i can not edit a file as a root

[_d5]

hi,
i am a total noobie and i have tried a foe distroes but knoppix 4.0 seemed like the one for me
i installed it, all of the hard drives mounted automaticly /i didnt write any commands in the konsole/
it plays mp3 from a ntfs drive perfectly
but i have problems with the video files /*.avi etc/
i read that i sholud install plugins and codecs w32 and so on ...
i downloaded them but i cant install them
than i read that i should add some more lines in a file which is in the root /the house icon/ in etc folder in subfolder apt
so i found the file but i cant save it after the adding of those few line
it says to me that i am not alowwed and i have no permission to write this file
i tried everything which i found i google and nothing worked
i beg you for help

i also want to ask u 4 some info for cyrlic fonts and for a dc++ client

thank u

[ockham23]

su
mcedit /[directory]/[filename]

[Harry Kuhman]

i am a total noobie and i have tried a foe distroes but knoppix 4.0 seemed like the one for me
i installed it........

Were any of those foe distros that you tried Debian? Particularly Debian Etch, the distro that Knoppix is based on and is actually intended for hard disk install? I'm hard pressed to understand why anyone would choose Knoppix over a distro that is not a source of problems when installed to hard disk. Most of the time the reason for this is the baby duck syndrome, but you say you actually tried others.

[_d5]

i am a total noobie and i have tried a foe distroes but knoppix 4.0 seemed like the one for me
i installed it........

Were any of those foe distros that you tried Debian? Particularly Debian Etch, the distro that Knoppix is based on and is actually intended for hard disk install? I'm hard pressed to understand why anyone would choose Knoppix over a distro that is not a source of problems when installed to hard disk. Most of the time the reason for this is the baby duck syndrome, but you say you actually tried others.

i have tried suse, kubuntu, dsl, but i had way more seriou problems with them. i wasnt able to use my ntfs hdd with suse /all my music and stuff are threre/, i couldnt change the refresh rate when i used kubuntu, i couldnt do anything with dsl. i have tried knoppix 3.9; 5.0 but i liked the 4.0 version the most. i havent tried debian eitch, i have read that debian is the most complicated disrto from them all, and is not very user friendly, i have also read that it doesnt run under AMD machines, it only runs under Intel machines. the version which i can download from our mirrors is version 3 or something, but i dont feel sure about it, it sounds too complicated for me, but if u help me for my knoppix problem i would be very happy.
excuse my english.

thank you

[_d5]

su
mcedit /[directory]/[filename]

thank u man i fanally did it

[Harry Kuhman]

i have read that debian is the most complicated disrto from them all, and is not very user friendly, i have also read that it doesnt run under AMD machines, it only runs under Intel machines.

You're getting very bad information. Knoppix is made from Debian, so if Knoppix works for you then Debian certainly should. But Knoppix is a mix of Debian versions, carefully put together to work on the live CD, but not designed for a hard disk install where you might update something or install any additional software; this is known to break Knoppix (but obviouly not Debian). It certainly runs on AMD (I'm running it on AMD and Debian even has a version that is optomized for the AMD 64 bit CPUs (of course, Knoppix and the 32 bit versions of Debian will run on AMD 64 bit CPUs but will not get the advantage of the 64 bit CPU). I find the Debian system pretty user friendly, but that a choice each user must make. If you want to try a net-install of Debian you can download the net-installer for many different types of CPUs here. Choose the desktop install during the install process to get the Gnome GUI and have a user account created for you. You can add KDE if you want at any time with the apt-get system, as well as any of the programs included on the CD or DVD and plenty more.

[_d5]

i have read that debian is the most complicated disrto from them all, and is not very user friendly, i have also read that it doesnt run under AMD machines, it only runs under Intel machines.

You're getting very bad information. Knoppix is made from Debian, so if Knoppix works for you then Debian certainly should. But Knoppix is a mix of Debian versions, carefully put together to work on the live CD, but not designed for a hard disk install where you might update something or install any additional software; this is known to break Knoppix (but obviouly not Debian). It certainly runs on AMD (I'm running it on AMD and Debian even has a version that is optomized for the AMD 64 bit CPUs (of course, Knoppix and the 32 bit versions of Debian will run on AMD 64 bit CPUs but will not get the advantage of the 64 bit CPU). I find the Debian system pretty user friendly, but that a choice each user must make. If you want to try a net-install of Debian you can download the net-installer for many different types of CPUs here. Choose the desktop install during the install process to get the Gnome GUI and have a user account created for you. You can add KDE if you want at any time with the apt-get system, as well as any of the programs included on the CD or DVD and plenty more.

