---HARDWARE INFO

Laptop:.............Averatec AV3225HS-20
Processor:..........AMD Athlon XP-M 2000+ / 1.67 GHz LV
Chipset:............VIA ProSavage KN400
Memory:.............512 MB - DDR SDRAM - PC2700 - 333 MHz
Hard Drive:.........40 GB
Display: Type 12.1" TFT active matrix
Resolution:.........1024 x 768
Graphics:...........VIA ProSavage KN400
Network:............Ethernet 10Base-T/100Base-TX - RJ-45
Audio:..............DirectSound, AC '97
Unit Size:..........10.6 in x 9.6 in x 1.2 in
Weight:.............4.2 lbs

---ORIGINAL STATUS

Came with Windows Home Edition (XP). After days of trying to connect to
the Internet via patch cord, i tried to put in a live CD (Slax) and see
what happened. What do ya know, connected perfectly. For some reason the
computer was assigned a 24.?.?.? IP Address when running windows. Anyway,
the OS was completely slow anyway! Maybe 7 min before up and running and
another 3 until the GUI was working. I went Linux a long time ago and the first thing i want to do to any computer is ERASE Windows. I'm not a
Linux expert, but have been on a computer every waking moment from when i was 11.

---THE INSTALL
So, I went to an FTP site for Mandriva 2008, copied the 'boot.iso' from the install disk directory, burned it to a CD, a re-booted. (after writing down the full FTP address to the rest of the files.) The install boot image loaded and i told it to install from the FTP. Clicked all the
software packages i could (except server.. do those afterward). After about 3 hours it was complete and i rebooted the computer. Everything went fine, almost all the processes passed, then it started to load
the display manager... and oops.. Couldn't find a display driver. Then
because its Mandriva, it pops up with a little GUI to help it find the
right driver. Hours of trying things went by with no Luck.
SO, I booted up the Live CD again and did the same ritual for Mandriva 2007.1 and unfortunately the same thing. Why i did not just smash the computer i don't know but i did not. Now i am the type that just
will just try every Distro available until one works. (at the time not knowing about anything beyond a GUI). SO! I did it again, this time Mandriva Linux 2007 (no .1) A couple hours (selected less packages). And BAM! what do ya know it worked.

---THE BUGS
Up and running. On the Internet. Noticed that there were some boot procs that were failing, simply went into the MCC (control center) and disabled the system services for them. Then noticed that the fan turned off on its own. (Which was cool) It had a AMD Power saving feature. But would over heat after a while and the whole computer would turn off. So i disabled that too.

- Broadcom Corp. - Wireless LAN Card - BCM94306 802.11g NIC

The Wireless card would not work. It recognized it but needed drivers
for it. Its a Broadcom driver, which is available for all there stuff in Linux. So i got the broadcom-wl-4.80.53.0.tar.bz2 and started to install it. And it wouldn't work, so i would try to install more library and packages that it said it needed. But no matter what i did it wouldn't compile. After a while stumbled crossed an application that would 'CUT OUT' the firmware (driver) files (.so) from the tar.bz2 file. It was called b43-fwcutter-011.tar.bz2 It is no longer available from what i know. Anyway it worked and copied them into the /usr/lib/firmware Dir. And whala , wireless a go go.

---THE SOFTWARE
I still download programs. I spent days and days just download everything
that was available through the package manager. Some of which would not work so i would uninstall them. Decided to use GNOME instead of KDE (was a little slow). Every single thing i ever need to do on a computer has
been accomplished, WITHOUT the need of Windows. I even downloaded the latest WINE (wine is not an emulator), so that i could run a SEGA GEN emulator for windows.
Besides every aspect of the GUI being stunningly custamizable, not only does the computer look cool, it works just as good.
It has survived prolly a 100 hard-boots (because the battery no longer works and so it only has AC, and it seems everyone always has to unplug it ether on accident or because there stupid). I have added, deleted, downloaded thousands of Gigs of stuff, burned a 1000 Cd's, let other people use it 100's of times, AND IT STILL RUNS EXACTLY THE WAY IT DID WHEN I FIRST INSTALLED IT.
3.5 min to login screen.
2 min shutdown
Everything is clean and runs smoothly. UNLIKE SOME OTHER OS I KNOW.

---THE END
So anyway maybe my story is stupid to you, or maybe its accomplished some stupid thing for someone, prolly not. I have learned tons and tons about Linux and hope to soon get a new computer and use a more sophisticated OS like Fedora.


+ LONG LIVE LINUX

IMHO, Mandriva is a most sophisticated distribution. I have used it since (nearly the start) late 1998. It proved to be new user friendly enough to let me learn about using Linux when I started using it. I have found it to be powerful enough for me as an experienced user.

My best suggestion is that when you get your new system, install Mandriva again (2008.1 Spring is the current release), then install VirtualBox (a VM software free for personal use). Install other distributions in the VM so you can try them out and see if any of them better meet your needs than Mandriva. If you find a distribution you like better than Mandriva, install it to your HD. If not, you already have Mandriva installed, and you will then know you have the best distribution to meet your needs.

HTH,

I have not spent much time into the VM (virtual machine) area, all i know of it is that its a way to run multiple OS's on a single machine. As for setting up a new machine, when i get it, i will do more homework on your suggestion. The reasons why i like Fedora is the packaging and dependency utilitys. (yum) I find that i have to compile a lot more stuff for Mandriva because RPM's normally only work if they are pre-built for Mandriva. And then if the package is not Mandriva then figuring out dependecys can be a real big headache. But on the other hand Fedora will not even play an MP3 -out-of-the-box. I will more than likely just use Mandriva, hopefully by the time i get enough money for a new computer they will come out with a fresh new release.

