Last updated 28th October 2002
Latest version always in HTML format available at:
http://homepage.ntlworld.com/alex.bache
This document may be freely distributed as long as this note is left intact. Neither authors nor distributors assume any kind of warranty for the contents of this document.
This FAQ is a result of postings to alt.os.linux.mandrake. It will inevitably lag behind the latest discussions/mandrake versions. If you want to contribute, feel free. Personally I run Mandrake 9.0, but I've previously used 8.0 and 8.1.
And yes, there are probably typos and errors. Let me know if you find any. It doesn't help to hav peepl wot cant spel wen u wanna get a strate ansa 2 ure qwestyuns.
Also many thanks to the original FAQ maintainer, Kevin Glazier, from which this FAQ is based.
To Do (eventually?)
1. General questions
a) What is Linux-Mandrake?
b) Why might I choose Linux-Mandrake?
c) What is the latest version of Linux-Mandrake?
d) Will Linux-Mandrake work with my hardware?
e) Why should I buy the boxed version (PowerPack) when I can download the distribution for free?
f) What is alt.os.linux.mandrake?
g) What do we discuss in alt.os.linux.mandrake?
h) Are there any posting guidelines?
i) Is there any way to search old messages from alt.os.linux.mandrake?
j) What are the upsides and downsides of switching to Linux?
2. Getting/installing Linux-Mandrake
a) Where can I get Linux-Mandrake?
b) What is the "md5sums" file in the download ISO image directories?
c) Creating installation CDs from downloaded ISO images
d) Where are the installation instructions?
e) How do I start the installation off?
f) What is the best partitioning choice?
g) The install freezes/fails at the second stage
h) After install LILO prints LILILILILI...
i) I only get a screen full of text after a fresh install
j) nvidia drivers
k) Modem doesn't work
l) How to uninstall Linux
m) How to upgrade to a later Mandrake version
3. Running Mandrake
a) Script doesn't run from the command line
b) Newbie Unix/Linux commands
c) Running Windows programs in Linux
d) Are there any good alternatives to Netscape V4.x/Internet Explorer on Linux?
e) What about defragging and virus killers?
f) How do I work with MS Word/Excel/Powerpoint files?
g) How do I install and tweak OpenOffice/StarOffice?
h) How do I protect myself against hackers?
4. Upgrading / updates
a) Upgrading via rpm doesn't work
b) Upgrading X Windows (XFree86)
c) Compiling the Linux kernel
d) Upgrading kernel
e) Supermount is broken
f) Checking authentic Mandrake RPMS
g) Software Manager shows no security update sites
5. Where is the missing stuff
a) OpenGL library not found
b) Pico editor/alternatives to vi
c) Java Development Kit (JDK)
d) Java for Mozilla
6. Multimedia
a) DivX/Mpeg player
b) Compiling mplayer
c) Ripping CDs/Creating MP3s
d) How can I watch DVDs?
7. Misc
a) CD writing
b) Firewall (Simple setup)
c) Firewall (Bastille)
d) File size limit exceeded when doing su
e) Webmin isn't there
8. Changes
a) Version history
Linux-Mandrake is a Linux distribution created by MandrakeSoft, S.A. of Paris, France. Their web site is at http://www.linux-mandrake.com. Linux is the free 32-bit UNIX-like operating system kernel created by Linus Torvalds in 1991. Ongoing development of the kernel is carried out by numerous kernel hackers worldwide and coordinated via the global Internet.
By itself, however, the Linux kernel isn't of much use to most people -- it needs system libraries, utilities, compilers, and other software to provide a rich computing environment. Although it is possible to surf the Internet and collect all of the necessary software to build a complete system, the amount of time and effort required to assemble the source code, compile it, and configure it all to work together makes this impractical for most people. A Linux distribution is just such a collection of pre-configured software ready to install and run on your computer. Some distributors, like MandrakeSoft, go beyond simply collecting and distributing the software available via the Internet--they add their own custom software to enhance the functionality and usability of a complete Linux installation. There are dozens of Linux distributions, but this FAQ will concentrate on Linux-Mandrake.
b) Why might I choose Linux-Mandrake?
Linux-Mandrake has some nifty features which make it stand out among Linux distributions:
c) What is the latest version of Linux-Mandrake?
The current stable release is Linux-Mandrake 9.0. The latest beta version of Linux-Mandrake, called "Cooker", is avaliable at http://www.linux-mandrake.com/en/cookerdevel.php3 . Note that beta versions are still under development and not yet ready for everyday use. When installing Linux-Mandrake on critical or everyday systems, you should install the latest stable release.
Typically Mandrake releases a new version once every 6 months. 8.2 was released around March 2002 and 9.0 was released in the second half of September 2002. So it would be reasonable to assume the next version will be released around March 2003.
d) Will Linux-Mandrake work with my hardware?
The answer is "most likely". A complete list of supported hardware can be found at http://www.linux-mandrake.com/en/fhard.php3 and more hardware information can be found at http://www.mandrakeuser.org/hardware/hres.html .
Note: Hardware that is designated as a "WinModem" or "WinPrinter" (sometimes called a "GDI" printer) will usually not work with Linux-Mandrake or any other Linux distribution. This is because some of the hardware (like signal processors) have been removed from these devices and replaced with software emulation via Windows-specific device drivers. There is currently an effort underway to provide support for these devices. See http://linmodems.org for more information and links to other resources.
You've got a better chance of success on older hardware, since it has to be out for a while so that people can write the drivers for it. Some companies do release drivers for Linux, although by no means the majority.
e) Why should I buy the boxed version (PowerPack) when I can download the distribution for free?
There are several things included in the PowerPack boxed set that are not included with the free or third party versions of the distribution. The PowerPack includes a full CD of extra applications and utilities which saves you the trouble of searching and downloading. Also included are two CDs with demo versions of commercial software, printed user manuals, and 100 days of free technical support via e-mail. (You must register your software at http://www.linux-mandrake.com/en/enreg.php3 to be eligible for the technical support.) Purchasing the PowerPack also helps support MandrakeSoft's efforts to improve the distribution.
f) What is alt.os.linux.mandrake?
alt.os.linux.mandrake is a Usenet group created in March 1999 for the purpose of providing a common meeting place where users of Linux-Mandrake can discuss problems, share tips, ask questions, hang out, and have fun.
g) What do we discuss in alt.os.linux.mandrake?
Err..Linux Mandrake, of course. And things in the Linux world in general.
h) Are there any posting guidelines?
In addition to basic netiquette, it's helpful to know which version of Mandrake you're using. Try to describe the problem as fully as you are able.
Check the group first to see if someone has posted a similar question. Also see the next question on how to search for old postings on alt.os.linux.mandrake.
i) Is there any way to search old messages from alt.os.linux.mandrake?
You can search http://www.computer-critters.com/myphpusenet/ for previous posts. Alternatively, you can search using http://groups.google.com, the Google newsgroup search engine.
j) what are the upsides and downsides of switching to Linux?
The good part is you no longer have to pay for software unless you want to :-) You're not one of "Bill's boys" (or girls) any more.
Generally Linux is more stable and secure than Microsoft operating systems, although there are people who would hotly contest that point.
From a server point of view, you can switch a Windows or Novell file/print server for Linux and your users won't know the difference.
The problem with switching to Linux is that it is not as widely supported as Windows so you find yourself having to "roll your own" more often. A good example is with your ISP. Ring them up with a Linux question and you're likely to get an abrupt "we don't support that <click>" response.
You must also realise that your Windows programs won't work in Linux without additional software (see the emulation section).
a) Where can I get Linux-Mandrake?
There are a number of ways to obtain a copy of Linux-Mandrake:
It is available as a free download via the Internet. You can download all of the files individually or you can download an ISO image suitable for burning to a CD. A complete list of mirror sites is at http://www.linux-mandrake.com/en/ftp.php3 .
