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Old 04-26-2001, 10:58 PM   #1
Clint
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Registered: Apr 2001
Location: Cincinnati, OH
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I am a brand new linux user and would like to wean myself off of windows. I have had Linux Mandrake 7.2 for about five days and I have a lot of questions! First of all even though I read some stuff on turning a winmodem to a lin modem Im still lost - I am very computer ignorant. Can someone help?
Also, I burned some MP3s to a disk using windows, but in linux I can't get access to my cd player - but it will play normal music cds. Do I have to burn them all over again in linux? If I download some software for linux on a cd I formatted in windows can I load it onto linux? or do I need to get my modem configured first so I can download things dirictly to linux?
7.2 seems to have a lot of little problems and quirks - can I get those fixed or do I need another dist.?
Where is a good source to start learning unix?
I am sorry I have so many dumb qestions, Newbies must be really annoying sometimes.
 
Old 04-27-2001, 05:44 AM   #2
Thymox
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Registered: Apr 2001
Location: Plymouth, England.
Distribution: Mostly Debian based systems
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As a recent convert from Win to Lin I also had some problems (and still do!) but persevere as eventually all should be well. If you're still used to using Windows terminology:

Your data CDs actually have a file-system on them. These need to be loaded (mounted in Lin terms). This should be an automatic process under Mandrake 7.2. Use Konqueror to find out: go to the directory '/mnt' and check if there is a directory called 'cdrom' (this would therefore be '/mnt/cdrom'). IF there is then this is where you would find all of the files on your inserted CD. (there should also be directories called 'disk', 'floppy' and possible 'win_c').

If the above does not help, then try this:
Go into the '/mnt' directory and create a sub-directory called 'cdrom' (which would therefore be '/mnt/cdrom'). Use the terminal (Lin's equivalent to a dos-window) window and type 'man mount'. Read the doc and press Q to return to the prompt. Use the mount command to load the cdrom filesystem (which _should_ be ISO9660 if you burnt it under Win) to the '/mnt/cdrom' directory. Go through the above procedure again to verify that all is well. IF this does not work, read ALL OF THE DOCs (how-to's, man pages, readmes, etc) ON CDs AND MOUNTING.

Unfortunately, if you're using a _really_ old cdrom drive, it could be that it is not immediately supported by your current kernel configuration and you may have to re-complile it. This is something that Win users will never do, and so can be a little daunting at first, but there are many places where you can insert fail-safe procedures and all should be well.

Have fun.
 
Old 04-29-2001, 01:50 PM   #3
Clint
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Registered: Apr 2001
Location: Cincinnati, OH
Posts: 6

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I went into the directory and found the cd rom file but the icon has a padlock on it and even as root I am denied access
Also, why is ther a winows file in the directory? When I installed linux I partitioned the hard drive, so shouldnt it be completly separated from windows stuff?
 
Old 04-29-2001, 09:23 PM   #4
homer
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Registered: Mar 2001
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do you have both a cd-rom and a burner in the box?
are you in KDE?
might check your fstab.If you only have the burner the link will be made to the cdrom and needs to be made to scd0 or the relavant scsi device, which running -scanbus will show you, or start X-CD-ROAST and look in there.Also you could try to read a cd through there and see if it can mount it,also be careful about where you store the contents of a cd on the hard drive.
 
Old 04-30-2001, 05:27 AM   #5
Thymox
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Registered: Apr 2001
Location: Plymouth, England.
Distribution: Mostly Debian based systems
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The padlock over an icon _can_ mean that you do not have access to it as the current user, but can also mean (and in this case, does mean) that the device/filesystem has not been mounted. Try going into DrakConf (should be the top-left icon on your desktop when logged in as root), and lookaround for anything with 'filesystem' or 'mountable devices', or the like. Alternatively, open up a terminal window and type 'man mount'. Read the doc *carefully* and try mounting the device.

As for your windows 'folder' - this is the same principle as with the CD-rom drive. Under Win, with a partitioned HD you can see multiple 'drives' (c:, d:, e:, etc). Under Lin, all non-Lin drives are mounted under '/mnt', so if you have a 2 partition HD (ignore any Lin Swap partitions as these are hidden anyway), your /mnt directory might look something like this:

cd-rom, floppy, disk, win_c

I have 3 partitions (+1 swap) + 2 CD-roms:

cd-rom1, cd-rom2, floppy, disk, win_c, win_d.

Basically, it allows you to access all of your Windows based files (whereas Win won't let you see your Lin files). If you don't want to do this, again read about mounting and unmounting. I suggest you start by pressing the 'K' button (='Start' button in Win), go to 'Documentation' and then to 'How-to's'. These are **very helpful**, and although they can be a little heavy-going sometimes, persevere.

As for cd-burners. I wouldn't worry about them just yet. I'd get used to the Lin environment first, if you must burn CDs try moving all the files to the Win partition and burn from within Win. When you're more confident with Lin, explore.

Good luck.
 
  


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