hi all, i think my tittle says it all.. . i did check out similar threads but i'm NEW to linux-----i don't get the lingo---so pls start from the beginning!!

i got my eeepc for free and linux was installed on it---all i NEED to do i update my flash player!!! and i can't figure out how to do that. but i think the first step in knowing which version of linux i have so i can install the correct plash player--right? :s

this is what i get when i look up "uname -a: Linux asus-250843324 2.6.21.4-eeepc #2 Mon Oct 15 12:49:37 EDT 2007 i686 GNU/Linux"

this is what i get when i type in "uname -r:2.6.21.4-eeepc"

none of which tells me which plash player i need to get: unbunto? or that deb thing. .. etc. . .

please help---i can't watch videos w/out them lagging like 2 mins behind the audio!!

Thanks in advance!
-M.

As far as I can remember, this looks like the original version of the customised Xandros distribution the device originally came with. But that won't matter much - if the newest version of Flash is not in the software repositories, you'll have to install it by hand.

Anyway, it's not that hard to install a (newer) version of Flash. If or if not this involves removing the actual version remains to be seen (if this should be the case, there's a software management tool to use for uninstalling the present copy). It's probably safer to first remove the present version/package, but check first if you can get it back if need be.

Then do the following:
1) Go to Adobe's website.
2) Download the latest Flash Player for Linux. It comes as an archive (.tar.gz)
3) Open a file manager window and navigate to the place where you downloaded the archive to.
4) Extract the archive.
5) Read the instructions.
6) Open a terminal. You will have to become root (maybe by using sudo).
7) Navigate to the place where you extracted the archive to (cd is your tool...)
8) Follow instructions (it involves typing a short command, maybe some editing and copying). You should end up with working Flash.

M.

ok--i've downloaded the tar.gz file----tried to extract and it keeps asking me what file to open it w/


i opened the shell console--but i don't know what to type in!

Maria,

You'll find lots of linux HOWTOs and tutorials specially for the eee range of PCs here:
http://wiki.eeeuser.com/ and here http://forum.eeeuser.com/

Many people end up replacing Xandros (the default linux) with something else (I am happily running kubuntu on my eee 701, with an extra 16GB of memory card plugged in).

Have fun!

Hi,

Welcome to LQ!

You seem to need some help with learning GNU/Linux. I suggest these links to aid you;

Linux Documentation Project
Rute Tutorial & Exposition
Linux Command Guide
Utimate Linux Newbie Guide
LinuxSelfHelp
Getting Started with Linux
Advanced Bash-Scripting Guide

These links and others can be found at 'Slackware-Links'. More than just Slackware® links!

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I'm sorry that you are getting attitude instead of answers. Yes, you have some homework to do and there are plenty of sources for reading and self directed study. However, right now you want to use what you have and so you ask folks whom you hope are helpful experts.

What you have is a "compressed archive" -- something.tar.gz. It could also be something.tgz. In general we call these "tar balls" regardless of which utilities get used to make the archive. They are the same thing.

• tar -- takes lots of files and folders, makes a copy, and stores them into a single container file
• gzip -- takes the container file and compresses the empty space to make the file physically smaller

Given a file, something.tar.gz here is what you do with it.
NOTICE that the code-block has a scroll bar at bottom and right.
Tar will create any folders needed in your work folder, someName, and put all of the archive contents into those folders.

cd tarFolder1 look for files named INSTALL or README; look for folders named doc or similar; you will almost always find instructions about what to do next.

You will need to become the root user with sudo or su or a root login to accomplish the actual software install. The root user is similar to the Administrator user on windows.

