Since LM 6.0 I have been an active supporter of Mandrake, as well as trying to spread the "word" to any who might listen and purchasing the boxed sets for myself and others even though I may already have had a working system of the same release.....
Well my Mandrake Store purchase of the download edition did arrive after apx two months.... I didn't worry too much about that as lots had been happening in the World at large and I had a decently functioning Mandrake 8.xFreq system performing well.... So to cut to the chase..... Testbed machine: 233mmx 96mgs 20g-maxtorHD 8mg ATI All-in Wonder-Pro SB AWE32 (a vintage configuration I admit) 1) The Install locked up into blank screen at secondstage install Luckily I had read enough Mandrake scuttlebutt to remember the second CD and was able to Install it from the 2.2 kernel... However thats a tough call for a newbie I expect... 2) relatively painless complete install at the "expert almost all" level I rebooted to be met by a blank screen again... Well reboot with the rescue disk and change default lilo.conf to "linux non-fb" hit "lilo" then reboot.... Okay now that works in non-fb mode but another tough "newbie" step don't you think ? 3)the "/dev/fd0: unkown device" message bit me as well as many others I understand. Never since first installing RH 5.0 through LM 8.0freq had anything like this happened..Another tough one for a "newbie" and actually a tough one for me as I still cannot mount /mnt/floppy... 4).aumixrc auto mute still happens for me no matter how many .aumixrc or /etc/aumixrc files I generate..... 5)DrakConf,Harddrake from GUI or commandline takes several times as long to generate imput and will lock up every time at soundcard click on the extensions button and in GUI mode bumps me to DiskDrake for some VERY BIZARRE reason where it locks up... 6)The two button serial mouse which always was recognized and configured in "three-button mode" and worked fine for several LM incarnations has still to be properly configured by the basic installation tools.. Another tough newbie item... 7)Xine works out of the box and with sound for the first time for me !!! That is the Ecstasy part :) 8)Over all feel is very nice but the major Hiccups which I encountered make me wonder if I should install LM 8.0 or 7.2 on the several friends machines who wish to "try out linux"... All in all except for the "Grey Screen of Reboot" on install, the demise of /dev/fd0 and the poor behavior of a previously "VERY" reliable mouse, I would have been pretty excited about this version.... My Below Zero Thoughts -- William Bouterse Talkeetna, Ak.
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