For much more detailed information about ISO image files, visit http://linuxiso.org/viewdoc.php/isofaq.html
Many online resellers offer very cheap CDs of Linux-Mandrake which save you the trouble of downloading the whole distribution. Some popular sites are:
CheapBytes http://www.CheapBytes.com [USA] LinuxMall http://www.LinuxMall.com [USA] LinuxEmporium http://www.LinuxEmporium.co.uk [UK] Everything Linux http://EverythingLinux.com.au [AUSTRALIA] Lankum http://www.lankum.com [AUSTRALIA] IXsoft http://www.IXsoft.de [GERMANY]
The Mandrake PowerPack includes the latest version of Linux-Mandrake as well as several CDs of additional software and commercial demos. To find a reseller near you check the reseller list at http://www.linux-mandrake.com/en/fsinglecd.php3 . Note that as of version 7.1, Linux-Mandrake boxed sets sold in North America are distributed by Macmillan Publishing. There is a "Complete" and "Deluxe" version -- for details see http://www.linux-mandrake.com/en/fpowerpack.php3 .
Note that if you download the Mandrake ISO image files, you'll need to check them using md5sum and burn them to good quality CDs. This is covered in the next two questions.
b) What is the "md5sums" file in the download ISO image directories?
It is a file containing checksums for the .iso files. It allows you to verify that the file was downloaded without errors. For this you will need the md5sum program, available for both Linux and Windows.
You then run the md5sum program on the md5sums file.
In Linux and Windows
md5sum <downloaded-md5sums-filename>
For this to work, you must save the ISO images under the same name they are on the server. You should then be told whether the files are valid or not.
A Windows version of md5sum with a nice graphical interface is available at http://www.md5summer.org/ (Thanks to Phil Clayton for the link)
c) Creating installation CDs from downloaded ISO images
The following is basically the README file (with a few spelling mistakes corrected) that should be in the same directory as the ISO images on your local FTP server.
You will need to download all the .iso files
Important note: take care to download the ISO in binary mode (FTP). By
default Netscape downloads the file in ASCII mode which corrupts the
image. You can check the integrity of the ISO file with the md5 key
(md5sum mandrake.iso under Linux), go to
http://www.etree.org/md5com.html to get the md5sum.exe version if you
are using Windows)
Please avoid downloading the ISO with a 56K modem line. If the download
fails you can use "Resume" which allows you to continue the download. It
works with ftp (reget), ncftp, CuteFTP, Getright, ...
All the following CD-Writing software can use ISO image to burn directly a CD-Rom.
With Easy CD Creator
Open Easy CD Creator
Go to "File"
then to "Create CD from disc image"
make sure to change the bottom drop down menu ("Files of type:") to say
"ISO image files"
It will do the rest after you browse to the *.iso file
(Thanks to zacheyer)
With WinOnCD:
You can select a "track-image" project when you click the New button. So
long as you are in track mode, not file-system mode (how that looks depends
on whether you have 3.0 or 3.5) then dragging a track image file onto the
CD window should accept it as a raw track. WinOnCD uses .RAW as its own
extension
(Thanks Rick Jones)
With Nero Burning Rom:
Open Nero.
Close the wizard if it is started automatically.
Go to "File"
then to "Burn Image...".
In the next dialog, click on "Image Files (*.nrg)" and select "All files
(*.*)".
Choose the .iso file and accept.
In the following dialog make sure:
- Type of Image is: Data Mode 1
- Block size: 2048
- Image header: 0
- Image trailer: 0
- All the checkboxes are unactive.
Click "OK".
In the next dialog check that the "write" and "finalize" option are active.
Click on "Write".
(Thanks Antonio Asensi Esteve)
With CD-Record:
CD-Writing HowTo:
http://howto.linuxberg.com/ptHOWTO/CD-Writing-HOWTO
For example:
cdrecord -v speed=4 dev=4,0 mandrake.iso
You get the number on the SCSI bus number with "cdrecord --scanbus"
Using Toast Ti 5.0.2:
Simply choose "Disk Image" mode, drop the iso image and burn.
d) Where are the installation instructions?
Detailed installation instructions for Linux-Mandrake are found in the Installation and User Guide. A printed copy is included in the PowerPack. If you downloaded the distribution via one of the mirror sites or purchased an inexpensive CD, you can find an HTML version of the Installation Guide on the installation CD. It is also available on the Internet at http://www.linux-mandrake.com/en/fdoc.php3. There is an excellent graphical tutorial on Mandrake installation at http://www.linux-mandrake.com/en/demos.
e) How do I start the installation off?
On modern motherboards, you're best off temporarily setting your system to boot from the CDROM. You can do this by going into the BIOS settings, usually accessible by pressing "Delete" immediately after a reset. You then find the "boot sequence" section and make sure that CDROM appears before the hard drive. Once you've completed the installation, you should return the settings to their original values because it's a pain having to eject CD's every time you reboot to avoid errors.
If your CD does not boot or you don't have the option to do this on your motherboard, you need to create an installation boot disk, which you can do by checking the documentation on the Mandrake Installation CD from Windows. You basically create a bootable floppy disk that passes control over to the CD and kicks off the whole process.
f) What is the best partitioning choice?
This has been the subject of some rather heated "discussions" in the group recently. If nothing else, it's fair to say that there's no consensus on what is the best way to set up your partitions.
What Linux allows you to do is assign certain directories to certain storage devices (which include hard disk partitions). So for example, you could assign directory A to partition X and directory B to partition Y. Any file created in A gets stored on partition X, any created in B goes onto Y.
Many people find it convenient to put /home on a separate partition when they install Linux. That way when you come to upgrade, you can simply wipe the other partitions containing the Linux OS & applications, then tell the installer leave your /home directories alone. This makes upgrades less of a pain, since /home stores all your data files and preferences, somewhat similar to Windows' "My Documents" folder.
It's important to bear in mind that application/desktop preferences stored in your /home directory might not work with newer versions of KDE or Gnome (the nice graphical front-ends that you see when running Mandrake Linux). So you may need to delete all or parts of your .kde and .gnome directories to get everything working again.
You also need to make sure that you choose appropriate sizes for the partitions on your hard drive. Although you can juggle partition sizes around, it isn't something you want to do every day. As to what the sizes should be, it depends upon what you are using Linux for. If you're a multimedia/sound/mp3 type, your /home directory could get quite large. Conversely if you're installing loads of programs or running Linux as a server, the other partition(s) could be pretty big.
Alternatively, you could just dump everything in one partition and forget this whole discussion. When it comes to upgrades, you can simply copy your /home directory somewhere safe (using some kind of back up program or using the tar command) and proceed with the install. Afterwards you restore your old /home onto the new system. This shouldn't be a problem if you're used to keeping a backup of your /home directory on a regular basis.
g) The install freezes/fails at the second stage
According to Guillaume Cottenceau:
As far as I know, it's related to hardware problems.
Since 8.0 we provide alternate kernels (from /images/alternatives on your installation medium) so that you can try one of them if you have any hardware-related problem during the install (complete freeze, misdetection of peripherals, segfault/sigbus, etc).
You can get introductory info from http://www.mandrakeforum.com/article.php?sid=788
h) after install LILO prints LILILILILI...
