Linux

[Bella]

Gees, I'll have to try it

At least I have a good explanation, I can pretend to be my friend in need of a good computer and see if I can navigate it okay...

Do I need some sorta torrent software, though (I think I have Bittorrent...)? And is it a lot quicker to download than a normal ISO?

[C-Chan]

Do I need some sorta torrent software, though (I think I have Bittorrent...)? And is it a lot quicker to download than a normal ISO?

Well the file itself will still be an ISO file,... it's just that a torrent is a special internet protocol with which you download things using peer-to-peer networking.  So when you download the torrent, your Bittorrent will use the .torrent file to sign you up to a special network of users sharing the same file.

The reason it's often so much faster than regular HTTP downloads is because you don't have one server providing the same software for 500 users, but rather 500 users sharing what they have with one another.  So if 100 of those users already have the complete ISO, they will "seed" bits and pieces of that ISO to downloaders who still don't have the full ISO.  And even though the "leechers" may only have 50% of the ISO, they themselves will often "seed" what they have to users who only have 10% of the ISO,... or maybe to someone who has 90% but doesn't have the same pieces.

The more users there are, the faster this process is --  you can have 50-100 users each sending you 5KBs of data per second and really making the process fly, but if only 10 users are in the swarm, then naturally there's not enough torrent "pressure" to offer you as quick a download.

If you're using Windows, uTorrent might be a better program to conceptualize this with.  Otherwise, on Linux, kTorrent is king!  ^___^

[Gummster]

Well you kinda lost me there,... do you mean you did that whole thing with BandwidthD and got another problem instead, or you just tried reinstallation and just got all this stuff?  ^^'

In any event, these files only look partially familiar, but it seems we're getting somewhere at least.  0v0;

*ponders*

Wish I were there in person to tinker with this myself.  -v-

That was the case yes, but that's all in the past this matter has been sucsessfully dealt with.

But unfourtunatly, not so long after I fixed that, I got another quite annoying problem, I can't boot. Not the way I want to at least. I watch the splash screen boot as it normally should but then instead of getting the login screen I get some black screen telling me to login there, I do so but instead of loging in to my desktop i continues with the black screen. It not so diffrent from recovery mode, I can use the command line.I have no idea what it wants me to do! Ctrl+D doesn't work either. I am trying now to log in through the real recovery mode, but so far it's stuck at "Running local boot scripts (/etc/rc.local)" and it's been like that for quite a while.

I'm kinda desprate because I need to get some paperwork done on the computer. So I hope my description of the problem isn't to blurry, and that anyone can and is willing to help me.

[Tsubashi]

Well okay, it's dropped you to a command shell. Have you made changes to your video card/driver recently? That was the problem when this happened to me. You might also check /etc/rc.local to make sure it hasn't been corrupted.
Oh! try pressing CTRL + ALT + F8 to get a better idea where it's stuck in 'Running local boot scripts'

[Gummster]

Well okay, it's dropped you to a command shell. Have you made changes to your video card/driver recently? That was the problem when this happened to me. You might also check /etc/rc.local to make sure it hasn't been corrupted.
Oh! try pressing CTRL + ALT + F8 to get a better idea where it's stuck in 'Running local boot scripts'

Yes, I have made recent changes to the video card/driver. I was asked if I wanted to change somehing in the restricted drivers, there I enabled ati graphics... something...

[Tsubashi]

Ah, well then lets try this. When you get to the Terminal prompt type:

Code Select Expand

sudo dpkg-reconfigure xserver-xorg
sudo /etc/init.d/gdm restart

When it asks you for the driver, pick vesa. Not the best (obviously) but it ought to work. From there you can do your paperwork, and then reconfigure/reinstall your good video driver

Hope that helps ^.^

[Gummster]

Thanks! It indeed helped, although I chose ati instead of vesa because that one wasn't working. But thanks to you I was successfully able to dodge scolding from the principal tomorrow.

But of course as usual I encountered another problem, not that important but annoying none the less. When I logged in a window popped up saying that "HAL" was not able to initialize. then I had to spend a lot of time getting the internets to work. But as I said this is mainly just annoying, I don't even know what HAL is.

[Tsubashi]

Hmm, I've heard that switching to a five second timed login fixes the problem. Maybe give that a try?

And just for trivia, HAL stands for Hardware Abstraction Layer. It's a  layer, implemented in software, between the physical hardware of a computer and the software that runs on that computer. Its function is to hide differences in hardware from most of the operating system kernel, so that most of the kernel-mode code does not need to be changed to run on systems with different hardware. On a PC, HAL can basically be considered to be the driver for the motherboard and allows instructions from higher level computer languages to communicate with lower level components, such as directly with hardware.

[NejinOniwa]

Hal? HAL? HAL??!

O_o

HAL 9000 IS GONNA KEEL YOU!!! AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!! *runs around in thread, screaming*

[C-Chan]

GUMMMMMMMUNTU!!!!!!!!!!  I'M SO SORRY!!!!!!!!!!  ;^0^;

i had a busy day today and couldn't access this site at all.  ;___;
I feel bad cause if it hadn't been for the great Tsubashi-dono, you'd be one very unhappy camper right now.  ;~;
I'll try not to let it happen again.  ^^

Yes, ATI binary drivers are the WORST, so you should never underestimate their ability to positively DESTROY your X desktop.  Even Nvidia binaries can get flakey at times, but the Intel Integrated are ironically the best in terms of hassle-free operation.  

