xwindows and slackware
 

Hello there,

Well, I've messed around with a bunch of distros and I've come to the conclusion that I want to learn slackware.

I don't really know whether the problems I'm having are slack-related or if I simply just don't know what I'm doing (RH, and Mandrake have spoiled me).

Anyway, I got my XF86Config working... but I can only get into it as root. If I try with another user, I get all kinds of messages (no home directory... .Xauthority... dcop server problems).

Oh yeah - and I also get problems with dcop anytime I leave an X session when I'm using root...

I guess I'm thinking there's something really fundamental that I'm not getting here...

Thanks

Have you done adduser yet? If so, are you successfully logging in as <user> on the CLI?

What config file did you edit? Was it in root's home, or the /etc/X11/XF86config? What are the permissions on the file?

If youre still stuck, check out /var/log/XFree86.log

good or bad news?
 

Thanks for your help folks!

Since I last posted I realized that slack comes with a "adduser" script which walks me throught the process of creating a new user... previously, I had simply used the "useradd" command and then changed the password. I guess there's a whole bunch of default stuff that has to get set up when you create a new user.

Anyway, I got the X working now with a both root and a user... the only thing is that I still don't really know what stuff I needed to setup differently... ignorance is bliss I guess...

Oh, but my new struggles involve getting my Crystal Audio CS4281 card to work... there doesn't seem to be a line in the rc.modules file for my specific card. But, I have actually pulled it off before - I just can't remember how.

Oh, and one more thing... my computer stays frozen on this kde:init or kill message after I leave xwindows... it stays there until I press ctrl+c... is this normal?

Thanks

No problem. :D

Yup, but adduser helps out a lot with that stuff. :)

What do you mean by "stuff you needed to setup differently"? Are there any major changes to your X?

As root, in CLI, try typing in modprobe cs4281. Then, insmod cs4281. Then go to /etc/rc.d/rc.local and add
modprobe cs4281" (without quotes) to the bottom of the file using your favorite text editor. Also, go to your /etc/modules.conf file and add "alias sound cs4281" or "alias sound-slot-0 cs4281" (without quotes) to the file.

Do a search on www.google.com/linux (a.k.a. G4L) for your hardware that you don't know what the drivers are--you'll most likely find something. That's how I found your driver for your Crystal Audio card.

Mine's been doing that for almost 9 months. I just hit enter and it brings me back to my command line (don't have to hit ctrl+c). I don't know if it's normal, but I haven't had any system problems yet. ;)

You're welcome. :D

Thanks again,

Actually, what I meant when I said needed to "set stuff up differently" was just that "adduser" took care of it all for me. When I tried to do it the other way, I didn't know what directories i needed (other than a /hom/user directory) or files I needed. Anyway, I'm not compaining :)

Oh, and with the sound... well, I tried to unremark a whole bunch of the possibly applicable sound "modprode" statements in my rc.modules file with no luck. So, as a last attempt (before I read your sound suggestions) I added my own line "/sin/modprobe cs4281"... and it worked! Linux is pretty neat isn't it? Anyway, but then to add sound access to my users (me) I added the lines "chmod 666 /dev/dsp*" and "chmod 666 /dev/mixer*" underneath my new entry in rc.modules... is it okay that I put them there (they do work)...

My latest struggle has to do with installing xine... I was able to do it with Mandrake 9... but that's because I used the rpms... I tried to use the tar.gz files but they did some strange things... it also makes it difficult to find stuff when i want to get rid of it... is it better to turn the rpm into a .tgz slackware package? I'm still not comfortable with slackware's pkg stuff...

thanks... what would I do without you guys?!

pootie, once you chmod your /dev/dsp and /dev/mixer that's it. You don't have to do it everytime, so those 2 lines are not needed in your rc.local.

dave

whoops
 

thanks dave,

i took the chmod lines out... silly me...

:newbie:

I see what you're saying. Yeah, adduser makes it a bit easier. ;)

Glad you got your sound working. Like ddpicard said, you don't need to have those 2 lines in your rc.modules.

You can convert rpm's to tgz's if you want to. However, there's a certain feeling of accomplishment you get after you install from source. Give it a try. If it doesn't work or gives you errors, then at least you'll learn what changes you need to make to your system. When I first tried, my gcc and gcc++ wasn't installed properly. I would've never known this had I not tried to install from source. Anyway, for a tar.gz package, just do the following:

tar -xvzf <filename>.tar.gz

Once it's done, cd to the directory of the file it created when you "untarred" it. You should look around in there for some README file and/or some INSTALL file. Then, su - to root and do this:

./configure
make
make install

If you want to, you can then do a make clean to get rid of all the little files used in the tarring process that you don't need. It's not necessary, but it's your choice.

thanks!
 

Thanks for all the help!

I've actually installed the xine-lib and ui via the tar.gz files... but it's giving me problems saying it can't find plugins... it keeps talking about the MRL... what is that? :confused:

Re: thanks!
 

I have no idea, to be honest. I would copy the error message about the plugins and MRL, then go to www.google.com/linux (a.k.a. G4L) and paste it there. Run a search and see if anyone else in the world has had the same problem and how they fixed it. I'm sorry I couldn't be of more help on this one. I'm not familar with the package or software you're trying.

Forgive my stupidity... what does "affero" mean?

If you look just below someone's post, you'll notice that you've got several options on the bottom left side:

buddy, search, .....*affero.

If you click the link, it will get you to that person's affero page where you can comment on whether that person provided good advice or terrible advice. Also, there's links there where you can make a donation to that person's selected charities/organizations. This is, of course, optional. However, providing feedback as to how well or poorly we've answered a question or solved a problem will help us to help others in the future. :)

I'm sorry Texicle
 

I tried to do the affero thing but it tells me I need a user name and password. I thought it meant mine, but that didn't work. I'm sorry - I did want to give positive feedback...