Most problems with LILO can be traced to /etc/lilo.conf
A common error is to install a partition that goes above the 1023rd cylinder on the hard disk. On some (usually older) motherboards LILO does not like this. During install, it's best to create a small partition (20 meg or so) at the start of the disk and arrange to have it mounted under /boot. Here's a snippet of my /etc/fstab
/dev/hda4 / reiserfs defaults 1 1
/dev/hda1 /boot ext2 defaults 1 2
And my disk is partitioned like this:
Disk /dev/hda: 255 heads, 63 sectors, 3736 cylinders
Units = cylinders of 16065 * 512 bytes
Device Boot Start End Blocks Id System
/dev/hda1 * 1 2 16033+ 83 Linux
/dev/hda2 3 2613 20972857+ c Win95 FAT32 (LBA)
/dev/hda3 2614 2630 136552+ 82 Linux swap
/dev/hda4 2631 3736 8883945 83 Linux
So my /etc/lilo.conf looks like this:
boot=/dev/hda
map=/boot/map
install=/boot/boot.b
vga=794
default=windows
keytable=/boot/uk.klt
lba32
prompt
timeout=200
message=/boot/message-graphic
menu-scheme=wb:bw:wb:bw
image=/boot/vmlinuz
label=linux
root=/dev/hda4
initrd=/boot/initrd.img
vga=794
read-only
image=/boot/vmlinuz
label=failsafe
root=/dev/hda4
initrd=/boot/initrd.img
append=" failsafe"
read-only
other=/dev/hda2
label=windows
table=/dev/hda
other=/dev/fd0
label=floppy
unsafe
This gives me a dual-boot system that automatically loads windows after a 20 second boot delay at the lilo options screen.
i) I only get a screen full of text after a fresh install
Or in technical terms, your X server doesn't work after a fresh install. What you should be seeing is a nice graphical login screen.
This can happen on some graphics cards. It's usually best to make sure that your card is identified correctly during the detection phase of the installation. If it isn't you have the option to select your card from a list. You should also choose a few low-resolution display modes as fallbacks, since these seem to work on a wider range of devices than the super-duper modes you'll want to aim for.
There is a useful little tool available when you are the root user called XFdrake and can be used to configure your graphics card/screen resolution settings.
Sometimes you'll end up with the wrong X server being installed for your card. In my case, I had the XF86_FBDev driver installed for my Matrox G450 after I'd installed Mandrake 8.1. A little research and I soon found out I should have been using the Matrox module of the XF86-server RPM.
So your first piece of detective work involves finding what X server should be used for your card. Try going to the http://www.xfree86.org web site or doing a search on your manufacturer's site to see what should be used. nVidia supplies Linux drivers for its cards that are better than the stock Mandrake drivers. See the contents of this FAQ for more information, or visit http://www.nvidia.com and head for the drivers section.
If you're still having no success, find out what is actually being used. Boot into Linux and go to a virtual terminal by hitting Ctrl+Alt+F1 and log in. Check out where /etc/X11/X is pointing to using
ls -l /etc/X11/X
I get
/etc/X11/X -> ../../usr/X11R6/bin/XFree86*
Next I check which X server that file belongs to with
rpm -qf /usr/X11R6/bin/XFree86
Which gives
XFree86-server-4.0.3-7mdk
Which is the right X server for me.
The other common suspect is /etc/X11/XF86Config-4. Have a look at it and you should find a section something like
Section "Device"
Identifier "Matrox Millennium G450"
VendorName "Unknown"
BoardName "Unknown"
Driver "mga"
# VideoRam 32768
This passes options to the X server. The important part for me is the
Driver "mga"
part. It tells the X server to use the Matrox Graphics Adapter module. The settings you should use should be gleaned off the http://www.XFree86.org web site.
Although this is an FAQ, it's difficult to cater for every case, so you're unlikely to get flamed if you post a request for help to the group for something like this.
This section by Phil Clayton:
You should install the drives using the .tar.gz files - it's the most reliable way.
Make sure you have the compiling tools you'll need: gcc, make and the Linux kernel source code. You can install these (if they're not already installed) by typing the following commands:
urpmi gcc-3.2
urpmi make
urpmi kernel-source
Note that you'll need to be root to do all of this. To become root, open up a console window and type su
Go to http://www.nvidia.com and download the kernel and GLX .tar.gz files. At the time of writing these were:
NVIDIA_kernel-1.0-3123.tar.gz
NVIDIA_GLX-1.0-3123.tar.gz
Then follow the instructions for installing .tar.gz files from http://download.nvidia.com/XFree86_40/1.0-3123/README
Basically, you do the following:
To install from tar file, unpack each file:
$ tar xvzf NVIDIA_kernel.tar.gz
$ tar xvzf NVIDIA_GLX.tar.gz
cd into the NVIDIA_kernel directory. Type 'make install'. This will compile the kernel interface to the NVdriver, link the NVdriver, copy the NVdriver into place, and attempt to insert the NVdriver into the running kernel e.g.:
$ cd NVIDIA_kernel
$ make install
Next, move into the NVIDIA_GLX directory. Type 'make install' -- this will copy the needed OpenGL and XFree86 files into place:
$ cd ../NVIDIA_GLX
$ make install
Note that the make install for each package will remove any previously installed NVIDIA drivers.
Now you'll need to edit /etc/X11/XF86Config-4 to tell X about the new driver. It's a good idea to make a backup of this file first:
cp /etc/X11/XF86Config-4 /etc/X11/XF86Config-4.backup
Now you can edit /etc/X11/XF86Config-4 - all you need to do is find the relevant Device section and replace the line:
Driver "nv"or
Driver "vesa"with
Driver "nvidia"
In the Module section, make sure you have:
Load "glx"
You should also remove the following lines:
Load "dri"
Load "GLcore"
if they exist. There are also numerous options that can be added to the XF86Config-4 file to fine-tune the NVIDIA XFree86 driver. Please see the nvidia README for a complete list of these options.
Don't do any step unless there were no errors in the previous one. If you get any errors and don't know how to fix them, ask somebody (eg post a message to alt.os.linux.mandrake, including the full text of the error message/s).
Once you've done all this, you need to restart X windows. You can either reboot, log out and select "Restart X server", or hit Ctrl-Alt-Backspace.
Additional nVidia information
This tip from mschultz:
I finally figured out how to successfully install the Nvidia 1512 linux
video drivers :<) . I gleaned the information I needed from three different
sources.
http://www6.tomshardware.com/graphic/00q3/000811/
http://www.littlewhitedog.com/reviews_other_00022.asp
http://www.nvidia.com/docs/lo/959/SUPP/NVLinuxReleaseNotes_1512.pdf
When I first tried to install the drivers I used the two rpm files for
Mandrake 8.0 that I downloaded from the nvidia site and figured this would
be a snap. It didn't work for me. The GLX rpm had some problems with the
following files, "libglx.a"
,"libGLcore.a", "libGL.so.1.2" (I know now that I could have got it working
by editing my XF86Config-4 file)
Still being fairly new to the linux OS, I was lost. I did all the newbie
moves next. Format and reinstall my Mandrake 8.0.
I downloaded the drivers again, but this time I got the tar.gz files this
time instead of the rpms. I followed the directions from the littlewhitedog
site listed above. I learned a lot by using the info from this site.
Before I did the "make install"
on the GLX part I found the "libglx.a" ,"libGLcore.a", and "libGL.so.1.2"
files and moved them to the trash. This time everything installed fine. I
edited the XF86Config-4 file just like the info from littlewhitedog said.
Rebooted and bingo, I got the Nvidia splash screen when I started x. Tried
out Tuxracer and it worked! That game locked up my computer a couple of
times. I had another game I bought from Loki called "Soldier of Fortune" I
installed that and played it all day. Worked great!! I'm liking this Linux
gig, even a thick headed guy like me can make it work:<) Remember kids, the
command line is your friend.
You've probably got a Winmodem. Linux has a problem with what are known as "Winmodems". Winmodems look like a normal modem, but rely upon crucial Windows-specific drivers to work. They let your CPU do all the hard work of making the sounds down the phone line.
Without the driver, a Winmodem is little more than a square green card with a plug in it.
