SlackwareThis Forum is for the discussion of Slackware Linux.
Notices
Welcome to LinuxQuestions.org, a friendly and active Linux Community.
You are currently viewing LQ as a guest. By joining our community you will have the ability to post topics, receive our newsletter, use the advanced search, subscribe to threads and access many other special features. Registration is quick, simple and absolutely free. Join our community today!
Note that registered members see fewer ads, and ContentLink is completely disabled once you log in.
If you have any problems with the registration process or your account login, please contact us. If you need to reset your password, click here.
Having a problem logging in? Please visit this page to clear all LQ-related cookies.
Get a virtual cloud desktop with the Linux distro that you want in less than five minutes with Shells! With over 10 pre-installed distros to choose from, the worry-free installation life is here! Whether you are a digital nomad or just looking for flexibility, Shells can put your Linux machine on the device that you want to use.
Exclusive for LQ members, get up to 45% off per month. Click here for more info.
I only use my computer for myself and my surfing, emailing,etc. I wonder if I even need Samba since I am not involved in a server situation on my own. Is it required for me to use the net properly? or is it only of use when I have a server or if I access Windows?
I have by accident nuked my Windows installation about a year ago or so and then found that my CD that came with the computer required a working Windows to be able to reinstall. I just decided not to bother and have not missed it a bit. Amazing how you can do without M$ and have no pain at all.
That said, I currently have a couple of distros on my hard drive and like to switch around a bit just to keep up with things. If I can get rid of Samba on all the distros, that would be a blessing IMNSHO.
The other question is how can I make a home directory that can be accessed by multiple distros. For example I have Wolvix installed and Ubuntu installed and Sabayon installed and Slackware 12 installed. Wolfix has a separate home directory but the others don't. Is there a way to let the other distros use files that Wolvix has in the home directory and vice versa? If so, how do I set it up.
I have bookmarked this thread as there a bunch of things here that I think I need to look over to see if they would be of use. One question is how applicable are the ATI changes when I use NVidia.
I only use my computer for myself and my surfing, emailing,etc. I wonder if I even need Samba since I am not involved in a server situation on my own. Is it required for me to use the net properly? or is it only of use when I have a server or if I access Windows?
Samba is NOT required to surf the Internet. Samba, when treated properly, can be a good way to access machines on the network (not internet) currently running Windows. It follows the same rules of engagement as if you were another Windows machine. It can be flaky, so in the future, if you find that it works one minute and then goes down the next, it's more to do with Samba than anything your doing (right or wrong).
Quote:
I have by accident nuked my Windows installation about a year ago or so and then found that my CD that came with the computer required a working Windows to be able to reinstall. I just decided not to bother and have not missed it a bit. Amazing how you can do without M$ and have no pain at all.
If you download either Wine or Cedega, you might get that CD installed without the help of Windows. If your not into playing games, then I know of no other reason why you would want Windows on your system. Except in the case of a specific application, say some Income tax software or something, that just won't do the wine thing.
Quote:
That said, I currently have a couple of distros on my hard drive and like to switch around a bit just to keep up with things. If I can get rid of Samba on all the distros, that would be a blessing IMNSHO.
Pretend Samba isn't even there. Under Slackware 12 there is a script in /etc/rc.d. That directory holds all the startup applications for your system. You can disable Samba as follows:
Code:
su
cd /etc/rc.d
chmod -x rc.samba
Quote:
The other question is how can I make a home directory that can be accessed by multiple distros. For example I have Wolvix installed and Ubuntu installed and Sabayon installed and Slackware 12 installed. Wolfix has a separate home directory but the others don't. Is there a way to let the other distros use files that Wolvix has in the home directory and vice versa? If so, how do I set it up.
