Just installed Debian..
 

Just installed Debian and I've fixed some of my problems but I still have some left..

How can I stop X? I need to stop X to install the nvidia driver.. I know there's other ways of installing the driver using 3rd party installers or what ever but I'd prefer to do it the official way..

How can I allow all users to read my ntfs partition? I added

but I can't access it with my normal user..

How do I setup printers with debian in gnome?

How can I install windows fonts?

Everytime I modify my /etc/resolv.conf something changes it back to the wrong settings.. Is there a program I could use to set the values so that it won't change?

Thanks for any help any one can offer..

Edit: Just noticed it's also using the wrong keyboard map, how can I change that?

I can answer some:

1) To kill X, open a console and type "init 1" as root to go into single user mode and run the nvidia installation script. If you happen to use KDM, you can select "console login" and that will also kill X.

2) To install windows fonts: Follow the directions carefully on the dialog screens to download the fonts and make them available to X programs.

3) For printers, if you have CUPS installed, you can open a web browser and type: http://localhost:631/ to access the configuration utility.

4) To access ntfs partition try:

1. Nvidia driver won't install because it can't find the kernel source even though I installed it..

2. 3. In one browser it redirects me to google doing a keyword search for localhost and in another I get connection refused (running as user and root)

4. Worked! Although what does exec and umask=0222 actually do?

Edit: Are icons from my gnome menu supposed to be missing? Next to find files, help and home?

Edit 2: I've also noticed icons missing next to KDE menu items and when I run k3b from console I get a load of errors about kde icons missing.. Does anyone also know how to change the refresh rate the logon screen uses?

1.

1. As stated above, you need to instal the kernel headers for your kernel.

2. I don't know why the package isn't showing up. Make sure that you have "contrib" listed in sources.list. You should have a line like: The package page is here: http://packages.debian.org/testing/g.../msttcorefonts You can download the deb file and manually install it with dpkg, but you shouldn't have to I think.

3. Install cups: Then go to: http://localhost:631/ to add a printer.

4. I don't really know what the umask does exactly. It sets permissions somehow. I found it googling. You can read "man mount" to see the different options, but it is cryptic.

Done all what has been suggested and here's what I'm still stuck with:

Something is modifying my /etc/resolv.conf so is there a program I can use to enter values so it doesn't change?

Installed CUPS but it doesn't have my driver (which seems odd seen as every other distro I've tired does have my driver and I was using CUPS there).. I'm using a Canon S520..

Still can't install Nvidia driver.. It's one error after another.. So I'm gonna tackle the errors in order.. First error is that I'm in runlevel one when I should be in runlevel 3.. Is there anyway of getting to the command prompt without the X server in runlevel 3?

KDE icons are still missing and so are some on the applications menu in gnome..

Installed the fonts but they don't show up in the X server and I don't know how to make them show up..

The logon screen is still using a refresh rate of 84 which it shouldn't be.. How can I change this?

That's all for now.. It's looking like Debian might not be the right distro for me.. Problem after problem :(

It takes some time, but you will solve all problems (just keep asking). I also had many problems, and I solved them all. Don't despair! BTW what Debian version do you use? I tried the 'testing' distro and almost everything worked perfectly...

It's not too hard: when you create a new file, it gets a default protection. You can set which protection bits may never be set. For example:

umask 022

prohibits groups members and all other users to edit the file (write permission).

To log out of X entirely, you can remove (Midnight Commander is handy in such operations) the symlink S99xdm (or whatever you use to automatically start X) in /etc/rc3.d/, and then run (as root) from the command line "telinit 3". This should change the current runlevel to 2 (Debian defaults to runlevel 2; to change the default runlevel edit /etc/inittab).

Spontaneously changing resolv.conf suggests that you have configured your network connection to use dhcp. Post the contents of your /etc/network/interfaces if you want more detailed advices.

To ensure you've got all the packages that CUPS needs, run (as root) "aptitude --with-recommends install foomatic-bin cupsys-driver-gimpprint".

Debian is absolutely the easiest distro to maintain -- configuring the system is the tricky part. If you find Debian proper too difficult to configure, you should try some other distro that is based on Debian, like the free version of Libranet, or Mepis, or Kanotix. Just remember that no Linux distro is perfect. It doesn't matter which distro you'll choose -- you'll always find some annoyances (just like there's annoyances in MS Windows, too).

Try installining: And see if that gives you more drivers. On my system, I have a Canon S500 driver which should work with you S520 printer.

If you have $30 EUR, you can buy a driver also: http://www.turboprint.de/english.html

One more thing...

To ease into using Debian, I highly recommend Libranet. It is currently a free download and it 100% compatible with Debian. The setup will take care of lots of little things like Windows fonts, printer setup, network setup, etc. You will have a central system administration utility (called adminmenu) that is lacking on Debian. I use Libranet at work because I want a system that just works and is stable. I run Debian unstable at home to tinker with.

Is there a way to separate the Gnome menu system and the KDE one? That's why I have no icons next to things.. Because they are KDE apps.. For example, on my Applications menu it says find files.. Well why would I want that there when Search for files is in the other gnome menu anyway? So can I separate the menus or delete the KDE stuff from the gnome menu?

You can customize menus however you like. I don't use Gnome, but from what I remember, you right click on an item in the menu and select to remove it.

But if gnome and kde are sharing menus won't that also remove the kde stuff from the kde menus? That wouldn't be so great if I want to switch to kde for a change 1 day..

No, it will only remove it from the Gnome menu. It won't actually remove the application or affect KDE. It will just change what you see in Gnome.