Mixed bag of Newbie Queries.
 

Hello. Brand new to this forum, and likewise to Linux. I have just carried out a successful, if prolonged, installation of Opensuse 10.2 but have several questions I would like answered.
1.
I find that if I leave my PC unattended for a couple of minutes I am locked out and have to put in my password in order gain access. Is there any way in which this lockout time can be extended, or even removed?

2. What are the best settings for colours, etc. and how do I adjust them? Right now, everything on my desk top looks oversized.

3. Can I import my bookmarks from Windows into my current Firefox browser?

4. I have just installed some updates, and shortly afterwards my PC hung and I had to re-boot. Could there be a connection?

Sorry if this is a bit fragmented.
0rinoco

1. Yes, I am on Ubuntu right now but as far as I can remember it's just as easy on Suse: go to System > Preferences > Screensaver and disable the password option.

2. Probably the wrong screen resolution. Try adjusting from System > Preferences > Screen Resolution.

3. Sure. Launch Firefox under windows, select Bookmars > Organize > File > Export, save the resulting file to a shared partition (or a floppy, ...). Then do the same on Ubuntu but use Import instead of Export and give it the bookmarks file you saved.

4. Quite possible. Suse isn't the most reliable updater in my experience.

4. There are milion of reasons your computer can hang up by. don't think it's an effect of the updater.

Novell changed the default online update tool to Zen (zmd) which did have a few problems. I still find it very slow to synchronise stuff and because it also applies the updates it can appear to hang at times. However, best to check system and startup logs for errors.

Thanks for all the input. Very much appreciated.
0rinoco

How do I find System in order to start?

Ah, I think I can see what you mean. Suse uses a menu that is rather different from most distributions. It shouldn't be difficult to add the one that has the "System" submenu but that depends on your desktop. Are you using Gnome or KDE? If you are using Gnome, you can right-click on your the bottom panel, select "Add to panel" and then pick the Gnome menu from the Dialog Box. But screen resolutions should also be available from Control Center in both KDE and Gnome (which may again require that you first install a different menu).

On KDE its Menu - Applications - System - Configuration - Configure X-11 System

Thanks, Jay and Larry. I'm using KDE desktop, but after over 10 years of Windows I am having to relearn. Dozens of new terms, and a totally different way of doing many things. Is there a tutorial available which might help speed things up?
Regards.
0rinoco

I recommend reading this: http://linux.oneandoneis2.org/LNW.htm (Linux is Not Windows). good comparison article.
To learn Linux, you can do worse than read this: http://rute.2038bug.com/index.html.gz (Rute)

Thanks, Chris. Need all the help I can get. :)

Although you can use the KDE control centre etc, it's usually better to use YaST (it's off the System menu) to configure stuff as that's the SuSE admin tool. From there Hardware .. Graphics card and monitor will launch the tool (SaX2) that allows you to change monitor/resolution etc. It's quite possible to get a non-working graphics setup here which is why it asks you to test it before accepting. If the screen becomes unreadable then Ctrl-Alt-Backspace will kill the SaX2 window and get you back where you started. If you can find the SuSE documentation on your system that's very good, otherwise if you have a look at the opensuse.org site they have some pretty good articles there.

Thanks for the useful tips, Andrew. Very helpful.
Chris. Those links were very informative. Thanks again.
0rinoco.

When I used SuSe, I had problems with updates, especially when Novell moved to Zen. Now back to Slack, and manual updates, and end of problems!

You're welcome, they're prob 2 of the best for beginners to read, a comparison and then a 'this is how you do it'.
Of course this is just imho.. ;)

Making good progress, but still got a couple of problems. My screen resolution is now set at 1280 x 1024, but my display is still oversize. What is the considered optimum (if any) for these settings?
Thanks.
0rinoco

Depends on the specs of your monitor. You should find somewhere (even in the monitor box) the optimum screen resolution for it

Thanks, Matz. I have an Acer AL1512 TFT. I have just looked at the on-screen menu settings and it comes up with 800 x 600. Is that what I should set my resolution to?
Thanks
0rinoco

I found that 1024x768 should work right with this monitor.

Thanks for your suggestion, Matz. Tried those settings, but still no joy. I can live with it, but it would be nice to have a normal size screen. I'll hang on and hope someone can come up with a solution.
One thing I have noticed is that in Sax x2 Card and Monitor properties, the name of the designated monitor is Vesa. Is this significant?
0rinoco

Well, it could be. VESA implies that Sax isn't familiar with your type of monitor so it is using a generic denominator. I have an ACER 1951 and I get the same (although I haven't got any issues with screen resolution - as long as I install the proper videocard driver). This whole issue is quite typical of the previous generation of Linux distros.

By the way, can you post your xorg.conf? There's a chance that Sax has misconstrued the refresh rates, which can have an impact on screen resolution. To make a copy of xorg.conf to your home directory, just run this command from the terminal:

su -
[root password]
cat /etc/X11/xorg.conf > /home/[your username]/xorgconf

Thanks, Jay, but I'm an absolute tyro at Linux. This may sound a bit stupid, but could you be a little more detailed? For instance, 'Command from the terminal'. Where do I find the terminal?
Regards.
0rinoco.

It is accessible from the menu. Just look for "Terminal". I'm sorry, I can't be more precise because I'm not very familiar with KDE. Alternatively, you can use a virtual terminal (the one accessible from the menu is called a "terminal emulator"): press Ctrl + Alt + F1, enter
login: root
password: root password
Then execute the commands from my previous my post , log out (type exit + enter ) and return to KDE by pressing Alt + F7; the xorg.conf file should be in your home directory.

Hi, Jay. This is what I am putting in, but get the 'no such command' message,
linux-r0sa:~ # su-[password]cat/etc/X11/xorg.conf>/home[username]/xorgconf
Am I missing something?
Thanks.
0rinoco

Theres a space char after 'cat' . cat is the cmd, the rest is the filename to cat (dump to screen). Incidentally, you need to fill in your username where he wrote [username] without brackets ie sans [] eg:


Actually, he means
1. login as root:
su -
2. give root passwd
insertrootpasswdhere
3. copy file
cp /etc/X11/xorg.conf > /home/orinoco/xorgconf

change orinoco to your username on your system

Thanks, Chris. I didn't realise that there was a space and no brackets required. I'll try again. Also, just wondering if my screen size could be affected by the font used on my web-page, Times New Roman? Where can I find a list of the fonts which are available in Opensuse?

Screen resolution shouldn't have anything to do with fonts. I suspect it is simply a matter of incorrect monitor refresh rates (which is why I asked about your xorg.conf - that's where those rates are specified).

Font sets for Suse (and Linux in general?). There must be a few hundred but most aren't installed by default. Times New Roman is included in the msttcorefonts package; you'll need to set up third-party repositories first, though:

http://en.opensuse.org/YaST_package_repository

Thought I had posted this, but obviously not. I didn't realise that I could reduce the text size on my screen. Doing so has completely solved the problem. I feel a bit of an idiot after all the time you guys have spent trying to help me. Thanks anyway.
0rinoco

It's very helpful for me..........:cool:
I use of the Linux operating system.

James4too

Please avoid responding to old threads if you're not adding anything to them.