--POSITIVE REMARKS
I agree that Mandriva was a wonderful (maybe the only) GUI-user-friendly linux Dist. that provided the way for me to learn more about Linux. I enjoy learning things, my brain is like a sponge. So the past years of getting rid of Windows has been quite the adventure. I cant wait to get
and newer computer and go through the week-month longs process of installing the OS.

I recently helped a friend wipe his hard drive and install Fedora 8. Previously we had reinstalled windows 3 times to try to fix problums that were unknown in origin. At the end somehow a massive amount of spyware got its way with it and it was back to crap in a few hours. So i told him to go linux and he has never been happier. Of cource theres lots of things i do not know about Fedora, like how to make it burn a music CD with mp3's. (installed mp3 support 'FFMPEG', but what the f?!) He could care less though, he loves the idea that when he turns on his computer 2 years from now, it will still run perfectly. Its gonna take some time to get it really prefect, but you know what i mean.

--QUESTIONS

I inquire to know more about WINE if anyone has any information. I use it now and wait for better releases. What would be the best attack at keeping all the 'good stuff' from the factory windows files (that will come on the new computer)? Is there a reason to save any of it for WINE? As i said before i have no intention of needing anything non-linux ever agin, but some things (like a Nintendo 64 emulator) that are not very stable on Linux would be nice to run. Also i have a passion for MUD'ing, and there is NO good mud clients for Linux (that do not require in depth coding knowledge. I suppose i could also just wait for updates on WINE that might provide more functional uses tword the windows programs i want to run. All i know of it is that you can use native windows 'dll'-s in WINE.
-just a few questions if anyone has any responses or storys about what they did. Thanks.

--The END
So anyway, if anyone is wondering 'WHY LINUX' or 'HOW TO LINUX' then goto www.linuxquestions.org goto DOWNLOAD LINUX , jump to MANDRIVA, and start a new demension of Computer Usage.
Thats all for now, ta ta!

--LONG LIVE GNU

Hi, I'm glad you have setup mandriva successfully.

I to have been on a path away from M$ windows since 2001. And have got to a point of winxp is there (if I need it) but I rarely boot it up.

I'm not sure what MUD'ing is (messaging?), but I have seen a mud client, check the contrib repos.

Maybe you have tried it already.

Most dll's are usable in wine, there is a dll registration process you need to know, for when you add a dll to the library.

To burn mp3 to cd I use K3B. (kde) Fedora has drm which may complicate the issue.

I (no offence intended) have found LQ repos for mandiva to be a bit behind and I usually get the latest release for Mandriva from official sources.

If you have plenty of HD space, use VirtualBox (not the ose version, for enterprise) and play around with almost any other OS you like.

Cheers, Glenn

THE ONLY prob i have ever had with Mandriva is this:
It will not mount or recognize usb memory sticks.
It will not hotplug them or if i insert them before i boot.
Do i add them some how to the fstab?
It is annoying but really the only problum i have ever had. I usually just use Slax to get stuff on/off the mem sticks.
-Thanks if you can help

# Entry for /dev/sdc1 :
UUID=D8EF-EB4A /media/GLENNSFLASH vfat defaults,umask=0 0 0

This is my entry for my flashdrive (/etc/fstab), It hot plugs but is only accessable to root.

try that, it may save you time.

Cheers, Glenn

Yeah so i did add a line with the same as your fstab for usb mount and it produced all kinds of errors, the system wouldnt even boot! i imagine i did something wrong.. is that exactly what it should look like
what is the uuid stuff? shouldn't the line start out /dev/sdc1 ... sdc1 is not a valid device when i try to cfdisk any usb stick, sda sdc sdd .. none are found... its not that big of a problum, im not too worried about it, but i suppose i can check the forms too see if anyone else has had this prob. Thanks ALOT Glenn -- i appreciate all your help

Hi, there are a few different formats for naming filesystems in fstab.

When i had mandriva 2008.0 it was listed like this...


/dev/sdc1 /media/GLENNSFLASH vfat defaults,umask=0 0 0

as it is and was then I can only mount it as root, but 2008.1 uses the uuid's.

My other machine auto mounts as soon as I plug it in. same OS and version.

You could check(after plugging the flash in.) /etc/mtab to see if there is an entry there for it.

It may reveal some clues, don't edit mtab, just copy the line for the flashdrive, and see if it works in fstab.

sorry I crashed your system, you could also try lsusb (cli), as root to see if it is listed.

I have two sata harddrives, sda and sdb. my phone is sdd, and the flash is sdc.

My cdrw is hdb and dvdrw is hda,

see how you go. (yes there are other posts)

regards, Glenn

On this machine (in the kitchen) the same usb flash drive is not listed in fstab,

But mtab gives it as...

/dev/sdc1 /media/GLENNSFLASH vfat rw,nosuid,nodev,noatime,uhelper=hal,flush,uid=500,utf8,shortname=lower 0 0

On this system, though "Backup snapshots" (green disk in system tray) auto loads the flashdrive as a backup device automatically. Go figure! I did not set this up.

[root@GateBox glenn]# lsusb
Bus 001 Device 002: ID 0781:7113 SanDisk Corp. Cruzer Micro 256MB Flash Drive
Bus 001 Device 001: ID 0000:0000
Bus 003 Device 001: ID 0000:0000
Bus 002 Device 001: ID 0000:0000
[root@GateBox glenn]#

All,
Mandriva 2007 is the best desktop OS of all systems ! 15 years of humble experience.

Make sure you create the directory /media/GLEN.... (whatever you call your flash drive).