By the way slackware is not really the best distro for a newbie. It's a very raw distro, it is what makes it great. fast and stable. My first distro was Red hat, then mandrake, LFS (linux from scrath), crux, FreeBSD, and then finally went to slack and have been using it since. But if I started off in slack I would have been lost to so don't feel to discouraged. It a tough distro to start on.

Yeah that's for sure chris but don't rub it in too much eh Don't worry I'll be on to this thing like a fly on s**t in a month (with a little help from my friends of course).

Oh I see detpenguin, I've got to use pico or vim to access the inputdevice, Ok. I used vim earlier but it was a bit confusing so I think I'll try pico this time.

Well I can't seem to make the connection to my adsl modem. I get an "error host not found" message when I try to log on to the internet. I'm not quite sure about the last prompt in the setup regarding the host name for my computer, I don't recall getting one but I may have to call my service provider about that.

Cheers

Hi Guys, it's me again,

Well I don't know, I just can't seem to get connected to the internet from my Linux Slackware/kde, I've tried 2 of the 3 setup procedures in netconfig but I'm still getting "no host name" from the Konquourer browser and when I open Mozilla the window opens alright but the desktop goes into an almost safe-like mode. Any ideas?

On another note. I went into /etc/X11/xorg.conf using pico but once in there the page was virtually empty aside from
some nav buttons at the bottom but they weren't active and I couldn't navigate anywhere. What am I doing wrong here? Or what am I not doing here that I should be doing?

conductor

Run "netconfig" at a shell.

Hostname = localhost or anything you want
Domainname = localdomain or anything you want

Select static or dhcp.

If you choose static you have to know the ip address the router, cable, or dsl modem will give you. Usally something like 192.168.0.101. Leave mask as 255.255.255.0. Gateway is the ip address of you router, cable, or dsl modem. Usaully something like 192.168.0.1. Then it will ask you if you will be accessing a name server (DNS SERVER). If you need to know at least one dns server that your isp uses. Do an ipconfig /all in xp to finger this out. Done. IMPORTANT: You have to edit /etc/resolv.conf with you other nameservers and make sure they are correct otherwise you internet wont work.

resolv.conf
nameserver nnn.nnn.nnn.nnn
nameserver nnn.nnn.nnn.nnn
nameserver nnn.nnn.nnn.nnn

Note nnn.nnn.nnn.nnn is some DNS IP. You can use as many as you llike. When linux needs to turn google.com into ip address it will use the first one you provide. If that fails it goes to then next and so on.


If you router, dsl, or cable modem acts like a dhcp server which means it gives you an ip address at boot then select dhcp. For the dhcp host name you can go into xp and do an "ipconfig /all".

Done. If it doesn't work go to a shell and type "ping google.com". If it works your set. If not try to ping the ip address instead "ping 216.239.59.104". If this works you have a nameserver problem. Make sure your resolv.conf file is correct. Try rebooting so the network comes up clean.

You make think that all this is stupid why can't linux just work like xp automatic. The resolv.conf file is owned by root so no one can mess with it but root. In xp anyone can change the DNS address, which is very bad. So lets say I spoof your DNS and you go to a site to put a credit card, however I've redirect you to my page that looks like the real thing. Now I have your credit card info and you are fu*^% big time. Unlikey, but possible.

Hey chris,

Well I've done everything you mentioned except for the ping check. Now I wonder if the fact that I have a wireless router hooked up to my computer might be causing the connection problems?

I didn't know you had a wireless router. Everything should be the same exept you have to have a device driver for the wireless card in your pc and i think ndswrapper thing. Not sure about that as I didn't like the idea of going with wireless.

Yeah it doesn't seem to make any difference. Actually I'm running Win Me. Anyways I went into winipcfg and did a release all - renew all and nothing had changed. I don't know maybe my ethernet adapter isn't compatible, it's a realtek RTL8029(AS).

