On Sunday 07 March 2004 06:25 pm, Peets wrote:
I give up. I've been using a SuSE based Linux desktop since SuSE 4 or so (always based on the Pro version) but as classics go this one is hard to beat.
I'm running an 'average user' trial where a moderately competent end user is trying to work with a Linux desktop for 2 months, and report on it. She uses an IBM X30, and has broadband at home.
The aim is to collect data of which issues hold back end user/small business adoption of Linux (ok, GNU/Linux), and belive me, I've just been utterly stumped myself.
The user has one of those USB connected HP Officejets (PCS 2179). She did buy this against my advice, but in a sort of masochistic way I'm glad she did because it laid open an absolute mess.
The darn thing was autodetected, and user duly followed YAST prompts to get a CUPS queue established. You guessed it: it didn't print (but in Windows it naturally did).
I went digging at SuSE SDB to find some help (very hard work, btw), ripped the cups upgrades off the system and started again with vanilla RPMs from the DVD. And got it to work, in colour and all.
But when the user got home with the whole assembly IT FAILED TO WORK AGAIN. Yes, no change of hardware or even configuration but the thing was dead. I just spent another hour trying to get the thing to work and I give up. The last time I saw this happening was when "Windows has detected new hardware" with no new hardware to be seen meant that you could write off that afternoon. [...]
Anyone any answers? ============
Peets, I am just gonna throw this out for testing purposes, but it is a possibility as I have read some things about this elsewhere. This could just possibly be the fact that Windows is on that system. When you set it up at your place, did you boot directly to Linux and "fix" it? I'm guessing that you didn't boot into Windows for any reason and go back to Linux to see if it still worked either? I'll bet also that the lady took it home and either booted to Windows first or at some time later, then back to Linux and it ceased to work again? This may be way off base, but again, I have seen something of this nature occur and not sure what was done to resolve it. I am suspecting Windows to be the problem here too. Lee -- --- KMail v1.6 --- SuSE Linux Pro v9.0 --- Registered Linux User #225206 On any other day, that might seem strange...