k i'm gonna try and make this as concise as possible. i just installed fedora core 3 last night. i do have a little linux experience, very minimal though. i know how to open and edit config files, i know how to move around in the file system, and execute bash commands. i don't yet know what any of these things really MEAN though, and i beg patience if i ask questions about questions.

all that being said, i could really use some help with just basically getting my system up n running. i have pretty basic needs of my computer; i just want to play WoW, listen to music, browse the internet, use e-mail (i've gathered that i can use my box as my very own popmail server, that would be cool) and that's really it. i don't code, i never use any office or business type programs. just a entertainment / communication system.

also i should mention, i'm not coming here without having tried to solve these problems myself. i do rtfm (when i can understand it) and i can follow directions, but it's all a bit overwhelming at first. in trying to work through things i often end up with 10 browser tabs open, all representing about 5 different thought processes, and i lose track of where i was in the whole scheme of things.

oh, system specs btw

amd64 3200+
radeon 9800pro
a gig of ram
onboard sound, realtek '97 audio

so some of the things i need to get done are; in no particular order:

1: just update the system in general. like i said this is a fresh install of fedora core 3, and the first thing i noticed once i hit desktop was a blinking red ! saying there were some 500 updates available. i hit update and selected all packages, and on several tries i've gotten various errors like this ..

Test install failed because of package conflicts:
file /usr/X11R6/lib64/libGL.so.1.2 from install of xorg-x11-Mesa-libGL-6.8.1-12.FC3.21 conflicts with
file from package fglrx64_6_8_0-8.10.19-1
file /usr/X11R6/lib/libGL.so.1.2 from install of xorg-x11-Mesa-libGL-6.8.1-12.FC3.21 conflicts with file
from package fglrx64_6_8_0-8.10.19-1

that's actually a new error i've gotten since installing ati's x86_64 graphic driver. before getting that i was getting a 404 type error, and if i remember .. a similar dependency snafu with conflicting kernels.

i also get this error while installing WoW now

# Xlib: extension "XFree86-DRI" missing on display ":0.0".


2: kind of tied to the above problem.. but i'd like to have the latest version of Xorg, and honestly i'd just like to have my radeon working properly. when i do glxgears i'm getting like 350 fps, which is ridiculous. there was some .sh thing i ran.. glxinfo i believe, and it said direct rendering was not on. i've got a subscription to transgaming btw.

3: alsa isn't working, i'd like to change that.

4: my cd drives and mount points.. i dunno. somethings.. not right there. when i tried to install WoW last night, it takes disc 1 in whichever drive i put it in. then when it says insert disc 2.. that drive won't open, but i can put the disc in my other drive.. and it continues installing. that stopped working at disc 4 though T_T . it just won't umount, keeps saying it's busy. i tinkered around with point2play.. that never got working. tried installing with

cedega -monitor-cd-eject installer.exe

but that still didn't work..

anyway, that's where i stand. i've got many problems i need help with, and with work and school i don't have a lot of time to sit here reading night after night.

i could really really use some help. thanks in advance.

Well, first I'd reinstall, and not do the autoupdate on everything, and see how far you get. Then just bring over what you need.

Regarding your sound not working, yes, this is a known problem for many with Fedora Core 3. See the post entitled "Fedora Sound Woes" at:

http://www.linuxquestions.org/questi...hreadid=277395

I've posted the solution which worked for me there as well.

Regarding your CD's, that's probably an issue with the program doing the installations. Try running an strace on it, and see if that will give you a clue. The other thing I'd look at is to make certain that the automouting of the CD's is disabled. Modify either /etc/fstab (setting "noauto" for the CD), or via GUI: Applications->Preferences->Removeable Storage

Turn off mounting stuff automatically.

HTH

k i'll try what you linked about alsa.. my cd drives are set to noauto. this seems to be a common problem with cedega, but none of the suggestions i've seen have helped :T

could someone set me on the path to getting my video card working? i can't understand why it's just not being used, when hotplug, or whatever fedora uses clearly see's it. everytime i boot i see it in the startup messages, when i look at config files they all know it's there.. it's just not on, or something :l

I know this isn't nice to say here. but i think using Fedora core is not a good idea.

note the number of post relating got general fedora woes of one sort or another....

Maybe try Ubuntu?

I'm a slackware user - maybe a better second distro.

Sorry if this is negative - i just seem to post a lot to fedora people having problems with sound, disks, upgrading packages, etc...

yea believe me, that became apparent pretty quickly. problem is it's the only distro i know that supports amd64s

well no, that's not entirely true. i know gentoo "supports" 64bit, but last time i checked it was all still fuxored. i think suse does.. not sure what others. if slackware does i might be interested in that... hmm. methinks i should just make a thread n poll, cause i honestly have no idea

god aren't these threads annoying?

amd64 (64 bit support is definately desired)
radeon 9800
plenty of ram, plenty of HD

my time at the computer is spent playing games, doing general internet things (mail, ftp, browsing, messaging, irc) and watching movies / listening to music.

i want as much performance from my pc as possible, i've got pretty beastly hardware imho, and i'd like my programs to reflect that. i don't need it to be like.. a proverbial Lindows, i always hated windows, and i'd rather not be reminded of it. for that matter, this isn't a dual boot system, so i don't really care bout ntfs compatibility or anything else related.

i'm not afraid of the command line, in fact i very much want to become proficient with it. i don't like really heavy handed destktop managers.. i can type a helluva lot faster then i can click through a dozen folders. my ideal setup when alls said and done is to be doing everything off a desktop with no icons, and a transparent terminal.

a distro that also plays nice with cedega would be nice that's almost my top priority truth be told (i know it doesn't work with everything, but it works with WoW, and that's all that matters XD).

meh, sorry to ramble. anyway! what's out there that supports 64's and is moderately stable?

thanks for the help, i know there's a million of these threads

Since your second thread "advise on distro to use needed" was
just a continuation of "OK, I need help" I merged them.