Just for the record, DSL does not use KDE. Been a while since I used it. DSL is a very good small live CD.

Now, if you want to fix the mouse problem, with DSL loaded, open a console. I'm not sure what one is made available in DSL. ( The nice thing about linux is choice; multiple desktops, different consoles etc...)

Go to the directory /etc/X11/ and look for the file xorg.conf. Open that file with a text editor. You will have to explore DSL to find one. I'm sure there is one there somewhere. Look at the section for the mouse, write down what is there. My guess is there will be about five lines. Now if you boot to the distro you want to fix, edit its /etc/X11/xorg.conf file to match. That process will fix your mouse troubles.

What you have discovered so far is, various distros do a better job at detecting hardware than others. This is a very complex task for any OS. It seems better in windoze, simply because if any manufacturer wants to sell their hardware, they have to make sure it works in windoze. So they make a driver to work in windoze. Linux is free, not made by manufacturing companies. Most of this stuff is made to work by volunteers, not looking for financial reward.

One other thing I saw in your posts, there is a way to verify your download is good, before you burn the ISO. Each ISO will have a file called md5sum associated with it. They can be found on the site where you downloaded the ISO from. That file is a complex algorithm of all data making up the file. For windoze there is a .exe program you can download. You run that program again the ISO. It will produce a md5sum of the ISO file you downloaded. If the one on the download site, and the one calculated on your system are equal, you have a good download. If not, download again, check again. There is a how-to if you want to try this out. Post if you want the link. I'll look it up for you.

Yes,...got the enter part. Konsole is what I am looking for.

I wonder what command Knoppix 3.7 and Damn Small Linux are using to make the system see both the PS/2 mouse and the touch pad without problems. Even if I knew, would I have to put it in every time I run Kubuntu, or could it be made a permanent part of my start up batch file? I am assuming it is called batch file even in Linux...

Very cool bro. this will help a lot I am sure. I will take a look at theis using Knosole. Way cool.

By the way, is it just me or does the penguin seem like it's watching?

Well, I am getting the hang of this a little.

There is no file named xorg.conf in /etc/X11 when either DSL or Knoppix GUI is running. All kinds of other cool stuff though.

By the way, X11 is case sensitive, one mild thing I don't like about Linux/Unix.

O.K. if you don't have a file called xorg.conf, you should have a file called XF86Config in the same path. This is the older file for configuring the gui, mouse keyboard, monitor and video card.

Open it and follow the information above. Yes linux is case sensative, so note how I typed the config file name.

I definitely do have this file. I was checking it out. It seemed like it might be a file that had something to do with this. I will certainly take a look at the differences. Thanks a lot. I will get back to you on this. What would be really cool is if I could save the text file to my jump drive. I can see the jump drive on my desk top, and look at files on it, but I can't save to it. Probably because it is formatted as fat32. I'll have to right it down I guess...

Ok

It was Xf86config on Knoppix, but it is xorg.conf in Kubuntu.

Kubuntu does not seem to have any basic editors on board, so I used Openoffice writer to add

Section "pointer"
Protocol "PS/2"
Device "/dev/mouse"
Emulate3Butttons
Emulate3Timeout 70
EndSection

to xorg.conf

But...I am unable to save it to /etc/X11, "acces denied".

I saved it to the desk top. Then tried to move it using a DOS command for moving, but it won't go (well! CD works, why shouldn't some others?) . How do I get it into the /etc/X11 directory? What is the command for moving stuff in linux/unix? Where can I go for a list of commands and what they do? Is there one on line that I can print?

Thanks

O.K. we are making progress, don't give up. All distros have editors available. Each distro will put them in the menu structure in different places. No big deal, you just have to look around.

Now, for the reason you could not save the edited file to /etc/X11. This is the first time you have run head long into permissions. At first this may seem like a pain, but it is one thing that makes linux more stable and secure. Files not in your home directory and in the system directories usually have an owner of 'root' and all other users probably don't have write access. There reason is simple, to prevent unfamiliar users from destroying a multi-user system. So how do you find out who owns a file, and what permissions does it carry. There are several ways, the one I use the most is the ls command with the -l parameter. Here is what it will look like.

I did a cd to /etc/X11 and on the first line typed the command. The response from the system is on the second line. Note the field -rw-rw-r-- These are the permissions for that file. There are 10 columns. The first has to do with the type of file. Don't worry about this field. The next 9 characters represent the permissions for user,group,other 3 characters per field.

So, the owner ( root ) can read 'r' write 'w' but nothing else like execute this file. The group root the same, and all other users read only.

If you opened up OO and edited the file, you are 'other', and therefore can not write the file.

So how do you get around this? Best way is to open the file as root user. When you log into konsole ( remember that? ) you first open as your username. You can then use the su command ( switch user). So, open a konsole, wait for the command prompt, type su and press the enter key. The system will prompt you for a password. You need to type the password you created for the root user. Careful here, these live CD's have different ways of looking after this. Check the documentation for the distro on the live CD's for the way they handle the root password. When you do an install, this is an option during the install. Always create a root password, and don't forget it.

