a number of minor issues from a n00b

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06-12-2004, 05:46 PM
xSauronx

a number of minor issues from a n00b

im a relative linux n00b, ive tried a few distros and like knoppix because its debian based and rather up-to-date

but ive got a few problems im not sure how to fix; most of them are minor i think but definitely annoying

first, i cant browse /mnt at all, anything i browse it with locks up. looking into hda7 for example from the desktop causes a problem, but trying to look diretly into /mnt things freeze and i have to reboot (unless someone can tell me how to kill X and whatever else while starting at it ;)

second: apt-get update gives me a problem: i get *alot* of connection errors; where can i get a good, uptodate sources.list to use?

third: xine gives me a nav packet error when playing dvds; i think i found a solution to that in the forums...but i need apt-get to update properly to get it working :/

fpurth: how do i add resolutions for a monitor? i use a 17" crt but want a higher res than 1024x768 i forget the next one up 1152x something i think) ?

i think thats it for now, i had a couple other things i wanted to ask about (though A-ive forgotten them right now, and B-they needed apt-get to work properly anyway)

all help appreciated, sorry if some of this has been answered before
06-13-2004, 02:14 AM
mzilikazi

Re: a number of minor issues from a n00b

Quote:

Originally Posted by xSauronx

im a relative linux n00b, ive tried a few distros and like knoppix because its debian based and rather up-to-date

but ive got a few problems im not sure how to fix; most of them are minor i think but definitely annoying

first, i cant browse /mnt at all, anything i browse it with locks up. looking into hda7 for example from the desktop causes a problem, but trying to look diretly into /mnt things freeze and i have to reboot (unless someone can tell me how to kill X and whatever else while starting at it ;)

Not sure exactly what you mean when you say "trying to look directly into /mnt" but have you done cd /mnt? Are you using KDE?

Quote:

second: apt-get update gives me a problem: i get *alot* of connection errors; where can i get a good, uptodate sources.list to use?

Well here's my /etc/apt/sources.list:

Code:

deb ftp://archive.progeny.com/debian/ testing main deb-src ftp://archive.progeny.com/debian/ testing main deb http://security.debian.org/ stable/updates main

Have a look at apt-spy to create your own sources.list
apt-get update
apt-get install apt-spy
man apt-spy

Quote:

third: xine gives me a nav packet error when playing dvds; i think i found a solution to that in the forums...but i need apt-get to update properly to get it working :/

Have you installed libdvdcss?
wget http://download.videolan.org/pub/lib...2.8-1_i386.deb

sudo dpkg -i libdvdcss2_1.2.8-1_i386.deb

Quote:

fpurth: how do i add resolutions for a monitor? i use a 17" crt but want a higher res than 1024x768 i forget the next one up 1152x something i think) ?

Have a look at /etc/X11/XF86Config-4and add your resolutions.
06-13-2004, 09:23 PM
xSauronx

Re: a number of minor issues from a n00b

Quote:

Originally Posted by mzilikazi

Quote:

Originally Posted by xSauronx

im a relative linux n00b, ive tried a few distros and like knoppix because its debian based and rather up-to-date

but ive got a few problems im not sure how to fix; most of them are minor i think but definitely annoying

first, i cant browse /mnt at all, anything i browse it with locks up. looking into hda7 for example from the desktop causes a problem, but trying to look diretly into /mnt things freeze and i have to reboot (unless someone can tell me how to kill X and whatever else while starting at it ;)

Not sure exactly what you mean when you say "trying to look directly into /mnt" but have you done cd /mnt? Are you using KDE?

i can browse /mnt from a terminal and do ls and see whats in it, but when i use anything graphical to browse, /mnt *always* freezes me. the mouse still moves, but nothing responds at all. Yes, im using KDE
06-13-2004, 09:33 PM
Gozar

When the computer freezes
Try hitting CTRL+ALT+BACKSPACE
That should restart the x-system
If that don't work. Try pressing CTRL+ALT+F2 log as root and type /etc/init.d/kdm restart

As for the /mnt problem. Can't you use the links on your desktop?
What file systems du you have?
Do you have the floppy device enablet in your bios, but you don'r have any floppy device?

Sincerley
Gozar
06-13-2004, 10:24 PM
xSauronx

Quote:

Originally Posted by Gozar

When the computer freezes
Try hitting CTRL+ALT+BACKSPACE
That should restart the x-system
If that don't work. Try pressing CTRL+ALT+F2 log as root and type /etc/init.d/kdm restart

As for the /mnt problem. Can't you use the links on your desktop?
What file systems du you have?
Do you have the floppy device enablet in your bios, but you don'r have any floppy device?

i can use the links, sure. but if it doesnt work....id like it fixed
*odd*i can browse /mnt suddenly ?? i reboot, and i tr to browse it...no go, try again, it works; strange.

