Okay, yeah, totally lost

DarkShade9 · 12-31-2006, 06:57 AM

Hello all, resident Linux newb here. Just installed Slackware 11 and got it going (I guess), I have a lot of questions that may seem extremely trivial but for some reason have escaped all logical thought:

Apparently Slackware decided to forget to install ifconfig? It's not in /sbin

Code:

# /sbin/ifconfig
-bash: /sbin/ifconfig: No such file or directory

Code:

# locate ifconfig
/usr/share/zsh/4.2.6/functions_ifconfig

I'm not even sure I can get on the internet. No commands I am familiar with work (apt-get, wget) How am I supposed to get all of the necessary drivers and stuff that these 'basic' Linux guides point to?

X11 won't startup because of an error 104

Code:

...
_XSERVTransSocketOpenCOTSServer: Unable to open socket for inet6
_XSERVTransOpen: transport open failed for inet6/name:0
_XSERVTransMakeAllCOTSServerListeners: failed to open listener for inet6
...
Fatal server error:
no screens found
fatal IO error 104 (Connection reset by peer) on X server ":0.0"

My Slackware installation also seemed to skip over the entire network setup portion, is this normal? Sorry for the newb questions but I'm really quite lost.

Samoth · 12-31-2006, 07:31 AM

Sounds like you don't have a package called tcptools or iptools or someting. I once forgot to install that(actually, it wasn't a mistake) and got similar errors. Install the package(some slacker might be here to say the exact name) and run netconfig(I think that is the name). You should be up running after that.
Cheers.

<Samoth>

odd2k · 12-31-2006, 11:15 AM

Don't go making a minimal install if you don't know what the various packages do. At least do one install in newbie mode and read everything. The packages tcpip and dhcpcd should be enough to get you online, unless you need any additional drivers etc.

If you can't find a file you know you should have, go to http://packages.slackware.it/ and search for the file there using "file name". Be sure to select the right slack version as well. Install the package you find that contains the file you need.

edit:

For the X error, try setting up X over again using xorgsetup and xorgconfig, in that order. Be sure to copy over whatever new xorg.conf file that gets generated. If that still won't work, you might be lacking some drivers in your kernel.

Quote:

Originally Posted by DarkShade9

My Slackware installation also seemed to skip over the entire network setup portion, is this normal? Sorry for the newb questions but I'm really quite lost.

I've had that happen a few times, I think it might be the same thing, that you didn't install tcpip (or any /n packages for that matter).

DarkShade9 · 01-01-2007, 05:36 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by odd2k

Don't go making a minimal install if you don't know what the various packages do. At least do one install in newbie mode and read everything. The packages tcpip and dhcpcd should be enough to get you online, unless you need any additional drivers etc.

If you can't find a file you know you should have, go to http://packages.slackware.it/ and search for the file there using "file name". Be sure to select the right slack version as well. Install the package you find that contains the file you need.

edit:

For the X error, try setting up X over again using xorgsetup and xorgconfig, in that order. Be sure to copy over whatever new xorg.conf file that gets generated. If that still won't work, you might be lacking some drivers in your kernel.

I've had that happen a few times, I think it might be the same thing, that you didn't install tcpip (or any /n packages for that matter).

I did a full install, everything was [x] except for KDEi. After fooling around with it a bit, I managed to manually installpkg * all necessary tools (ifconfig, wget) but I still can't get Xfree86 to work. I never got it to work on my OS X box either. Is the xf86 installer on the slackware discs current or should I download the newest version? The farthest I ever got with it was when I did a startx with a new .conf and the display turned grey and I had a big black X in the middle of the screen, and it was mouse controlled, but nothing else came up.

Thanks for all the help so far. I figure if I can get Slackware running, I can get a lot of other distros going.