Once you enter the root password, and press enter, the last character of the command prompt will change to a # character. It si a $ when you are logged in as a user. Now you have the power to edit this file, delete it or destroy the whole system; so be carful. It is always a good idea to create a backup of any file you are going to mess with. Do that by using the cp command. Here is a sample, to backup xorg.conf BEFORE you edit it, change to the directory, and do a 'cp xorg.conf xorg.conf.bkup' ( without the quotes). You will now have the original file, and a backup. If things get screwed up, do a 'cp xorg.conf.bkup xorg.conf' and you will write the .bkup file over the xorg.conf file. The system will ask you 'are you sure', you have to answer yes.

A list of commands can be found at :

http://wiki.linuxquestions.org/wiki/Commands

You can learn a lot about commands by reading the man pages. The best way is to open up konqueror. On the line where you usually type a URL, type 'man:/ls' and press enter. You will get the man page nicely formatted, and scrollable for the command ls. There is a lot of stuff you don't need to know, so look for what you need, and remember this is always there. You can also look at the man pages on a knosole. Type 'man ls' for the same information. It is not as pretty, and can not be scrolled. Use the up and down arrow keys to go up and down the file. Use the 'q' key to quit viewing the man page.

I think this is enough for now, see if you can make a copy and try some editing of the file. Let me know what you need help with.

This sounds like flying to me! One small problem may still be lurking (I will know soon enough when I try what you have suggested); that is, what might be the root pass-word? When Kubuntu is installing, it asks you to create a user name and pass-word. This is the pass-word I use whenever I boot Kubuntu; but will this be the same for root status? hmmm,

wonderful info - thanks

This should help greatly

Ubuntu and Kubuntu come without the root account active. You can use instead 'sudo command' You will still get a passord prompt, just enter your user password. That will give you root athority for one command at a time.

I found this a pain, and activated the root account and set a password. I'll see if I can find the information on how to do that and post it.

If you wan to activate the root account, this is how...

Enabling the root account

To enable the root account (i.e. set a password) use:

sudo passwd root

Enter your existing password
Enter password for root
Confirm password for root

This is all done in a konsole.

Just type

"sudo passwd root"

and enter?

I shall try it.

I also found this page at the Kubuntu site

https://wiki.kubuntu.com/RootSudo?ac...nableRootLogin

Let me go play and see what happens

Thanks so much

It is a matter of choice. The design in Ubuntu is to try an make the system more 'goof proof'. I find it a pain to have to keep typing sudo command. I was also trying to keep things as simple as possible, for your benefit. Linux can seem overwhelming to a new user.

Keep in mind this may not work on other distros. However, I have not run into a distro where you can not su to root. Since you were trying Knoppix as well, learning one new thing that would work on them all seemed to make sense.

K...

This worked...boy did it.

Let me take you on a little adventure.

First, it may be interesting to note; Knoppix will go to root simply by typing

su

I had to enter and re-enter a password for Kubuntu, fair enough.

You know what they say about being able to load Knoppix and fix things? so true.

Using Knoppix, I right clicked on the icon for my linux partition, which is hda3 on my machine. I looked at the properties, which said it was at

/ramdisk/hda3

but using a text editor, and viewing the file tree, it looked like it was at

/mnt/hda3

after much trial and error, I was able to

cd ../

and finally back into

/

and tried cd /mnt/hda3

bingo! then I was able to go to xorg.conf in my Kubuntu folder which is on hda3 at

/etc/X11

and do a

chmod 777 xorg.conf

now we are talking heh?

so now I open the little editor on-board with knoppix, and do a save-as of the xorg.conf file that I created with the new "section" for the mouse, which I created using Open Office.org write.....

ooops, now Kubuntu won't boot....

I used Knoppix to look at xorg.conf in the Kubuntu folder on hda3 again and found that the "write" program I used when I was in kubuntu had replaced the quotation marks with @ symbols and little tiny boxes,...nice.

So, I used the little text editor that comes with Knoppix to change these to quotes.

Now, I load again...still no PS/2 mouse, kubuntu is running at least.

So I try another "section" type string of sentences that I picked up from god knows where at this point.

Now I can't boot again.

SO, scratch kubuntu, I download the ISO for VextorLinux.

Load that, try to boot...scrambled images, flickering screen, no mouse or touch pad...nice.

So, I re-load kubuntu. This does run nicely I have to say, and I think it even has games but they have to be sort-of unlocked according to the documentation at the kubuntu site.

I may yet get the mouse to work too, but at this point, I will settle for mounting my hard drive partitions, and installing www and some games. I will go from there.

I am working on the mouse a little more tonight.

There really seems to be no reason why knoppix and dsl can do it and kubuntu can't....


By the way. Is there a way to do a

chmod 777

for the whole system at once instead of doing it per files?

There may well be a way, but I would highly recommend you do not do that. That would defeat a lot of the security and stability of your system.

You have learned a lot, I know linux has its frustrations at first, but stick with it. You will learn, and before long you will not have the need to do such drastic actions.