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Should i get Linux???

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well its up good start
next is more todo with how you are connecting to the internet

1) dialup winmodem? good luck, FAKEmodem driver dependent POS
2) dialup real modem alot simpler ppp is what is needed
3) broadband via USB, its getting better and more distro's shipping with the drivers
4) broadband via NIC/RJ45 WINNNAR!!!!! simple

Assuming it is broadband (USB or NIC) the key here is seeing if
1) yr network card has been detected
2) is it picking up an IP

quickest way to find out is to execute the command

Code:
jrb@Fluid ~ $ /sbin/ifconfig
eth0      Link encap:Ethernet  HWaddr 00:16:17:99:C9:2C  
          inet addr:192.168.0.3  Bcast:192.168.0.255  Mask:255.255.255.0
          inet6 addr: fe80::216:17ff:fe99:c92c/64 Scope:Link
          UP BROADCAST RUNNING MULTICAST  MTU:1500  Metric:1
          RX packets:7368 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 frame:0
          TX packets:7454 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 carrier:0
          collisions:0 txqueuelen:100 
          RX bytes:4338216 (4.1 Mb)  TX bytes:1370093 (1.3 Mb)
          Base address:0xbf00 Memory:fdee0000-fdf00000 

lo        Link encap:Local Loopback  
          inet addr:127.0.0.1  Mask:255.0.0.0
          inet6 addr: ::1/128 Scope:Host
          UP LOOPBACK RUNNING  MTU:16436  Metric:1
          RX packets:70 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 frame:0
          TX packets:70 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 carrier:0
          collisions:0 txqueuelen:0 
          RX bytes:10024 (9.7 Kb)  TX bytes:10024 (9.7 Kb)

you will have lo (it is internal loopback device, needed), the question is whether you have eth0,... or another device
This output shows my eth0 device configured for net access. IF you don't have that try

Code:
/sbin/ifconfig -a
this will get ifconfig to displace all network devices (configured or not). This will then allow us to see whether it is higher-level networking issue (ie dhcp) or low-level drivers (ie has your network card been detected)

post back
 
monkeybiter said:
if you get to the point of wanting to install an os to your laptop hard drive, make sure you know what your doing first [no offence intended]

So very true.

With all the excitement of the new Ubuntu release, I went and try it out. Thing went smoothly with the Live CD and I go ahead and press "install to HD". Needless to say the installation went ahead uneventfully and trashed my bootloader in my MBR and installed GRUB bootloader instead. I was not given a chance to make any decision. When I reboot, the GRUB bootloader take over.

How come the designer had detected other OS on my harddisk partitions but decided that GRUB is more to my liking than my existing bootloader? Perhaps I would like LILO other than GRUB?

Tough, to install LILO, I had to throw away my existing 700MB desktop iso download and get the alternative iso which I then have to install in TEXT mode. All these is the lacking of a simple user consideration of a simple question during installation.

After installation, there are a lot of things to sort out.

Gnome has "hugh" icons on toolbar with plenty of space both on top and below the icon. Very good for people with 20/20 vision. Perhaps most people using Linux have twin 21" LCD monitors desktop but not I am. I tried to make it smaller and more compact but I can't. It came as standard.

Then I tried to select a red mouse pointer, so far so good. However, it comes with a shadow which is supposed to be cool to somebody. I never understand what a mouse shadow can achieve. In Windows I was given an option to do away with the shadow but I can't in Gnome. It come as standard.

The fonts are fuzzy displaying webpages from foreign locale and I need to tweak the font.conf file to get them display properly. I can't login as root and had to "Sudo" my every step in modifying any file on the system. This is just plain crazy.

I can't view Youtube on my browser because the flashplayer install plugin says my "X86_64" not supported. I tried an one day old DEB package which is suppose to take care of it but the installation wizard told me there are newer versions so I abort the installation, for now.

I can't transfer my email accounts and addresses from Outlook Express into "Evolution", the standard email installation of Ubuntu. What good is an email program if it cannot help users to migrate from an existing MS program.

Don't get me wrong, I am not saying Linux is bad. All these tweaking is great fun, if one has the time and trouble to tackle them, one by one.
 
Nigel Goodwin said:
You appear to be confused?, plug an ethernet cable from a Windows PC into a router (cable or ADSL) and it works - no need for any CD's.
I'm not confused at all.

Windows would not allow me to connect to the Internet until I used my IP's CD. I kept getting the annoying Internet connection wizard everytime I tried to connect. There probably is a way to do it without my IP's CD but I wasn't going to waste my time messing around with it.

Under Linux the Internet just worked, even my router didn't need setting up.
 