I use a dedicated partition for my /home directory:
Code:
/dev/hda9 /home reiserfs defaults 1 2
Have that line in /etc/fstab for each distro that you want to share the same /home folder. When you assign your users under each distro, be sure to use the same user name and the same group name (id). Otherwise there could be conflicts. Currently, Slackware 12 likes to assign 'users' to all users however it is good to have a dedicated group using the same name as the user name. Hence, if I had multiple users on my system I would setup the home directory for each user as such /home/perry, username perry, usergroup perry, etc. If your the only user on your computer you can get by thru using 'users' however your home directory (per user) is opened up if you add other users later. The important thing however is that the numeric value of perry and the user group you use, have the same value on all distros. Typically, Slackware 12 will begin assignment at 500 and so forth. You can make this 1000 or 1001 as such, in light of earlier Slackware versions. Either way, if you run into trouble you can always use chown -r and chgrp -r to save the day.
Ditto to your Wolfx /home directory! Unless you would only want to share a subdirectory off that directory, set it up with the same permissions! Then setup links into and out of!
Quote:
I have bookmarked this thread as there a bunch of things here that I think I need to look over to see if they would be of use. One question is how applicable are the ATI changes when I use NVidia.
You should have better luck with the NV driver actually. I would install the addition x-package under /extra as it is not going to hurt. For the sake of future nVidia users looking at this thread, it would be great if you documented how you did it, it'll certainly be appreciated by yours truly.
Just a tip: there is no need to create additional directories just to have a second (or 3rd, etc...) kernel entry in /etc/lilo.conf
That kernel in lilo.conf does not need to be called "vmlinuz". The "vmlinuz" name is a convenience symlink just like all the other symlinks in /boot - it makes a Slackware install and kernel upgrade easier to script. You can however just use the real names in /etc/lilo.conf and keep all your kernel stuff nicely in one and the same /boot directry.
What is The Secret to a happy life! How I love the work the people that participated in the film The Secret did! In a nut shell it pretty much explains my life, albeit I could have had a bit easier had I had a bit more help... oh well.
I'm here this morning, with the reality that I don't have a paying job doing what I want to be doing, that is, anything (as in ANYTHING) involved with computers. How I got here I don't know, but I know this... in light of what I could have had recently I'm ready to kill! (in light of a really cool job in Calgary, AB doing simple Java JUnit or JNI work)
That being said, you folks are my drug this morning. In case you haven't noticed. I tell you the truth, supposing I were richer than Bill Gates or more famous than some... over-paid, over-rated, over-awarded actress in Hollywood (you know, the blond one that used to work on that over-rerun t.v. sitcom called "Mortal Combat", about six people living in new york during the late 90's i think..!), I would nonetheless be bored out of my trees if I didn't have my Linux box and you folks to talk too... and that's saying something!
The Secret... My Secret...! I honestly don't care as long as I'm doing something I love and working at this computer helping people with their computer problems supposing it's how to install Linux, play a game or re-writing a multi-billion dollar credit card company, doesn't matter. It still involves fixing a computer and therefore, gets my undivided attention!
Ah... Bliss!!!! Just thought I'd share that with you... you guys are great!
Thanks for your detailed reply. It is much appreciated and I will let you know how it works out.
As to the Windows thingie, since I don't even like computer games, I really have no need for Windows anymore and have not missed it at all. The only problem I had was that some of my friends sent me PPS or WMV and I could not play them for a time but Wolvix came with the codecs to play them included from the git-go so that is solved for now. Will make the changes to Slackware to get them here as well.
It is becoming an adventure to try all these distros and gradually discard the ones I don't like or that don't work well for me. It seems that we all have to find the ones that fit us and that is one of the benefits of Linux IMNSHO. I have gotten rid of at least 6 distros thus far and for some reason they are ones that others swear by. I just did not like them for one reason or another. I am down to a limited number and it looks like that will be cut soon as well. It will be interesting to see where I do end up. This retirement stuff is turning out to be an adventure and very enjoyable.
