I have been using Linux for the better part of two years now and has settled on Debian Testing as my preferred distro. However, I am experiencing problems that I did not seem to have before... some related to Gnome (KDE is too slow on my machine), others to Debian and Linux in general:

1) No sound! User is part of the audio and video groups; alsa is installed... I get sound in KDE, not in Gnome;

2) Impossible to print with my HP 1020 printer, even using the drivers advocated at linux-printing.com;

3) Cannot get 3D acceleration on my ATI 9200 PRO (9250) 256 meg card (previous post stating this problem was http://www.linuxquestions.org/questi....php?t=445153; I never got an answer...)... and the "radeon" driver does not give me 3D. In all fairness though, I get this on all distributions and desktops, not just Debian and Gnome. I used to be able at least to get some slow 3D with the latter "radeon" driver before, but not anymore...

4) XFCE, which would be a good alternative, freezes on login...


So in short, Linux is great as long as I don't listen to music, print, play games, or want to have a generally responsive desktop. I used to do everything with Linux before, on the very same computer. Now, I have to go into Windows more and more... Am I alone in this or are others experiencing the same problems?

Sorry for the frustration... I just don't like the fact that I am forced to go back to Windows way too often.

I have certainly had issues with the HP1020 with Debian. I really tore my hair out! I couldn't persist with the torment and moved a couple of boxes over to Kubuntu Dapper. My printer problems went away. This is not to say that I have never had printer problems with (K)Ubuntu - I have.

go to console, run alsamixer.
go to dri.freedesktop.org, get a snapshot, dump fglrx, dump distro's driver

I know kprint seems broken write now but I was able to set up my computer to print using localhost:631