New to Linux probs...
 

I've only been using Linux (Mandrake 9.0) for a couple of days, so obviously I have a few little questions! (I have a bigger one but that'll go in a seperate posting).

First of all, in the 'menu editor', when adding shortcuts to programs, what does the "open in a terminal"? option mean. I notice that the pre-installed apps such as OpenOffice.org have this set by default, but why would I want it to run in a terminal?

Seondly, and I realise this will probably be specific to me:
Why are all the 3d games so slow? I have a 1.6Gb Athlon and 768 Mb RAM, GForce2 and I can't even play TuxRacer or the Ping-pong game! It just jitters. Mandrake Control Centre lists my 3d card correctly.

And lastly a really silly one:
Is there a way to move the whole desktop, other than using the buttons on my monitor? This may seem like a silly question, but I dual boot WinXP and Linux and in Linux the screen is off to the right of the monitor and I can't see the 'X's to close windows for example. In WinXP it is fine so I don't want to have to change the monitor's settings.

I realise these are all diverse and probably stupid questions, but I thought I'd ask anyway.

p.s. Other than these minor problems, I am enjoying learning about Linux.

You need to install the NVidia drivers, there are about a million posts around here for how to do that, have a little search.

Ok your new so I'll be nice..read this post and pay attention to the big post by membrax:
http://www.linuxquestions.org/questi...threadid=41180

I don't know if this will work for you, but back when I was dual booting I just changed the settings using the monitor controls, and each OS remembered them correctly. Maybe voodoo, maybe dumb luck, maybe it will work for you...

Welcome to Linux...

set your xfree86 to use the same refresh rate as windows
is using.

also if you run a program in a terminal, you can watch
the error messages easy, or just the messages.

Re: New to Linux probs...
 

If there's something wrong with a program and you want to see the messages, or if it doesn't fire up or even needs some command line options, then you'll want to run it from the terminal.

Quote:

Is there a way to move the whole desktop, other than using the buttons on my monitor?

Have a look at your file

more /etc/X11/XF86Config

These are the settings to get the X server up and running. You need to add a few things here under the "Monitor" section:

DisplaySize 1024 768
HSkew 15

The first is size of your screen in DPI. These are example values! The second is the number of pixels you want to skew the horizontal display. Try some negative and positive values. BUT

Before you tinker with a file, MAKE A BACKUP of it. This is just good practice, so:

cp /etc/X11R6/XF86Config /etc/X11R6/XF86Config.bak

to copy the current one to a backup copy (here I just suffixed it with .bak). Now you can mess with the file it uses to start up. If at any point you're lost,

cp /etc/X11R6/XF86Config.bak /etc/X11R6/XF86Config

will restore things. Have fun!

Bert

Thanks Bert, you've been really helpful. (I think).
I say "I think" because I don't want to try your suggestion yet, as:

A previous post said "set your xfree86 to use the same refresh rate as windows is using" so:
I went to the Mandrake Control Centre thingy and clicked on 'display [something]' then 'options', and it said "I can change it so XFree starts automatically every time" (or something similar). I said "OK!" as it seemed like I couldn't actually get any options until I did and now I can't get a GUI at all when I start my PC. I'm a bit stuck.

p.s. I do find this group extremely helpful.....

Good tip Bert, thanks.

Always learnin' something new...

Well, OK. But that stuff about always making a backup of you XF86Config, well often people forget so the system does it for you. Have a look in your /etc/X11/ directory.

Can you see two files, one called

XF86Config

and another called

XF86Config~

?

If so you're in luck. Do

cp XF86Config~ XF86Config

and your old version should be copied into the current one. Then you can tinker with the current one.

Bert

Right, so what happened was: I was trying to alter display settings so I clicked on options in the display settings bit of Mandrake Control Centre. When I rebooted there was only the command line and no more pretty, clicky KDE.

I have cd'd to the /etc/X11/ directory and copied XF86Config.old over XF86Config. rebooted and it's still only the command line on a black screen. I would like a desktop back, but how?!

Also, why did Bert say XF86Config would be in /etc/X11R6/, but later on say /etc/X11/ ? Is there a difference and what are they for?

Thanks.

I meant the X11 directory.

On the command line, try:

XFree86 -configure

And answer the questions it gives you.

I moved the screen with the buttons for linux & windows is still fine I can see the desltop fine in both OSs. I don't know how to in Mandrake, but in SuSE you can move the screen with SaX2. Probably in the graphics setup.

I ran XFree86 -configure and it didn't ask me any questions, but one of the last lines did say it was using /root/XF86Config.new. So I backed it up, then copied /etc/X11/XF86Config.old over it and rebooted. Still the same, so I replaced it with the original one.

Also, I didn't mention that just before the command prompt comes up, the monitor makes five click-click noises, like it's changing resolution.

I'm about ready to give up and reinstall, but I won't yet. I still want to know why clicking a button in the Mandrake Control Centre has meant I can't use a GUI!

The program XFree86 -configure rewrites the config file, and from what you've posted, you overwrote the new file. RUn XFree86 -configure again and copy it in the /etc/X11 directory:

cp XFree86Config.new XFree86Config

and you should have some sort of GUI.

I did:

log in as root;
XFree86 -configure;
cp XF86Config.new /etc/X11/XF86Config

Still five click-clicks and no GUI.

OK, can you post the output of:

more /etc/X11/XFree86Config

?

We'll get it working at low res, low colours etc. and move up.

t1mcooper:

whats going on here is that some changes have been
make to your xserver config file that your monitor cannot
handle. we're just trying to to find a simpler setting, that
allows your xserver to start. it's a fairly simple thing to do
and bert will probably have it working soon for you.
Don't give up and reinstall. You'll learn a bunch from this.
in linux the xfree server and the window manager
handle what you're thinking of as the gui.
the XF86config is the xserver config and all the other
config stuff you've messed with is stuff for window
managers and login managers and stuff. It will not
get all messed up from us telling you things to try
like windows would with a messed up registry.
the XFree86 -configure
command, creates a XF86config file that it expects
will work, but it will not overwrite your old one by
default, so you will not overwrite a working one by
accident.
In you /etc/X11 directory, there should now be several
XF86config files, all with different extensions. One of
them may be the original one that worked, but renamed
to a different name. maybe you can spot it by how old
it is with
ls -l /etc/X11/
maybe the oldest one is it.
XFree86 will use the config named XF86config unless
you specify for it to use a different one at the command
line when you start it.
if you put an XF86config file in your home directory,
that one will be used instead.

sorry, those should all be XF86Config, not XF86config.
it's case sensitive.