Styx said:
well its up good start
next is more todo with how you are connecting to the internet

1) dialup winmodem? good luck, FAKEmodem driver dependent POS
2) dialup real modem alot simpler ppp is what is needed
3) broadband via USB, its getting better and more distro's shipping with the drivers
4) broadband via NIC/RJ45 WINNNAR!!!!! simple

Assuming it is broadband (USB or NIC) the key here is seeing if
1) yr network card has been detected
2) is it picking up an IP

quickest way to find out is to execute the command

Code:
jrb@Fluid ~ $ /sbin/ifconfig
eth0      Link encap:Ethernet  HWaddr 00:16:17:99:C9:2C  
          inet addr:192.168.0.3  Bcast:192.168.0.255  Mask:255.255.255.0
          inet6 addr: fe80::216:17ff:fe99:c92c/64 Scope:Link
          UP BROADCAST RUNNING MULTICAST  MTU:1500  Metric:1
          RX packets:7368 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 frame:0
          TX packets:7454 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 carrier:0
          collisions:0 txqueuelen:100 
          RX bytes:4338216 (4.1 Mb)  TX bytes:1370093 (1.3 Mb)
          Base address:0xbf00 Memory:fdee0000-fdf00000 

lo        Link encap:Local Loopback  
          inet addr:127.0.0.1  Mask:255.0.0.0
          inet6 addr: ::1/128 Scope:Host
          UP LOOPBACK RUNNING  MTU:16436  Metric:1
          RX packets:70 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 frame:0
          TX packets:70 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 carrier:0
          collisions:0 txqueuelen:0 
          RX bytes:10024 (9.7 Kb)  TX bytes:10024 (9.7 Kb)

you will have lo (it is internal loopback device, needed), the question is whether you have eth0,... or another device
This output shows my eth0 device configured for net access. IF you don't have that try

Code:
/sbin/ifconfig -a
this will get ifconfig to displace all network devices (configured or not). This will then allow us to see whether it is higher-level networking issue (ie dhcp) or low-level drivers (ie has your network card been detected)

post back

How and where do i put that code??? and yes i have broardband, i can run both LAN and WLAN of my computer, but nothing on zenwalk linux.
 
Last edited:
you need to open a terminal/command window
should be one in the zenwalk menu

just paste/copy the /sbin/ifconfig into that and copp that into a txt file. insert USB stick and copy the file to said stick and load said file in a machine with internet access and post here
 
Styx said:
you need to open a terminal/command window
should be one in the zenwalk menu

just paste/copy the /sbin/ifconfig into that and copp that into a txt file. insert USB stick and copy the file to said stick and load said file in a machine with internet access and post here


Ok well after copy and pasting most of the letters in to terminal because the keyboard is all wrong at the moment i finally was able to run /sbin/ifconfig, the first result was with the wireless connection D-Link, and the ligh never came on at all on the usb d-link stick.

Code:
one[~]$ /sbin/ifconfig
eth0      
Link encap:Ethernet  HWaddr 00:C0:9F:75:8B:F9  
inet addr:169.254.88.161  Bcast:169.254.255.255  Mask:255.255.0.0
UP BROADCAST MULTICAST  MTU:1500  Metric:1
RX packets:0 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 frame:0
TX packets:0 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 carrier:0
collisions:0 txqueuelen:1000 
RX bytes:0 (0.0 b)  TX bytes:0 (0.0 b)
Interrupt:16 Base address:0x1800 

lo        
Link encap:Local Loopback  
inet addr:127.0.0.1  Mask:255.0.0.0
UP LOOPBACK RUNNING  MTU:16436  Metric:1
RX packets:56 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 frame:0
TX packets:56 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 carrier:0
collisions:0 txqueuelen:0 
RX bytes:4712 (4.6 KiB)  
TX bytes:4712 (4.6 KiB)

one[~]$

and this second one was with the wired connection straight from my DSL modem.

Code:
one[~]$ /sbin/ifconfig
eth0      
Link encap:Ethernet  
HWaddr 00:C0:9F:75:8B:F9  
          
inet addr:220.236.123.183  
Bcast:220.236.123.255  
Mask:255.255.255.0
          
UP BROADCAST RUNNING MULTICAST  
MTU:1500  Metric:1
          
RX packets:8 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 frame:0
TX packets:23 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 carrier:0
collisions:0 txqueuelen:1000 
RX bytes:3005 (2.9 KiB)  
TX bytes:4919 (4.8 KiB)
Interrupt:16 Base address:0x1800 

lo       
Link encap:Local Loopback  
inet addr:127.0.0.1  Mask:255.0.0.0
UP LOOPBACK RUNNING  MTU:16436  Metric:1
RX packets:0 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 frame:0
TX packets:0 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 carrier:0
collisions:0 txqueuelen:0 
RX bytes:0 (0.0 b)  
TX bytes:0 (0.0 b)

one[~]$

I dont know what any of this means but my ip address does not match any of this, should it, and does showing you this help me get closer to getting the intrnet to work? when i search my ip address in cmd using ipconfig/all its 192.168.0.###
 
shaneshane1 said:
I dont know what any of this means but my ip address does not match any of this, should it, and does showing you this help me get closer to getting the intrnet to work? when i search my ip address in cmd using ipconfig/all its 192.168.0.###

Is that when you are using the wireless via the D-Link wireless router, and in Windows I suppose? Addresses starting with 192.168.0. are local, so that address is just assigned to the wireless interface on the laptop by the router.