If you own an internal PCI modem, chances are it's a Winmodem. If you're lucky it MIGHT be supported in Linux. Check out http://www.linmodems.org for further details.
If you're sure you have a hardware modem (a REAL modem!), Mandrake should detect it and automatically enable it during install.
The process of removing Linux involves two things
Regarding the first stage:
If you're using Windows 95/98/Millenium or booting from a floppy created by one of these OSes, you can get rid of the boot loader by typing the following at the Command Prompt
fdisk /mbr
This will cause the machine to always boot into Windows, but it means that the hard disk space allocated to Linux is still used up.
If you're using Windows 2000/XP, you will need boot into the recovery console or "repair" utility from the Windows CD. There you should get to the command prompt and type
fixmbr
Regarding the second stage:
To return the Linux drive space to Windows, you have two options
The problem with 2) is that it will depend upon how you partitioned the hard drive in the first place. If the Linux partition is next to the Windows C: partition, you will probably be able to combine them into a single Windows C: drive. If they're separated on the drive, you'll probably have to make it a separate drive, usually D:.
This may cause problems with Windows suggesting the wrong drive letter for the CD drive when you try to install something.
Assuming the two partitions are next to each other, you can remove the Linux partition and resize the Windows partition to reclaim the lost space. It's best to defrag your Windows partition first to make the resizing operation quicker.
m) How to upgrade to a later Mandrake version
There is an option in the Mandrake install procedure which will attempt to upgrade your existing Mandrake system to a later version. There have been varying reports of success with this. Basically you can follow two rules of thumb in determining how likely the upgrade procedure is to be successful.
The first is that the more you have tinkered with your existing installation, the less likely the upgrade is to work. By "tinkered" I am referring to replacing some packages on your system with non-Mandrake RPMS. For instance this could be the common practice of installing later versions of Mozilla using the Redhat RPMS on the Mozilla.org web site. If all you have done is install/uninstall Mandrake RPMS or RPMS of software not found in the Mandrake distribution, this point does not apply.
The second is that the newer the Mandrake version you are upgrading to, the more likely the upgrade is to work. So for instance, upgrading from 8.1 to 8.2 is more likely to work than upgrading 7.0 to 7.1. Also you must bear in mind that large leaps in version numbers (such as upgrading from 6.0 to 8.2) are unlikely to be very successful.
Finally, if you find that after upgrading you are getting wierd things happening, you are probably better off wiping everything and doing an install from scratch.
a) Script doesn't run from the command line
Check that it's executable by doing an ll. Look at the result. It should look something like this
-rw-r--r-- 1 alex alex 2107 Sep 15 22:22 myscript
Note the absence of the "x" attribute. Execute
$ chmod ugo+x myscript
And do ll again
-rwxr-xr-x 1 alex alex 2107 Sep 15 22:22 myscript
The script is now executable. Also check the first line of the script. It should begin with #! followed by a command. For shell scripts this is usually
#!/bin/sh
Finally to execute the script, you simply run
./myscript
There's an informative web page containing tips for Unix/Linux commands at
http://www.cmm.uklinux.net/steve/ntt.html
It's basically a newbie's guide to using the Linux command line, which can be necessary from time to time.
A couple of others include
http://sunsite.dk/linux-newbie/ (Linux newbie administrator guide)
http://rute.sourceforge.net (Linux user's tutorial)
c) Running Windows programs in Linux
You will need an emulator. Try looking at
http://www.winehq.com (Wine - Windows Emulator) (Free) http://www.codeweavers.com (Wine, but with easier install) (Preview free, but will be commercial when released) http://www.vmware.com (VMWare) (Commercial, free trial version) http://netraverse.com (Win4lin) (Commercial) http://bochs.sourceforge.net (Bochs) (Free)
d) Are there any good alternatives to Netscape V4.x/Internet Explorer on Linux?
The short answer: Yes, use Mozilla, Opera or Konqueror.
The longer, more politically correct answer:
Since we're heading into flame territory here, I'm going to step very carefully. The V4.x series of Netscape is rather old. It is missing support for modern web publishing features set up as standards by the W3C (http://www.w3c.org) and behaves against many more of these standards. For this reason (as well as licensing issues), it is not distributed with Mandrake 9.0.
Having said that, good web designers still try to make their sites work reasonably well with Netscape V4.x, but since the browser is from 1998 probably will do so less and less. Especially considering that currently Internet Explorer is used by over 90% of web users.
First off, Internet Explorer is NOT available for Linux unless you use the Windows version and run it under an emulator.
Several popular alternatives, which respect anything from 'most' to 'almost all' standards include
- Konqueror
- Comes with KDE. Can use Netscape plugins.
- Mozilla
- Open source version of Netscape V6 and above, usually a few steps ahead of the Netscape V6.x series, since Netscape is based on the Mozilla project. Can use Netscape plugins. Very popular.
- Netscape V6.x
- Updated version of Netscape. Can use Netscape plugins.
- Opera
- Apparently very quick and compact. Some folk swear by it. Can use Netscape plugins.
- Galeon
- Based on the Mozilla codebase. Includes less "bloat", so tends to open and run faster than Mozilla.
Mandrake comes with several others. Try looking at your menu under Networking / WWW, or check out Software Manager and install some others.
e) What about defragging and virus killers?
Linux uses a completely different form of file system to Windows. Typically this either ext2fs or reiserfs, although there are others. Regardless of this, most Linux file systems are designed to arrange files on the disk in such an effective manner that you do not need to defrag the disk, hence the lack of "defrag" tools available. If your system appears to be running slowly, it's unlikely to be due to a fragmented file system.
Regarding the issue of Virus killers, the situation on Linux is somewhat different to Windows. Firstly, a virus is limited in what it can do due to the Linux security model. Typically a virus can only affect a limited number of files, which depends upon which program was infected and what user it was run as. Secondly, we do not have Outlook for Linux and EXE files are Windows-only, so you can safely ignore email viruses like Melissa, which only work with Outlook and also forget about nasty VB macros and EXE files taking over your Linux system (since they don't run under Linux anyway).
However, you should not be complacent about things either. Although a virus is unlikely to infect your Linux machine, it can still harbour them. Simply having a virus pass through your Linux machine does not kill it off, so you can still forward an infected email to a friend and infect them if they are using Windows and Outlook.
More recently, several Worms have been spotted that exploit security flaws in certain Linux programs. To date the flaws have all had security patches available which fix the problem and render you immune to the worm once more. You will be pretty safe from any worm that appears as long as you are running a firewall (using Bastille if necessary), have disabled all unnecessary services (like FTP/telnet/web servers) and have used Software Manager to apply the latest security patches on a regular basis.
There are some Linux virus killers available, but these tend to be geared towards companies with Linux file/web servers and Windows clients. These sorts of virus killers work to kill Windows viruses held "captive" on a Linux machine.
f) How do I work with MS Word/Excel/Powerpoint files?
Currently your best choice is either StarOffice or OpenOffice. If you're using Mandrake 9.0, OpenOffice is provided on the Mandrake CDs. Don't expect the file conversion to be perfect in all cases, although it is very good for most files.
g) How do I install and tweak OpenOffice/StarOffice?
