Knoppix 5.1.1 installed, but problems remain.

[klerg]

I installed Knoppix to my HD via 'knoppix-installler' command from a Root shell. At first, I chose a 'Debian' install, i scraped this because NOTHING was working: NO internet, sound, etc. So, i re-installed this time i chose 'Beginner' install. Afterward, internet and sound are working, but i can't see the partition i installed Knoppix on anywhere. It's NOT on the desktop, nor in Root/Media or Root/mnt. Where is it then?? Also, i get "Su returned with an error" when i run Gparted, QTparted, or ANY program inside the KNOPPIX menu (i.e. the 'Penguin' icon on the taskbar) What's the problem? Is there any thing i can do?

Thanks.

[JohnnyH]

... So, i re-installed this time i chose 'Beginner' install. Afterward, internet and sound are working, but i can't see the partition i installed Knoppix on anywhere. It's NOT on the desktop, nor in Root/Media or Root/mnt. Where is it then?? ...
Bring up (menu) System --> More Applications --> KDiskFree and this should show the partition where / is mounted.

...Also, i get "Su returned with an error" when i run Gparted, QTparted, or ANY program inside the KNOPPIX menu (i.e. the 'Penguin' icon on the taskbar) What's the problem? Is there any thing i can do?Thanks.
http://www.knoppix.net/forum/viewtopic.php?t=26577&highlight=

[klerg]

Bring up (menu) System --> More Applications --> KDiskFree and this should show the partition where / is mounted.

OK. I can finally see it. It's formatted as reiserfs, and Mount is /. How can mount it as /media/hda5? Can i safely convert it to ext3 withOUT formatting the drive?


http://www.knoppix.net/forum/viewtopic.php?t=26577&highlight=[/quote]

Thanks. Editing the kdesurc file to super-user-command=su did the trick. Now, one thing is strange, QTParted is in GERMAN, but when i ran it from the Live CD it was in ENGLISH. Any idea what's wrong? Also, how can i get 1280x1024 display resolution? My graphics card is on-board Intel Graphics Media Accelerator 900. Last, but not least, what's the easiest way to install programs?

[JohnnyH]

OK. I can finally see it. It's formatted as reiserfs, and Mount is /. How can mount it as /media/hda5? You don't; you are already mounted as / . For example, you will find your home directory at /home/<your-user-name> .

Can i safely convert it to ext3 withOUT formatting the drive? No, you would have to re-install to the re-formatted drive.

Thanks. Editing the kdesurc file to super-user-command=su did the trick. Now, one thing is strange, QTParted is in GERMAN, but when i ran it from the Live CD it was in ENGLISH. Any idea what's wrong?
These may help: http://www.knoppix.net/forum/viewtopic.php?t=26219
http://www.knoppix.net/forum/viewtopic.php?t=26828&highlight=
Also, how can i get 1280x1024 display resolution? My graphics card is on-board Intel Graphics Media Accelerator 900. Last, but not least, what's the easiest way to install programs?Now you're getting into questions best answered by the standard Knoppix , Forum and FAQ documentation, to which I could not add anything especially useful. Good luck :)

[klerg]

You don't; you are already mounted as / . For example, you will find your home directory at /home/<your-user-name> .
Why not? Then how can i get it to appear on the Desktop?


No, you would have to re-install to the re-formatted drive.
Bummer. Is there any advantage ext2/ext3 has over reiserfs?


These may help: http://www.knoppix.net/forum/viewtopic.php?t=26219
http://www.knoppix.net/forum/viewtopic.php?t=26828&highlight=
i followed everything step by step in the first link to set the KDE language locale (except, for some reason, i could NOT type the # pound sign w/ Shift+3, so i just typed 'startx' and the KDE wizard loaded), but it ONLY works when i'm logged in as Root (i.e. logging via Console login) When i login with my user account, QTParted is STILL in GERMAN. As for the second link, ALL instances of lang= in the menu.lst file say US.


Now you're getting into questions best answered by the standard Knoppix , Forum and FAQ documentation, to which I could not add anything especially useful. Good luck :)
Not really. I right-clicked the desktop and went to Configure Desktop-->Display, and screen size does NOT show ANY resolution above 1024x768. What can i do now? As for installing programs, which is easier: Klik, Apt-Get, Apt-get dist-upgrade, or dsniff?

