User Feedback :: Off to a bad start - whole lotta nuthin :(
Hi again ya'll....
I'll try to change settings with xsetup.sh ---you said to do that in a terminal window while in X ???? interesting....changing video modes 'on the fly' ????
tried 'fb'...I'm assuming you mean 'frame buffer'....
when I use what DOES work, dsl vga=normal and 4 bit or 8 bit color depth, it prompts me for a pixel value, any suggestion on that ??? Someone suggested I try vga=771 haven't done that yet.
If I can get it halfway useable, I'll make an hda4 linux native ext2 partition like the welcome/start message on dillo says, so I can save my settings.... unless I can save them somewhere on my already existing hda2 partition for slackware? I see that DSL is taking advantage of my linux swap partition when it loads....
as for my modem, I don't need a driver, it's not a winmodem!! It's a zoom hardware modem, 56K, no jumpers, it's just fixed on com 1 irq 4. I boot to DOS, and use several DOS internet programs with ppp dialers just fine, for one, the ARACHNE web browser, I also use DOS version of lynx, the text browser, in different 'flavors', such as bobcat, lynx386, and DOSLYNX, I also can telnet in DOS using the lsppp.exe dialer/packet driver (0x60) and ms kermit for DOS. also on this box I have BL3 (basic linux 3), a very small distro which let's me do email and has the 'links' text browser, and of course, I can reboot, i have LILO and by default it loads slackware 7, or I can boot to DOS/ Whingdoze 98. Soooooo i don't know why DSL doesn't seem to recognize my modem, I KNOW for a fact it's com 1, irq 4, and my serial mouse is com2, irq 3, which does, btw, work okay on DSL...
I'll keep playing with the video....
btw, if I boot DSL into CLI prompt only, is there a ppp configuration program?? in slackware, you have to be in root to run pppsetup. Anything similar in DSL ????
also....no 'consoles' ??? (alt f1 / alt f2 / alt f3 / alt f4) ?????
No, you have to restart the X server. ("startx" will start it up again)
Yes, use like fb800x600 - with or without vga stuff in combination with this.
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I agree with you to make sure you like it before you install it...
I don't understand this section, afaik drivers are the software used to communicate to the hardware...
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No idea about this one, as I don't use ppp...
You can add this in one of the startup scripts - I think there was a guide floating around in the forums. See http://damnsmalllinux.org/cgi-bin....;t=7936
To see if your modem works you can try Microcom. It is a little terminal program that comes with DSL. Just right click your desktop choose Apps->Net->Microcom
If it finds your modem type ati3
I use dial-up right click your desktop again choose System->Net Setup->dial up PPP
type provider and enter in all the other stuff. Works great for me.
I might try that BL3 if it will work on an old 386 that I have but don't use.
It repeated
well, I spent quite a bit of time today playing with everything
using xsetup.sh saves a lot of time and I tried everything possible...bottom line, I can't get anything beyond 4 bit or 8 bit color.
in either one, I can go to desktop / style and select 'minimal' and at least the menu's are better,
using the 4 bit color:
some apps seem okay, some, like dillo, or firefox simply won't come up, xpaint looks horrible. I enjoyed the xtris tetris game and got a kick out of the 'ace of penguins' solitaire game :)
using the 8 bit color:
this would be usable except everything is like a 'reversed color', and I get dark purple letters on a black background, IMPOSSIBLE to see the ppp configurator menu for example. firefox fires up, takes about a minute to load, I was able to look at some web pages (.htm files) on my C: drive --- which I get to by going to the "cd-rom", and again, dark purple letters on a dark background, the images look like film negatives and are very grainy.
I think this might be a VESA issue or something, I went through quite an ordeal getting slackware, also on this box, to give me a halfway decent screen in KDE. I think it even had my video card listed, and I still had to hunt down the vert and horz sync freq for my monitor... a MAG innovision 17". DOS graphics are fine, and in whingdoze98 I got the manufacturers driver and have truecolor or high color on an 800 x 600 screen.... I think I mentioned it's a Diamond Stealth 2 meg...or maybe even 4 meg ISA video card.
I simply don't think this box is a good candiate for DSL because of the video issue.... but at least I've got slackware and BL3, and I can look for some other small distros to play with. Does anyone know of a link to the OLD version of dragonlinux version .8 ?? The full zip file - with X - is about 50 megs, Googling for dragonlinux I can only find the new version which is about 250 megs - anyway, I digress. A long time ago I think I tried pygmy linux and peanut linux - can't seem to find those anymore either.
I got a 40 gig maxtor HD I'm going to put in a P-200 as a slave drive, that box has a built in SIS video chipset, it's a pcchips mobo, we'll see how that goes....
yes....you should definitely give BL3 a try on your 386 ! ! ! I always download the 3 meg .zip file and install to hard drive, but you can also download the version you put on 2 floppies. Never had any luck getting the mouse to work, it's got X, but with no mouse it's not much good. I like conlsole stuff anyway. It's got the 'links' browser, a nifty little email program, works fine, a text editor sort of like pico, a word processor - I actually typed and printed a letter, and some networking stuff, pretty amazing for something so small. Just google for 'Basic Linux BL3 download', it's on a page hosted by ibiblio.org or something like that, can't miss it.....
I'm still mystified on the ppp problem with DSL, but I'll try microcom and run some hayes AT commands and see how it goes... I think maybe DSL would rather be run from a CDROM than the c:\knoppix\knoppix file....also, when trying the fb frame buffer video mode, the path / file it's looking for doesn't seem to exist.... again, I'm not gonna worry about it, I'll get around to trying it in my other box with the maxtor 40 gigger - I'm a little more at ease 'experimenting' with that box instead of my main, anyway....
One of the reasons I was looking for a small distro like DSL, is I've got a couple of pentium 150's - complete - just collecting dust. My gf has a fairly new computer with whingdoze XTRA PANTS and I don't know WHAT she does, but she's always calling me, " I can't do email, I can't surf the web"... she just gets it loaded up with spyware and crapware and ends up taking it somewhere to get it fixed, formatted, reinstalled- or crying to me - cause it's screwed up....
I figured if I could fix up one of my boxes sitting around with a linux distro I could surprise her with it next time she has a micro$loth meltdown <g>
cheers!
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