This is a semi-random collection of posts on nearly all things Slackware and Linux-related -- at least as I see it.
A few small configuration files. . .
My desktop computer doesn't need a lot of configuration, but my old IBM A22m Thinkpad does. Over the years I've found a few links to good information on setting up the laptop to do exactly what I want.
The first thing I need to do after installing a new version of Slackware is get my wireless card working. Here's how I do it:
First I download and install the Madwifi driver (from Alien Bob's site) to drive my D-Link wireless card with an Atheros chipset.
Then I set up/copy my wpa_supplicant.conf, rc.inet1.conf, and rc.wireless.conf files.
However, with a new installation of Slackware 13.1, I'm going to give wicd a try again. We'll see how it goes.
UPDATE:After I upgraded, I ended up not having to install the Atheros drivers or modify the various configuration files above. The drivers have been part of the kernel since Slackware 13, and Wicd is working fine without the manual configuration.
The next thing is getting the Thinkpad scroll button working. Here are instructions from Thinkwiki.org on that subject. Since Slackware 13.1 continues to use HAL, these instructions seem to work well for me:
After the upgrade, my laptop runs great! KDE is fast (for that computer) and very usable. I even left Strigi, Nepomuk, and Akonadi running and I'm not having any problems with them.
I had a small problem with Wicd, but an adjustment on my router has solved things. I needed to change the WEP settings so that the network wasn't hidden. It is still password protected (although not strongly). The problem with WICD and hidden SSIDs has come up a few times in the forum. I'm not sure if a solution has been found that works for everyone. However, the number of settings for wireless cards and routers means that there are a lot of variables to synchronize. I'm simply happy that things work right now.
The whole installation and post-install configuration took a couple of hours.
I've still got to make a HAL rule to get my Thinkpad scroll button working (a matter of minutes), and load some software (Frozen Bubble!).
I think I'm going to stick with Koffice for a bit and not load Open Office. I'll see how well it works.
My next task will be updating my desktop computer from Slackware64 13 to 13.1. I'll probably tackle that this weekend.
The first thing I need to do after installing a new version of Slackware is get my wireless card working. Here's how I do it:
First I download and install the Madwifi driver (from Alien Bob's site) to drive my D-Link wireless card with an Atheros chipset.
Then I set up/copy my wpa_supplicant.conf, rc.inet1.conf, and rc.wireless.conf files.
However, with a new installation of Slackware 13.1, I'm going to give wicd a try again. We'll see how it goes.
UPDATE:After I upgraded, I ended up not having to install the Atheros drivers or modify the various configuration files above. The drivers have been part of the kernel since Slackware 13, and Wicd is working fine without the manual configuration.
The next thing is getting the Thinkpad scroll button working. Here are instructions from Thinkwiki.org on that subject. Since Slackware 13.1 continues to use HAL, these instructions seem to work well for me:
Quote:
Hal (soon to be deprecated)
To accomplish this create the file /etc/hal/fdi/policy/mouse-wheel.fdi as root with the following content:
If you also want to have horizontal scrolling, simply add the following XAxisMapping option to the above
After this reboot, or restart the hal service and Xorg. You can validate the settings with lshal.
To accomplish this create the file /etc/hal/fdi/policy/mouse-wheel.fdi as root with the following content:
Code:
<match key="info.product" string="TPPS/2 IBM TrackPoint"> <merge key="input.x11_options.EmulateWheel" type="string">true</merge> <merge key="input.x11_options.EmulateWheelButton" type="string">2</merge> <merge key="input.x11_options.YAxisMapping" type="string">4 5</merge> <merge key="input.x11_options.Emulate3Buttons" type="string">true</merge> <merge key="input.x11_options.EmulateWheelTimeout" type="string">200</merge> </match>
Code:
<merge key="input.x11_options.XAxisMapping" type="string">6 7</merge>
I had a small problem with Wicd, but an adjustment on my router has solved things. I needed to change the WEP settings so that the network wasn't hidden. It is still password protected (although not strongly). The problem with WICD and hidden SSIDs has come up a few times in the forum. I'm not sure if a solution has been found that works for everyone. However, the number of settings for wireless cards and routers means that there are a lot of variables to synchronize. I'm simply happy that things work right now.
The whole installation and post-install configuration took a couple of hours.
I've still got to make a HAL rule to get my Thinkpad scroll button working (a matter of minutes), and load some software (Frozen Bubble!).
I think I'm going to stick with Koffice for a bit and not load Open Office. I'll see how well it works.
My next task will be updating my desktop computer from Slackware64 13 to 13.1. I'll probably tackle that this weekend.
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