[JohnnyH]

You don't; you are already mounted as / . For example, you will find your home directory at /home/<your-user-name> .
Why not? Then how can i get it to appear on the Desktop?
You seem to be wanting to access the filesystem in your active partition (?); to do this you can just e.g. bring up Konqueror, and navigate down from level / to wherever you want to be.


Bummer. Is there any advantage ext2/ext3 has over reiserfs?
Don't know, I've never had a need to get familiar with the comparison. I do remember reading on the Web, recently, that support for reiserfs may not progress much in future. Can't vouch for this personally ;)


i followed everything step by step in the first link to set the KDE language locale (except, for some reason, i could NOT type the # pound sign w/ Shift+3, so i just typed 'startx' and the KDE wizard loaded),
Sorry I should have made it clear that the # here is just the command prompt signifier that you are sending a command with root privilege, you don't actually type it.


but it ONLY works when i'm logged in as Root (i.e. logging via Console login) When i login with my user account, QTParted is STILL in GERMAN.
Not sure what's happening here; in my Knoppix 5.1.1 (Debian-type HD installation and having performed the referenced procedures), logged in to KDE as an ordinary user, invoking qtparted fom the system menu brings up the su-login screen, then English qtparted.
Have you tried gparted ? (same functionality, different front-end eye-candy)


As for the second link, ALL instances of lang= in the menu.lst file say US.
Then if you're in the US that's already OK.



Now you're getting into questions best answered by the standard Knoppix , Forum and FAQ documentation, to which I could not add anything especially useful. Good luck :)
Not really. I right-clicked the desktop and went to Configure Desktop-->Display, and screen size does NOT show ANY resolution above 1024x768. What can i do now?
That's just looking at what the default Knoppix menu system offers. (If you want to go beyond this, I strongly recommend that you familiarise yourself with the standard Knoppix & linux documentation which can be found on the Web.)
Anyway ,here goes: you should have a note handy of your Monitor Horizontal & Vertical rates, in case you need to enter them.

!!! Make a back-up copy of your default /etc/X11/xorg.conf file in case you have to revert to it !!!
(the configuration should do this for you, but play safe in case of problems ;) )

Login at a root console (instead of KDE) and run

dpkg-reconfigure xserver-xorg
This will present you with a list of drivers; if you can find one suitable for your chipset, it should allow you to set resolution up to whatever is supported.
You might also need to run through the configuration dialog a few times to establish the best for your system e.g. Simple Medium or Advanced selection of Monitor characteristics etc.
Logout of console and the KDM login screen should reappear after a few moments.

Oh BTW, as you are in Beginner type installation, you may also need to add the cheatcode screen=whatever to your boot-up.


As for installing programs, which is easier: Klik, Apt-Get, Apt-get dist-upgrade, or dsniff?
(Can't say about Klik or dsniff, never having used them. I suppose these are easy if their repositories happen to contain the software that you want).
When using apt-get, I recommend using the -s (simulate) switch first, so that it will tell you what it's going to do before you are committed to doing it (... because it sometimes happens that it may want to un-install another package that you want to keep).
e.g apt-get -s install packagename if you just want to install the package packagename .
(apt will automatically handle any concomitant library updates necessary for packagename ).
This is particularly useful with dist-upgrade (apt-get -s dist-upgrade) which is the most 'aggressive' use of the command whereby it upgrades and/or, if necessary, substitutes all applicable packages in the installation.

[klerg]

You seem to be wanting to access the filesystem in your active partition (?); to do this you can just e.g. bring up Konqueror, and navigate down from level / to wherever you want to be.
Thanks, typing a a slash / in Konqueror gives me access to it.



Don't know, I've never had a need to get familiar with the comparison. I do remember reading on the Web, recently, that support for reiserfs may not progress much in future. Can't vouch for this personally ;)

Well, that can't be too good news, Guess i should convert to Ext3 or Reiser4 then. You wanna know what's weird; the 'knoppix-installer said it would format the partition as reiserfs, even AFTER i formatted it as Ext3 in QTParted prior to installing. What did it insist on formatting the partition as reiserfs in the first place?


