Some little newbie questions
 

Ok, lets just say i'm totally new at Linux environments...but hey, it's never too late !

So i installed SuSe 9.1 along Windows, and no problems so far, both of them work pretty fine (if we can say 'fine' for windows...). I had to set up all the partitioning part by my self, coz i didnt like the automatic proposal of Yast.

After everything was configured i booted into SuSe and i noticed my Mount Points were not mounted, altough i asked Yast to mount my windows partitions at /windows/x. So i started Yast from the control center, started the partitioner tool and set up my mount points again. Now i can access my windows partition but ONLY trough the Super User File Browser, or by login in as 'su' in the terminal. So here comes my first question: How do i change permissions of my user so that he can browse the partitions? (I already tried to unmount and to re-mount with mount -r /dev/hda1 /windows/x to give read permissions but still no result)


Question 2

Whats the difference between KDE 3.2.1 en GNOME ? I think i'm using KDE 3.2.1, but how do i change it to GNOME and why should i do that ?

Question 3

What commands do i need to install a program compressed in a .tar.gz ? Or can i do that trough a GUI ?
I found how to install the suggested packages (like FireFox & OpenOffice) but what if i wanna install some others wich are not on the list ?

Question 4

How can i change the SuSe icon of the KDE menu (green one, completely on the left) ? I found how to change all the icons on SuSe, except that one !

Question 5

How do i put an icon on my desktop ?

Question 6

Is it possible to change the whole theme/appearance of KDE ? If so, how should i do that


I guess i will have a lot of other question after that but lets start with those.

Thx a lot for your help folks


Breex


:newbie: power

GNOME is a window manager, similar to KDE, but is totally different. To findo out about GNOME, go to the GNOME website.

As for KDE themes, they can be changed from the KDE control panel (kcontrol) -> Appearance and Themes -> Styles. You can also change icons themes, window decoration etc. There are some very good themes available from KDE-Look.org.

To put icons on a desktop, right click on an empty space on your desktop, select "create new" -> File -> Link to application. You can also drag an icon from the Kmenu onto the desktop and when asked what you want to do, choose "copy here".

I know the Suse button can be changed but don't know how to do it, a google search maybe helpful to you.

To install tar.gz, you extract the package then do
./configure
make
and then as root do
make install
You need to read the installation files first coz not all packages use this format for installation.

ok , and what about my permissions issue ?

can you post your fstab? it's in /etc/fstab and that will give us an idea of how to help you...usually they're there with suse, it's just a matter of changing the settings a bit, such as instead of "default" use something like "umask=0222"

> ok , and what about my permissions issue ?

Learn about "chmod" (i.e., man chmod). You need to give
executable permission (unless the installer did it already).
I.e.,

chmod +x <executable>
./<executable>

(Btw, most executables have no extension, i.e., no *.exe
like window executables)

Sheng-Chieh

Hi, I am also new to susi 9.1, I unfortunately have a problem, You can boot with windows xp fine?

Do you use the suse 9.1 boot menu?

Just wondering, not to change the subject, I am having some unfortunate problems, Derek

You are supposed to select the one you prefer at boot time with your keyboard and press enter. The one thats default will boot automatically if you don't make a selection. Do you get any errors when you try to select Suse? If so can you post them.

@ detpenguin:

my fstab
so as you can see, my windows partitions are mounted, but i can only access them through the Super User File manager.


@ shengchieh:

in know chmod, but i don't think i could use it in this case, coz i have to set permissions on a partition, not on an executable.


@ somedude88

Yes i'm using suse boot menu (yast) and everything goes fine.

Q4: If you mean the start button I'm not sure you can do it from the GUI. It's the link kmenu.png in /usr/share/icons/<theme>/<size>/apps. Make it point to some other .png file with ln -s and restart KDE.

for dev/hda1, change "user" to "umask=0222"
for the rest, change "defaults" to "umask=0222"

and you should be able to then access them from your user account...

An example of a working fstab entry from my machine...

/dev/hda1 /mnt/hda1 vfat rw,users,auto,exec,sync,umask=000 0 0

From what I understand, windows fs do not understand unix permissions, and should always be mounted umask=000, the rw gives read/write acess, users allows anyone access rather than just the user that mounted it, exec gives executable access (for wine, etc).
Note the s on users and the rw entry.
Hope it helps.

Ok thx m8's

i solved it with the rw,users,auto,exec,sync,umask=000 options

I got 2 more questions :D and 2 lil problems

Q1b:
what about wine ? Does it really work ? i tried to launch some .exe files from my windows' program files with "winelauncher", but non of them worked ! Is there another way to do this ?

Q2b:
How to change the whole theme of suse ? I found how to change everything else (style, window decoration, icons etc...) but no Theme !! (what i'm trying to do is to have the panel look like the one in the Bagira 0.6a Theme -> check out here )


PROB1:
I receive this error when launching ./configure (to install Amarok - a media player)
altough i have gcc and libstdc++-devel....


PROB2:
After i added the FireFox shortcut to the internet section of the KMENU, the system added each existing element again. So now i have 2 "Administration", 2 "Chat", 2 "Create Webpages", ... options. It's not very important, but maybe someone already has had the same problem.

Thx 4 your help

?

Since you're new to Linux I would suggest you try codeweaver's Crossover office to run your windows program under Linux. Of course if you can find a linux equivalent that'll be the best things to do, but if you're stuck, crossover office is newbie-friendly and works great. It is based on wine but it fixes most of the problem you might encouter with wine.
I'm forced to use Microsoft office, Lotus Notes and other win-only programs at work and crossover office saved me from MS-windoze.

Note that it cost $39 (you can download an 1-month evaluation version) but this little price might be worth it if it saves you hours of wine tinkering

check it out here ==> http://www.codeweavers.com/

Also fairly new i.e have installed a number of distros but have had a variety of probs.

I have just installed Susi 8.1 cos I could'nt find 9.1 to download. The installation went well as a duel boot with XP however on installation I had to asign the serial mous as my other optical mouse died this gave me access through out the installation but at final process I lost the mouse. I'm assuming that the configuration has changed so that now when the desktop is finalised the mouse is inactive but as other programes are open I cannot gain access to identify where the properties are in order to change back to serial mouse. Thats my first problem how to access and install the mouse.

My second problem is on OS setup I was told the network could not be set up or something along thouse lines it gave me this error report

etho device: via technologies, inc vt6102 (Rhine-11) (Rev

etho configoration: eth-id-00:0e: a6:7c:ca:5e

DHCP Client is already running on etho


I'm assuming this last part is refaring to the network being connected in XP

Any thoughts on how to sort this?

As ideot simple as posible please.