Hope you find a job in the computer field, preferably Linux, in the near future and then you will be a totally happy camper. The field was good to me on mainframes for over 42 years, dating back to before there was even a COBOL. Just wish I had done something on PC's when I could get the basics paid for. I would be a lot better at this stuff than I am so far.
The .mozilla dir usually contains bookmarks.html and alot of other configs and extensions and such for firefox. Having this as tmp wipes out everything. If you use firefox and take a peek inside $HOME/.mozilla/firefox there should be a randomly named *.default dir with another dir called "Cache" inside. That (the full path e.g "/home/jago/.mozilla/firefox/nh99bnng.default/Cache") should be added to the fstab instead of just .mozilla to prevent users browser setup from being wiped out on reboot and such.
I'm stuck here
A. Why would make install works? you didn't make before.
Code:
root @ WhiteCastle linux] $ make install
sh /usr/src/linux-2.6.21.5/arch/i386/boot/install.sh 2.6.21.5-smp arch/i386/boot/bzImage System.map "/boot"
*** Missing file: arch/i386/boot/bzImage
*** You need to run "make" before "make install".
make[1]: *** [install] Error 1
make: *** [install] Error 2
Also, I got no /lib/modules/fglrx
Quote:
Originally Posted by perry
Step 1: Download the driver Step 5: Update the kernel
Finally, should you ever make any changes to your kernel after this, it'll be a good idea to do this after you've done a make install:
Code:
(current cd in /usr/src/linux)
make install
cd /lib/modules/fglrx
make_install.sh
This ensures the fglrx driver is still part of your kernel.
If making changes to your kernel is a frequent process, make a change to your /sbin/installkernel file to speed the process up for you!
Code:
# The -p is for the few people that know you can set passwords on lilo that
# will then be required if someone wants to be sneaky and root the system
# with "linux single" or similar lameness..
/boot/build
/lib/modules/fglrx/make_install.sh
/sbin/lilo -p
Step 6: Reboot & Test
Hope this helps get you these kind of results:
Code:
perry@slackware:/mnt/maxtor/installations$ glxgears
15743 frames in 5.0 seconds = 3147.260 FPS
19605 frames in 5.0 seconds = 3920.955 FPS
18246 frames in 5.0 seconds = 3649.192 FPS
perry@slackware:/mnt/maxtor/installations$
perry@slackware:/mnt/maxtor/installations$ fglrxinfo
display: :0.0 screen: 0
OpenGL vendor string: ATI Technologies Inc.
OpenGL renderer string: ATI RADEON 9600 Series
OpenGL version string: 2.0.6747 (8.40.4)
perry@slackware:/mnt/maxtor/installations$
Step 7: Enjoy your new 3D hardware accleration
Be sure to undo the changes made for your backup plan (if you did that), change the inittab entry from 3 to 4. Mind you, I'm back to 1280x1024 resolution again (as oppose to 1400x1050). Maybe I'll make another posting on how to switch between these two drivers later!
Cheers,
- Perry
ps.
While not an *absolute* requirement, sometimes ATI requests you have a device called 'shm' supported in your /etc/fstab:
Code:
tmpfs /dev/shm tmpfs defaults 0 0
It rarely takes up much memory, it won't hurt to have it included!
root @ WhiteCastle linux] $ xvinfo
X-Video Extension version 2.2
screen #0
no adaptors present
and dmesg
Code:
root @ WhiteCastle linux] $ dmesg | grep -i fglrx
fglrx: module license 'Proprietary. (C) 2002 - ATI Technologies, Starnberg, GERMANY' taints kernel.
[fglrx] Maximum main memory to use for locked dma buffers: 427 MBytes.
[fglrx] USWC is disabled in module parameters
[fglrx] PAT is disabled!
[fglrx] module loaded - fglrx 8.40.4 [Jul 31 2007] on minor 0
[fglrx] Internal AGP support requested, but kernel AGP support active.
[fglrx] Have to use kernel AGP support to avoid conflicts.
