Searching for distro-and rapidly running out of patience.
 

I like debian. Let's start with that.

Debian doesn't like me.

The kernel source, nvidia source, kernel headers, nvidia drivers, and etc won't install period.

I have reinstalled multiple times and followed walkthroughs to the dot, as well as made multiple posts.

It gives the same unchanging error.

I'm tired of screwing around with debian.

I want the apt-get functions.

Does ubuntu have the same crap going on with the kernel source and headers that debian does?

This was asked in this post:http://www.linuxquestions.org/questi...hreadid=355278

I've had multiple replies like that, a simple question so that I don't spend hours of my time screwing around with it, with debian I spent about a week trying to get the sound/video to work to no avail.

Is ubuntu an easy distro to install drivers on to?

Re: Searching for distro-and rapidly running out of patience.
 

Ubuntu is based on Debian, so most likely you will have similar experiences. However, there is a copy and paste command on the UbuntuGuide.org which will install the drivers for you: http://ubuntuguide.org/#installnvidiadriver

If you want to try other distros, try the "Linux Distro Quiz": http://www.zegeniestudios.net/ldc/index.php

Wolvenmoon! So angry! Damn that rap music! :)

I'm sorry that you have been having these kinds of difficulties with Debian. I know these issues can be frustrating, but one thing I will tell you for sure, Linux takes patience. I know you probably want everything to "just work", but that, from my experience, isn't going to happen yet with any distro. Also, as this is one of the best places on the Internet to get questions answered, it would be in your best interests to be a bit more civil to the folks that you are asking help from. I have always tried to be polite when posting, but I still have questions unanswered just because no one bothered to reply. Either no one knew, or didn't want to answer.

Also, Google is your friend. There are many other places to find the information you are looking for, this is just one. It's usually best to take the "shotgun" approach and see what comes back.

I have heard good things about Ubuntu, but I have never used it. As Ubuntu, and most other distros are free, you can download/burn/install as many of them as you like and find out which one works best for your hardware. That's what I had to do, and I finally found what I was looking for. It's not perfect, but it works and I can live with that. This is usually the best way to find out what works, what you like, and what you can live with.

After looking around, I have found out that Ubuntu does come with Synaptic, which is the GUI front end for apt-get that is used with Debian. This means that you can use a graphical interface to download/install anything you want to for your system.

If you are having difficulties installing kernel sources/headers, it sounds like your installation media may be corrupt. You might try re-burning first, as it may save some time and trouble. What you might want to do is start the download of Ubuntu, then re-burn your Debian CDs and try installing the kernel sources from there. If that doesn't work, burn and install Ubuntu and see if that works for you.

Good luck and let me know how it goes.

sax

Ubuntu, is excellent in my opinion. I had no issues when I played around with it. The nvidia drivers were easy to get running. IMHO, it is easier than debian itself.

However, I hate to tell you this, but your search for a distro will never end. Sure you will find one you really like and then you will try one that blows it away. Its an endless cycle. It took me two years to find mine. I have yet to find one I liked more, but you never know.

This is a bit misleading. Certainly no one should expect everything to "just work," but people shouldn't expect everything to not work, either. I popped Ubuntu in, and everything worked except my screen resolution, so I did a bit of web research, found out the vertical and horizontal ranges for my monitor, appended a couple of lines to /etc/X11/xorg.conf, and everything was fine. My sound, ROM drives, USB drives, etc. were all good.

I think with any OS you install, you always risk something not working.

Good point, aysiu. But as OSs are in a continual development cycle, and most hardware manufactures don't provide their APIs to the Linux community, this makes the community have to come up with it's own solutions, meaning writing it's own device drivers ported for Linux. This, IMHO, is one of Linux's biggest hurdles to clear. Hardware recognition, while improved, is still lacking and behind Windows. One of the points that used to be touted about Linux as an advantage is that it worked well with older hardware, but as we see these days, newer distros require newer/faster hardware. I am currently posting on an old IBM 600E Thinkpad, and I can tell you that the distro that I have on here now, Minislack 1.0.1, is the best/fastest for my needs. It took me years to find a distro that was fast, light but also had some GUI tools, did what I needed and was compatible with my hardware.

This system originally came with Windows 98 on it, which for my needs, is unacceptable. Besides, its unstable and insecure. Windows 2000 Pro will run on it, but at a snail's pace. This is when I started looking at Linux, and finally, I have found Minislack, which is now known as ZenWalk 1.2.

While I like your statement that you shouldn't expect everything not to work, I would also like to add my own to it: you shouldn't have to spend hours and hours just trying to get something that should be simple to work on your system. But as we know, this is not the case. No system is completely and universally compatible with everything. If it were, these boards wouldn't exist! :)

Just my .02 cents!

sax

I think you have a balanced view of things, and you're obviously quite experienced. I just don't want to reinforce misconceptions about Linux that it has to be hard or that it's necessarily harder than Windows. I mean, the couple of times I've installed Windows, I had to spend hours finding drivers and troubleshooting driver-related problems. Maybe, in general, people tend to run into more problems with Linux, but plenty of people (like me) just install Linux and it works. Also, most people don't bother installing Windows, so they don't know how hard it is to install any OS.

You are quite correct that alot of folks these days are installing Linux with no problems whatsoever. You are also correct that Linux does not have to be hard, and that Windows can also be frustrating. Lord knows I've had my share of difficulties with Windows systems.

For what it's worth, I think we see eye-to-eye on the realities of the state of operating systems today!

Good to have met you, aysiu! I hope to see you around on the boards again sometime soon!

sax

Likewise.

i installed ubuntu without many problems i think it was 3 shipit cds were bad the 4th one worked great. the only problem i ever run into is no sound on it. but it was same way with FC running on this duel boot pos i think it has lots to do with the on board sound card. but most OSes have drivers for the "popular" hardwares. but always remember ive had more problems with m$ than i have with debian or fc.

Hey boxerboy!

Did you get sound working? If not, you might want to read up on alsaconf. You can do this by going to the terminal, suing to root, then typing man alsaconf. This will tell you how to use this tool to configure your sound drivers and hopefully get sound working on your system.

Good luck and let me know how it works!

sax

thank you i should have read this b4 posting the sound thread but the sound thread gives more detail to what sound card it is. i will try it later see what happens and ill let u know thank you again

ok tried it under root terminal i typed "man alsaconf" and it tells me no manual entry for alsaconf. tpyed it without " well if u look at other post titled "yet another sound problem the sound card is there if that helps

Sounds like you don't have ALSA installed. If you are running FC, you should be able to install from the Install/Remove Software tool. Once installed, you should be able to do the man alsaconf. You might also have a look/see at the ALSA website.

Good luck and let me know what happens!

sax