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Thread: My Mandrake 8.1 Experiences so far

  1. #1
    Member SpookyEddy's Avatar
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    My Mandrake 8.1 Experiences so far

    Hi all,

    Just downloaded "Mdk 8.1 final" from work & installed it on my home box, so here are my first impressions (I am posting from Konqueror now ):

    My system:

    Abit Kt-7
    Duron 600 Mhz
    320 Meg of PC-100 RAM
    Fujitsu 10 Gig 5400 rpm UDMA 66 hard-disk
    Creative Labs 8x4x32 CD-Rw
    ISA Soundblaster
    Hercules 32 Meg GeForce2 mx
    Accton-C network Card
    External Modem
    15" TFT monitor @ 1024*768

    Installation:

    Died first time with package errors , tried again with more selective choice including not installing gnome & all went OK. Could be that I have a stuffed CD.

    Hard-disk partitioning is very similar to 8.0 but with some extra journaling file systems available, personnally I stuck with Reiser FS.

    Can now configure both NIC & dialup during installation

    Rest of installer is very similar, just a bit slicker.

    First boot:

    Everything started OK and worked as expected.

    "A first time user wizard" now appears on first boot, but I cancelled it because it didn't seem to offer much more than registering the software & choosing your KDE theme.

    My hard-disk controler still caused problems at UDMA66, so back to UDMA33

    Applications:

    KDE ran VERY slowly the first time but was back to normal after a re-boot

    Configured Internet with no problems as per normal.

    "InteractiveBastille" firewall ran as normal but with a few minor extra options.

    Konqueror started up for the first time without crashing on me, which is a first

    Strangely when I open an application it now appears on all 4 KDE desktops


    Well these are my first experiences & ramblings

    Will keep you posted with any new stuff.

    Regards

    Eddy

  2. #2
    Member SpookyEddy's Avatar
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    Discovered a few more things

    Sorted out KDE desktop thing, just a different default setting.

    xcdroast is installed by default

    KDE has a refined taskbar with some extra options.

    Anti-aliasing fonts are configured as standard.

    Regards

    Eddy

  3. #3
    Member t048's Avatar
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    Re: My Mandrake 8.1 Experiences so far

    Originally posted by SpookyEddy
    KDE ran VERY slowly the first time but was back to normal after a re-boot
    This happened to me the second time I installed MDK 8.0. I don't know why, but it cleared itself up after a reboot and it doesn't happen every time. Weird.

  4. #4
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    Keep them coming SpookyEddy -in particular if you are using an nVidia graphics card have you installed the nVidia drivers and do they work well?

  5. #5
    Member SpookyEddy's Avatar
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    Hi Cmonster,

    I am using an NVIDIA GeForce2 mx, but haven't had the courage to install the 3D drivers yet

    I guess I can't use the rpm's i've got from my old setup as they are compiled for the 2.4.3 kernel, so I'll grab the source at work.

    KDE now fades text that runs towards the edge of an application title on the task bar.

    When you open multiple konqueror windows they only appear once on the taskbar, you then click on the taskbar and get a list of sites you have open.

    Very pleased with stability so far

    Will report back

    Eddy

  6. #6
    Senior Member S.D.Willie's Avatar
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    yeah ive notice with gaim as well you will have one box minimized for whatever conversations you have going on. kinda cool i guess. i have a geforce 256(asus v6600 pure) and i couldnt get the resolution to 1024x768 at all. it keep telling me incorrect parameters, try again. well after i rebooted i got the screen size i wanted. strange. i too have to attempt the nvidia drivers as well.
    especially since i bought quake 3 arena for linux and it was 10 bux new and came with a copy of suse.

    SD

    the install however went smooth as a baby's ****.
    but...........setting the size of partitions with a slider bar is a total pain in the ***. you just cant get the exact size you want.
    Last edited by S.D.Willie; 10-02-2001 at 10:49 AM.
    you cant wear your emotions on your sleeve if you dont want them ripped off


  7. #7
    Member SpookyEddy's Avatar
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    I agree about the partition sizing bar, just forgot to mention it :o

  8. #8
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    I will have to look into 8.1. I had problems with getting the nVidia drivers to continue working in Mandrake 8.0 after a reboot.. they work great when I install them and restart X , but if I do a complete reboot something comes in conflict.