*more odd* when broswing from /mnt into /hdaX it sometimes takes a long time to open the folder, or doesnt open at all. when opening from the dekstop its instant, any ideas how to fix that?

on libdvdcss:
installed as per instructions
xine gives new error: "thre is no input plugin available to handle 'dvd:/'
Maybe MRL syntax is wrong or file/stream source doesnt exist

*another oddity* no sign of DVD/CD being mounted anywhere. it worked earlier, but nothing is showing that i have a cd/dvd in anywhere (there is /cdrom and /dvd and /mnt/cdaudio and /mnt/dvd but neither of those have anything)

how do i get the dvd writer i have mounted again? i didnt change anything that should have effected it so i dont know why this is happening now.

thanks guys, i appreciate this :)

this is annoying :/
06-13-2004, 11:05 PM
Gozar

Quote:

Originally Posted by xSauronx

i can use the links, sure. but if it doesnt work....id like it fixed
*odd*i can browse /mnt suddenly ??
*more odd* when broswing from /mnt into /hdaX it takes a long time to open the folder, or doesnt open at all. when opening from the dekstop its instant, any ideas how to fix that?

I think it's a issue with automount. The same happens here, and if i exaime the output of dmesg it's cause of the auto mount searches for a floppy but can't find any!

Code:

end_request: I/O error, dev fd0, sector 0 end_request: I/O error, dev fd0, sector 0 Buffer I/O error on device fd0, logical block 0 end_request: I/O error, dev fd0, sector 0 Buffer I/O error on device fd0, logical block 0

If you push the close window buttom (the x in the upper left cornor) it will eventurly say that konqueror don't respond, and ask if you want to close it.

Sincerley
Gozar
06-14-2004, 12:17 AM
xSauronx

Quote:

Originally Posted by Gozar

Quote:

Originally Posted by xSauronx

i can use the links, sure. but if it doesnt work....id like it fixed
*odd*i can browse /mnt suddenly ??
*more odd* when broswing from /mnt into /hdaX it takes a long time to open the folder, or doesnt open at all. when opening from the dekstop its instant, any ideas how to fix that?

I think it's a issue with automount. The same happens here, and if i exaime the output of dmesg it's cause of the auto mount searches for a floppy but can't find any!

Code:

end_request: I/O error, dev fd0, sector 0 end_request: I/O error, dev fd0, sector 0 Buffer I/O error on device fd0, logical block 0 end_request: I/O error, dev fd0, sector 0 Buffer I/O error on device fd0, logical block 0

If you push the close window buttom (the x in the upper left cornor) it will eventurly say that konqueror don't respond, and ask if you want to close it.

Sincerley
Gozar

anywa to get automount to not look for a floppy drive?
and how do i get my dvd to mount...and stay that way?

i hate being a n00b :/
06-14-2004, 02:19 PM
Gozar

Quote:

Originally Posted by xSauronx

anywa to get automount to not look for a floppy drive?

donno
[quote]
and how do i get my dvd to mount...and stay that way?

Quote:

Can you be more specfi?
i hate being a n00b :/

Sincerley
Gozar
06-14-2004, 05:59 PM
mzilikazi

Well I don't use KDE so I'm not much help w/ that problem. I like Roxfiler myself. Works very good. But as for the DVD issue- you don't need to mount it to watch a movie. Look at the configuration for Xine. It (like most Linux apps) expects to find your dvd drive as /dev/dvd BUT there is no such thing! :) So....you need to create it if it doesn't already exist.

My dvd drive is the Primary Slave so it's called /dev/hdb. I just do this:

ln -s /dev/hdb /dev/dvd

Now, if you try to use /dev/dvd you're really using /dev/hdb. Make sense?

Of course you can configure Xine to use /dev/hdb if you don't want to mess about w/ symlinks although symlinks really are easy and it would be to your advantage to use them.
06-14-2004, 10:16 PM
champagnemojo

Quote:

Originally Posted by xSauronx

anywa to get automount to not look for a floppy drive?

I've always had the same issue on my laptop. Yes, you can turn off the automounter. Just run:

Code:

/etc/init.d/autofs stop

If you want to stop it permanently (and trust me you do) then also run:

Code:

update-rc.d -f autofs remove
06-15-2004, 03:27 AM
xSauronx

Quote:

Originally Posted by champagnemojo

Quote:

Originally Posted by xSauronx

anywa to get automount to not look for a floppy drive?

