I've just installed Mandrake 10.1 and I have no idea what to do next. I have never used Linux before, and need some advice on how things work:

specifically
Wordprocessor?
Internet? I have a d-link wireless usb adapter.
Any suggestions or tips for starting out?


Regards,
Michael

Hi dustynus, welcome to lq. I'm guessing everything went well with the install? If so and you're at a nice gui then you might look through your menus from the start/k/foot button in the lower left corner of your display. If I'm wrong please enlighten us as to your situation.

There are plenty of apps to do word processing, I'd suggest Open Office.

How do you connect to the internet? What is the network topology? I'll give you a link to one of the best linux guides for newbies that I've had the pleasure of using.

http://linux-newbie.sunsite.dk/

good luck.

The installation was fine except that the only 1 of 3 disks did anything, when the installation asked me for the second disk , I put it in and it didn't like it and spit it back out. Same with the 3rd. So I don't know what happened there. I do have the Kde desktop running and have tried the openoffice program shown on the "start" menu. And it tried loading, then just ended it( it didn't do anything/it didn't work).

About the internet:
I am writing this through windows right now, because I can't configure my adapter in linux (don't know how).
Here is how I use the internet:

In windows, I used the D-link configuration tool or the windows tool to configure my network. One of my computers has a DSL modem hocked up to a router. Then my "linux" computer (this one) has a usb wireless adapter (d-link DWL-122) and I was using the internet signal through the router on the wireless network. The device works fine, I just have to configure it in linux. I don't know which program to do this with?(as I am guesing the D-link windows configuration tool doesn't work).

Regards,
Michael

For disks 2-3 spitting out, did you check the checksums against the official Mandrake website? Sounds like you may have bad CD's.

http://www.mandrakelinux.com/en/ftp.php3

The checksums are listed on this page, and your CD burning program should have a checksum routine. If not, we can find a checksum checker somewhere...

I'll look, but what is a "checksum"?

Regards,
Michael

I did download my cd images from that same mandrake download page. Do you know if it is normal for this to happen?

Regards,
Michael

Checksums are for error checking. there will be a checksum available from where you downloaded your iso. Run a checksum program on the iso and compare to the one provided by the mirror. If they are the same then the iso you downloaded has not been altered or corrupted.

For the adapter first check to see if Dlink has any linux drivers, they probably won't. If they don't use ndiswrapper which can be found at sourceforge.

How do I install, then use dnswrapper?

This should help.

http://ndiswrapper.sourceforge.net/phpwiki/index.php

good luck.

hi,

couple of points here -

the cd issue sounds strange - could indeed be flaky CD's. did the installer actually alert you, or continually ask for a particular CD? check those md5 sums on the files you downloaded; if OK, try burning a fresh set of CD's on a low speed setting...

open office not working also strange, but could be connected with your problems above - try opening a console window (a button for it should be to the bottom-left of your screen, looks like a computer monitor, or else on your K menu under system -> terminals -> konsole) and typing in 'ooffice' (without the quotes)... it might give a clue, which you can post back here.

ndiswrapper is available on your installation CD's, and that'll probably be the easiest way for you to install it, but first, i'd tackle the CD problem...

I'm going to make a new set of all three cd's. Because it might be the 1'st that is causing the problems. When it says... Insert disc 2, I put my disc 2 in, and it thinks for a bit, then just pops up again asking for cd 2 again. It does this also with cd 3. So I will make a new set, then let you know whats up.

Regards,
Michael

I re-dowloaded new copies of 10.1 and the install worked fine. But now I want to configure my usb wireless.
You said that ndiswrapper was on the cd's, but where can I access it?

Regards,
Michael

There is a lot of good software on the Mandrake CD's, which you can very easily install by using either urpmi or rpmdrake.

First, open a konsole and type in 'su', and then type in your root password when it requests it. Once you have successfully become root (on the command line the $ will change to a #) then type in 'rpmdrake'

When it loads, you will be able to see a list of software you can install directly from the CDs. It will also handle any dependencies (when one application replies on others being installed) and will install and configure the apps automatically

Iv never used ndiswrapper before, but hopefully doing the above will allow you to get it installed properly :]

hi,

the easiest way to administer your computer and add / remove software is to use the Mandrake Control Centre. Assuming you're in KDE, this can be found on the KDE menu under System -> Configuration -> Configure your computer.

You'll need to supply a 'root' password, then you should arrive at a screen with tabs down the left-hand side. You should see a tab labelled Software Management (or similar - I'm using Mandy 10.0 at the moment..) - click on that and you should see you can install / remove software from there..

When you go to install, you can search for the piece of software you're after - in this case, just search for 'ndiswrapper' and you should see results at the bottom of the list - then just select for install and away you go..

As for configuring wireless networking - I have absolutely no idea; I've never used it under Linux or Windows. If you get stuck, I'd recommend you search here first; if that doesn't turn anything up, it'd probably be better to re-post with a specific subject line..

Good luck and hope you enjoy using Linux - it's great!!