(Thanks to Phil Clayton for this)
1) InstallationIf you're using Mandrake 8.2 or above, OpenOffice comes with the distribution, and can be installed with the Mandrake Software Manager (menu -> Configuration -> Packaging -> Software Manager) or for Mandrake 9.0 (menu -> Configuration -> Packaging -> Install Software)
However, if you're using Mandrake 8.2, the version that comes standard is very
old, so you'll probably want to update to OpenOffice 1.0. This can be found
in the devel/unsupported/ part of your favourite Mandrake mirror; for
example:
http://mirror.aarnet.edu.au/pub/mandrake/devel/unsupported/8.2/i586/OpenOffice.org-1.0/(hint: the devel/unsupported part of the Mandrake mirrors are always a good place to look for updated official Mandrake RPMs)
Finally, if there's no Mandrake RPM available for the desired version of
OpenOffice for your version of Mandrake, it's no big deal to install it
manually. You can always download the latest version of OpenOffice at
http://www.openoffice.org, and that site also has
very good installation instructions:
http://www.openoffice.org/dev_docs/instructions.html#linux
If you want to use StarOffice and are a MandrakeClub member, you can just install the MandrakeClub RPM. If you want to use StarOffice and you're not a MandrakeClub member, join MandrakeClub! ;-)
2) Configuration
a) On-screen fonts
Unless you're using StarOffice, you'll probably notice that the default on-screen fonts look terrible in OpenOffice. There are a couple of very easy steps you can take to fix this. Go to Tools->Options and do the following:
b) Language packs
If you'd like to install additional language packs (eg English (UK), French (France) etc), there's a neat tool called OOodi that will automate the process of downloading and installing language packs for you.
It's available from
http://ooodi.sourceforge.net
I downloaded ooodi-0.55-0.i386.rpm and it worked perfectly on my Mandrake 8.2 system. After installing the RPM, run OOodi as root (just type OOodi at the command line), let it download the lists of dictionaries, select the dictionaries you'd like to install, and click install shared so that all users can use the new language pack(s). Hermoso!
To use the new language pack, start up OpenOffice and go to Tools->Options->Language Settings->Writing Aids. Next to Available language modules, click Edit..., choose your new language module, and tick OpenOffice MySpell SpellChecker (and the hypenation module if you installed it too). Now close that window, and click on Language Settings->Languages For Default languages for documents, choose your new language. That's it!
h) How do I protect myself against hackers?
The first thing to say is that the advantage is always with the hacker when they are attempting to get into your system. Common sense tells us that any security system can only be as secure as its least secure element. Obviously having a super-secure lock on your front door is no good if you've left the kitchen window open.
Remember: You only have to forget one thing to make your system vulnerable. Conversely, the hacker only needs to find one way in among many possible entry points.
There are a few simple precautions you can take to place obstacles in the way of a potential hacker to make his life more difficult. Hopefully he will then lose interest and go for an easier target.
The first task is something you've already done; install Linux. Most hack-attacks are designed to work against MS Windows. Such attacks seldom work on Linux.
Secondly, a lot of people recommend installing a firewall. The only totally secure way of protecting yourself from hackers on the Internet is not to be connected to it. A firewall allows you to still be connected to the Internet, but places restrictions on how hackers can get at your machine. Mandrake Linux includes several firewall configuration utilities, depending upon which version you have. Configuring a firewall is discussed elsewhere in this FAQ.
Thirdly, only run those services/daemons you really need. For example, if you never FTP to your own machine, don't run the FTP server. The same goes for the Web server Apache - if you've never typed in http://localhost into your web browser, you've never used Apache. You do need to be careful, because some services have strange names but are essential to the running of the system. If you don't know what something does, research it carefully before removing it.
Finally, use the Mandrake update tool to keep your system up to date. Although there may be no known security flaws in your defenses today, this may not be true tomorrow. Many hackers exploit known security flaws to gain access to systems that haven't had the latest security patches applied. Remember: from the moment a security flaw is discovered in anything you have installed on your system until the moment you patch it, your system is vulnerable.
One final tip: be careful about running software downloaded from dubious sources. Especially if you run it as root. Anything installed from the Mandrake site using software manager is pretty safe.
a) Upgrading via rpm doesn't work
Where did you get the RPM? If you got it from another Linux distribution's web site, or if it's for the wrong version of Mandrake, you will run into dependency problems.
Try to aim for RPMs specifically for Mandrake, or failing that you can usually get away with RedHat ones.
Dependency problems mean that package A requires package B to first be installed for it to work properly. If you're upgrading a single program split into many RPMs, you'll need to upgrade them all at the same time.
For example, Mozilla is divided into the following RPMs
mozilla-mail
mozilla
mozilla-psm
mozilla-chat
mozilla-devel
If you wanted to upgrade your version of Mozilla, you must first download all updated RPMs, then issue the following command as root from the directory you downloaded the RPMs to
rpm -U mozilla*.rpm
Never use the --force option of rpm unless you really know what you're doing! This option overrides the safeguards rpm has built into it. If rpm is not letting you do something, there's usually a good reason for it that involves stopping you messing your system up.
Another DO NOT. As I found out rather painfully, you don't upgrade by uninstalling the existing package and then installing the new one afterwards because you might be removing something vital to the running of your system. This is another reason you should NOT use --force.
A rather neat trick to upgrading is to pull all updated RPMs into a single directory, change into it, then do
rpm -Fvh *.rpm
Which will upgrade your system to every RPM in the current directory that is newer than the ones currently installed. It will ignore the ones you haven't installed.
b) Upgrading X Windows (XFree86)
I'd recommend against trying to do this yourself, as you're likely to break a lot of other things in doing so. Usually you're better off waiting for the next version of Mandrake to come along, which will include a more up-to-date version. If you really impatient and can't wait up to 6 months for the next version of Mandrake to come out, you can visit the http://www.xfree86.org web site to get the latest version.
On most modern distributions like Mandrake, most of the kernel drivers are already compiled as modules and ready for use. So there is less reason now to recompile the kernel than there used to be. Messing with the kernel is something you should do only if absolutely necessary. So take the attitude of "if it 'ain't broken, don't fix it".
However, if you DO feel the need to tinker, or if you have special hardware that requires kernel options not in the default distribution, here's what you will need to do to compile the kernel.
Before you even attempt this, make ABSOLUTELY SURE you have the right packages installed. For me, this is
$ rpm -qa | grep kernel
kernel-source-2.4.7-12.3mdk
kernel-headers-2.4.7-12.3mdk
kernel-2.4.7-12.3mdk
kernel-doc-2.4.7-12.3mdk
You'll also need the gcc compiler installed, amongst other things.
There is a README file at /usr/src/linux/README that contains instructions on compiling the kernel and is worth a read. It's the definitive resource on the matter. If anything in it conflicts with what I say here, you're safer sticking to what it says.
The next steps are
<become super-user>
cd /usr/src/linux
make mrproper
Which puts you in the right directory and clears up any mess from previous attempts to compile the kernel. Next up, type ONE of the following
make menuconfig
make xconfig
make config
The "menuconfig" option is a text-based menu system, "xconfig" is a GUI and "config" is the original long series of questions that has been there from the early days. Personally I use "make config" because it seems more reliable. However, your mileage may vary.
The next steps are
make dep
make bzImage
Which will start the compile process going. It's been known to bomb halfway through due to wierd choices of kernel options, so you might need to repeat the process again.
If you've selected anything as "modules", you'll need to do this:
make modules
make modules_install
This will mess up all the modules for your existing kernel, which is another reason not to fiddle with the kernel.
If everything went okay, you'll have a file called bzImage at /usr/src/linux/arch/i386/boot/bzImage. Copy this to /boot as a different name. So I would do
cp /usr/src/linux/arch/i386/boot/bzImage /boot/vmlinuz-test
Finally, you have created a new kernel that might not work, so you will want a fallback option in your /etc/lilo.conf
You can do this by duplicating your existing linux kernel entry and pointing it to boot a different kernel image file than /boot/vmlinuz.
For example,
image=/boot/vmlinuz-test
label=linuxnew
root=/dev/hda4
initrd=/boot/initrd.img
read-only
So I've compiled a kernel image and copied it to /boot/vmlinuz-test and I'm installing it as a test option to run from the LILO prompt as "linuxnew". This way if it all goes horribly wrong, I can run the existing kernel and at least get to a place where I can correct errors.
