Total newbie - a few basic QQ

[swishsticks]

Hi everyone

My first time using Knoppix, on my laptop (Toshiba Satellite 1800-712 series). Booted up from CD alright, but two immediate issues:

1) Knoppix only shows up in a rectangle in the centre of my screen, apporximately half the full screen size. How do I alter that?

2) I'd like to go online, but don't know how to do this. Partly I don't know what menu items in Knoppix I need to use, and partly I don't know if it has recognised my hardware or not. I have an external Alcatel Speedtouch USB modem to get an adsl broadband connection. Does anyone know what I need to do to get this working?

Otherwise, I'm still a bit bewildered by Knoppix, and not really sure what I'm doing (I've only been on it for an hour). Is there a File Manager, where I can get an overview of things? If I create work in Knoppix (eg through Open Office), where do I save that? Can it be on my hard drive, and if so, can I access it when I'm in Windows (I have OO in Windows).

Just beginner questions, I know, but this is my first experience of Linux.
Thanks for any tips or suggestions.

Swishsticks

[firebyrd10]

I have the same problem with my laptop. Try typing knoppix vga=normal at the boot prompt.

Not to sure with the ADSL.

But knoppix does have a file manager/webrowser. Konqueror. It should be in the little menu at the bottom.

As for OO you can save it in your home directory. If you want to save on a Hardrive you can. (If its not NTFS) Find the drive (If its the only one, it should be called hda1) right click and click mount. Then right click it again and go to actions then change read/write mode.
Yes all files can be seen by windows if you write to a windows drive.

[shah]

For speedtouch dsl usb , you could try kanotix utility/script:
http://kanotix.com/files/

[Nic MFP]

I have two Toshiba laptops and both behave the same way: the problem with the screen is due to the fact that Knoppix does not recognizes the video adapter, and so uses a default one with a resolution of 640 by 480, that Toshiba laptops show in the centre part of the screen.

Two are the solutions. a) there is an option, in the setup of the machine (accessed by a utility program, often in the rescue CD, or in a floppy - depends on the model) that says more or less "enlarge the screen". This is to show full screen the resoution of 640x480. But it shows up very bad!

b) The best solution is to correctly configure the X server. To do this, you have to get at least the manufacturer and the model of your video adapter. Then, when running Knoppix, you have to type in a terminal window (something like tho a DOS prompt window in Windows) the command "kxconfig".

This brings up the X server configuration utility. Now, you can choose your video adapter and set it up. Be sure to set a resolution of at least 800x600: otherwise the problem will not be removed. And, last but not least, at 640x480, even if displayed on full screen, the room on the display area is very small, and most windows does not fit into.

Once finished configuring the display, to get the new settings, you should restart the X server, by hitting CRTL+ALT+BACKSPACE.