Chinaman,
Please don't apologize. Been around these parts for sometime and this is one of the most helpful experiences I have had in these forums. If there is such a thing as a Linux Community, this is actually a reflection of it.
I'll try what you say.
Thanks.

By the way, Chinaman: What follows is what happened before your post. So, it does not reflect your advise yet:

Well. I used the xf86config command. I must have done this 20 times--each time, I think, writing over the previous file. I kept getting errors even when I knew I had entered the correct information for my monitor (right out of the manufacturer's specifications--Dell 1800FP) and the correct video adapter NVIDIA GeForce and its specfications. Once, video did come on, but the graphics were huge--like 256's--so big that there was just enough space for a few words on the screen. I managed to find the logoff button, get out, reboot, and tried to config again. Nothing ever happened after that.

Questions: Did I actually successfully overwrite the config file (Slack told me yes after I asked it to)? Is there a way to delete the current video setting from the file and try again on a clean slate? Should I reinstall Slack all over again? I'm finding out that Slack is not very friendly to those who have never made it's acquaintance before.

Your advice would be appreciated.

Hey, I'm kinda confused. Your control panel lists your distribution as RedHat; we started this forum talking about no sound in Mandrake, RH, or Fedora; one of your last posts states, "nowhere with Mandrake. I'm still trying but getting weary." And then you replied, "I have downloaded and installed Slackware 9.1. I got it so that it boots on LILO. Dandy. Perfect."

So, which distribution are you currently using?

I have decided to use Slackware 9.1 with kernel 2.4.23 only, until I learn Linux fairly well. During this time I am writing documentation which anybody should be able to follow, without a single step left out. A LQ guru would get totally bored reading it, but a newbie would be able to do it so long as they can print, read, and follow instructions.

If you want help with Slackware, I'll do the best I can. However, I'm staying away from the commercial distributions, and therefore have no experience with RH or Mandy.

If you're going to use Slack, download this driver NVIDIA-Linux-x86-1.0-4496-pkg2.run and the README - Text Version file. Read the README file to see what you need to do, and post back if you need help installing the Nvidia driver. Until you install this driver, you may not be able to get a X window.

Chinaman:
Sorry about the confusion. I am now trying to run Slack 9.1. I was using both Fedora and Mandrake and experiencing similar problems with both. That's what brought me to this forum. I had had enough. Some of the folks here (I think you were one) encouraged me to try Slack and I'm doing that now. So, Mandrake and Fedora "have left the building".

I did as you said, and thanks to you I got to the KDE desktop. What is left now on Slack is: no sound; no internet connection (I have cable); printer is recognized only minimally, and still getting some small errors on opening KDE. For the sound, I tried "alsamixer", tried unmuting it, and then stored with "alsactl". About the internet, I'm not sure whether it is even setup. I think that the symptoms lead me to that conclusion.
Thanks again, and sorry for the confusion.

I was led here by Mandrake 9.2. I would love to get a copy of that so called "boring" documentation you speak about. I think it would interest me very much. You sound like you know quite a lot.

Linux is not for the light of heart. You indeed have to have a background in computers. However, my daughter at the age of 8 was playing games. under linux followed the instruction for quake II and is running it like a champ.

Since then at the age of 10, she can reliably lock me out of her system.

asalford
Thanks for your response....Although I have been a computer user since the days of the punch card, countersorter, and IBM PC/XT (I'm posted all of this in an earlier post) and don't consider myself as faint of heart and have a lot of technical skill, I have not been able to get one note or sound out of my speakers with Linux (Red Hat, Fedora, Mandrake, Slackware, and others) on either my old Dell Dimension 500 or my brand new 4600. This is not a problem that I face alone. My frustrations are shared by the many people who joined this thread and many who review Linux on professional websites.

I don't see the purpose of Linux to be the "macho" alternative, but a potential open source widely distributed alterantive to Windows. So far, it fails on most counts....

I would encrourage you to try Mepis (mepis.org). It has successfully autodetected three out of the four sound cards I have thrown at it. If you like it, it is also the easiest hard drive installation I have yet encountered

ehawk:
Thanks. I'm willing to try MEPIS. Is there a place from which to download a copy? I went to their website and could not find it.

http://www.mepis.org/book/view/1462

There is a list of download mirrors given here.

I will second that. MEPIS has handled flawlessly the Soundblaster Live card in my main box as well as the onboard AC97 sound in my second unit. Recompiling the kernel in FreeBSD 4.8 to get sound was a great adventure, but if that's not your cup of tea then this just plain works.

I must say, if someone has trouble installin Mandrake 9.2+ they would have trouble installing a lightbulb. It was all automatic and ran perfectly afterwards. Now, if you dont know anything about partitioning, select autopartition on the setup screen. It should run from there all by itself. After it finishes it will ask you for a few things

1 administrator password (root)
2 user name and password
and uh..... thats about it. It is easier than instlling Windows, MS Office, Visio, Partition manager, Outlook, Netscape, Adobe Acrobat, Adobe Photoshop, Theme manager, Plus!, Windows media player, etc....
Its all in one packages and works out of the box.

What specific problems are you having installing Mandrake? Did you burn the ISO's on 700MB disks? (they won't install properly if you used 650mb disks)

PS I use Slack 99% of the time. I have Mandrake installed for the wife and she uses it like it was Windows. As far as I can tell, she can't tell a difference.

Well, I'll agree with the first part of your statement - it DOES install all automatically. However, I have never been able to get ANY GUI package to display properly - I suspect it is some idiosyncracy in my monitor or video board. I downloaded Slackware, burned a couple of CD's, installed, and IT works fine! (BIG thanks to a friend who was kind enough to coach me thru some of Linux learning curves <G>)

actually, you might already have sound...;-) Problem is for some MYSTERIOUS reason, Mandrake likes to have it start up muted. Find KMix inside K-->Multimedia-->Sound and look to see if the first two options are light green(on). If not, turn it on. I remember back several years ago when i frst tried 8.2 this little fact got me so upset It was so stupid and so easy.
If sound dont work after that, make sure your card IS really usable under Mandrake. I mean, rilly. Get another card that is sure to be covered under Mandrake. Soundblaster will do. Check WHICH Soundblaster tho...;-)