Finally, you'll need to run "lilo" to set it all up. You can now reboot and hope it all goes well. If it fails, boot using the existing linux option. The modules will probably be a little messed up, but you should get to a command prompt at least.
There's plenty of Kernel howto's at http://www.linuxdoc.org/cgi-bin/ldpsrch.cgi
Or for Mandrake
http://www.mandrakeuser.org/docs/
WARNING: Do NOT upgrade the kernel using Software Manager. You're likely to trash your system if you do.
First up, you need to upgrade the Kernel. So get the kernel updates from the security upgrades site. The kernel upgrade is necessary because of the recent security flaws found in the 2.4.3 kernel.
So download the RPMS, shut down to console mode, log in as root, do a
$ rpm -Fvh *.rpm
from the downloaded directory. Then check /boot and notice some broken links. Correct these to the new 2.4.7 kernel and rerun LILO.
Note that this will break supermount. To use an alternative, see the next section.
Supermount was removed from the Kernel after the 2.4.3 version in Mandrake 8. If you upgrade to the security patched 2.4.7, supermount is no longer available.
Mandrake 8.1 comes with supermount, but it is hidden because it's not supposed to be working very well in Kernel 2.4.8. Mandrake 9.0 has Supermount included.
Why is supermount so important? It allows you to simply insert a CD or a floppy and use files from e.g. /mnt/cdrom or /mnt/floppy without having to "mount" (i.e. initialise) the volumes. So it basically makes things a lot easier for users.
You have three options: live with the mount/umount of removeable media, use supermount or use autofs. I'll discuss just the last two options here.
Supermount: To disable Supermount, type
supermount -i disable
As root in a terminal window, then reboot.
If you want to enable supermount (which has been a subject of much discussion in the group as of late), here are the incantations to do so.
First up, you'll need a kernel that supports it. The stock 2.4.3 kernel from Mandrake 8 supports supermount, but has security flaws and so is not recommended. The stock 2.4.8 from Mandrake 8.1 sort of supports supermount, but there is some debate about how well. Alternatively, you could get a later version of Mandrake, in which case Supermount will be configured for you during the installation process and you need read no further.
Once you are running with a Kernel supporting supermount, you'll modify your /etc/fstab to add the supermount entries.
So existing /etc/fstab entries looking like this
/dev/hdc /mnt/cdrom auto user,iocharset=iso8859-1,exec,codepage=850,ro,noauto 0 0 /dev/fd0 /mnt/floppy auto user,iocharset=iso8859-1,sync,exec,codepage=850,noauto 0 0 /dev/hdd4 /mnt/zip auto user,iocharset=iso8859-1,sync,exec,codepage=850,noauto 0 0
Get changed to look like this
/mnt/cdrom /mnt/cdrom supermount dev=/dev/hdc,fs=iso9660,ro,--,iocharset=iso8859-1 0 0 /mnt/floppy /mnt/floppy supermount dev=/dev/fd0,fs=vfat,--,iocharset=iso8859-1,sync,exec,codepage=850 0 0 /mnt/zip /mnt/cdrom supermount dev=/dev/hdd4,fs=vfat,ro,--,iocharset=iso8859-1,sync,execcodepage=850 0 0
The above should be just three lines beginning with /mnt. When you reboot, supermount should now be enabled.
Alternatively: As an alternative, I installed autofs, which does what supermount does, but seems to work for a wider variety of Kernels. It does require you to wait for a short period before ejecting CDs and floppies, though. I created the following two files
Name: /etc/auto.master
# Format of this file:
# mountpoint map options
# For details of the format look at autofs(8).
/auto /etc/auto.misc --timeout 20
Name: /etc/auto.misc
cdrom -fstype=iso9660,ro :/dev/cdrom
zip -fstype=auto :/dev/zip
floppy -fstype=vfat :/dev/fd0
After this, it's just a matter of changing the URL of the CDROM, ZIP and FLOPPY icons on the desktop to point to (eg.) /auto/cdrom instead of /mnt/cdrom and voila! One automounted set of icons. The only bummer with autofs is you can't actually see anything inside the /auto directory - you have to change to /auto/cdrom to see the contents of the CDROM. This isn't so bad with the altered desktop icons, though.
There is an extended discussion of installing autofs at http://freespace.sf.net/guidod/howto/autofs.html (Thanks to Guido Draheim)
f) Checking authentic Mandrake RPMS
If you use the rpm command line utility, you can check if an RPM is authentic using the --checksig feature.
Download the RPM-GPG-KEYS file from http://qa.mandrakesoft.com/RPM-GPG-KEYS
Run
$ gpg --import RPM-GPG-KEYS
Once this is installed, you can use following to confirm an RPM is authentic.
$ rpm --checksig <rpmname>
By the way: If you use Software Manager or urpmi, it does this for you automatically
g) Software Manager shows no security update sites
Its pulling the list from http://www.linux-mandrake.com/mirrorsfull.list but the list changes from time to time. Sometimes no security mirror sites are available.
You can find a list of mirrors/security update sites from http://www.linux-mandrake.com/en/ftp.php3
You should install the Mesa RPMS found on your Mandrake CDs
b) Pico editor/alternatives to vi
pico is the PIne COmposer, and it is included when you install pine. It's an easy-to-use console-based text editor and an alternative to using vi, the standard Linux/Unix editor. Just use the software manager to install pine. More recent versions of Mandrake (from 9.0 onwards) do not include Pine due to licensing problems. An alternative is to use nano, available at ftp://ftp.sunsite.dk/mirrors/mandrake/9.0/contrib/RPMS
A great guide on how to set this up can be found at http://www.mandrakeuser.org/docs/utils/ujava.htmlAlternatively:
You can use kaffe, which comes with Mandrake, but it's not very up-to-date regarding the latest Java support.
Sun's JDK from http://java.sun.com is the definitive implementation. You might also look at Blackdown or IBM's JDK.
For the IBMJava2-SDK for Java, you need to export the path to your java installation. Here is a line from my /etc/profile
PATH="$PATH:/opt/IBMJava2-13/bin/"
There should be a line already "export PATH PS1 blah blah"-- if not you should make it:
export PATH="$PATH:/whatever_your _path_to_the_java_bin_is"
You could find out where your installation is by doing whereis java (probably below /usr/local somewhere)
Then log out and back in or do source /etc/profile
Type which java to make sure the path is there. Should work now.
A great guide on how to set this up can be found at http://www.mandrakeuser.org/docs/utils/ujava.html
Alternatively, Robert_L writes:
If you have a java sdk or jre installed its easiest to just link to
the plugin.
[robert@phebehouse plugins]$ pwd
/usr/lib/mozilla/plugins
[robert@phebehouse plugins]$ ls -l
libjavaplugin_oji.so ->
/usr/local/java/jdk1.3.0_01/jre/plugin/i386/ns600/libjavaplugin_oji.so*
So you need to:
cd /usr/lib/mozilla/plugins
su
ln -s
path2java_installation/jre/plugin/i386/ns600/libjavaplugin_oji.so
I am using sun's 1.3.0_01 java and it works well.
HTH
Robert_L
Mplayer works just fine for DivX and Mpeg. You can download and compile it from http://mplayer.sourceforge.net
Recently RPMS have become available for mplayer, eliminating
the need to compile it yourself, although you are likely to get better performance
if you do. The RPMS can be found at
http://plf.zarb.org
or
ftp://ftp.sunsite.dk/mirrors/mandrake/9.0/contrib/RPMS
For Mpeg alone, you might want to try gtv or mtv. Gtv comes with Mandrake 8, mtv doesn't.
There are other options, including Xine and Videolan (vlc). Xine will also allow you to play DVDs, assuming you get a DeCSS-enabled version, for which RPMS are available from various sites.