[fglrx] AGP detected, AgpState = 0x1f00421b (hardware caps of chipset)
[fglrx] AGP enabled, AgpCommand = 0x1f004312 (selected caps)
[fglrx] total GART = 268435456
[fglrx] free GART = 252440576
[fglrx] max single GART = 252440576
[fglrx] total LFB = 134217728
[fglrx] free LFB = 116387840
[fglrx] max single LFB = 116387840
[fglrx] total Inv = 134217728
[fglrx] free Inv = 134217728
[fglrx] max single Inv = 134217728
[fglrx] total TIM = 0
Code:
root @ WhiteCastle linux] $ mount | grep tmpfs
tmpfs on /dev/shm type tmpfs (rw)
The .mozilla dir usually contains bookmarks.html and alot of other configs and extensions and such for firefox. Having this as tmp wipes out everything. If you use firefox and take a peek inside $HOME/.mozilla/firefox there should be a randomly named *.default dir with another dir called "Cache" inside. That (the full path e.g "/home/jago/.mozilla/firefox/nh99bnng.default/Cache") should be added to the fstab instead of just .mozilla to prevent users browser setup from being wiped out on reboot and such.
The reason I did what I did is that I had a *bad* experience (and then another) with my Firefox one day where just a few days after I got everything all setup with a brand new Slackware install, my browser just decided it didn't want to work anymore... After I (went nutz) and managed to trackdown the culprit (reinstalling Firefox did nothing) I was able to isolate the problem inside the .mozilla directory.
I could do as you say, go and maticulasly add a directory straight into the cache, but that only supposes that the problem was in the cache. By nailing the problem at .mozilla I essentially eliminated the problem and all future problems with the browser. True, I don't get bookmarks for anymore than a reboot but on the flip side, my browser is always clean as a whistle and if I want to save anything I typically save the whole page for future reference. This works out better as now I have a complete copy of whatever it was I was looking at that day! Better still is that the browser is almost always flawless in it's performance.
Seems to me that you might be using the *huge* kernel. You might want to do a kernel distribution upgrade from Slackware (see above) and then make use of your generic-smp kernel before trying to install your ATI driver. Thats how I did it.
Also, even after you get it all setup, whenever you make a change to or reinstall your kernel you'll probably need to reinstall your ATI module simply by:
Code:
cd /lib/modules/fglrx
./make_install.sh
IF that directory isn't there something isn't installed properly.
Realize that Linux is a real operating system!
Windows has a tendency to try and hide everything under the covers, you never really know whats going on with that thing. Linux however is open source and it shows, with Linux anyone and everyone can look underneath the covers and that makes you a part of it. To see an example of this, activate your gkrellm and make it part of your desktop. Open a terminal window and run:
Step 1: Test the waters..!
Code:
You never realize how many friends you
have until you rent a house at the beach.
perry@slackware:~$ gkrellm &
[1] 4738
perry@slackware:~$ _
Gkrellm comes as part of Slackware 12, if for whatever reason it's not on your system you can download and install it as follows:
Re-run gkrellm and right click on it. Now when you browse your theme section you've got something to choose from!
Step 4: Activate your Defence Matrix!
Adding plugins is a different matter. The Internet is alive with plugins for gkrellm however you'll want the latest and greatest and typically all in one package. Here's what I could find today albeit from an older Mandrake RPM:
Once installed, restart gkrellm and right mouse click. This time go into your plugin section and activate one or two plugins at a time. If you activate something and gkrellm dishes, you'll know not to activate that plugin next time. Plugins are developed separate to gkrellm and may or may not work with your system! Once activated, a sub menu will appear that will allow you to set parameters for that paticular plugin. Also, there are a number of 'built-ins' that you can choose from as well. (One of them being Net (wlan0) if you want gkrellm to monitor your Internet connection! This is separate from a plugin called Wireless that you'll want activated as well!
