In a previous message, Tony Bloomfield wrote:

What's happened to the search button in Install/Remove software?

There's a drop-down menu at the top left of the window, the third option in which is Search. This also lets you change how you view the software list. It's not the most obvious system in the world, I'll grant you! HTH, John -- John Pettigrew Headstrong Games john@headstrong-games.co.uk Fun : Strategy : Price http://www.headstrong-games.co.uk/ Board games that won't break the bank Valley of the Kings: ransack an ancient Egyptian tomb but beware of mummies!

On Monday 07 October 2002 1:46 pm, Tony Bloomfield wrote: <<snip>>

My upgrade from 8.0 to 8.1 seems on the whole to have been a disaster. 1. The system wouldn't recognize any USB devices. This was an internittent problem with 8.0, and fortunately (since both my mouse and modem are USB) I'd kept a hard copy of the instructions, so was able to get them working again. 2. Couldn't mount a data CD till I read the instructions on this list. I still haven't managed to get an audio CD to play... 3. kwintv doesn't work. I get the message

...

can't open /dev/video0: No such device

<<snip>> Hello Tony. I agree with your comments that 8.1 seems to be a disaster. Installation of previous versions has been very straightforward on my system. But, With a new installation on a clean harddrive, 8.1:- Did not find and set up my monitor correctly; I had to do it manually. Neither my IDE CD-ROM nor my IDE CD-W would mount. If I tried to mount them, the kscd CD player was run. After much experimenting, the CDROM now works, but no luck yet with the writer. I have tried the suggestions given on this list, but they have not got it working. I have a USB Epson scanner which 8.0 found, installed the Sane and associated packages, and set up without a problem. 8.1 found it, installed the packages and said that it was set up. It wasn't, and would not work. During bootup, I got error messages about faulty sane configuration files. I couldn't find the faults, so in the end I replaced the 8.1 /etc/sane.d folder with the one from 8.0. Also I replaced the 8.1 .sane folder in my home directory with the one from 8.0. A bit of a "botched" job, but the scanner now works. One of SuSE's strengths is that installation is straightforward. Not with 8.1! In my opinion, 8.1 is a large backward step. I have spent ages trying to get it working correctly and if I can't get it working soon, I will go back to 8.0 which has given me no problems. I don't want to have to do that, as I have spent over sixty pounds buying the Professional version. This is not a SuSE "flame", I am simply venting my frustration with it. Cheers Keith

On Monday 07 October 2002 5:22 pm, Peter B Van Campen wrote:

Dear Keith,

In the spirit of this list why don't you share the actual steps that you used to resolved the problems that you have mastered. Venting is OK I guess, but the purpose of the list is to share solutions.

PeterB

Hello Peter. I agree that this list is to share problems and solutions - I have had a vast amount of help from it. However, I am loathe to share the solutions I work out myself, as with all you experts on the list, mine are very much non-expert ones. You have asked for them, so here goes. They have worked for me even if they are not very sensible! Things have progressed since sending my previous message earlier today. I now have both CD drives working. On my single computer, I have two IDE CD drives: a CD-ROM which is hdb and a CD-W which is hdc. As an aside, I have three hard disks on caddies, each having a different operating system. I plug in whichever caddy has the OS I want to use. This way, each OS is separate and I have the equivalent of three machines. I still have 8.0 on a hard disk and 8.1 is on my "messing about" disk. In previous Linux versions, I have used hdb for the CDROM and sr0 for the writer. This has worked satisfactorily. However, it doesn't with 8.1, and I read on the list that both CD drives now require scsi emulation. So this is how I have now got them both working. Of the two short-cut icons on the KDE desktop, one gives /dev/cdrom and the other gives /dev/cdrecorder as the devices. In the /dev directory, the /dev/cdrom link pointed to hdb and the /dev/cdrecorder link pointed to sr0. 1) logged in as root and went to /dev. 2) renamed the cdrom link cdromold, rather than deleting it. (just in case!) 3) went to sr1 and dragged it on to the desktop (outside the /dev window) with the left mouse button. Made it a "link". That's the only way I know of making links! 4) renamed it from sr1 to cdrom and dragged it back into the /dev window. "Moving" it, this time. 5) Changed user from root to me. I don't know if this is necessary or not. I now have two working CD drives, but I have not tried "burning" yet. I don't know if this is the correct way of doing it as, on boot, I get a repeated error message:- linux kernel: ide-scsi: hdc: unsupported command in request queue (0) linux kernel: end request: i/o error, dev 16:00 (hdc), sector [various numbers] As for getting my USB scanner working, I have already explained that 8.1 would not set it up correctly and the only way I could get it to work was to replace the 8.1 /etc/sane.d folder with the one from 8.0. Also I replaced the 8.1 .sane folder in my home directory with the one from 8.0. A bit of a "botched" job, but the scanner now works. I am slowly getting version 8.1 working. It is a much harder job than with the previous 7.3 and 8.0 SuSE versions, which found and set up everything with no problems. Whether these are the best or the correct ways of solving the problems, I don't know. They may even be really stupid ways. All I can say is that they appear to have worked for me. Cheers Keith