Indiestory · 01-01-2007, 07:23 PM

what version of slack are you running currently pretty much everything is using x.org stuff. Try using the xorg commands xorg setup ( what debian does during the installer) and xorgconfig to get it really working. I have no x with out running those. If you need to install packages that you think its missed you can re-run install scripts using pkgtool

bioe007 · 01-01-2007, 10:34 PM

can you post your:
/etc/X11/xorg.conf

and

/user/<username>/.xinitrc files?

i had similar problems with X, running xorgsetup or xorgconfig did not work for my box. I had to manually make changes to these file to get them working.

i suppose first i should make sure you have run either xorgsetup or xorgconfig (as root) and then tried startx as a user?

DarkShade9 · 01-02-2007, 10:00 PM

xorgsetup does nothing, and xorgconfig, as well as startx, tells me the command is not found.

Which packages using pkgtool should I [re]install? I am thinking that may be my issue.

DarkShade9 · 01-03-2007, 09:36 PM

Okay, finally, I got things working. Thank you all for your help so far. Only a few more hurdles to get over and then I'll be very happy.

How do I get the computer to autoboot into Linux? I have no other OS on the drives. Do I just comment out the booting into Windows part in /etc/lilo.conf?
Can I get it to automatically login as a user? I'm looking to make this a headless server so I can vnc into it from another computer.
Why does it always forget my ifconfig configuration? If I logout, it loses all of that info, and I have to put it back in. I made a shell script to do it but it really shouldn't forget my settings.

Basically, I just want it to do this:
I turn computer on
It autoboots into Linux
It autologs into a user
It remembers my network settings (or I can just have it run the network script at startup)
It launches vncserver

Done.

I kind of know how to do this in OS X but login items I was never good at.

truthfatal · 01-03-2007, 10:02 PM

to autoboot Linux, you'll want to comment out the Windows info in /etc/lilo.conf and change the timeout from 1200 (I think that's the default) to something like 50 (five second should be enough time if you need to enter something else at the lilo prompt, the countdown stops when you start typing.) then you absolutely need to run '/sbin/lilo' as root to make the changes take effect.

I think the easiest way to autologin to your Desktop Environment (I'll assume KDE) it to change your /etc/inittab line that says:

Code:

# Default runlevel. (Do not set to 0 or 6)
id:3:initdefault:

so that it says

Code:

# Default runlevel. (Do not set to 0 or 6)
id:4:initdefault:

That will enable a graphical login rather than the default Text mode login. Then you can use KDM to automatically log you in (it's in the KDE preferences somewhere...)
If for some reason you need to login to runlevel 3 (X stops working or you just want to spend some quality time with the CLI) you can type "Linux 3" at the lilo screen (replace "Linux" with whatever name lilo is associating with your slackware install) and you will go to Runlevel 3 instaed of 4

I don't know how to make it remember your network settings... maybe add a script to /etc/rc.d/rc.local to load them at boot for you?[Hrm... I just saw the part of your post where you said you don't want to use a script.... sorry I can't be of more help] That could be done for vncserver as well I believe.

cwwilson721 · 01-04-2007, 06:29 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by DarkShade9

I turn computer on
It autoboots into Linux

Change the timeout settings in lilo.conf, or comment out the windows portion and the 'prompt' line. But run 'lilo' as root right after you edit lilo.conf.

As for:

Quote:

Originally Posted by DarkShade9

It autologs into a user

Use the KDE Login manager. You can tell it not to require a pass/autologin.

Quote:

Originally Posted by DarkShade9

It remembers my network settings (or I can just have it run the network script at startup)

Just edit /etc/rc.d/rc.inet1.conf with whatever you need: ip address, gateways, dhcp, whatever. No need to run a script.

DarkShade9 · 01-04-2007, 07:02 AM

Great, thank you all for your help. Everything is nicely setup now. Linux auto-loads, I can make it headless now as I ssh from my OS X machine to login, and then VNC controls the desktop, exactly what I wanted.

I know this all sounds elementary and trivial but it's a nice place to be from where I was last week.