    The nVidia drivers work great, however, in SuSE 7.2 and Redhat 7.1.... only my beloved Drake gives me a headache.

  9. #9
    Member SpookyEddy's Avatar
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    Hmm, seems like my CDROM drives are no longer mounted at boot

    Not a problem with data CD's but does anyone know how to mount Audio discs?

    Also when I attempt to compile the NVIDIA kernel driver tarballs I get the following error:

    "[root@Slacker NVIDIA_kernel-1.0-1541]# make
    rm -f nv.o os-interface.o os-registry.o Module-linux NVdriver
    cc -c -Wall -Wno-unknown-pragmas -Wno-multichar -O -D__KERNEL__ -DMODULE -D_LOOSE_KERNEL_NAMES -D_X86_=1 -Di386=1 -DUNIX -DLINUX -DNV4_HW -DNTRM -DRM20 -D_GNU_SOURCE -DRM_HEAPMGR -D_LOOSE_KERNEL_NAMES -DNV_MAJOR_VERSION=1 -DNV_MINOR_VERSION=0 -DNV_PATCHLEVEL=1541 -I. -I/usr/src/linux/include nv.c
    In file included from nv.c:50:
    /usr/include/linux/modversions.h:1:2: #error Modules should never use kernel-headers system headers,
    /usr/include/linux/modversions.h:2:2: #error but headers from an appropriate kernel-source
    make: *** [nv.o] Error 1"

    Any suggestions?

    TIA

    Eddy

  10. #10
    Member SpookyEddy's Avatar
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    ooops, just rebooted and X is completely borked

    Get the error message:

    "X windows is respawning to fast" and the screen flashes frantically between the CLI and X.

    Any suggestions or am I looking at a reinstall?

    TIA

    Eddy

  11. #11
    Member pbharris's Avatar
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    hi Eddy,

    audio CDs have no filesystems and do not get mounted at all, although you should be able to play them of course.

    On the NVidia drivers, did you install the kernel source and is it located at /usr/src/linux ?
    I always use custom kernels and use the nvidia tarballs. And are kernel-headers installed?

    What version of X is shipping? I using xfree86 4.03 and it ahs been very good for me. Here is my XF86Config-4 file:

    http://members.telocity.com/~cph013/XF86Config-4

    The option Option "IgnoreEDID" "1 should only be used if you are sure of your moniter trefresh rates, which i am guessing you are. This is also for a TNT2 but should work for gforce2 because its a unifed drivers, although the amount of memory may be different.

  12. #12
    Member SpookyEddy's Avatar
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    Thanks for the help,

    I have installed kernel headers but it looks like I need to download the kernel source, I ll give it a try tomorrow.

    I still can't get X to start properly

    However before I restarted the machine & it went wrong I did install a new firewall app (firestarter) that installed some Gnome stuff. Could this be the problem?

    Thanks for the help.

    Eddy

  13. #13
    Member pbharris's Avatar
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    No, iptables and gnome would not mess with X at all.

    Is X not booting even after going back to the original XF86Config-4 file ?

    Have you treid to re-run Xconfigurator or whatever tool mandrake uses?
    RedHat and debain both include teh kernel source on the CDs, so I would think you should not need to download it...

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    Please excuse this post but I am here in TX at 9:42PM 10-2-1 and I see post from IL made tomarrow. I am just checking on Waasup

    edit duaaa I see it GMT, foot in mouth again
    Last edited by brunux; 10-03-2001 at 01:15 AM.

  15. #15
    Member SpookyEddy's Avatar
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    Up and running again, had to re-install, thank god I made an automatic install disc

    Thanks for the help pbharris but X was completely messed up, I tried you XF86config file & several backups & running Xconfig but with no luck

    Regards

    Eddy

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