Getting new members and such

[Anton Markov]

Patrick wrote:
> On Monday 08 November 2004 10:13, Bill Mudry wrote:
> 
>>If a person starts with enthusiasm only to
>>see that they get stuck, not able to get basic things running, that
>>enthusiasm will die out quite quickly.
> 
>  Well, my own enthusiasm has not died. Rather it has been enhanced by the 
> possibilities I have found using SuSe 9.1  It's great to be using a stable 
> system, with the ability to access and save files in Linux format from the 
> Windows side of my laptop. Makes Windows an excellent storage cabinet.
Yes, Windows works well... as a storage cabinet. For everything else 
there is Linux :)

> On the other hand, my enthusiasm has been dimmed by difficulty in getting 
> periphals to work, which, from comments I have read, is the Achilles Heel of 
> this distro.
The distros only include fancy GUI tools for detecting/configuring the 
hardware; it is up to the kernel to make something work. Therefore, if 
it works in one distribution, it'll theoretically work in all.

(Ok, to be correct some distributions add patches to the kernel to make 
some exotic hardware work, but you can usually get the same patches 
yourself, so my point is still correct.)

> I do not think that workshops are necessarily a solution to beginners' 
> problems. I have found that, if I put a question online to this group, 
> however basic, somebody tries to help.
Yes, TLUG is a great group of people.

> And I do have two more questions.
> 
> One concerns a program dowloaded from the KDE applications page called 
> 16319-phone.pl.gz. My son has been helping me. First he downloaded the file 
> needed to configure my Lucent modem (it was not included in the Personal 
> Edition), then found that this phone program crashed my router when he tested 
> it remotely. 
Is this a phone or cable/dsl modem we are talking about? What is the 
full name of the program you are trying to download? "KPhone"? If this 
is indeed a phone modem, it is probably a "software" modem and you'll 
have trouble getting it to work under Linux. What do you want to use it 
for? You may be able to get a "real" modem to do the job.

> The other question concerns my sound card, a YMF-744 B. YAST tells me that the 
> necessary DS-1S controlled is installed, but the only sound I get from my 
> speakers is a crackle. Any answers would be gratefully received.

Execute the command "lsmod" to see which kernel modules/drivers are 
loaded and see if the model "ymfpci" is listed (loaded). (btw. I found 
this using a simple <http://www.google.com/linux> search for "YMF 744"; 
this is the best place to look for Linux information. )

If ymfpci is loaded, try running an audio mixer (volume control 
program). For example: kmix, gnome-mixer, gnome-alsa-mixer, alsamixer, 
amixer, etc. Make sure your "Master" and "PCM" are not muted/at zero. If 
that doesn't help, try playing around with some of the other controls in 
the mixer.

> In general, I have a suspicion that if you buy the SuSe personal edition, 
> which only cost me $40 (Canadian) through Amazon, you are buying the kind of 
> distro where you get what you pay for. Really one should have the 
> professional edition.
> 
> I wonder if there are any comments on that one.

As I've said above, it's the kernel that provides the hardware support, 
and all distributions use (almost) the same kernel, so the support is 
fairely consistent, at least in my experience. The difference is that 
certain distributions include extra hardware configuration tools to make 
it _easier_ to use/configure the hardware. It doesn't necessarily mean 
that the "Pro" version will have better support. The money gets you some 
extra ease-of-use and technical support. There are many free 
distributions, and they support all the same hardware.

Unless you know that SuSE Pro. will support your hardware, look for 
other solution first, and save some money :)

-- 
Anton Markov <("anton" + "@" + "truxtar" + "." + "com")>

GnuPG Key fingerprint =
5546 A6E2 1FFB 9BB8 15C3  CE34 46B7 8D93 3AD1 44B4

*** LINUX - MAY THE SOURCE BE WITH YOU! ***
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