The 169.254.etc address is what you get when the networking system can't get an IP address assigned from the router. Wireless can be an issue in Linux, so get the wired networking up and running first and then you can find more information for getting the wireless going.

It looks to me like the wired connection should be working OK when you connect directly to the DSL modem. Can you get out on the internet when it's connected that way? i.e. can you ping www.google.com? If you can't, can you ping 74.125.19.147 (one of Google's servers)?

Try running lsusb and see what the result is when you have the USB wireless interface plugged in. This will tell you whether the USB is working and detecting the device when it's plugged in. Does the thing have any lights on it, and do they respond/blink when you try to bring up the wireless interface?

What is the make and model of the USB wireless interface?


Torben
 
yes in windows and wireless connection, where is lsusb and what is it?,this is all like a new language to me,i only learnt how to ping something last week, so lucky i even knew what that ment :confused:

do you mean ping google in linux or windows because everything is ok in windows, just dont know how to do anything in linux

Make and model of wireless interface

USB is D-Link G54 Air Plus

router is D-Link 802.11g/2.4Ghz
 
Last edited:
shaneshane1 said:
yes in windows and wireless connection, where is lsusb and what is it?,this is all like a new language to me,i only learnt how to ping something last week, so lucky i even knew what that ment :confused:

OK, gotcha. "Run lsusb" just means open a root terminal and type "lsusb". In *nix, "ls" is like "dir" in DOS, and will show you a list of files in the current directory. lsusb means "list usb devices". Similarly, lspci lists devices on the PCI bus, lsmod lists loaded kernel modules, and so on.

You need to get the wired connection on the Linux partition running like it looks like you had it before, and then try to ping www.google.ca to see if the networking is up. If that doesn't work then try pinging the address I gave earlier to see whether networking is up but you just don't have DNS working. Chances are pretty good that if one is working then the other will be too. It's just to help try to narrow things down.

do you mean ping google in linux or windows because everything is ok in windows, just dont know how to do anything in linux

Make and model of wireless interface

USB is D-Link G54 Air Plus

router is D-Link 802.11g/2.4Ghz

I'll have a quick google in a bit and see what I can find on those. But the first step is for you to get into Linux, plug in the USB adaptor, and make sure that the machine knows it's there using lsusb.


Torben
 
Yes you can, you can even boot in text mode which is handy on old hardware.
 
Gaston said:
so you really use linux from the command prompt most of the time like os2?

If you like, but there's no reason to. If you are comfortable using the command line in Linux, though, you can access a lot of functionality that isn't available through the GUI. And what's available using the GUI depends on which GUI you're using (XFCE, Gnome, KDE, etc). And you don't need the GUI to have a quite usable machine--you can even browse the web using lynx or links (no pretty pictures though).

The command line interface uses a command interpreter which is essentially a programming language itself. Remember DOS batch files? Imagine those on steroids. :)


Torben
 
Hero999 said:
Yes you can, you can even boot in text mode which is handy on old hardware.

Or on servers which don't need the GUI, or embedded applications. My work servers don't even have X installed. I run Gnome on my home machine and just ssh into my work servers and work on the command line on those. Using virtual file systems I can browse the remote server filesystem using my local GUI, or for quick stuff I can just copy files back and forth on the command line.

For work we also use TS-7400 ARM boards which run Linux. They'll boot a specially configured version of Linux in 1.1 seconds. :) I've been playing with the idea of building a mini-smart-home controller system for our 5th-wheel trailer with one.


Torben
 
I'm sorry to stray from the current off topic discussion, but what does everyone think of Fedora? I'm thinking of installing this...
 
I used Red Hat Linux 9 awhile ago and didn't think much of it.

Fedora, is supposed to be much better though.
 
erosennin said:
I'm sorry to stray from the current off topic discussion, but what does everyone think of Fedora? I'm thinking of installing this...

We've been using an older Fedora at work for a few years, but as servers, not desktop machines. It's OK but I vastly prefer the Debian package management over the RPM. Maybe it's just a personal preference.


Torben
 
That's one thing that annoys me about Linux: there are 100s of different packagint systems.

Why can't there just be one open and free standard that all distributions stick to?
 
The only (open) standard that exists as far as I know is the Kernel.

I use OpenSuSe 10.3 - very polished OS!
 
Hero999 said:
That's one thing that annoys me about Linux: there are 100s of different packagint systems.

Why can't there just be one open and free standard that all distributions stick to?

Well, to be fair the ones you're most likely to run into are Debian and RPM. But in any case, my answer would be "Why isn't there just one kind of car which everyone has to drive? Why isn't there just one open OS instead of making us choose between Linux, FreeBSD, OpenBSD. . .?"


Torben
 
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