Hello all,

My story of how I have come to start using Linux is quite long I hope you'll bear with me, and possibly offer some suggestions. The laptop I am currently using is a Dell Inspiron E1505 that came with windows xp on it. Well, long story short, I got an "Unmountable boot volume" error on it, and after much deliberation I decided to reinstall windows rather then repair it (This was done in order to clean up the registery, etc. I had been meaning to do it for some time.)

After doing so, I was unable to successfully install the drivers and devices that came on a cd supplied by Dell. Getting frustrated, I decided to install Fedora 10 in place of Windows. My reasons for doing this were the following: 1) I am in school for a networking degree and a programming degree, and I know that Linux is something I will need to learn at some point- might as well get started now. 2) I've always been interested in Linux, and would really, enjoy working on some open-source software once I have enough knowledge. 3) Networking security is an area that I am also interested in learning more about, and again Linux reigns king in this area. The problem with Linux is, I am a gamer, which I realize is something that Linux is not so kind for. The main game I play is Diablo 2, and using Wine, I have been able to get it to work, though its not quite the same. I think I may be able to stick with it though. But I digress.

Let's just say that after I got Linux installed and began fooling around with it, I panicked and decided I would try Windows again. Well I put in the windows install cd, hit reboot, booted from cd, and....got a black screen after it said it was testing the hardware of my system. Did some research and it seems this is a common concern with Fedora. Tried to delete the main partion using fdisk, but that got me nowhere. Then I considered buying the parts and creating a new computer (I've wanted to do that anyway, was just waiting for the right time) but considering my current financial situation that wouldn't be wise. So I've decided that staying with Linux is the best solution for the time being.

However, that being said, there a myriad of things that are irritating me, and I hope that you guys can offer some suggestions . First of all, I use a Razor Copperhead mouse, which requires some software in order to configure. This software doesn't work with Linux, and I can't get the RazorTool program off of SourceForge to work, so it looks like a new mouse is in order. Another is I have no idea how to disable the touchpad on my laptop, and to be frank it is driving me crazy! The third problem has to do with my xbox. Using windows, I was able to create a network bridge that allowed me to connect my xbox to my laptop which is using wireless, and play that way. I have no idea how to do this in Linux. The fourth has to do with iTunes. I have a external hard drive filled with music, but no way to play it. Not to mention I have no idea how I'm going to update my ipod. This last one is the most alarming, and probably the highest on my concerns.

This is my story, my friends. I apologize for the long read but it felt good to tell it. Hoping to hear some suggestions and kind comments!

First, welcome to linuxquestions.org. I think you'll find that the people here are very knowledgeable and eager to help.

Second, what error messages are you getting when you try to install/use the RazorTool program from Sourceforge?

Third, don't be afraid to follow your intuition. As long as your data is backed up somewhere else, what's the worst that can happen?

Google and searching around here will give you answers to most questions. Welcome.

For the touchpad, you could use the Synaptics package to control and configure it. For iTunes there's Songbird and gtkpod.

can't this be disabled with the fn key ?
fn-F6

@moxieman: Thanks for the words of confidence . Google has been very helpful so far. When I download razortool, I extract the folder to my desktop then using the terminal I try to configure the folder. it gives me the following error:

configure: error: no acceptable C compiler found in $PATH
see config.log for more details.

I tried looking at the config.log but couldn't make heads or tails out of it. Thanks for your help .

@Nexus: Thanks, I haven't had a chance to investigate those but I appreciate your input.

@repo: That didn't work. I'll try investigating the synaptics package. Thank you though!

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Now that the intros are out of the way, how about you post your Razor problem (complete with error codes and such) in the Newbies forum? I just about live there.

Intro section sticky says that this is not the place for technical questions. Give your problem the exposure it deserves.