thank you for the info
i just edited the sources.list file i stll can not watch AVI file as well as i used to do in windows. i installed the w32codecs but without any success. i am from bulgaria and my internet connection is something like 28 kbps, so i have a few /foe/ questions about debian
- is it going to be able to work with my NTFS hdds without writing a novel of codes in the console
- is it going to have a support for mp3 and avi
- is it going to recognize my hardware /my graphic card is a on-board card i think that the brand was SIS/
- has it got those links wich i enter in sources.list for the apt-get
- with my internet speed is it going to finish the installation untill tomorrow /28 kbps doesnt go very far/
- if i install it will i be able to relly on your and the people from this forum priseless support


thank you

wow i found a debian 31r2 version from bulgarian mirror but it is on 14 cds man
- is there a way by which i can download and burn less than 14 cds /is there something like basic installation/ nd which cds shold i download and burn

[ockham23]

d5, my recommendation for you is Kanotix. It's a Debian/Knoppix derivative, but optimized for hd install and very good at hardware recognition. The forum is very active and full of knowledgeable and friendly people. The latest release is Kanotix-2006-Easter-RC4 (~670MB), you can download it from http://kanotix.com

[Harry Kuhman]

i am from bulgaria and my internet connection is something like 28 kbps,

Well, don't do the net-install that I sugggested then. I would suggest that you download or get a copy of the Debian Etch CD #1 and install from that. You might be able to get someone with a faster connection to download and burn it for you, or you might use BitTorrent, which can easily stop and restart the download as needed, and download it over several days when you are asleep or out of the house. But a net-install will be painful at that speed, and having CD#1 will let you retry the install if you want to see how different options work. I can't say from direct experience how the language support will be, but I expect that you will be able to do a Linux install in a native language if you wish, where Knoppix is mainly German/English.

- is it going to be able to work with my NTFS hdds without writing a novel of codes in the console

Debian should be able to read your NTFS partitions just as Knoppix can. Writing to NTFS safely is an on-going issue with Linux. I don't trust that Knoppix can do it yet and will not risk my NTFS partitions to Knoppix or Debian. If you trust the new technology then you could install in in Debian as well. (Note that I am not telling you to do that.)

- is it going to have a support for mp3 and avi

avi is a very broad term used for many many codecs. The simple answer is yes, but I don't have enough experience to say if you are likely to find any codecs that present problems. The most likely ones to cause trouble might be special video codecs that come from a video camera manufacturer to support a non-standard format and the vendor only provides Windows codecs. But certainly anything that is installed in Knoppix could be installed in Debian. Unfortunately, there are too many choices in the Linux world in some of these areas, and it does cause problems and confusion, so I will not promise everything will go without any issues, but in general Linux is strong in these areas.

- is it going to recognize my hardware /my graphic card is a on-board card i think that the brand was SIS

I can't say for sure, but I expect so. The Etch installer is much improved over older Linux installers. The best advice I can give is try. I realize that you would like to be sure before downloading the software, but I can't give that kind of an answer. If you want to get better information, get the exact model numbers of the hardware that you are interested in (not just the brand) and do some searching on the web.

- has it got those links wich i enter in sources.list for the apt-get

I'm sorry, I don't quite follow what you are asking. But Debian has apt-get (and several related tools, gui interface and so on). For example, after installing etch I opened a root console and typed apt-get update to be sure I was completely up to date (very important if you installed from CD rather than a net-install, but also important after you have had the system installed for a while). Then I typed apt-get install kde and the system looked over my install, went out to the internet, and informed me how much it was about to download to install kde and the many support programs that come with a full kde install. I said yes and a little while later I could log into Gnome (the default gui that I installed with Etch) or KDE. When I wanted ethereal installed I just did an apt-get update and then apt-get install ethereal and in minutes I had ethereal installed and working (it may take longer at 28k, but if it's on CD#1 then Debian will know that and just ask you to insert the CD). Did that answer the question?

- with my internet speed is it going to finish the installation untill tomorrow /28 kbps doesnt go very far/

No, as I said, with a 28K link I would not do a net-install, I would download all of CD#1, a larger ISO, but then you can completely install from the ISO without needing the Internet. There are actually 16 CDs in the current set (last time that I looked), but the most popular programs are on CD1 and then CD2 and so on, by the time you get past CD2 or 3 you are gettng into more exotic programs, so in general I don't suggest downloading more than CD1 or maybe 1 and 2 (particularly if you have a friend with faster access who will do it for you), and then apt-get the rare items you want not on the CD with the apt-get system. Of course this same problem would be there if you tried to apt-get with Knoppix, except that apt-get tends to break a Knoppix hard disk install.

[Harry Kuhman]

By the way, the torrents for the individual full CDs are here (i386 version, not the AMD 64 version). Looks like the number has grown to 19 since I last looked, but I recommend just dealing with 1 or at most 1 and 2 until you know what you need. I don't even fool around with 1 any more, I prefer a net install, but I do have a faster connection and I think CD #1 is a must if you are at 28k.