Also, do be wary of Buntu updates in general, as they do mix in a lot of untested stuff with normal apps.  One of the reasons I left the Buntus for PCLOS was because I got tired of fearing updates.  ^^

In any event, glad it all worked out, and we do owe Tsubashi-dono big time for his supreme command of the situation.  ^____^

*stares at Nejin*

Well let's pay tribute to Tsubashi-dono now while Nejin-san distracts the killer computer. ^.^

[Tsubashi]

Senpai, senpai!
Don't be so hard on yourself, there really is no reason to be. There are so many other times that you've helped, long before I could have started to postulate a response. I'm very sorry to have made you feel responsible for every bit of Linux Technical support. I'll have to endeavor to stop by more often. A single situation doesn't merit much. You don't owe me anything. you don't need to embellish my name, especially since you already over-honor me with the whole -dono bit.

HAL 9000 IS GONNA KEEL YOU!!!

Fufufu. Also what I thought of the first time I encountered it. ^.^

[C-Chan]

Tthank you, Tsubashi-dono, for such kind words of encouragement.  I'll still be hard on myself just for the fun of it, though,... fufufu.... ^___^

Still, you know it's always a pleasure to help a fellow Linux user,... especially when their own native boards are BRIMMING with posts and easily drowned out.  ^^;

Speaking of which,... I forgot which thread related to silly personal computer stories, but this site has a HUGE collection of them:

http://www.rinkworks.com/stupid/

Also includes a lot of Linux jokes too.  ^___^

[Bella]

C-Chan, your badgering payed off!

In the VM, I finally tried gOS (SO GREEN! Do you know SAMLinux?)...first, the good points about it:

Fairly polished, all together...From a GUI point-of-view, Enlightenment is really neat, and the dock is pretty awesome. The workspace switching animation is pretty neat, like a stripped-down Beryl I got online right away, too.

But...First off the bat my peeve was the screen resolution. 800x600 just doesn't cut it on my screen (which is 1024xwhatever); I really dislike the picture-in-picture look I get from it. But since this is a VM only problem, it's not very valid.

Enlightenment...it's full of eye-candy, but I like GNOME a lot more. And GNOME seems a lot more...GASP...customizable! And easy on the eyes...

It was a bit hangy, but this is also likely a VM problem. And the Google search thing in the corner was a bit obnoxious (I've never seen so much company placement in one non-M$ OS), but switching workspaces got rid of it. And, I deleted the docks and have yet to get them back.

I probably shouldn't be one to complain, as this is only on the VM, and it is a fairly new distro so things aren't going to be 100% polished. But I can certainly see how this could be quite easy to use for an average user who wants to do a lot of web surfing. But Ubuntu just seems a lot more intuitive and simple for me...give gOS some time, though, and I'm sure it'll become incredible!

[C-Chan]

Sou sou.... it's still fairly new and does act rather "funkily" in a VM environment.  ^.^
(btw, are you using version 1.0.1?)

Can't recall if I ever wrote done any notes about my gOS experience, but I discovered how to deactivate the Google Bar, restore docks, change wallpaper transitions, and so on.   And indeed, it's customizability is suspect,... it's certainly easier and prettier to work with than Gnome, but at the same time it's also rather stifling too.  I don't even remember if I managed to increase the screen resolution, for example... ^^;

(course, KDE bests them all!  bwahaha!!  just kidding... ^v^)

I do recall that Everex tweaked the system a lot when loading it onto their gPC's (and I'm sure they'll do the same to the Cloudbooks), so clearly gOS should work optimally in that hardware.  

Otherwise,... granted that you're becoming an emerging Ubuntu guru....

...you can always get them one of these cuties.... ^.^

http://www.zareason.com/shop/product.php?productid=16164&cat=0&page=1

[Tsubashi]

(course, KDE bests them all! bwahaha!! just kidding... ^v^)

I've said it before, XFCE FTW!
Though KDE draws a close second on my systems ^.^
While I don't like gnome all that much, I know people who swear by it, so.. '
Whatever floats you boat, ne?

Enlightenment, hmm? Lemme see. If I remember correctly, I used it on Boss~Admin-sama's laptop once. A bit confusing, but probably more a function of Admin-sama's customizations. I think it's fun, but not something I'd use consistently.

If ever fix up this old Dell CPi I've had lying around forever, maybe I should give gOS a spin, ne? Just gotta find some way to keep the mini PSU connector in place (at least, I hope that's the problem ^^')



Oh, and since all things linux go here:
Has anyone installed linux on their iPod before? If so, did you ever have problems with overheating? I had it on my 2nd gen mini for a while without problems, but it was stolen. On my 1st gen nano, however, the back casing heats up noticeably after 10 minutes, and continues to heat up. Any ideas? Not a pressing issue, especially since after an hour or so the temperature stays constant. There seem to be no noticeable defects, but it's just a little odd. ^.^