newbie help? (very newbie!)
Forum: Other Help Topics
Topic: newbie help? (very newbie!)
started by: gm6jag
Posted by gm6jag on June 17 2004,08:06
Hi guys,Complete newbie here. Have obtained dsl (officially) on cd and I can drop it into the cd slot, boot-up and get all working onscreen, EXCEPT I cannot get the dsl to find and use either of my modems.
Question 1) Is this the right place to ask?
Question 2) I'm such a newbie, I have to ask, should I be telling dsl where to find a "driver" a la dos or winblows?
Regards
Mel
gm6jag
Posted by ke4nt1 on June 18 2004,17:37
Hello,I saw that roberts was helping you with your modem challenge,
but I wanted to stop by, and send greets and 73 to a fellow ham.
Nice to find you here, Mel ...
73
ke4nt
Posted by gm6jag on June 20 2004,10:35
Hi there,Thanks for the greeting. Hold GM6JAG and MM3AIM calls, VHF and HF respectively. Mainly interested in VHF working with just some HF calls as and when, normally on vacation throughout Europe.
Into homebrew (G-QRP and ARCI type projects) and melt solder!
73's de Mel
GM6JAG
MM3AIM:O
Posted by ke4nt1 on June 20 2004,14:53
fb omLatest rig hr, Oak Hills Research 5 band 5 w qrp
I enjoy field day/qrp and contesting
2nd place US - 3rd Worldwide in 2004 cq wpx (NX5M group)
APRS, Satellite contacts ( I miss the russian birds!)
W5ACM(Andy) and KK5DO(Bruce) run AMSAT feed from here in Texas
Some PSK-31, SSTV, ATV.. Licensed since 1992
Mrs - KD5TKB
Son - KD5TKC
Xastir and linPSK work fine under DSL,
Need better logging/CW contesting software..
(maybe CT or TR under dosemu or WINE? )
73
ke4nt
Posted by gm6jag on June 21 2004,08:21
fb on the rundown.roberts has got me running, at least on surfing using Dillo, so that's fine.
I'm looking at linux purely to get away from winblows and viral stuff, but maybe dsl is the answer, I'm using kind of low end stuff here, both desktop and laptop, being retired after a good few years pro involvement with radio (commercial ticket also), you use what you have eh?
Came out when national utility coy I worked for died the comms side out to an outside contractor, but I did manage to order up a new Marconi 2955 test set with all the bits before the department closed, and this came with me!
Back to dsl! Is there a way to know when you're connected to the ISP, a screen or a marker that "says" connected, like in my current win/dos setup on the bottom taskbar?
Regards
mel
gm6jag
Posted by cbagger01 on June 21 2004,17:12
I don't use dialup connection so I have not tested this, but you could try using the wm-ppp dockapp which will appear in the lower right corner of your "Enhanced" desktop (called the "slit").Here are two ways to install the program (not tested):
(1) Install the Synaptic Package Manager, scroll down to the wmppp.app package and install it.
(2) Enable apt. Then type the following from an Xterminal (rxvt):
sudo su
apt-get install wmppp.app
exit
You also will need to start up the program from the command prompt. I would try typing in something like "wmppp.app" or "wmppp" or "wm-ppp". You could look for help files for more support.
Finally, once you are up and running you will probably want to make the program part of your "enhanced" desktop script. I forget where the batch file is located but I am sure that someone else can point you in that direction.
If this works well, this app might be a good candidate for either direct inclusion with a newer version of DSL or at least a *.dsl package.
Good Luck.
Posted by gm6jag on June 21 2004,22:04
Hi Chagger,Whoah kiddo! This is a three day old newbie here! *>) Sounds like it might be the idea, but I think I'll need to play and learn a bit more, like what's a Synaptic Package Manager for example.
I'll keep this on file, and maybe when |I understand| a bit more I can give it a try. The next two things I want to do is get myself e-mailing, and then see about a HDD install maybe, so that I can see if I want to do a FULL upgrade type thing or not.
I've got Mandrake and Red Hat on CD here, but the learning curve seems a bit steep on these, so that's why I thought about trying dsl, and so far I'm impressed by it working out of the box more or less. I can UNDERSTAND WHY it has no docs or help stuff, to keep the size down, so I'll need to scrabble around till I find my feet with the very basics on the CD first.
Regards
Mel
GM6JAG
Posted by gm6jag on June 21 2004,22:22
quick test using dslSri fr bandwidth guys, testing
Posted by cbagger01 on June 22 2004,05:26
Without getting into much detail, here is a quick overview of the standard DSL software installation methodolgy.DSL is partially derived from a larger livecd Linux Distribution called "Knoppix".
Knoppix is based on the Debian Linux distribution.
Debian Linux and its cousins have some really cool features. Here is some reading on the subject:
< http://www.debianuniverse.com/readonline/ >
On a technical level, one of the great features of Debian-based Linux systems is an advanced package management system. A package management system is used to install, upgrade and remove software. The closest analagy to a package management system in the MSWindows ™ world would be the "Add/Remove Programs" section of the Control Panel.
Now imagine an "Add/Remove Programs" menu that is smart enough to:
(1) Compile a constantly updated list of THOUSANDS of computer programs and provide an instant method to download and install them from the Internet at the push of a button.
(2) When you choose to install program X , the program knows that you also need program Y or library Z in order for program X to work properly. It then automatically downloads and installs X, Y, and Z together so that your program works correctly the first time and you don't get "PROGRAM X ERROR: Failure due to missing program Y" messages. This "missing program" or "missing library" problem is commonly known as "dependency hell" and can leave the average user very confused because he or she then needs to stumble around and figure out how to install program Y. Many other Linux distributions (although some of them are working on a Debian-like solution) suffer from this problem.
For example, in MSWindows ™ you may try and install a new game program, but this program needs Microsoft Direct X version 8.1 and your computer has Direct X version 6.0 already installed. A good software company would inform you of the dependency and give you the option to upgrade your Direct X to version 8.1 But some software companies will not do this. Instead, they will place a tiny one line comment inside their "README" text file informing the user that "Direct X version 8.1 is REQUIRED or the program will crash" or something like this.
The poor user is then left with a game that crashes until he finds the README file or calls tech support for help.
The core of the Debian package management system are some command line (MSDOS-like) utility programs like 'dpkg' and 'apt-get'.
You can use these programs to install and remove software.
However, some users prefer to have a nice graphical XWindows style program with menus and buttons and program informational screens, etc. "Synaptic" is the name of the most popular graphical program and is used in DSL.
If you look in the "Got Memory & Bandwidth" menu (I believe that it is inside the "Tools" menu), there will be an option to download and install Synaptic.
Once you are ready to start installing new software into your DSL system, I recommend that you give Synaptic a test drive.
Good Luck.