsoft needs to come down on
their price or there will be a new influx of Linux users. And don't
even get started on all the extra software you need to buy just to get
things done. Sure there are pre-installed systems but you would be
surprised as to how many are try before you buy versions. Here is a
link to some software titles that can replace the Windows versions and
in some cases there are Windows version too so you can dual boot if you
like. http://www.linuxrsp.ru/win-lin-soft/table-eng.html
this link is a
bit out of date but I think you will get the idea... I'm going to try
Ubuntu next and will write what I think of that flavor. I'm sure it's
nice too.
Oh by the way I found out why totem will not work any more. Simple
answer... It's setup to use gstreamer as the back end now. How to
switch it back? I have not gotten there yet. I will post a work around
as soon I figure it out. If you know one please write to me.
wolfspider@bigfoot.com
It will work for incrypted DVDs if you use the
xine back end and have the correct codecs installed.
Read on.......
03/26/08
Getting DVDs to play in Linux...
This is an issue that many people are wondering about, so I thought I
would touch on it just a bit. First it is possible. You need to install
win32 codecs and some other stuff and you will have all the multi media
you can handle. Try this link for openSuSE users,
http://opensuse-community.org/Multimedia
pick eithe gnome or KDE and
install. Presto! Your system will now support DVDs and other stuff too.
One little glitch I ran into is this... Oh boy here it comes... Totem
is the default DVD player for gnome and it might be the only one that
DOES NOT WORK! Oh crap you say. Not to worry there are many other
players and all of them work on my system. So, if Totem crapes out try
theses...
xine (click here to learn more about xine)
kaffeine
codeine
Mplayer (not so sure of this one yet)
VLC media player
Kplayer
gnome Mplayer
SMPlayer
Starting to see a pattern here?
I use xine (cilck to see a screen shot on my desktop) and I like it a
lot. (gump) So, there it is. For what ever reason Totem will not work
on my system. It works on my son's computer just fine, it might work on
yours too. Might be the video card? Might not? But I can play DVDs, I
have full flash and java support in Firefox too. I can even play most
Internet videos using the Totem plug in... Go figure? So go to the link
on this page and fear not... Well that's it for this time... :-) Happy
Linuxing. Is that even a word?
02/18/08
Well. I installed a new NVidia card and the video is much
better.
I was using a 7300 SE chip set and found it to be a bit slow and it
would freeze up too. Now I have the 7600 GS and all is well. Much
faster and so far as of about three months now no freeze ups yet...
Keep the fingers crossed... :-)
02/18/08
Econtrol is the name of the latest syntax editor I am using
from
time to time. It is win32 based but runs just fine with wine. I
installed it in a native XP boot and then run the exe file with wine
from a launcher in Linux with gnome as the desktop. Go here
http://www.econtrol.ru/syntedit_demo_e.html and try it and let me know
what you think. I suspect it would install from wine as well. If you
have never used wine try this link http://www.winehq.org/
or
check your distribution for a package suitable for install to your
Linux setup. Other programs I have run with wine are: WinAmp and
Notepad, and I'm sure there are many others that will run using wine.
The best way is just try it and see. I have yet to crash the system
with wine. If it does start to use a lot of resources and bog the
system I just log off and then log back in... Well that's my latest
blog for now. Keep checking this page out for more tidbits as I think
of them. Oh ya. I almost forgot. I am still using openSUSE v10.3 and so
far so good. A lot a patches and three Kernel updates later and all
seem well... I say, GO FOR IT !!! The alpha of v11.0 is in the works.
Goto http://www.opensuse.org
if you dare and give it a spin. Please do
not install an alpha on a system that you depend on. even a so called
stable beta can give you a hard time...
01/29/08
I'm using KompoZer now. Whats that you say? Go here and check
it out http://www.kompozer.net/
I like it a lot (Gump?) and I think it dose a much cleaner job of
writing the source in the background... It does give you the option to
write the source your self and keep the page just the way you like it.
OpenOffice was writing some real trash code. Don't get me wrong OO.o is
cool and all but it's just not a good html editor.
10/31/07
OK, here is a tip I'm sure you might need. There are two
different versions of Banshee. There is Banshee and Helix Banshee.
What's the difference you might ask? Well a big one. Helix is a music
player in its self and uses the Banshee GUI. It is almost the same when
you use the Banshee GUI but there are some key differences. The most
important one I can see is the MP3 issue. Banshee by its self WILL NOT
rip CDs to MP3 format. Helix on the other hand does. So if you have
Banshee installed make sure it's using the Helix core. A sure way to
tell the difference in openSUSE v10.3 is the splash screen. Banshee is
Orange and Helix is Blue. To switch the versions go to Yast and see if
you have Banshee or Helix Banshee installed. If you have Banshee delete
it and install Helix Banshee. The two are incompatible with each other
so completely remove the one and select the other. I found the easy way
is to use the search. Just type the word banshee in it and it will pop
up.
10/30/07
OK. The system crashed. I'm not sure what happened. I let
someone
else use the computer and when I got on it, WHAM! I reinstalled clean
and now I'm back up and everything I want to work does. So, lesson
learned, If you have a system you depend on, "Don't let anyone else use
it". Now there's a quote for ya...
10/16/07
Well now. I have found a handy website to help you with
issues
that might come up with openSuSE and you might not have found a
solution to yet. goto
http://opensuse-community.org/Welcome_to_openSUSE-Community.org
and
check it out. I think you find this site most useful.
10/14/07
I have tried one more time to update to openSUSE v10.3... So
far so good.
I really suggest reading up on this OS as much as you can before
installing it. Even if you know Linux very well there are some major
changes to consider first. (example: /dev/hda is now /dev/sda) and
that's just the tip of the iceberg. The default directory for Gnome has
changed too. There is already a kernel update and some bug fixes. Lets
all keep our fingers crossed and see how this one plays out.
10/11/07
After messing around for a solid week I have rolled back to
openSUSE Linux v10.2... I know that v10.3 is much better in many ways
but for now I do have to say I think it was released too soon. It is
still a bit buggy. It has some real bugs in the X server and with other
things too. Just a suggestion, DO NOT upgrade, do a clean install and
do it on a box you don't have to depend on for critical work. I also
think you should have new hardware, no more then 6 months old. Other
then that I still like the openSUSE Linux flavor the best.
NOTE: I would read up on Linux as much as possible before taking the
plunge.
All material on this and my new page is © Copyright Joe D'Angelo. Any material NOT
© Copyright Joe D'Angelo IS clearly marked as such. If you think
something on this page is your material, please contact me joe@wolfspider.biz
and I will give credit where credit is due. The
material on this and my new page is offered as is. I can not and will not be held
responsible for anything that happens to you or your computer or
anything else for that matter as a result of reading and/or using the
suggestions on this page or any pages linked to this page. No matter
what happens to you, anyone you know or don't know, your stuff, or
anyone else's stuff, it's not my fault. All content on this page is
intended for educational use only and is in no way intended for any
other use implied or otherwise. If you don't like the content on this or my new page, don't read it!
Click her to goto my new blog page. Blog Page, Blog Page, Blog Page... Is there an echo in here?
It's
Only As Good As The
Code!