On Fri, 27 Jul 2001 22:43, John Rigby wrote:
> Hi Sridhar,
>
> On Fri, 27 Jul 2001 14:45, you manipulated electrons to produce:
> > Actually, the price is about the same when you take into account
> > the exchange rate (about $US1 = $A2 at present).
>
> THAT is the fiction of "Foreign Exchange" - don't get me started on
> that ! :-) Believe me, if you LIVE there and EARN there it is not
> relevant.
>
> > > 1. The machine EVEN runs W98SE with the only fault being the
> > > famous memory leak under heavy use. I can keep it going all day!
> >
> > Wow, that's amazing! I used to reboot several times a day! With
> > GNU/Linux, I only reboot (and not out of necessity) once or twice a
> > week (I keep my machine on all the time).
> >
> >******** Oh yes, Doze I KNOW. There are tricks - like keeping an
>
> old donkey moving........ better to get a horse.
>
> > If you use the Ext2 filesystem (the default), the machine will
> > execute a file system check (fsck) on bootup if you didn't shut
> > down correctly. It will also issue a periodic checkup after a
> > certain number of boots (I've forgotten how many). This is normal.
>
> ********* Well, we certainly aren't getting to shut down
> correctly.....
>
> > > 2. On Logout, sometimes it offers a login alternative screen,
> > > sometimes it simply boots back into the default user - and
> > > continues the problem.
> >
> > That's odd -- things should be consistent here. I'm not sure about
> > this one.
>
> ************** I do have an auto login running, but it shouldn't be
> effective AFTER a logout, should it?
If you cloose to log out you should be logged out properly, without being
logged in again.
> > > 3. On Shutdown it reports numerous and seemingly increasing
> > > problems - particularly with both CDs and "devices".
> >
> > What are the "problems"? Sometimes these are not "problems" at all
> > (but then again, sometimes they are).
>
> ************* Too many to list readily. Scroll rate faster than I
> can recall. But, they are increasing.
>
> > > 4. PPP dies unexpectedly regularly.
> >
> > You mean you get disconnected from the Internet? This could be a
> > problem with your ISP, or from being logged in for too long, or
> > maybe from an idle connection.
>
> *********** Can't tell for sure - it offers to run a log, then fails
> to do so. But only having the problem under Mandrake - no probs all
> day under Doze.
What offers to run a log? KPPP? You can try another dialer (I can't think of
any off-hand but I know there are some out there).
> > > 5. Kmail will suddenly "whiteout" and only a logout will help.
> > > This costs the loss of the display details of the KPPP. It is
> > > still connected, but no display of the fact is available.
> >
> > Turn off interval mail checking in KMail. Also, have you considered
> > another client, like Evolution or Aethera, or maybe even Mozilla
> > Mail? Wait for KDE 2.2 (due out on Aug 6). Maybe things will be
> > fixed in there.
>
> **************** Thought I'd wait for it - mail hassles in converting
> I don't need - only just finished cross-sending over two hundred as
> nothing translated them.
Kmail uses a pretty standard mail format (namely, UNIX's MBOX standard). It
should be readable by other mail clients, AFAIK.
> > > 6. Intense Disk activity (thrashing in the Doze world) has caused
> > > lockup 3 times in 2 days. Always involving Kmail.
> > > (VERY frustrating to duplicate 100+ emails downloaded! )
> > > Resolved by hitting cancel button on display saying ( each
> > > reboot) "indexing".
> >
> > Try going to /home/username/Mail (after closing all instances of
> > KMail) and delete all files with the extensions ".sorted" and
> > ".index". Now reload KMail. I find that this can often fix KMail
> > errors.
>
> ************* Don't have any there.
>
> > > ( On startup not relog, a display of "Gnome is searching for
> > > Trash bins" also appears and has to be cancelled. It does not go
> > > away.)
> > >
> > > 7. A Gnome Desktop has appeared on Dtop 4 and is un-cancellable
> >
> > I assume you are using KDE? Have you tried logging out from GNOME?
> > This should leave only KDE. When you exit from KDE, make sure that
> > your session is saved (there's an option for this in the Control
> > Centre). When you next log in, there should be no more GNOME.
>
> ****************I'm actually not logged in to Gnome. There is no
> option to log out. On the Gnome screen the Taskbar is still KDE
If there are any GNOME Panels, right-click an empty space on one (like a
handle) and select Desktop -> Log Out. Otherwise, open a terminal and type
"kill gnome-session".
> > > 8. Hitting the Kill option has no effect on the locked-up
> > > programs. In the now severe cases. the final event is reminescent
> > > of the "B.S.O.D." of Doze. Only recourse is a reboot.
> >
> > In almost all cases, a reboot is unnecessary. Some apps don't die
> > with an ordinary kill (e.g. as done through xkill). If you use an
> > app like gtop (there are KDE equivalents, but I don't know them),
> > you should have options to issue stronger kills than what is
> > standard. Sometimes I find that this is necessary (although I do
> > the same thing through a command line).
>
> ********** With the severe lockup I don't have access to the keyboard
> any longer. For options beyond Kill - I haven't the knowhow yet.
The next time your keyboard locks up, try the ctrl-alt-backspace combo. Note
that this combo is for emergencies only.
> > Before you reinstall, try using other environments besides KDE. I
> > personally find GNOME/Sawfish (i.e. not loaded inside KDE) to be
> > far more stable (in face, rock-solid) than KDE. Other users find
> > that the opposite is the case for them. Try a few alternatives and
> > see what works best. You may even begin to like them :-)
>
> ********** Well, I would prefer not to do the whole thing again, but
> time is running out on me and it looks like a hybrid will be my only
> choice - Win4Lin - and live with it. I will see what is involved on
> the morrow - it is near 11pm here and except for "natural functions"
> I've been on line since 6:30 AM. Not smart at my age and stage. :-)
I've been online since about 12:30 (I slept in this morning :-) ). I'm also
in the same time zone as you (I'm in Sydney).
Win4Lin can be useful if you really need it. I'm not sure if you can get your
scanner or printer working in it, though. You'd better check with Netraverse
before you buy.
> > > How would you suggest I re-install?
> > > 1. Uninstall
> > > 2. Delete entire partition.
> > > 3. Send away for new disks. ( Another week lost)
> >
> > The discs seem fine (if you managed to install then generally
> > you're alright). If you really want to start afresh, you should
> > rerun the installation and use the option to format your GNU/Linux
> > partition before installing onto it. This time, you may want to use
> > the Reiser File System (ReiserFS) instead of Ext2.
>
> ********* I actually thought that was the new default.
Nope. Ext2 is tried and proven. ReiserFS is the new kid on the block, and
still has a few teething problems. For ordinary desktop use, however, it is
fine. It is generally faster and more space efficient than Ext2, and it is
_excellent_ at recovering from crashes (even from nasties like power surges).
It employs a feature known as 'journalling' to do this, which also means that
it does not need tp perform any lengthy filesystem checks like Ext2 does.
> Thanks again for all the help,
No worries :-)
--
Sridhar Dhanapalan.
"There are two major products that come from Berkeley:
LSD and UNIX. We don't believe this to be a coincidence."
-- Jeremy S. Anderson