Mplayer will complain if you try to compile it with GCC 2.96 and currently (as of 28th October 2001) will fail to compile with GCC 3.0. However, the GCC included with Mandrake 9.0 seems to work with no problems. The GCC 2.96 bug for Mplayer does not seem to be terminal and many people have reported it working well for them. So you can compile mplayer using
./configure --disable-gcc-checking
and it should work. If this does not work for you, please post to the group with your experiences stating which GCC you are using.
Additional help for ./configure is available by typing
./configure --help
from the directory you unpacked the mplayer source to.
(Thanks to Phil Clayton for this answer)
The short answer...
Use grip (a GNOME-based ripper). It comes standard with Linux Mandrake, so if you don't have it already, use the Software Manager to install it (menu -> Configuration -> Packaging -> Software Manager)
The long answer...
1) Choosing an audio formatFirstly, are you sure that you want to create MP3s? Ogg Vorbis (http://www.xiph.org/ogg/vorbis/index.html) is an entirely free and open audio format that creates smaller, better-sounding audio files with improved tags and the ability to downsample a song without re-encoding. Pretty much every software audio player you'd ever want to use supports ogg files, but virtually no hardware players do. Thus, unless you really need MP3s (eg you have a hardware MP3 player that doesn't support ogg files), I'd strongly recommend you use Ogg Vorbis for your audio compression.
2) Getting an audio encoderTo create MP3s, the best encoder available is lame. This can be obtained from http://www.mp3dev.org/mp3/ (you'll have to compile it yourself unless you're lucky and find an RPM somewhere).
To create ogg files, you need the oggenc encoder. This comes standard with Linux Mandrake, but for versions of Mandrake before 9.0, the bundled version of oggenc is out of date (and this does affect audio quality significantly). Thus, you should get Mandrake's official updated ogg RPMS. These are available from the devel/unsupported/ part of your favourite Mandrake mirror; for example:
http://mirror.aarnet.edu.au/pub/mandrake/devel/unsupported/8.2/i586/Ogg-Vorbis-1.0/
3) Configuring a frontend (grip)Whichever format you choose, the best ripper/encoder for linux is grip. It comes standard with Linux Mandrake, so if you don't have it already, use the Software Manager to install it (menu -> Configuration -> Packaging -> Software Manager)
So, fire up grip (menu -> Multimedia -> Sound -> Grip) and put in a CD. As long as your CD drive is /dev/cdrom, you should see a tracklist appear.
If grip doesn't recognise that there's a CD in the drive, you'll need to make sure that /dev/cdrom points to the drive that you're using for ripping. Alternatively, you can configure grip to look at a different device (Config -> CD -> CDRom device).
Before you actually rip anything, you probably want to change a couple of things in the configuration. So, click on Config -> CD. Make sure that "work around faulty eject" is ticked.
Now click on Rip. The ripper that you choose is important. For absolutely best quality (recommended), use cdparanoia (either the built-in one or the external one - it doesn't matter much). If you're 100% sure that your drive always rips perfectly - and this is very rare - then use cdda2wav as it's much faster than cdparanoia. While you're there, check that you're happy with "rip file format".
Now click on MP3. For "Encoder", choose lame if you want to create MP3s or oggenc if you want to create ogg files. Make sure the "MP3 executable" is correct - in particular, if you compiled lame yourself, it might be installed as /usr/local/bin/lame rather than /usr/bin/lame. We'll come back to the "MP3 command-line". Check that you're happy with the "MP3 file format", in particular the path. Click Options and check that everything's OK (it's all pretty self-explanatory, and the defaults are OK for most people).
Now go back to "Encoder" and get ready for the most important part of configuration - the MP3 command-line! This can be tweaked quite a lot, and I recommend using your own rather than grip's built-in settings - especially for ogg files. These are my recommended command lines (each one is only 1 line!):
mp3, normal quality:
-h -b 128 %w %m --add-id3v2 --tt "%n" --ta "%A" --tl "%d" --ty %y --tn %t --tg "%G" --tc "Created by grip with lame using -h -b 128"
mp3, high quality:
--alt-preset standard %w %m --add-id3v2 --tt "%n" --ta "%A" --tl "%d" --ty %y --tn %t --tg "%G" --tc "Created by grip with lame using --alt-preset standard"
ogg, normal quality:
%w -o %m -q 3 -a "%a" -l "%d" -G "%G" -d "%y" -N "%t" -t "%n" -c "Created by grip with oggenc, quality 3"
ogg, high quality:
%w -o %m -q 5 -a "%a" -l "%d" -G "%G" -d "%y" -N "%t" -t "%n" -c "Created by grip with oggenc, quality 5"
For more info on these command lines, check the help for each encoder, eg for oggenc, type
oggenc --help
at the command line.
In the ID3 tag, if you've used any of the suggested command lines then you should untick "Add ID3 tags to MP3 files". This should also be unticked if you're using ogg. The reason is that, at the time of writing, grip can only add ID3v1 tags, and can only tag MP3 files. The suggested command lines tell the relevant encoder to tag the files directly.
Explore the other tabs of Config and tweak where appropriate. My only real suggestion is to tell grip not to strip the following characters from filenames:
,.-!'"()&#+=
Note that some of these characters may stuff up Windows, so tread carefully.
4) Using grip
Now that grip is all configured, it's time to try it out. Ripping is very simple - insert an audio CD if you haven't already and click the "Tracks" tab at the put top of the grip window. Click to put a tick in the "Rip" column next to the track you'd like to rip (or click "Rip" at the top of the column to select all tracks). Now, click the "Rip" tab at the top of the grip window and click "Rip+Encode". Sit back, relax, wait a couple of minutes, and enjoy your music!
It's highly recommended that you test this out with a track or two before you start ripping your CDs wholesale. You'll want to make sure that the music is stored where you want, with the correct filenames and appropriate playlist files. You'll also want to check that the audio quality is acceptable (from both a ripping point of view - ie no clicks and pops - and from an encoding point of view), and that the ID3 tags/ogg tags are correct.
Finally, I recommend easytag (http://easytag.sourceforge.net/) for all your ID3 and ogg tagging needs.
Happy ripping! :-)
(Thanks to Phil Clayton for this)
A program called Xine will allow you to watch DVDs, as will Ogle and Mplayer, to name a few. Xine is quite popular and comes on the Mandrake CDs. It will play unencrypted DVDs out-of-the-box.
However, most DVDs you see in the shops are encrypted. So your problem becomes "How can I play encrypted DVDs with Xine?"
You see, the movie industry in its infinite wisdom only wants you to play DVDs with officially sanctioned DVD players that you've paid for. They're also absolutely obsessed with piracy. To this end, they encrypt most DVDs, especially movies. Not only do you have to pay a lot of money for the disk, you also have to pay for a closed-source player that's able to decrypt the DVD. If you agree with me that that's both stupid and unfair, you can get plugins for Xine that will let you play encrypted DVDs. Here's how:
1) RPM method
There are Xine plugins available in RPM format from the Penguin Liberation Front (PLF). The PLF can be found here:
http://plf.zarb.org
Although you can browse the PLF at the above address, the easiest way of installing the plugins is to add the PLF to your Software Manager's list of RPM sources; you can do that by issuing the following command as root (for Mandrake 8.2):
$ urpmi.addmedia plf ftp://plf.zarb.org/8.2 with hdlist.cz
Or for Mandrake 9.0:
$ urpmi.addmedia plf http://plf.wwwhost.biz/files/9.0 with hdlist.cz
$ urpmi.addmedia contribs
ftp://ftp.club-internet.fr/pub/unix/linux/distributions/Mandrake/9.0/contrib/RPMS/
with ../../i586/Mandrake/base/hdlist2.cz
For more details on adding the PLF as a source, see http://plf.zarb.org
The relevant packages are xine-dvdnav and/or xine-d5d (they both allow you to view encrypted DVDs, but have different features/problems). You'll probably notice that there are some other interesting plugins available. Make sure the plugins match your version of Xine; if they don't, get the updated version of Xine as well.
