NEWBIE (Questions)

Forum: User Feedback
Topic: NEWBIE (Questions)
started by: adz_619

Posted by adz_619 on Dec. 31 2006,16:24

Hello there,

First of all may i say that DSL is an excellent distribution of linux which comes in hand to users such as myself who do not have power processors.

However i am experiencing problems logging in. I am running DSL as a virtual machine and i have not had any login boxes so that i can log in as ROOT. I KNOW THAT THE PASSWORD IS SUDO SU.
But how do i log in???

Thanks!
adz

Posted by mikshaw on Dec. 31 2006,16:59

The password is not "sudo su". This is simply a way to become root if you are already logged in as user dsl.

If you want to have a true login you will need to create passwords and set up your system as multiuser (modifying /etc/inittab and .bash_profile).

If you simply want to start DSL as root, use the boot option "dsl 2"

Posted by Winter Knight on Jan. 01 2007,00:52

You haven't seen any log in boxes because there aren't any. Neither user dsl or root have passwords.

When you boot up DSL, you are automatically logged in as user dsl. To become root, open an aterm and run the following command:

Code Sample

sudo su

. You are now root. To not be root in this terminal anymore, type:

Code Sample

exit

Posted by rishipandit on Jan. 02 2007,06:16

Quote (adz_619 @ Dec. 31 2006,11:24)

Happy new year to all................

Hey man if you can change da password simply by first opening a virtual terminal in your gui and den running da "passwd" command and den giving it da new password.... You must boot in runlevel 5 for dis first. Dat sudo thing is just to give you admins privileges for some time. better way is to do as i have told ...... Just let me know if you still have got prblm......

Posted by azurehi on Jan. 31 2007,17:31

I am a newbie to linux and have been trying various live cd distros. I have been unable to boot from DSL 3.2 iso, getting "giving up": xinit: no such file...(errno2)... and xinit: no such process...(errno3)... dsl@ tty1[dsl]? blinking cursor. Have amd athlon 64 3000+. Any suggestions are appreciated.

Posted by ron on Jan. 31 2007,17:50

Quote (azurehi @ Jan. 31 2007,12:31)

Hey man I've got a similar system with DSL running on it. I'm using this to learn about Linux. I think DSL is a great choice in many respects. Can you supply more detailed error messages?

I'm running the previous version of DSL because this gives me a mini-Debian (Debian has many packages and executables) whereas the 3.2 doesn't support apt-get. I mention this because it begs the question of whether it's really worth it, with a system that capable, to run a mini-distro which can't use Debian repositories for instance?

Posted by hillside on Jan. 31 2007,18:20

3.2 DOES support apt-get and even synaptic, but you have to get them through the MyDSL system. Look for dsl-dpkg in the systems area and synaptic in the network area.

Posted by ron on Jan. 31 2007,18:24

In that case what's the problem there's no problem.

Posted by azurehi on Feb. 02 2007,21:51

Thanks, Ron. I believe DSL is beyond me: after getting the same result again, tried vga=normal; got odd screen with vertical stipes, faint, unreadable text. What I'm looking for is a linux distro in live cd that will make the linux transition easy; pclinuxos will release a 2007 final soon - with the live cd, I have been able to access internet, setup printer, play music, etc., so may go for that later. Don't know where this distro stacks-up in your opinion/ comments, suggestions welcome. Thanks.

Posted by ron on Feb. 02 2007,22:20

I think you should stick to DSL, because it does automatically configure most of your hardware, and it sounds like you just need to configure your vga settings to get a normal display. With regard to setting up my printer and audio, I have had minor setbacks with DSL, but luckily once I had them configured I had no need to configure them ever again.

For the things you mentioned, Dynebolic is a distro I keep on the side always as a LiveCD, for when I want to run multimedia software that's simply too much trouble to load up in DSL (for instance Rosegarden 4). The advantage of Dynebolic is that it sets up ALSA and JACK, and comes with a stack of LADSPA effects, and autoconfigures your devices and everything.

he disadvantage in installing Dynebolic permanently to hard disk is that it bundles hard-to-use rubbish that you will probably never use (e.g. Blender). This means for most people that it wastes a lot of space, because after all what kind of pie-eyed "media activist" (LOL) would be an expert computer-musician AND movie/3D-artist? Furthermore the "Rasta" theme of Dynebolic is very annoying. But you need something like that on a LiveCD sometimes.

Posted by lucky13 on Feb. 03 2007,17:04

Quote (azurehi @ Feb. 02 2007,16:51)

Thanks, Ron. I believe DSL is beyond me: after getting the same result again, tried vga=normal; got odd screen with vertical stipes, faint, unreadable text.

You shouldn't have those kinds of problems if you use the proper resolution setting. Make sure you're setting up the right resolution setting for your monitor when xsetup.sh starts (the configuration script that runs before starting X). You'll get a messed up screen like you described if you choose the wrong resolution. If your monitor only supports 800x600, choose 800x600 instead of anything else. And like the script says, skip/ignore DPI if you don't know what you're doing.

DSL should work, and a whole lot faster, if that other distro you named does if you set it up properly.

Posted by indigenous71 on Feb. 04 2007,08:49

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Posted by indigenous71 on Feb. 04 2007,08:56

Hi, I'm a newbie around Linux stuff but I still think it's really cool and the Live CD is a nice way to see everything in DSL in a safe way. I was just wondering what program is used to make DSL and it's software or Linux in general, 'cause i wanna get in on some of the action!

Posted by ron on Feb. 04 2007,13:38

Hi. I'm in the same position and would like to somehow get involved too. I've been looking at the possibility of making my own distro from packages that are already out there, and discovered this site which might be useful:

< http://www.linuxfromscratch.org/ >