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Just Beginning

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twiggymoo
Posts: 38
Joined: 2006-05-19 12:56
Location: maryland

Just Beginning

#1 Post by twiggymoo »

Ok...I have a dual boot system (XP and Debian, two separate hard drives). I installed Debian and I can't do anything with it. I have two huge Linux books and they may as well be in Greek.
I am of course using winblows XP to get to the internet and this forum since I can't get here with Debian. I did the pppconfig thing and changed it several times with no success. I have an external serial modem which I am using now with XP.
My graphics in Debian is lousy, I can't access the internet with it and can't get my sound card going.
I have an SIS 5598/6326 graphics card, an AOC monitor, a SoundBlaster 24bit live sound card.
I use Netzero dialup to access the internet and downloaded Netzero.deb for lindows and don't know what to do with it.
So there you are.
Can someone help me??

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startx
Posts: 172
Joined: 2004-09-16 12:14
Location: london

#2 Post by startx »

I use Netzero dialup to access the internet and downloaded Netzero.deb for lindows and don't know what to do with it.
i have no idea what that is, but normally you install debian packages by

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dpkg -i nameofpackage.deb
as root of course.

is this a dsl dialup software or something like that? how do you connect to the internet? do you have a router/network?
debian squeeze for everyday life, many other versions for the rest

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Christmas
Posts: 91
Joined: 2006-05-16 19:52
Location: Bucharest

#3 Post by Christmas »

For your sound you have to install the alsa drivers. First of all you have to add repositories to your /etc/apt/sources.list file. Repositories are web addresses from where apt gets its programs. Now if you don't have an internet connection you'll have to deal with that first. However I can't help you as I configured my internet settings in the installer and I don't use a modem to connect to the internet.

Anyway, if you manage to make your internet work, here is what you do for your sound. First of all, open a terminal (KMenu -> System -> Konsole (Terminal Program)) and become root using this command:

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su
You will be asked for your root password. Enter it (you won't see what you type but don't worry, the password goes in) and then edit your sources.list file with this command:

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nano /etc/apt/sources.list
Once you opened the file, add some repositories - mines are like this:

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deb ftp://ftp.ro.debian.org/debian/ stable main contrib non-free
deb http://security.debian.org/ sarge/updates main contrib non-free
Now save the file (CTRL+O), answer (Y)es and close nano (CTRL+X). You now have to update your repos:

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apt-get update
Then to install the packages you have to use this command:

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apt-get install package-name
where the "package-name" is the name of the package you want to install, of course.
I am a newbie so I don't know the exact minimum packages required for alsa to work, but I'll show what I have installed and sound works. So, do this command:

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apt-get install alsa-base alsa-modules-2.4.27-2-386 alsa-oss alsa-utils gstreamer0.8-alsa
Hope this helps. Don't forget: to use the "dpkg" or "apt-get" command you must always be root. Also try "apt-cache search package-name" and "apt-cache show package-name" to search for a package or show info about a package. "dpkg --help" and "apt-get --help" will show you help about this command. Good luck!

LE: I forgot: If you have KDE you use the Konsole, for GNOME enter the Terminal Program, I don't know exactly what's called.

Now, here are two links to help you installing software:
http://psychocats.net/ubuntu/installingsoftware
https://wiki.ubuntu.com/InstallingSoftware
Don't worry if they are for Ubuntu, they work on Debian as well.
Last edited by Christmas on 2006-05-19 20:28, edited 1 time in total.
Overhead the albatross hangs motionless upon the air...
TuxArena

twiggymoo
Posts: 38
Joined: 2006-05-19 12:56
Location: maryland

Dial UP

#4 Post by twiggymoo »

is this a dsl dialup software or something like that? how do you connect to the internet? do you have a router/network?
I use dialup with a serial modem. I was not typing the correct dpkg command - I was typing dpkg -1 instead of -i. I did use apt-get install netzero.deb and it couldn't find it. I also used dselect, access, and couldn't find the netzero file either, yet it is there on /home/don/Desktop.

twiggymoo
Posts: 38
Joined: 2006-05-19 12:56
Location: maryland

Sound...