Note: You can also get RPMS of Ogle and Mplayer from this site.
2) Source code method
Alternatively, you can compile Xine and the desired plugin(s) yourself. Go to
http://xine.sourceforge.net
for more details. The only real tip that you need to know is that when you configure each package (xine-lib, xine-ui, dvdnav etc), you should use
./configure --prefix=/usr
rather than
./configure
alone.
This is generally true for compiling anything on Mandrake, and is due to Mandrake's slightly non-standard way of organising the directory structure.
CD Writing is relatively straighforward on Mandrake, as with most versions of Linux. Unless you don't have a SCSI CD writer (a lot of people have IDE). If you're one of these, then
Uncle Theodore says:
Hm, hrm-hm-hm... You need SCSI emulation to burn CDs... On my machine
/dev/cdrom is linked to /dev/scd0 Also, there must be an
append=" hdb=ide-scsi" in /etc/lilo.conf
This assumes your CD drive lives on the primary slave IDE interface /dev/hdb. You will also need to run LILO after editing /etc/lilo.conf
Once you have your CD writer set up to use the SCSI interface, you can do a
$cdrecord --scanbus
This will give you output something like
scsibus0:
0.3.0 3) 'Yamaha' 'CRW4416S' '1.0j' Removable CD-ROM
scsibus1:
1.6.0 106) 'Iomega' 'ZIP100' 'J.03' Removable Disk
scsibus2:
2.0.0 200)'HP' 'SCANJET5300' '6.00' Removable Scanner
In this case, the CD writer device number is 0,3,0 (it's a Yamaha CDRW)
You need to build the ISO file system for the CD before writing it. Do this in the following way:
mkisofs -r -o cd_image private_collection/
Here I'm creating an ISO image called cd_image from the files in the private_collection/ directory.
Once you have the ISO image, you can burn it using cdrecord:
cdrecord -v speed=2 dev=0,3,0 -data cd_image
There are frontends available for cdrecord:
xcdroast is available via Mandrake cooker. It supports DAO, TAO (incl. optional zero-pregap), multisession, burn-proof, image verification, cddb queries for audio etc.
Some other frontends available are:
gtoaster
eroaster
gcombust
koncd
kreatecd
Check them out to see which one meets your needs.
If you're using Mandrake 8.2 or lower:
In Mandrake Control Center, click Security, then Firewalling, then Configure and answer the questions. If you're not running any public servers then you can probably answer "Firewall this off from the Internet" to every question.
If you're using Mandrake 9.0:
In Mandrake Control Center, click Security, then Firewall. Select which services you want to ALLOW anyone on the Internet to connect to. For home users, you will not want any services exposed to the Internet, so uncheck all the boxes.
Alternatives
You don't have to stick with Mandrake's default firewall. Two possible options are Bastille Linux (http://www.bastille-linux.org/) and Guarddog (http://www.simonzone.com/software/guarddog/). Both allow relatively easy configuration of a firewall without having to know too much about the intricate details of how it all works.
For Mandrake 9.0 users, the firewall utility is called Shorewall
Bastille Linux is a system hardening tool. It basically asks you a series of questions about your system, providing helpful advice about the best settings to make your system more secure. Configuring a firewall is only a small part of what it does.
Versions of Mandrake up to and including 8.2 had Bastille included on the Mandrake CDs. Mandrake 9.0 does not have it because Bastille does not officially support 9.0 yet (as of 25th October 2002).
Before installing Bastille, disable any existing firewalls by using Mandrake Control Center.
Installing Bastille on Mandrake 9.0
Mandrake 9.0 includes a simple firewall that does a reasonable job, but if you test it by using the Shields Up feature of http://www.grc.com or the various scans at http://scan.sygate.com/probe.html, you'll see that two ports are not listed as "Stealth". Once you've installed and configured Bastille for Mandrake 9.0, you will have a completely "Stealth" system. This is a good thing, because your computer will then appear almost completely invisible to the rest of the Internet, but you'll still be able to use the net as normal.
It is possible to trick Bastille into running with 9.0. As to whether you feel comfortable doing it, that's up to you.
What we need to do is get InteractiveBastille to chill out and "just do it".
So first get the latest Bastille RPM from
http://www.bastille-linux.org/
Then edit the following line in /usr/lib/Bastille/API.pm
Line 457:
foreach $supported_distro("DB2.2","RH6.0",
"RH6.1","RH6.2","RH7.0","RH7.1","RH7.2","RH7.3",
"MN6.0","MN6.1","MN7.0","MN7.1","MN7.2","MN8.0","MN8.1",
"MN9.0","HP-UX11.00","HP-UX11.11","SE7.2",
"SE7.3","TB7.0") {
You need to add MN9.0 to the list of supported distributions. The same goes for /usr/lib/Bastille/IOLoader.pm
Line 252:
my $supported_versions ='MN6.0 MN6.1 MN6.2 MN7.0 MN7.1 MN7.2 MN8.0 MN8.1 MN8.2 MN9.0';
This will be sufficient to allow /usr/sbin/InteractiveBastille to do its stuff. It seems to be a reasonable solution in the interim until Bastille actually supports 9.0 officially.
Running Bastille (all Mandrake Linux versions)
Install iptables, preferably the latest version from the security updates site (which will need the upgraded kernel upgrade to work properly). One reboot later and you're ready to do some other stuff.
Make sure you've got all the relevant Bastille packages installed. For me, that is
Bastille-Chooser
Bastille-Curses-module
Bastille-Tk-module
Bastille
So log in as normal user, do a xhost +localhost, su to root, then run
/usr/sbin/InteractiveBastille
To get to the security thing. Go through all the options carefully. I have Apache running as a server, but I firewall it off from everyone but localhost. Expose no daemons to the general internet and do some other stuff.
Notice that some stuff is broken after doing this: specifically changed /etc/hosts.deny to ALL:ALL and /etc/hosts.allow to ALL:LOCAL. Then it all works hunky-dory.
If you're using Mandrake 9.0
There are a few quirks to using Bastille in 9.0. The umask doesn't seem to be set according to what you say. This means that users on your system can see each other's files by default. To change to a more secure setting, you'll be wanting the default permissions something like -rw-------, or umask 077.
This is achieved by editing the UMASK_USER line in /etc/sysconfig/msec to read
UMASK_USER=077
Then everything is hunky-dory again.
More info here: http://www.bastille-linux.org/jay/
d) File size limit exceeded when doing su
Sometimes you will get a message saying "File size exceeded" when you attempt to become the root user using su. This is a result of running the Bastille configuration utility and specifying a maximum file size. You can check /etc/security/limits.conf to see what limits apply, or you can run the Bastille configuration wizard again and not specify a file size limit.
You'll the Webmin packages installed and running. Assuming you've done this, point your browser to
https://localhost:10000/
Note the https:// - the documentation wrongly tries to make you look using http://, which doesn't work. Obviously, if you were trying to administer a machine across a network, you'd replace localhost with the relevant machine name.
V2.21 (28th October 2002)
V2.20 (15th October 2002)
V2.11 (28th August 2002)
V2.10 (14th August 2002)
V2.09 (6th August 2002)
V2.08 (4th July 2002)
V2.07 (11th Nov 2001)
V2.06 (28th Oct 2001)
V2.05 (27th Oct 2001)
V2.04 (8th Oct 2001)
V2.03 (25th Sept 2001)
V2.02 (19th Sept 2001)
V2.01 (17th Sept 2001)
V2.0 (16th Sept 2001) - Initial version
V?? -> 1.5 Old version by Kevin Glazier