On Friday 12 Nov 2004 21:18, Jack wrote: > > > >Canon gear is always hard, as they will not cooperate in releasing api > >details. However, it is sometimes possible to get things to work. Did > > you ask any specific questions about this? > > Yes, I did, to no avail. The printer works off of a USB port. > Installation sees it but can't do anything with it. The suggestion it > gives is raw printer (which as you know means no printer driver). > Canon + multi-function device is sure to equal problems. I really don't know whether you stand any chance at all with that. FWIW, it was just such a problem with my printer, when I could not afford to replace it, that put off my uptake of linux for 2 years.
> >>3 - Couldn't upgrade to KDE 3.3, despite having the CD for it and > >>despite help from experts like Randall. I spent *weeks* on this. > >>Nothing I tried worked, nor did any suggestions work. > > > >This is not a task for a newbie. > > Well... yes Anne, I am a *Linux* newbie but I'm not a newbie to > computers. I used to teach DOS courses. I used to consult in the > Windows world. And finally, I used to assemble and sell PC's. I am > able to follow most suggestions and understand what they're attempting > to do. However, the suggestions *don't work,* to the surprise of > experts like Randall. > I understand that - much the same background as I had - but although I've been running linux full-time for the last two years I would still approach that particular upgrade with trepidation. In fact, I'm still trying to decide whether to go for it. > >>5 - Most damning of all was my attempted upgrade to 10.1 official. I > >>completely wiped my drive to do a clean install, and after everything > >>was said and done, the official version could not find the internet, nor > >>my onboard (Asus P4P800) sound card. > > > >You probably didn't check all the Configuration options late in the > > install. There is no reason why those could not have been persuaded to > > work. > > All desired configuration options were checked. As mentioned above, I > am not brain-dead when it comes to computers. The installation reported > that *it couldn't find* my ethernet card, nor my sound device. What's > really perplexing is that this wasn't a problem with 10.0 or 10.1 > community. > I think others that have had similar problems have had either shared IRQs or USB problems. It can be a lengthy business trying to find what exactly is causing it. You must have met situations like that before. I remember having two windows computers, same specification, same configuration sitting next to each other in my office. One was a stable as a rock, the other crashed constantly. By the time we had finished we had changed every component in the box. We never did find out why. > >What questions did you ask, and where? > > There were a few... most recently, I filled out the FTP request form for > the 10.1 official ISO's. I filled this form out *twice* as nothing > happened. I then sent email to them asking what had happened to my > request - no response. This was not surprising to me, as every single > time I have emailed them, I have received dead silence as a response. > I don't know anything about the procedure for FTP downloads. I do know that resources are scarce, so you may well have been in a queue. I also acknowledge that MandrakeSoft are not known for being world-class communicators. But that doesn't answer the questions I asked. I had been away from the list, so I do not know what questions you have asked, nor what information you have provided for troubleshooting. > >>I see great potential in Linux and I will maintain my dual-boot system, > >>slowly learning to survive in Linux while waiting (and hoping) for the > >>operating system to mature to a more usable state... > > > >I may sound harsh, Jack, but you have to realised that > >a) you're a newbie, and don't know enough to make things easy > > I certainly don't expect things to be easy but I do expect them to be > doable. > They are, believe me. > >b) you've chosen a bleeding edge distro, so somethings have to be tweaked > >until things work correctly > >c) you're ambitious (good thing) and try things that you're not ready for > >(good, but risky) > > > >Tell me about it!!! That Linux image I have has saved my butt more than > > once. But how else do you learn if you don't try things? > There are black days when you feel you will never solve the problem. And sometimes that *is* the problem. I had one here that I struggled with for almost two months, and it has driven me wild. I went into hospital for a couple of days, and solved the problem within 48 hours of getting home. To run linux well you need to want to understand it - and I think you do. There are plenty of people willing to help you, but you need to have a streak of cussedness as well. Meanwhile - has anyone pointed you to the community TWiki? If not, follow the link in my sig and have a good browse around. There's lots of info there, and I'm sure some of it will help you. Anne -- Registered Linux User No.293302 Have you visited http://twiki.mdklinuxfaq.org yet?
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