So I've finished installing Mandrake, but I've got two major problems now.

1) Resolution can't be changed. KDE allows me to choose the resolutions (i.e. from 800x600 to 1024x768, etc.), but it doesn't work as expected. It doesn't actually change the size of the items on the desktop (icons, font, etc.), it just enlarges the desktop area so I have to scroll around it by moving the cursor to the edges of the screen.

2) My ethernet card (standard Dell issued Broadcom 440 Integrated) isn't being recognized so I can't log onto the Internet. I think I may have read something about needing to download a driver for this?

btw, this looks very impressive, better than XP even. (would be even nicer if I could get these issues worked out )

try getting newest video card and ur ethernet drivers, if that wont work, try reinstalling those things....

***NoobsteR at Work***

But it's an Intel Extreme Graphics 845 series . I don't think it's a very old model. Maybe I need the latest driver for it?

Hmmm...so now I have to figure out a way to get these two drivers installed with no internet connection .

try the FAQs at www.xfree86.org and look for the /etc/X11/XF86Config-4 file. Your screen problem seems to be related to having a "virtual desktop", kinda like wandering around in a spreadsheet. I don't like it either (Windows does this too, if you want it to). There'll be a config option to change and the behavior will stop. (But you'll likely be able to stop that with Mandrake Control Center. Think of that as Windows Control Panel with USEFUL changes.

From reading around, it definitely could be something to do with virtual desktop.

Ummm...I don't think I know how to edit the XFree86 configs . Is it as simple as something like opening up an .ini file in Windows and editing it? Or does it have to be done from the command console? Do I have to log in as root? Ahhh....

Root, yes. edit->easy. Pick an editor (Mandrake comes with vi, nano, etc by default - although I am partial to jed). I'd use nano, if you haven't used a Linux editor before. Open a terminal window and su to root. Type "nano -w /etc/X11/XF86Config-4". The -w flag will allow you to scroll to the end of your lines. Find the line that makes the desktop 'virtual' and remove it. ctrl+"x", as the menu says. Hit "y" to save. Hit enter. Restart X. That's the Coles Notes version. There is another way:

You are running Mandrake, so you have at your disposal one of the best GUI system configuration utilities at your disposal. Open Mandrake Control Center and navigate to the section that refers to changing your video settings. Fill in the blanks and be sure to make your screen NOT virtual. Save and restart X.