I hope this is helpful,
~~~ 0;-Dan
[/code]

1 members found this post helpful.

Hi,

There's no attitude by giving the OP sites that will aid. There is some responsibility on a user to understand what is necessary to get or complete tasks. The OP knowing general information that may aid all who attempt to aid the OP. Terminology, lingo or just plain teach speak may confuse some so there must be a base for discussion/understanding so the OP will be able to complete what is suggested.

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THX!! tho there was no attitude----i appreciate that u UNDERSTOOD why i posted my q' in the 1st place! lol

that being said----i've decided to jus bring it to sum1 who knows how to work w/ linux----it's too overwhelming, and i am usually not such a chicken about learning sumthing new----but my laptop broke and i had this one so i started to use it----n now i need to update stupid flash player and it's taking too much of my life to just simply update a player!!

thx for the encouragement. . .ur post gave me hope!

Thank you Maria. Absolutely correct.

Isn't it absurd, that old fashioned, obsolete, truly miserable windows98 allows one to EFFORTLESSLY install anything from Flash Player, to Ad-Aware, with a simple click of the mouse.

ONE click, that's it.

Why is it necessary to jump through hoops, as though we are all still living in 1966, working at Bell Labs, using a DEC PDP computer?

What none of the respondents above, seem to realize, is that just the "simple" operation of "opening up a terminal" is counterintuitive, mysterious, and frankly, disingenuous.

Here's an EXCELLENT response, but still, as excellent as it was, WAY over the head of someone just starting out:

I know that you meant well, Saint Dan, and you did give a truly marvelous response. You just don't seem to understand that a true beginner hasn't a clue about files, directories, superusers, and all of the other paraphernalia from the 1960's....

For you, all of these ideas, including permissions, logins, editing commands, all the rest, for you, it is obvious. Imagine trying to explain to one who has never driven an automobile, and never ridden in one either, why one is obliged to stop for a red light, but not for a green light. What? You think people emerge from the womb with that knowledge?

One practical aspect of employing a graphical user interface is that the user is insulated from all of that nonsensical infrastructure, just as you, as driver of your automobile, don't have to stop at each intersection, and punch in a code at a location 50 meters from the road, in order to get the light to change from red to green. The infrastructure operating the roadway is completely opaque to the user, i.e. the user, in order to operate his/her vehicle safely, need have absolutely no knowledge whatsoever, about the electrical conduits running under the pavement, controlling those lights.

When people write, as Saint Dan did:
do they realize that not every person USING Linux seeks to become fluent in unix lingo? Some of us want to know as much about Linux, as you know, Saint Dan, about the methods used by the city to purify your drinking water. We turn on the faucet. Water emerges. We use it. End of story. We don't need to read about Bernoulli. We do not need to bone up on hydrodynamics. We don't care a whit about Poiseuille.

What is needed, is NOT a recommendation to start reading. What is needed is for someone, or some group, to design a PROPER operating system, one which does not demand that users engage in plenty of reading and "self directed study", in order to install flash player, or any other application. Do you require an Appellate Court Order, to operate the radio in your automobile?

I will be waiting for you at the next intersection, Saint Dan, to ensure your compliance in stopping your vehicle, parking it, walking 50 paces to the terminal, and logging in with your proper identification (displayed prominently in a manner suitable for the video camera to record,) as you request a green light.

Linux is defective. Stop blaming the users for its inadequacies. It is not 1968. Compared with thirty or forty years ago, $10 for DRAM garners not 0.1 megabyte but rather 1000 megabytes (ten thousand fold improvement.) Cpu's typically run at one to four gigahertz not one to four megahertz (one thousand fold improvement). Do we see even a two fold improvement in the operating system software, when compared with thirty or forty years ago???

No. If anything, software has become so bloated, swollen, and intertwined, that one has no idea how things are working.
http://www.linuxquestions.org/questions/linux-newbie-8/screen-resolution-problem-under-xfce-on-linux-mint-759315/#post3719654


Regards,

CAI ENG

1 members found this post helpful.

Hi,

There is nothing wrong with providing someone with links or references to enlighten the poster. There is some responsibility for one to attempt to understand and then they may enable themselves the means to communicate or even provide a path to fully understanding the matter at hand. This politically correctness (PC) world doesn't have to be spoon fed in order for one to get things done. Sure we don't instantly start walking as a infant but are aided by encouragement from someone.

No one is stopping you from designing the next great OS but your bloviating is impeding! Your argument by associating equipment comparison of earlier times vs the software is not even close. Sure things have gotten out of hand with bloated software due to laziness on designers part. But the hardware sure cannot be compared.

Sure GUI-fied software should do the intended job but that is part of the problem. Hold my hand while we jump through loops by the authors doesn't explain nor provide a intrinsic means for the user. Thus the users are lost whenever there's a problem that the API/GUI doesn't know how to handle that the author didn't weigh beforehand.

Your analogy with the stoplight is absurd. Even without controllers the functionality was there using switch laddering. Just not as efficient as today's networked/independent controllers.

Your rant didn't aid the OP but it did provide me with some laughs.

Something no one has pointed out is the the Eee PC ships with a version of Linux that they do not intend you to modify. It's sold as an appliance. You use what's already installed. It's a very customised and cut down version of Linux. Adding anything new or changing things is more difficult than it might otherwise be because they do not intend for you to do that. You should not look at the Linux that ships on an Eee PC and think that's representative of Linux. What you get when you buy an Eee PC is very different to what you would get if you downloaded and installed a version of Linux such as Ubuntu, openSUSE or Fedora.

This sounds very much like the hardware is not powerful enough to handle the video you're trying to watch. I doubt updating Flash will help.

To check the distro & kernel versions:

$ cat /etc/issue
$ cat /etc/issue.net
$ cat /etc/redhat-release
$ cat /proc/version
$ uname -a
$ uname -r

Enjoy!