Another thing that is causing me some concern now is my /etc/X11/xorgconf. After having done the net configurations there's nothing showing in /etc/X11/xorgconf.
When I did the DHCP configuration I entered the host name from the winipcfg info which changed the host name on my login prompt so now I have no files in xorgconf.

the shell prompt will change to your new host name. root@localhost. this doesn't effect anything. your are still the same root as you were before.

try doing an "ls /etc/X11/"... what does it say?

if nothing ... "ls /var/log/packages/x11*"... what does it say?

I tried both of these commands but I got bashed on both, "No existing files or directories". But I did manage to get into my xorg.conf files, previously I was typing the wrong command:

"pico /etc/X11/xorgconfig"

when I should have been typing:

"pico /etc/X11/org.conf".

Anyways I finally figured it out. So when I got in and scrolled down to InputDevice - Mouse, this is the first entry I found:

Identifier "Mouse1"
Driver "Mouse"
Option "Protocol" "Auto"
Option "Device" "/dev/mouse"

That was it. There was no Buttons option or ZaxisMapping option, so I added them like this:

Option "Buttons" "5"
Option "ZaxisMapping" "4 5"

Unfortunately that didn't do the trick in regards to my mouse scroll button... Any suggestions?

As far as my internet connection goes, I'm stymied. The only thing I think of is that Slackware isn't picking up my ethernet card or something like that. I dunno

I tried both of these commands but I got bashed on both, "No existing files or directories". But I did manage to get into my xorg.conf files, previously I was typing the wrong command:

That makes no sense whatsoever. You did take out the quotes like:

ls /etc/X11/
ls /var/log/packages/x11*

right?

One more thing. Man is your best friend.
Try:

root$ man xorg.conf

or

root$ man pico

or

root! man Xorg

It will give you a lot of info.

Another thing about your wireless card.

DO:

root$ lspci

It will print out what pci devices linux recognizes.

root$ lsmod

Will print the loaded modules in the kernel
Go into the /lib/modules/2.4.29/modules/drivers/ sub directories and go find your wireless card module. If you find something you think could be it do a:

root$ modinfo "file_you_think_could_be_it"

That will tell you what it is for.

root$modprobe "file_you_think_could_be_it"

Will load the module into the kernel.

Slackware is really not meant for a beginner. There are many things you need to learn to set it up right. Without me physically being at your computer it is very hard to tell you what to do.

hi conductor.

you need to make it ZAxisMapping, with the capital A.

once you've done that, just restart X (if you're logged in,just log out and log back in) and the scroll should work. dude, i know this prolly seems frustrating, but you are sooo getting there.

i'll check around for a solution to your ethernet. i have basically the same card, so it's just a matter of figuring out how to make it work.

That makes no sense whatsoever. You did take out the quotes like:

ls /etc/X11/
ls /var/log/packages/x11*

Upon closer inspection I see there's a space between ls & / I didn't notice that before.

Another thing about your wireless card.

This computer doesn't have a wireless card, there's a wireless router connected to it for a laptop. This is the host computer for the router.

Slackware is really not meant for a beginner. There are many things you need to learn to set it up right. Without me physically being at your computer it is very hard to tell you what to do.

Well chris it's like detpenguin said, once I learn how to use this distro I'll be able to use any one, and I'm certainly not going to change horses in the middle of stream now. If I want to learn to play guitar, I'm not going to start with a ukelele and really this internet connection problem shouldn't be an issue if the ISO software is compiled properly IMHO.

It's just a matter of learning the command language in order to navigate within the Linux platform, and I don't think there's a whole lot discrepency from distro to distro as far as this is concerned.

Besides where's the challenge. If I were to simply install a ukelele, that would be it. Half the enjoyment of installing this system is overcoming the pitfalls that I'm encountering along the way. In any event I'm going to go and do some more trial and error. Like I said in an earlier post I'll stumble my way through it and snatch victory from the jaws of defeat. Later

Thanks
conductor