I've always had the same issue on my laptop. Yes, you can turn off the automounter. Just run:

Code:

/etc/init.d/autofs stop

If you want to stop it permanently (and trust me you do) then also run:

Code:

update-rc.d -f autofs remove

i did this, it still stalls for 1-2 minutes when i graphically broswe /mnt

Quote:

Originally Posted by mzilikazi

My dvd drive is the Primary Slave so it's called /dev/hdb. I just do this:

ln -s /dev/hdb /dev/dvd

when booting, it says my dvd/rw is hdc

but i have *no* /mnt/hdc or /dev/hdc at all....wth? how do i use my dvd drive if its not seeing it there?

-new question- how do i find which "folders" are linked to which partitions? i have partition hda6 that is showing as 30gb and almost full, im pretty sure i have hda6 set as /home but my /home has under 50meg in it; where do i find out what else is using this parition so i can get my data?

-also- qparted shows hda8 as ~35gigs, and almost full. but if i look at hda8 from the desktop link i see....nothing. nada. is something wrong? or is it similar to my above situation; that i just dont know what im looking for? :)

thanks so much guys
06-15-2004, 05:30 AM
mzilikazi

Quote:

Originally Posted by xSauronx

when booting, it says my dvd/rw is hdc

but i have *no* /mnt/hdc or /dev/hdc at all....wth? how do i use my dvd drive if its not seeing it there?

I *think* I see what's been so confusing for you. Hopefully I don't make it worse. :)

Linux uses symlinks or 'symbollic links' It's just another name for the same device or directory.

Why do you need more than one name for a device or directory?
To make things simple *most* applications will look to use /dev/dvd to play dvd's but!!......how do you know which device is actually the dvd drive?

Afterall your dvd drive can be in any of four positions on the pci bus right?

/dev/hda - primary master
/dev/hdb - primary slave
/dev/hdc - secondary master
/dev/hdd -secondary slave

To make things uniform we teach Linux to call our drive /dev/dvd with a symbolic link no matter where it is on the pci bus.

ln -sf /dev/hdc /dev/dvd

ln (link) -s (symbolicly) -f (force- to remove any existing links) /dev/hdc (your actual device) /dev/dvd (new name of device)

That's it.
How to see if it worked?

Code:

ls -al /dev/dvd lrwxr-xr-x 1 root root 8 Jun 11 16:05 /dev/dvd -> /dev/hdc

Quote:

-new question- how do i find which "folders" are linked to which partitions?

Well you can do this:

Code:

mount

to see what's mounted and how it's mounted.
You can do this:

Code:

fdisk -l

to see what partitions are available on your drives.

Quote:

i have partition hda6 that is showing as 30gb and almost full, im pretty sure i have hda6 set as /home but my /home has under 50meg in it; where do i find out what else is using this parition so i can get my data?

-also- qparted shows hda8 as ~35gigs, and almost full. but if i look at hda8 from the desktop link i see....nothing. nada. is something wrong? or is it similar to my above situation; that i just dont know what im looking for? :)

thanks so much guys

It sounds like your desktop icons are possibly not mounting the partitions they represent. Forget the desktiop icons and mount the partitions by hand:

Code:

mount /dev/hda8 /mnt/hda8

OR better yet why not mount /dev/hda8 somewhere that's at least a bit meaningful?

Code:

su mkdir /music mount /dev/hda8 /music

Make whatever directory you want and mount your drive wherever you want. The point is that you can mount a drive anywhere as long as the mount point actually exists! ;)

HTH
06-15-2004, 11:27 PM
xSauronx

thath helped a bit

but theres still nothing seeing hdc (which is my dvd drive, as its the master on the second ide channel)

again, its not in /dev or/mnt as anything, and again, i dont know why since it worked a couple days ago, and nothing you guys have told me would have changed it :/

but when im booting and linux is loading, it mentions hda as my WD1200 drive and HDc as my lite-on dvd drive

grrr
06-16-2004, 01:48 AM
mzilikazi

Either I don't write too clearly or you didn't do what I wrote. Do the following and post the output:

ls -al /dev/dvd

IF is DOESN'T say this:

lrwxr-xr-x 1 root root 8 Jun 11 16:05 /dev/dvd -> /dev/hdc

Then do this:

ln -s /dev/hdb /dev/dvd

Then do this again:

ls -al /dev/dvd
06-16-2004, 12:20 PM
xSauronx

ls -al /dev/dvd

outputs

Irwxrwxrwx 1 root root 8 Jun 15 18:19 /dev/dvd -> /dev/hdc

still getting this from xine:

There is no input plugin available to handle 'dvd:/'
Maybe MRL syntax is wrong or file/stream source doesnt exist