[TriLUG] Mandrake 8.1 installation--Part TWO--the problems! according to Lockergnome's Penguin Shell

[al johson]

Read the earlier message about WHO had these problems--not I !! You also
left off the subject which clearly states its origin and Tony's name!!
Incidentally, I believe Tony has decided to write yet another short article
discussing Mandrake 8.1 (which incidentally he really loved--read part one
which was posted earlier!!). All this comes from Lockergnome's new free
newsletter entitled "Penguin shell". Go to www.lockergnome.com if you are
interested in subscribing. (No, I don't work for them. I just noticed that
they had a method of forwarding any and all of their Penguin Shell
newsletter to friends, so I decided to share it with Trilug!!).---AL (Not
Tony!!).
=====================
----- Original Message -----
From: Rick Gatewood <gatewood at nc.rr.com>
To: <trilug at trilug.org>
Sent: Wednesday, November 14, 2001 5:42 PM
Subject: Re: [TriLUG] Mandrake 8.1 installation--Part TWO--the problems!
according to Lockergnome's Penguin Shell


> On Wednesday 14 November 2001 11:21 am, you wrote:
> I love Mandrake 8.1 and I use it on two of my four machines at home (one
NT
> and Wife's 98 are the other two.
>
> I recently tried Redhat 7.2 at work and it was super easy to install and a
> little more polished than 7.1.
>
> They both keep getting better and better!
> > From: "al johson" <alfjon at mindspring.com>
> >
> > >Three nagging issues and several smaller ones have arisen since this
> > >install
> > >on Sunday. You'll recall first that I praised the network setup in the
> > >install process. It was very easy and required only that I know my IP
and
> > >DNS information. Well, that's not quite true. When I booted to the
Gnome
> > >desktop for the first time and opened Galeon, my favorite Linux
browser, I
> > >had no connection to the 'net. During the initial boot, eth0 (the first
> > > [0] [eth]ernet card) initialized just fine. I know that that's just a
> > > hardware issue and really has nothing to do with the connection to the
> > > Internet, but I usually make the assumption, anyway, that I've got a
good
> > > connection. In other words, it doesn't explicitly fail, it must be
good!
> > > Nope. I still had to manually configure the ethernet interface for the
> > > correct default gateway
> > >and domain, using the tools provided by the command line tool (opened
as
> > >root) netcfg. It was a bit of a disappointment. I did get it configured
> > > and restarted the network interface [as root: /etc/rc.d/init.d/network
> > > restart],
> > >but it seemed like a glaring oversight to leave these crucial numbers
out
> > >of
> > >the initial install. If I'd been using Mandrake for the first time, I'd
> > >have
> > >had no idea how to resolve it.
> >
> > Have you tried to use "Mandrake Control Center" a.k.a. "drakconf"? It is
a
> > nice GUI interface, WinNT-like, to configure your network. So no CLI
needed
> > here, really.
> >
> > You know that there is such a tool, don't you?
> >
> > >But when I loaded my '70s playlist into XMMS, I had no sound. Again, I
had
> >
> > Did you tried to configure XMMS to use /dev/whateveryoulike as your
sound
> > output?
> >
> > Not many people has 2 soundcards. And, usualy, the forst one is the
default
> > sound card. So it makes sense (to me) that the audio programs are
defaulted
> > to the first sound card. In your case, the Crystal on-board.
> >
> > >to rely on past experience. I opened a console screen, logged in as
root,
> > >and opened the sound card configuration using sndcfg. The program
probed
> > >for
> > >sound cards and found only the Crystal onboard card. It completely
missed
> > >the SoundBlaster Live! PCI card. I had to "fake out" the system to
> > >configure
> > >the SB. The sndcfg program plays a test sound of Linus Torvalds
> > >prounouncing
> > >both his name and "Linux", then asks if you heard it. I lied. I entered
> > >"no"
> > >and let the system roll me into the manual configuration screen. From
> > >there,
> > >I was able to pick the SoundBlaster Live! from the device list, and
> > >everything went smoothly. Since then, I've had to run through the above
> > >configuration process at least twice more in order to have sound. I'll
> > > look through the HowTos to see if there's something in the
> > > autoconfiguration that's missing as compared to configuring manually.
> > > I'll let you know.
> >
> > Did you try HardDrake to deetct and configure your sound card? A nice
GUI
> > front-end to smart perl scripts.
> >
> > >Those issues were mere annoyances in the big picture. I was still
pretty
> > >happy with Mandrake when the third problem reared its ugly head. When I
> > >reboot the machine, whether through the GUI or the console window, the
> > >shutdown process hangs just after the USB devices are disconnected.
This
> > >isn't a good thing. Eventually, I'm left with no option but to hard
kill
> > >the
> > >box. I'm pursuing a remedy for this problem to share with you. I've
found
> > >nothing in the known issues and may, today, contact MandrakeSoft
directly.
> >
> > Have you gone to Mandrake website?
> >
> > Check this out:
> >
> > http://www.linux-mandrake.com/en/81errata.php3#usb
> >
> > >So, this turns out to be a pretty mixed bag. If the shutdown problem is
> > >related to hardware and is resolveable, I'd still recommend Mandrake
8.1
> > >with a few caveats. If not, I'd have to go thumbs down despite the
> > >beautiful
> > >and easy install. For new Linux users, that first install can seem like
a
> > >big black void, even if it goes well. If there's no previous experience
> > >with
> > >either troubleshooting or working the Linux newsgroups, it can be very
> > >lonely, as well.
> >
> > And, also, to not being alone, you can always go at
> > http://www.mandrakeexpert.org and ask for help there. A free service
from
> > the Mandrake comunity : a mixture of tech support, with ticket numbers
and
> > all that, combined with newsgroups and web front-end. Accessible from an
> > icon on your desktop.
> >
> > >Tomorrow, I'll cover the programs available in the Mandrake installs.
And,
> > >I'll let you know if and how these problems were resolved.
> > >
> > >I haven't yet put my RedHat hat permanently on the shelf.
> >
> > Belive me. Red Hat 7.2 is goood.
> >
> > >Tony Steidler-Dennison
> >
> > Salut,
> > Sinner (Mandrake at Home, RedHat at Work: dual love)
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