Ok, so I'm new to linux. So sue me. But I think I'm getting the hang of it rather well. I still don't know many konsole commands or much else for that matter, but I'm learning. GBK - I'm sorry for being a windows user for so long.

Anyway, I have a few problems with Knoppix that are not quite covered in the documentation. I know that knoppix is configured not to allow root access. And without root, I can't create a new user with root access. So first thing: how do I gain root in knoppix?

Secondly, I need permanent storage of files and programs for use is knoppix. Obviously, the paging file is reset after each restart and whatever is saved in the session is lost. Now, I don't want to give write access to my harddrive, as it only has one partition, and it's in NTFS. I'm pretty sure the only thing I can do is reformat and create a FAT32 partition and allow write from knoppix. But there maybe something I'm missing. Is there anything else I can do for permanent storage?

What architecture does knoppix run on? I need Blender (www.blender3d.org), but I don't know if I need i386 or PPC.

Also, I would really like midi support. I've found a few websites with the drivers and insturctions, but none really deal with the special case of knoppix. I don't think I can recomile the linux kernel without lots of problems, but I would like midi support. Suggestions?

GBK - this is a question you'll most likely be able to answer. Which build of Xchat works with knoppix?

Lastly, printer drivers. Lexmark is retarded and doesn't release linux versions of their printer drivers. And the pre-loaded drivers do not have my model included. What are possible solutions to enable my printer in knoppix? I need it for office support, as well as the CAD program that comes with it.

Thanks in advance guys. I feel embarrassed that I don't know as much about linux as I should, and very embarrassed that I haven't used it before today. But I'm making the transition, and I really want to move over completely to linux, at least for non-gaming applications. More questions will follow, I'm sure.

Thanks,
Ric_Olie

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"I'm a funny guy, really I am."

1) Knoppix does allow root access. If you cant just 'su' into root permissions, hit Ctrl+Alt+F1 to switch to the first virtual console, which is logged in as root, and set the password with 'passwd'. After that, hist Ctrl+Alt+F5 to switch back to the Xsession and rety the 'su'.

2) You cant 'create a new user with root access'. Theres only one root - root - everyone else is just a user.

3) Knoppix is intended as a demonstration CD, not as a primary desktop. If you want to use it as such, install it. That solves all problems of storage.

4) Knoppix, AFAIK, only runs on x86. You are, of course, running an x86 proccessor. I know this because Windows doesnt run on anything else. Linux will run on any proc under the sun, PPC, UltraSPARC, you name it...

5) Midi under Linux takes some work. I really wish it wasnt as hard as it is, but, well, it is. I know for a fact that one can get Midi working just fine in Linux, Ive just never managed to do it. . . . Anyone out there with Mandrake tried Midis? No?

6) Xchat sucks. Try Ksirc or KVIrc...

7) Lexmark IS retarded, I can definatly testify to that . . . but I cant help with your problem. In all the builds of Knoppix I ever tried, printing was broken. Installing it should fix that.


If you really want to get into Linux, install a perma-distro like Mandrake or SuSE. Youll thank yourself later.

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The future is here, and all bets are off.

Alternatively, you can use Knoppix as a starting point to install another distro (particularly Gentoo). This might be a more newbie-friendly option, as you get to keep your UI while you're installing everything.



Just to clarify: PPC = PowerPC, which is an IBM/Macintosh platform. x86 is the Intel/AMD 32-bit platform - in other words, undoubtedly what you have. The only non-x86 processor Windows works on is the Alpha.



I strongly recommend KVIrc. It's my Linux IRC client of choice. Ksirc is usable, but it's far from perfect. KVIrc is a lot closer.



Gentoo option here. It's really not easy to get working. It takes a lot of effort, a lot of time and chances are you'll have to make a couple of retries before you get a working system...... but it's worth it. Gentoo forces you to muck around with Bash, config files, compiling and kernel configuration. You learn a ton. If something breaks, you actually know how to fix it and don't have to post dumb questions on internet forums.

Installing Gentoo will take you from knowing nothing about Linux, right up to knowing how to use it effectively. Mandrake, RH and the other major distributions try to make Linux function like Windows, which is downright deceptive.

But your mileage may vary.

Thanks for the informative and quick reply GBK. I know I'm a newb.

This is gonna sound stupid, an I'm sorry about that, but how do I go about installing Knoppix? Will I have to reformat?

I figured out my printer won't work anyway, but I think I will be ok if I print out to a pdf and then print it when I happen to be using Windows.
I found Xchat already installed after I posted, so I can stick with that for now.

As for installing Gentoo or SuSE, I really don't have that luxury at the time being. The only computer I have is my laptop, on which I need to keep Windows for certain school-related applications. That, and I don't have a backup of my files, and I really don't want to lose them to a reformat. I'll be getting a desktop this summer though which I intend to use solely as a fileserver, which should solve that problem. But I agree that I need to do a full install so I will actually learn something and not flood forums with newbie questions.

BTW, <3 Lynx.

Anyway, thanks again.

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"I'm a funny guy, really I am."

[This message has been edited by Ric_Olie (edited February 19, 2004).]

install a real distro (you can put knoppix on your hdd but... meh)

go get a real distro and install it. that'll help with most of your questions.

then drop onto irc.freenode.net #linux (or #redhat, gentoo, debian, etc etc) if you need quick help.

welcome, to the real world.

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why is a raven like a writing desk?

These guys telling you to get a "real" distro are woefully misinformed. If you hd-install knoppix to your hard drive, all you get is a pre-configured DEBIAN machine. Debian is my favorite distro for many reasons. You aren't running a crippled distro.

Knoppix already includes xchat, so you don't need to install a different version.

