Problems with xfce, adduser, connecting to internet

Randux · 02-11-2006, 04:26 PM

I just installed slackware 10.2 (again, because xfce didn't work and I thought maybe I left out a package or two). I went through the menu install and took pretty much everything except games, java, and anything else that didn't sound like core stuff. I didn't install KDE or KDEI because I thought the whole point of linux is not to reinvent bloatware on new platforms. I would like to run a lightweight desktop like xfce or x setup like fluxbox so I can survive until I learn how to use the command-line stuff.

1) I went through xorgconfig and I can use fluxbox, blackbox, etc. But when I try to use xfce (chosen through xwmconfig) it selects it ok but startx fails with a long error message and I don't know how to capture it to paste it here.

2) adduser is telling me awk: command not found. I don't know how to fix this.

3) I can start a web browse but I can't connect to the internet. When I run Slax live CD (actually all of the live CDs I have- about 10) I can always get to the internet.

I'm sorry if this is a repeat of other people's questions. I can't seem to use the search facility here to get a granular enough search. Nor does it seem to work with quoted phrases like "xfce won't start"

Thanks (a lot),
Rand

odevans · 02-11-2006, 04:33 PM

1) /var/log/Xorg.0.log is the X error log, you'll find the error messages there.

2) Install the awk package - it's on CD #1 in the a/ directory (or from here: http://slackware.it/en/pb/search.php?v=10.2&t=1&q=awk).

3) In a terminal, run (as root) netconfig to configure your network.

Hope this helps.

Randux · 02-11-2006, 05:26 PM

I guess I screwed up by trying not to install all the garbage. I installed everything (again) except KDE, KDEI, and games, and now everything mostly works. And it's only 2% more space than I saved with my "streamlined" install. Where did I go wrong (don't answer that).

I got internet access working by using DHCPCD. Is it possible to get this to happen automatically when the system starts?

Thanks,
Rand

odevans · 02-11-2006, 05:35 PM

Either run the netconfig script (as root, in a terminal), or edit /etc/rc.d/rc.inet1.conf. For a machine with the interface eth0, it'd look something like this:

Code:

# Config information for eth0:
IPADDR[0]=""
NETMASK[0]=""
USE_DHCP[0]="yes"
DHCP_HOSTNAME[0]=""

Randux · 02-11-2006, 05:43 PM

Thanks, man.

Randux · 02-12-2006, 05:41 AM

Not only does this set up dhcp so that by the time I start a browser everything is connected, but it also speeded up my boot which was waiting for a disabled ethernet card (by default) to respond (it doesn't!)

You killed two birds with one stone; way to go!

How do I capture message output on linux so that I can post it here?

Thanks,
Rand

odevans · 02-12-2006, 10:56 AM

Depends what output you want to capture. If you have gpm running, you can copy & paste text between consoles by highlighting the text, switching to another console running a text editor and hitting the middle mouse button. If you're running the command in an X terminal (like Konsole in KDE or xterm), you can do the same thing - highlight the text in the terminal and click the middle mouse button in the text field in your browser. If you're looking for system messages, have a look at the files /var/log/syslog and /var/log/messages. The kernel boot messages can be seen by typing dmesg | less (it's more than a screen full) in a terminal. If you want all output from a command to be captured in a text file, append 1> somefile to the command. Try this:

Code:

user@slackbox:$  ls -al 1> foo

Now you have a text file "foo" that contains the directory listing. Changing the 1> to 2> will capture only error messages.

Randux · 02-12-2006, 12:44 PM

Thanks. I am talking about the command prompt without a console, I guess.

win32sux · 02-12-2006, 12:50 PM

and if you wanna be able to see the output while at the same time sending it to the file, use "tee":

Code:

whatever | tee whatever.txt

http://www.die.net/doc/linux/man/man1/tee.1.html

alienDog · 02-13-2006, 08:45 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Randux

Thanks. I am talking about the command prompt without a console, I guess.

command prompt = console

same thing (not to be confused with konsole, the kde terminal emulator).

For "streamlining" your setup, take a look at http://amigolinux.org/docs/minstall/Phoenixhowto.htm. It explains the functions of the packages in Slackware and also tells you what you absolutely need to have installed.

Randux · 02-13-2006, 08:51 AM

Thanks for the info, guys. I don't use kde.

Thanks for the tips and links!

Rand
P.S. very cool concept, aliendog! I was thinking about creating a service machine on HD and disabling boot from CD. I was maybe going to use DSL but there are some things I don't like about it. A 40M slackware machine sounds pretty good!