Hi ... i am like the worst newbie you will ever find ... my brother is very good at linux but the problem is he is not here and told me to post here as he learnt most of his stuff reading here ...

I have just started learning RH 9 (using Gnome) ... have some misc. questions ... please guide ...

1) I saw somebody's post on using Mplayer for Mp3 playing on RH but when i click on the mplayer rpm ... it just says "processing headers" and then the window goes away ... where did the file go and where did it install? Also the default Media Player doesn't play mp3z ... i installed an rpm which someone had suggested (here in some thread) but it too just ran for 1 sec and did nothing ...

2) Whenever i install any rpm, it works by itself ... can't i instruct where to install it ? btw, where does all the files install by default ?

3) How Does on switch from Gnome to KDE, i type startx and Gnome starts ...

4) How do i play mp3 files on Gone ...

5) How do i install my DSL modem on Linux, its brand is Xentrix


i know these are different questions but i felt these are too simple to be asked in separate threads ...


i really appreciate your help ... thanks a ton ...

hi,
the rpm's install to locations you can't controll in keeping with the distributions file structure.

to view where the installed files are use
rpm -l <packageName>
packageName is the installed rpm minus the .i386.rpm stuff i think
(i don't use rpms so i'm not sure -- just play with it)

long version
rpm --list

use
rpm --help
to learn more

to switch to KDE find what hidden file in your home directory is calling GNOME
possibly .xsessions or .xinitrc
ls -a
to see the hidden files
backup the one that starts GNOME with something like
cp .xsession xsessionGNOME
then open the file and change the line
exec gnome-session
to
exec startkde

there are lots and lots of mp3 encoders and mp3 media players for Linux
i think xmms is a player alot of people use that might be close to what you are used to.
i can't really comment on the specifics cause i am using FLAC lossless encoding and playing the files with
rhythmbox....
ripping with grip
the FLAC sound quality is way beyond mp3 if you want to check it out