Multiple linux-newbie queries
 

Hi everyone,

After trialling linux on my pc that i hardly ever use, ive now gone and made the jump to install it on my laptop that i use religiously (dual booting at least until i get over my teething problems)

Theres quite a few questions i have though, that i'm sure many would be able to provide a simple answer. I figured instead of flooding this board with threads, i'd keep em all together. Just quote the part that contains the question you're answering :)

Thanks again (i found alot of help setting up a few things last time, which is why im back)

I'm using kubuntu so everyone knows.....

[/I] 3. Msn messenger? Kopete is alright, but is there any msn messenger alternative that people would recommend?

4. Dual booting - accessing linux drives from windows. Atm i cant... this is probably abit more complicated, but can anyone get me steered in the right direction? (i can access windows drives from linux thanks to help in another thread on this forum)

5. Currently using wireless assistant Lan Manager 0.5.5 to connect to my home network: a) is there any way of making it start and connect automatically? b) is there any better alternative that has more options? although i havent tried yet, i dont think it will work on my university network as their settings are much more detailed than those on my home network (involves entering "credentials - username/pass)

6. Any torrent programs better than KTorrent? (not that ktorrent is bad...)

7. laptop mouse/touch pad - in windows synaptic driver there is an option to allow the auto scroll to "coast" (i think thats wat they called it - automatically keep scrolling when i reach the bottom edge of the touch pad whilst scrolling). is there anyway to do this in linux?


at this stage thats pretty much it.... thanks for taking the time to read

1. Install codecs from mplayer.hq webpage. In most distros there are in w32codecs package you can easily install
2. Maybe gtk-gnutella ? AFAIR there is Limewire for Linux
6. Azureus maybe ?

And remember about Google !

4. I use ext2fsd to access Linux partitions from Win2K---works perfectly. (It is a driver that installs on Windows and causes all ext2/3 partitions to display as if they were regular Windows ones.)

Hi,

1- cfr previous answer. Keffeine can play a lot of format. You indeed have to install mplayer which usually solve the problem;
2- I have installed amule which works quite well;
3 - I like Kopete which is, to my opinion, the best so far;
6 - azureus is very nice with a very user-friendly GUI;

almost solved this one. got it playing everything except mpg (plays first 2 seconds then crashes with a signal 11?

5]-

I have wireless on my kubuntu laptop. It works brilliantly: It connects at boot, or even when I just turn my little wireless switch to "on". Not quite sure how this works (udev I suspect), but it is good!

The solution for me was to make by /etc/network/interfaces file look like this:

Once you have edited the file do:
sudo ifdown eth1
sudo ifup eth1

And you should be connected. Obviuosly, do not choose eth1 if that is not your wireless interface.

I can't help thinking that this thread might get quickly become completely chaotic - maybe in future, it's better to post different Qs as different threads. Then we can eventually say "Sorted, & closed".

thanks - thats helpful - what do i do for the address part if i use dhcp?

as for the thread getting messy i dont mind so much - lol as long as it helps me - ill be crossing out the answers that i've solved as i go along...

and btw, one thing with my wireless config atm is that i had to mount a samba share in order to be able to play the files in amarok. cause the wireless network isnt on when linux is booted, it doesnt auto mount (i do have it in fstab). will this be fixed if i get my wireless going the way uve suggested?

Another internet messenger you can use is Gaim.

yeah i tried that. wasnt much of a fan. kopete will have to do for now..

thanks :)

Make your /etc/network/interfaces look like this: