[r11ckp]

Well i finally managed to boot DSLinux, but i have absolutly no idea what to do, just a few questions to get me going:

I have a broadband, connecting via a wireless linksys WPC54G, but i cant connect to the internet. Error resolving DNS i think. Does anyone know why i cant connect i connect fine on windows.

Is it possible to access my music etc on linux? Is there a linux equivelant of a 'my computer' or Hard disk icon?

I have no icons on my linux desktop...is this normal? When i run linux IN windows, i get icons on the desktop.

and finally...
Does anybody have any reccomendations as to how i should go about learning linux? like any particular area to play about with?

Im going to do some googling now.

Cheers, Rick

[saikee]

Couldn't tell you how to configure a wireless nic as I don't use one. If it is a normal wired nic you should already be using the Internet from DSL.

Every Linux can read your Windows partitions and many play your MP3 too. The matter is down to mounting the Windows partitions. Some Linux do it automatically and some require you to do it manually.

To mount a partition you need root privileges (admin right in Windows term).

You also need to know which is a Windows partition because disks and partitions are named differently in Linux even they are physically the same things.

Since you now know how to burn a Linux iso into a bootable CD your easiest way to enjoy Linux is to pick a distro that

(1) Give you root privilege automatically.
(2) Mount all the Windows partition automatically
(3) Allow you to work in desktop as root (admin) so that you can click everything as though you are in a M$ Windows.

A distro call "Slax" can give you the above. It is more substantial than DSL. There is nothing wrong with DSL for a newbie but Slax uses the latest kernel and allows you to write on ntfs partitions while most other Linux wouldn't even allow you to see their content in the desktop.( for security reason)

People use DSL for exactly what it says on the tin, for it small size and not hungry for resources. There are distros that you can download to run on the newest and best equipment too. DSL looks after those at the opposite end of this spectrum.

[lotuseclat79]

Originally Posted by r11ckp

Well i finally managed to boot DSLinux, but i have absolutly no idea what to do, just a few questions to get me going:

I have a broadband, connecting via a wireless linksys WPC54G, but i cant connect to the internet. Error resolving DNS i think. Does anyone know why i cant connect i connect fine on windows.

Is it possible to access my music etc on linux? Is there a linux equivelant of a 'my computer' or Hard disk icon?

I have no icons on my linux desktop...is this normal? When i run linux IN windows, i get icons on the desktop.

and finally...
Does anybody have any reccomendations as to how i should go about learning linux? like any particular area to play about with?

Im going to do some googling now.

Cheers, Rick

Hi Rick,

If you have Windows, look in your browser settings to find the DNS server settings, write them down and in Linux edit with a root account access into /etc/resolv.conf:

nameserver n.n.n.n
nameserver n.n.n.n

where n is number.

You can use the echo command to do this with the commands (root account):
touch /etc/resolv.conf
echo "nameserver n.n.n.n" >> /etc/resolv.conf
echo "nameserver n.n.n.n" >> /etc/resolv.conf

where n.n.n.n is different on both lines. The touch command creates the file /etc/resolv.conf if it does not exist.

If you search the Internet for: Linux +newbie +guide
you will find multiple guides - explore each of them to determine which best fits your needs. You can also use the TSG search for my posts in this forum where I believe I have posted a command line guide summary of commands.

To learn Linux, esp. DSL, you need to learn commands which get prompted for in command line windows (Terminal windows).

-- Tom

[r11ckp]

Cheers guys ill have a play about with linux for a while. I'll keep you updated. hopefully ill be online in linux pretty soon, it'll be much quicker getting information rather than switching OS whenever i get stuck lol

[r11ckp]

If you have Windows, look in your browser settings to find the DNS server settings, write them down and in Linux edit with a root account access into /etc/resolv.conf:

Ok so i have my dns settings written down, i am going to fire up linux in a minute. Once i have root access where do i type that command? Is it to do with the shell prompt or shell script (cant remember what its called)

Cheers

[r11ckp]

How do i sign in as administrator to edit from the root. I tried to edit it using beaver but its write protected. Im going to try sudo /etc/resolv.conf

Should that work?

im going to try it now anyways

[lotuseclat79]

Hi Rick,

Try:
$ sudo -i
#

I.e. you should see the '#' character as the prompt character for the root account.

-- Tom

[saikee]

In DSL this gets you the root privilege if lotuseclat79 method doesn't work for you.

sudo su

If you are asked the root password typing "root" or just press enter some time works too. There is no unified standard but the idea of supplying a Live CD is to enable a user to work in root so there may be something there in the desktop to tell you what to do.

[r11ckp]

cheers ill give it a go, i tried sudu su the other, day yet it still kept saying permission denied. im probably doing something wrong im going to try lotus' suggestion.
Oh ive also downloaded slax but i think in order to run it on LIVE mode i need more than 128mb or ram lol, i left it to load for over a hour and it still didnt complete.

I am prepared to install slax on my hard disk aswell as windows, but unsure whether it is worth it considering i only have a total or 9gig of space on a clear hard disk.

Will Slax pick up my wireless router automatically? if it does i may part with windows and learn linux, because i can use the net to learn.

[r11ckp]

ok i started up linux and forgot to write down lotus' suggestion so i tried sudo su again i noticed that it was acknowledging the fact i typed in sudo so because instead of 'bash' blah blah blah showing up on the line underneath it was 'sudo' blah blah blah. but whenever i type in sudo su beforehand if seems to forget where /etc/resolv.conf is.

this is what i did...

[/home/dsl]* sudo su /etc/resolv.conf
(reply)
sudo: su/etc/resolv.conf command not found

Am i doing something wrong here?
iv also tried changing the nameservers after entering the command.

Cheers

[lotuseclat79]

Hi r11ckp,

If you are in a regular user account, and not root, for discussion, let's assume the prompt is a dollar sign, ok.

$ sudo -i
#

or

$ sudo su

may put you into the root account for DSL (I do not know for sure, as I have never run it).

However, the notion is that you are either in the root account or you are in a regular user account.

If you issue the sudo -i command and get a # as the prompt - you are then in the root account and no longer need to preface the commands with sudo.

If you are in a regular user account attempting to run a command that only the root account can run due to permissions (i.e. sysadmin priviledges), then you need to preface the command with sudo command, as in:
$ sudo fdisk -l

-- Tom

[r11ckp]

it doesnt work

its driving me absolutly bonkers, such a simple task and i havent got an inch closer in days.
im guna forget about linux for a while, i cant get my head around it, its really doesnt want me to have root access

cheers for all your help anyways guys, i wouldnt have even had a go at it if it wasnt for yous.

[saikee]

If it is a DSL it always has a page at the desktop telling people how to get into root.

A Live CD can only get used if root privilege is granted. If the standard of using "sudo su" doesn't work then it means the distro would be demanding a root password, right?

A standard practice with a Live CD is to leave the password empty so pressing a return, without a password, could fire it up. I think this is the case for Knoppix which DSL is based on. Alternatively many distros arranged the password for "root" is simply "root".

[r11ckp]

i havent once been prompted for a password.

this is exactly what i do...

once linux has loaded, i right click, go to shells, then to root access, then i choose a colour.

a black box appears that only says [home/dsl]*

so i type next to it either:

sudo su /etc/resolv.conf or
sudo /etc/resolv.conf or
sudo -i /etc/resolv.conf

I never get prompted for a password, the closest i get is that it tells me how to use different letters like this -j l -s l -[S] l ....etc etc below it something is mentioned of username but i think it is of irrelevance.

[saikee]

I never get prompted for a password

It is because you are already in root!