Feel free to download and add more plugins as you see fit, making sure they go into the plugin directories found in either /usr/share/gkrellm2/plugins (the global default) or ~/gkrellm2/plugins (your local override). Should your gkrellm not come up after a fresh plugin install, remove the last added plugin as it is not agreeing with your system!
Some much for Rome!
There was a time when we all thought gDesklets were going to remove the need for gkrellm but for one reason or another gDesklets just does not want to have it's act together. I would advise against the installation of gDesklets.
Perry, your post is very informative and helpful, it ought to be a sticky for Slackware12, that said can you expand or provide a link expanding on your reference to the function of Extra Partitions to use Multiple File Systems. Do you mean if I a building a file basic hm server/webserver for windows and apple laptop, I should install Samba on its own partition, Apache on its own, AppleTalk on its own, vfat and then have a separate partition for all the files?? I am reading loads of how to Install and config Samba but haven't come across anything mentioning needed File Types. I want to use your guide to reinstall slackware12 but File Types is part of prep for pre-install. Be advised the network is for my use only to start off.
Depending on what your needs are! For the most part people are wanting reliability, any transaction based file system will generally meet your needs quite nicely. IBM's ReiserFS seems to be the most popular file system for Linux these days however ext3 is not to be left out.
You shouldn't go crazy setting up all kinds of partitions just for the sake of doing so, just realize that you have that option. Sometimes you don't want a transaction based server, as in the case of a /tmp partition. In my case, /tmp is actually memory, but if I did make it a hard disk partition I would set it up as type ext2.
Security plays a role in your partition design as does access and performance considerations. What exactly is it you want to do with your webserver? You wouldn't dedicate partitions on an application basis normally. However it is common practice to give all /usr based applications a partition of their own! I like to break out /usr/local and /usr/local/opt for reasons already mentioned. If you are expecting a lot of media for a given service, it's not a bad idea to give it it's own partition. That way if you want to move entire volumes of information you can do so on a partition basis as oppose to file folder only.
Remember, your trying to make life easier for you, not more difficult!
Seems to me that you might be using the *huge* kernel. You might want to do a kernel distribution upgrade from Slackware (see above) and then make use of your generic-smp kernel before trying to install your ATI driver. Thats how I did it.
Also, even after you get it all setup, whenever you make a change to or reinstall your kernel you'll probably need to reinstall your ATI module simply by:
Code:
cd /lib/modules/fglrx
./make_install.sh
IF that directory isn't there something isn't installed properly.
- Perry
That's not true. I use the SMP version.
Code:
zuki @ WhiteCastle ~] $ uname -a
Linux WhiteCastle 2.6.21.5-smp #2 SMP Tue Jun 19 14:58:11 CDT 2007 i686 AMD Athlon(tm) 64 Processor 3000+ AuthenticAMD GNU/Linux
/etc/profile sets the shell environment at login. However, /etc/profile
doesn't run if you open a terminal or console in X Window. For every
account including root, add the command to .bashrc:
echo ". /etc/profile" > ~/.bashrc
And this is my own .bashrc:
>>>
. /etc/profile
alias ll='ls -l'
But the 'll' command doesn't work. I have restart the X. Still failed.
I wanna know what's the meaning of the first line(. /etc/profile) ? Why the konsole doesn't use the .bashrc ?
The konsole in X-Window will run /etc/profile and all your login scripts if you tell it tu run as a "login shell" - search the konsole/terminal menu for that checkbox.
There is no need to add the line ". /etc/profile" to your .bashrc at all. That is not the correct way to solve your problem (now, /etc/profile will run twice when you logon to the console outside of X).
BTW vvoody: in the command ". /etc/profile" the dot command "." means "source the file /etc/profile" which means: run the commands in /etc/profile inside the current shell instead of spawning a new shell to run /etc/profile. The advantage of this, is that any variable that gets set will be available in your current environment after the "source" command finishes.
LinuxQuestions.org is looking for people interested in writing
Editorials, Articles, Reviews, and more. If you'd like to contribute
content, let us know.
Depends...!
