Laptops :: Gateway Solo 115 USB HUB and USB Mouse

I finally got DSL to boot up on my Gateway. Everything seems fine but I do have two question.

#1 I cannot use my mouse that I have connected to a usb hub. BUT the laptop's touchpad works fine. Any ideas.

#2 How can I change the screen size of the "desktop" ( I think that is what it is called in the linux world?? The laptop has a max 800X600 screen. I am not sure but I think DSL is booting at a larger resolution. I can see all of the icons and can get the right click menu but when I minimize a window it does not move to a "taskbar" as it does in windows but completely disappears. This behaviour makes me thing that it is being minimized in an area below the bottom of my screen size.

#3 Are there any step by step instructions on putting DSL on a USB flash key drive.

I know there is a section on this forum about usb transfer. And I will go there and check. The problems is that I am a VERY VERSED windows person. I program (very small non commercial) for window. But this is my first foray into the linux/unix world. And a lot of the instructions that I have read from the web seem to assume a lot of linux knowledge on the part of the reader.

I'm new at this too, but it might help you to run the Xsetup script - it might fix both your mouse problem and your screen problem? I'm not sure about the mouse one, but the screen one should be solved by running Xsetup
At the boot: prompt type

Code Sample

dsl xsetup

You could try using a cheat code at boot time
eg:

Code Sample

dsl vga=normal

Code Sample

dsl vga=788

but you'll probably find that running the Xsetup script will work better for you and fix the problem.

If you want to reconfigure your desktop without rebooting, you can run the xsetup.sh script. There's a link to it if you right click on your desktop, in the System menu - X Setup. You may need to restart X to get it to use the new settings though, I'm not sure. To restart X, right click on your desktop -> Window Manager -> Restart

You can use frame buffering if your machine likes it better, but you might need to specify that at the boot prompt, and more information can be found on video modes at
http://www.damnsmalllinux.org/wiki/index.php/Vga%3Dxxx
Read more about the cheat codes at http://damnsmalllinux.org/wiki/index.php/Cheat_Codes
Note that to use the frame buffering boot label, it is just

Code Sample

fb800x600 bootcode1 bootcode2

*not*
dsl fb800x600

I don't know if you've seen the DSL Wiki at http://www.damnsmalllinux.org/wiki/index.php/ (.)
I've found it to be a pretty good resource, and once you've read through a few pages there, if there is anything you need to clarify, you can at least point people to the Wiki page and show them the instructions causing you confusion :o)

If you search the Wiki, you'll also find the instructions for putting DSL on your USB key.

Hopefully I haven't steered you too far wrong!
Have fun.
Cheers and beers,
Sarah

original here.