Sorry I should have made it clear that the # here is just the command prompt signifier that you are sending a command with root privilege, you don't actually type it.
No problem. I finally fixed it! I found the solution on the 'Language, Locale & Keyboard settings FAQ' I had "edit the file /etc/default/locale. Change the line LANG=de_De@euro to...LANG=en_US." Then, that's it! After reboot, QTParted is in ENGLISH, now


That's just looking at what the default Knoppix menu system offers. (If you want to go beyond this, I strongly recommend that you familiarise yourself with the standard Knoppix & linux documentation which can be found on the Web.)
Would you mind posting a link so i can find it?



Anyway ,here goes: you should have a note handy of your Monitor Horizontal & Vertical rates, in case you need to enter them.

!!! Make a back-up copy of your default /etc/X11/xorg.conf file in case you have to revert to it !!!
(the configuration should do this for you, but play safe in case of problems ;) )

Login at a root console (instead of KDE) and run

dpkg-reconfigure xserver-xorg
This will present you with a list of drivers; if you can find one suitable for your chipset, it should allow you to set resolution up to whatever is supported.
You might also need to run through the configuration dialog a few times to establish the best for your system e.g. Simple Medium or Advanced selection of Monitor characteristics etc.
Logout of console and the KDM login screen should reappear after a few moments.
Took me a bit to get it going. Had to type 'lspci' to get info about the PCI code the program wanted. Afterward, everything else was self-explanatory, for the most part. I have 1280x1024 resolution now, but 1152x864 and 1280x768 is NOT available (i selected these modes, too) BOTH of these are available in XP SP2, so i know my graphics card & monitor supports them. Could it be the driver i chose? I selected 'i810' because that was the closest match i could find to the GMA 900.



(Can't say about Klik or dsniff, never having used them. I suppose these are easy if their repositories happen to contain the software that you want).When using apt-get, I recommend using the -s (simulate) switch first, so that it will tell you what it's going to do before you are committed to doing it (... because it sometimes happens that it may want to un-install another package that you want to keep).e.g apt-get -s install packagename if you just want to install the package packagename . (apt will automatically handle any concomitant library updates necessary for packagename ).This is particularly useful with dist-upgrade (apt-get -s dist-upgrade) which is the most 'aggressive' use of the command whereby it upgrades and/or, if necessary, substitutes all applicable packages in the installation.
I haven't had time to install a program yet, but which one of them also lets you UNinstall programs, too?

[JohnnyH]

Well, that can't be too good news, Guess i should convert to Ext3 or Reiser4 then. You wanna know what's weird; the 'knoppix-installer said it would format the partition as reiserfs, even AFTER i formatted it as Ext3 in QTParted prior to installing. What did it insist on formatting the partition as reiserfs in the first place?
Just a guess (as I don't use the "Beginner" type HD install) - It could be that the "Beginner" installation dialogue doesn't offer you the choice ("Debian" mode does).


Would you mind posting a link so i can find it?
Could take a week - there must be hundreds ! Your best bet is to Google-around to find ones that are up-to date (although the fundamental structure of Linux doesn't change, many significant details do evolve with time) and where you find the editorial style congenial. Focussing on key-words related to specific questions can be a good lead-in. Also, some details may be specific to Debian-based systems, as distinct from RedHat/Fedora and other derived systems.
There is a handy Debian reference card at http://people.debian.org/~debacle/refcard/


Took me a bit to get it going. Had to type 'lspci' to get info about the PCI code the program wanted. Afterward, everything else was self-explanatory, for the most part. I have 1280x1024 resolution now, but 1152x864 and 1280x768 is NOT available (i selected these modes, too) BOTH of these are available in XP SP2, so i know my graphics card & monitor supports them. Could it be the driver i chose? I selected 'i810' because that was the closest match i could find to the GMA 900.
Could be. You might also want to try other systems such as SimplyMEPIS or Freespire; these are configured to be easier to use 'out of the box' and sometimes include proprietary drivers (for which the licensing conditions may be too constrained for 'pure Free' systems such as Knoppix). If these do the job that you want, then fine, however to go beyond a minimal level of development of the configuration I have found that Knoppix or pure Debian allow you easier access to the system.


I haven't had time to install a program yet, but which one of them also lets you UNinstall programs, too?

apt-get remove packagename will remove the top-level package of a 'program' . You could then type

deborphan which will tell you which library packages, if any, are no longer needed and could also be removed.
It won't let you remove libraries still needed by another program unless you force it to remove that as well.
BTW as you have the KDE desktop, KPackage is a nice front-end to apt.