#5 Post by twiggymoo »

Christmas,
Thanks - that looks very good and can't wait to try it, once I get online. I can't find those answers in the books!!

zwerg
Posts: 117
Joined: 2006-02-17 12:16
Location: Bangkok, Thailand

#6 Post by zwerg »

Twiggymoo:

Books are not the best source of info on Linux, although if you stay with the operating system you will find that there are some useful references. IMHO your best bets for help in getting started are, in order of decreasing usefulness:

1. Someone you can meet with -- a Linux user who knows more than you do. Look for a LUG (Linux User's Group) in your area and go to a meeting, looking sheepsih and scared. Google for info on the LUG nearest you.

2. Ditto, but you meet over the phone. Get a headset.

3. Ditto, but you exchange e-mail or faxes.

4. Internet sources: tutorials you find on Linux websites, forums like this one, articles, and so on. Suggest you Google for all things Linux and set a bunch of bookmarks. TUX is an on-line magazine for newbies. Find all the help sites you can, bookmark them, and check them frequently for new stuff. Very often Linux applications will have their own websites; when trying to use a graphics program, for example, check to see whether there is an internet presence for it.

5. OK, now we get to some of the books out there. Rule of thumb: AVOID any book that comes with a free CD or DVD; they are usually not worth the price. On the positive side, take a look at the latest edition of The Linux Cookbook (it may have come with your Debian distro; I got one some years ago with Libranet, which is a defunct Debian-based distro). Cookbook is a pretty good introduction to a lot of Linux tasks, and it is written for the Debian user. It's not perfect, but it's one of the best of a generally dismal lot, IMHO. Later you might want to get the latest edition of Linux in a Nutshell, from the O'Reilly publishing house. Back maybe eight or ten years ago, Kofler's Linux Installation Configuration Use was good, but I don't know whether there is an edition these days that is up to date.

5.5. Just a bit below the best books, I rate the HOWTOS and man and info pages. For the newbie, they are often just so much gibberish; they can be out of date, as well. In general, it seems to me that a lot of Linux documentation is written for people who do not need it. But don't give up: a lot of folks swear by the HOWTOS and man and info pages. I often swear AT them. Once you get pretty good at Linux, these resources will be more useful to you, but they do tend to eat the occasional newbie for lunch.

Finally, keep a log, notebook, journal, diary or whatever you want to call it as you work through various Linux tasks. You will refer to it later, I promise you. Too, the discipline of taking notes helps you keep your thought processes logical.

Now some other folks lurking here will add to and correct my list. Good luck and enjoy the ride, Twiggymoo!

twiggymoo
Posts: 38
Joined: 2006-05-19 12:56
Location: maryland

#7 Post by twiggymoo »

zwerg,
Thanks, I see where I will need to take lots of notes. I will search for a LUG in my area too.

I installed netzero.deb now I can't find it! Still can't access the net either.

User avatar
startx
Posts: 172
Joined: 2004-09-16 12:14
Location: london

#8 Post by startx »

now I can't find it!
you can use "locate foobar" to find a command or whatever.
maybe you have to run "updatedb" before to update the indexes of your search database (do not worry if this takes some time)
debian squeeze for everyday life, many other versions for the rest

zwerg
Posts: 117
Joined: 2006-02-17 12:16
Location: Bangkok, Thailand

#9 Post by zwerg »

Twiggymoo:

Are you aware of slocate? If not, take a look at the man page for it. Pretty nifty little package.

glf2818
Posts: 193
Joined: 2005-11-21 01:54
Location: Portage, Indiana

Just Beginning

#10 Post by glf2818 »

twiggymoo
You may need some information from your ISP (a phone number for one thing).
Then as root:
# pppconfig
You can run it several times if necessary. If your ISP gives you a selection of phone numbers, you might want to actually dial them and see if a computer answers. If you get a message saying we're busy--forget that one.
Also don't forget to check with your phone company to see if its a toll call. Just because the ISP lists a phone number with your area code doesn't mean its free!
Good luck
George

twiggymoo
Posts: 38
Joined: 2006-05-19 12:56
Location: maryland

Re: Just Beginning

#11 Post by twiggymoo »

glf2818 wrote:twiggymoo
You may need some information from your ISP (a phone number for one thing). Then as root: # pppconfig. You can run it several times if necessary. George
George, thanks. I thought I needed DNS Server or IP address too. Maybe easier than I thought. I did download Netzero's lindows/linspire package and thought I intalled it (netzero.deb). But lost track of it.

Regards,
Twiggymoo

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