On Tue, 2002-10-08 at 02:38, Kevin McLauchlan wrote:

So, since I'm expecting my 8.1 shortly, the big question:

Does the SuSE 8.1 installer set them up properly, by default, or give you the option to select SCSI emulation?

Both drives will be SCSI emulated; you cannot select if you want to have it for the normal 'non-writing' drive, at least I couldn't in two clean installs. The symlink tragedy, here once more: # ln -sf /dev/sr0 /dev/dvd # ln -sf /dev/sr0 /dev/cdrom # ln -sf /dev/sr1 /dev/cdrecorder It might be the other way round concerning sr0 and sr1 if your drives are in a different IDE order (hdb, hdc, hdd). The example is correct for boxen like mine: DVD drive is 'hdc', and CD-RW is 'hdd'. Tested twice by me and several times by other fellows on this list:-)

I've got a CDRW and a (gasp! horror!) Pioneer DVD drive, and I got hit by the DVD boot problem when I bought 8.0, so I'm a little concerned this time.

Unluckily, I did not try installing from my Pioneer DVD drive (I didn't even know there was a problem in 8.0) ... I used the CD burner as boot device on this box .. so, for what I have heared, the Pioneer is supposed to work now:-)

/kevin (waiting for Canada Post to deliver the package)

Cheers .... Wolfi ============================================= mailto:wolfi_z@gmx.net Linux ... the better OS!

** This email message from on Tue, 8 Oct 2002 03:31:41 -0400 Will be delivered via Owl Services Dept **I await my copy of 8.1 that husband ordered from somewhere on the net ... $66 **, or so I think he said .. ah yes, message recieved to today, it's shipped He got it at Buy.com $66 , plus shipping which I think brings it to $73 and change for it to get here. This was 8.1 pro full box w/ manuals etc.. Just in case anyone was wondering if I was hallucinating , or something <grins> -- j afterthought CCITT- Can't Conceive Intelligent Thoughts Today

* Keith Powell (keith@keithg4jvx.force9.co.uk) [021007 09:18]: :: ::I agree with your comments that 8.1 seems to be a disaster. Installation of ::previous versions has been very straightforward on my system. :: I just upgraded my workstation in the office. Everything went smooth from 8.0 to 8.1. I think my CDROM drive at home caused a hiccup and that's why I'm seeing issues. I think I'm just gonna wipe it and install via a different CD drive. I think that old Acer 40X has served it's purpose over the last 3 years, but maybe dying. ;) As I only rip CD's to mp3's every so often. I guess I didn't notice that it was having issues. So I wouldn't call it a disaster.. -- Ben Rosenberg ---===---===---===--- mailto:ben@whack.org Tell me what you believe.. I tell you what you should see.