You can create more than one user with root permissions, regardless of what GBK says.

ctrl-alt-f1 will drop you back to the first console, the one you logged in as originally. You don't need to do all of this to get root access, just open a terminal and type "su" to become root. Also, if you did switch, the x runs on alt-f7, not alt-f5.

All gentoo users think everyone should install gentoo. If you are just starting out, it will be incredibly confusing and it will take you a long time to install/compile it. It took 3 days of compiling on my 500mhz, and when it was "done" I got an error because of a bug in their software. The bug was fixed the next day, but guess what? I had to start all over! Forget that.

GBK needs to stop spitting crap like that "knoppix isn't a perma-distro" - it's just debian, although you don't have to do any of the configuration yourself.

If you want to hd-install knoppix, check the instructions at knoppix.net. I would strongly urge you to get a second hard drive and install knoppix on that. That way, you can still run windows off your primary hard drive (you just get a menu at boot). Knoppix hd-install can take care of all this for you, as long as you specify hdb as your install point (instead of hda).

If you're installing on a laptop... hrm, you'll have to either wipe the whole thing or partition it so that each os can get a partition - but of course doing that will wipe all your info. You can't just install it on fat32/ntfs next to windows, it doesn't work that way.

Oh, and please don't try to write to ntfs through linux. I don't think it can even mount that way, but I strongly don't recommend even mounting it read-only.

I agree that it starts out confusing. My first couple attempts at installing Gentoo were horrible failures. The thing is... each time it didn't work, it was almost guaranteed someone else had my same problem and had posted a support thread on the Gentoo forums. Thus, I could figure out why exactly went wrong. I was then prepared for future problems of that type. So, it's confusing, but I felt it helped me figure out exactly how everything was working and fitting together.

Edit: YMMV, of course... but I do feel that it helps you learn the basics of a Linux system more than using a fully-capable GUI installation from the start.



As long as he has free space on his drive, he can resize his main partition and setup a Linux partition without any data loss at all...



I believe you can compile write support into the kernel, which then would allow you to mount it to be writable. But.. really... don't do this.

[This message has been edited by fourwood (edited February 19, 2004).]

True, but as Ive never done it, Im careful to reccomend it to anyone.



I did not know that. Upon you post, I did some research and sure enough, you can. Sorry.



My mistake..

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The future is here, and all bets are off.

Yea, you CAN mount NTFS as write... but you'll be digging your own grave. Don't do it.
As for read only, there is no harm in that. I run my linux with my NTFS drives read only mounted all the time. Never had a problem. But for God's sake, don't give it writable access.

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"The future is not determined by a throw of the dice, but is determined by the conscious decisions of you and me."
I am addicted to ellipses!!! AHHH!!! ...

Not recommending something is completely different than spreading misinformation.

It's true though, and my honest recommendation. My experience with Debian is pretty limited - for the most part I've done Gentoo, Mandrake and Slackware. Just flavors of the same thing of course, but Gentoo gives you more freedom over your end system.

I'm still waiting for the Gentoo team to release Portage 2. I imagine installing will be about 3 hours faster when we can finally cut Python out of the bootstrap script.



As of 2.6.2 NTFS reading/writing is safe. It isn't guaranteed to work properly, but it apparently won't corrupt the drive anymore. Honestly though, I still wouldn't recommend it for a while.

Really? I don't see that anywhere in the kernel changelog...

There's the program Captive that allows (supposedly) safe writing to NTFS drives, but it is rather slow.

Check make config. It's listed as safe now. IIRC, 2.6 NTFS support has been rewritten from scratch.

Ah, I forgot about that. My first reaction was to think that you meant full NTFS write support was safe. That was about to blow my mind. I had forgotten about this part, though.

I hear FreeBSD is nice.

Gentoo is a great Linux distro to go with. However, Debian and Slackware would also do you well.

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[This message has been edited. Deal with it.]

I know I've said this several times, but the next time I reformat I'm going to try a BSD. Really, I mean it this time.

I love Gentoo, but if I hadn't tried Red Hat and Mandrake I never would have been able to cope.

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BV's rendition of Titanic: Let's have sex. I won't let go. I don't need this stone.
The End.
~ Wolfy

[This message has been edited by BV (edited February 20, 2004).]

Yeah, right, sure...

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The future is here, and all bets are off.

Hey, thanks for the continued info guys. I know that Linux writing to NTFS is a bad thing. I've done at least that much research. I figure when I get a chance to backup my HD, I'll wipe the slate clean and start with it properly partitioned.

Since I really want to learn how Linux works, Gentoo probably won't be too bad of a choice for me. If I get really stuck we have a Linux user's group here on Uni Campus, or I can just come back here.

I've also heard that FreeBSD is nice. But the only program that works under it that I need that I know of is Blender. Of course, Blender also works under Solaris, Irix, NetBSD etc. But yeah, I definately need a CAD program and The GIMP.

One more question: If I were to mess with wireless networking (http://www.hpl.hp.com/personal/Jean_Tourrilhes/Linux/Tools.html) should I still be able to get onto a 802.11b network that is made for Windows machines? I know that the support is up to 802.11, but what I don't know is if the servers have to be running Linux-specific for Linux users to connect to the network.

Thanks.

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"I'm a funny guy, really I am."

I've wanted to do this, too. Maybe I'll install a BSD on my test partition. What one should I try?

Routers dont care what OS a node is running. "made for Windows" is just a poor excuse for a lack of imagination.

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The future is here, and all bets are off.

FreeBSD is nice, the whole init process is different though. Just get the latest RELEASE and you'll be fine. Remember, there's not as much hardware support, and you do in fact have to do more configuration than most linux distros (but not more than gentoo!).

Seems like a fun challenge. Now to figure out why the FreeBSD 5.2 release CD freezes during boot... I'll deal with that tomorrow.