Linux Format forums

Re: Hello I need some help and direction.

Rhakios — Thu Mar 15, 2012 10:09 pm

Author: Rhakios

Posted: Thu Mar 15, 2012 10:09 pm

Well, Ubuntu has xsensors, so I expect that Mint will too (I suspect that will drag in lm-sensors, which is the back-end that does all the real work).

Re: Hello I need some help and direction.

count_zero99uk — Thu Mar 15, 2012 9:56 pm

Author: count_zero99uk

Posted: Thu Mar 15, 2012 9:56 pm

Well mint is installed and its updated.

Going to come to the thing fresh tommorow.

My only concern, and this could just be the laptop and nothing to do with linux. The desk where it was seated felt rather warm. Is there anyway to monitor the temps inside my machine from within Mint?

Thanks, no doubtl ill have more questions tommorow.
Brian.

Re: Hello I need some help and direction.

nelz — Thu Mar 15, 2012 9:45 pm

Author: nelz

Posted: Thu Mar 15, 2012 9:45 pm

I remember that, and I remember thinking it was a good thing he wasn't using it in the manner the name indicates you should

Re: Hello I need some help and direction.

towy71 — Thu Mar 15, 2012 7:35 pm

Author: towy71

Posted: Thu Mar 15, 2012 7:35 pm

guy wrote:

No, amazingly enough the most popular high-availability OS on the planet does not make computers melt or explode.

I seem to remember some years ago seeing pictures of Alan Cox's exploded laptop, I think it was the battery not the laptop per se

As you say things change

Re: Hello I need some help and direction.

count_zero99uk — Thu Mar 15, 2012 7:35 pm

Author: count_zero99uk

Posted: Thu Mar 15, 2012 7:35 pm

Yeah thats what ill be doing.

Ill probably break the thing several times, but it should be just a wipe and restart solution

Its wonderful not careing about vista.

Re: Hello I need some help and direction.

guy — Thu Mar 15, 2012 7:21 pm

Author: guy

Posted: Thu Mar 15, 2012 7:21 pm

I'd just "test drive" it by playing with the stuff that matters to you.

No, amazingly enough the most popular high-availability OS on the planet does not make computers melt or explode.
Although if a computer is designed to explode, Linux used to let it: its power-saving management has come on a lot since then: you can still get it to explode but nowadays you have to tell Linux to let it. Enjoy the choice

Re: Hello I need some help and direction.

count_zero99uk — Thu Mar 15, 2012 7:03 pm

Author: count_zero99uk

Posted: Thu Mar 15, 2012 7:03 pm

Ah well as nothing else has been forthcoming ill go for a live install of mint this evening.

Ill be back as they say.

Re: Hello I need some help and direction.

count_zero99uk — Wed Mar 14, 2012 9:23 pm

Author: count_zero99uk

Posted: Wed Mar 14, 2012 9:23 pm

First post from my new/old laptop

As you can see i managed to sort out the trouble of that firmwear by plugging in a wire. Im pleased that this is working now

Right well this looks like its all good.

Is there anything i should test?

Sound, video, netspeed?

Ive read horror stories of laptops overheating as Linux cant control the fans or something?

Just want to make sure everything is ok, as you can imagine.

Thanks
Brian.

Re: Hello I need some help and direction.

wyliecoyoteuk — Wed Mar 14, 2012 8:58 pm

Author: wyliecoyoteuk

Posted: Wed Mar 14, 2012 8:58 pm

You may need a wired connection to download the firmware.
Not unlike Windows, where you often need another PC to download the driver for your network card. However in Windows, the firmware is often included in the driver.

Re: Hello I need some help and direction.

nelz — Wed Mar 14, 2012 6:41 pm

Author: nelz

Posted: Wed Mar 14, 2012 6:41 pm

Your wireless probably needs a driver or firmware file that cannot be distributed on the disc. The option in Mint will install it for you, but it will disappear when you reboot. This won't happen one you install a distro to your hard disk.

Re: Hello I need some help and direction.

count_zero99uk — Wed Mar 14, 2012 4:02 pm

Author: count_zero99uk

Posted: Wed Mar 14, 2012 4:02 pm

Got the same thing with Fedora 16.

Firmwear missing.

Any help would be great - its a Dell Vostro 1015 laptop with the celeron chip and 1gb ram.

Thanks
Brian.

Re: Hello I need some help and direction.

count_zero99uk — Wed Mar 14, 2012 3:47 pm

Author: count_zero99uk

Posted: Wed Mar 14, 2012 3:47 pm

Ok,

Ive made a live stick with "Linux Mint 12 "Lisa" - DVD (32-bit)" on its booted up fine and has found the laptops bluetooth and wireless but states that the firmware is missing on the wireless.

There is this icon on wich states "Restricted drivers available"

Is this something to do with the live stick, or something else?

Either way, some help would be great.

In the mean time going to try a different flavour - Fedora 16 this time.

Thanks
Brian.

Re: Hello I need some help and direction.

Nuke — Wed Mar 14, 2012 10:38 am

Author: Nuke

Posted: Wed Mar 14, 2012 10:38 am

guy wrote:

Unlike Windows, Linux must mount any filesystem
...
Many modern distros will do this automatically, possibly when you first click on the drive, others may offer a menu option that you have to select first.

Even more confusing, if you remove a media thing without unmounting it first, you may well find that nothing ever got written to it

Actually, Windows mounts file systems too. It is just that it does it automatically, whether you like it or not, at boot time. Unless it is a non-Windows file system in which case it has been known to moan that "your file system is corrupted".

Linux has three basic options for any disk or partition of a disk : (i) Mounted automatically at boot; (ii) Allow the user to mount it explicitly if and when he needs it; (iii) Make it out of bounds so only the Superuser can mount it. For example I have an archive partition which I do not usually mount.

Option (i) may the the default for some modern Linux distros, but for as long as I have used Linux the user can arrange things how he likes [by editing the /etc/fstab file, but not for the novice]. As is usually the case, Linux has more options for doing things than Windows.

You do need to unmount a removable file system explicitly in Windows too (at least in XP which is the last version I used), such as when removing a USB stick. That is the icon is at the bottom right of the screen. Fixed disks are unmounted at the Windows shutdown, as in Linux.

Re: Hello I need some help and direction.

guy — Tue Mar 13, 2012 9:33 pm

Author: guy

Posted: Tue Mar 13, 2012 9:33 pm

Dutch_Master wrote:

You can save files to USB, or even the harddrive, provided you've mounted it, when running a Live-CD

Yes, a live session should enable you to access straightforward media. You may find this works flawlessly, but if not you may need to learn about "mounting" it.

Unlike Windows, Linux must mount any filesystem (such as found on your media: mantra #2, on Linux everything is a file*) before it can read or write.

Many modern distros will do this automatically, possibly when you first click on the drive, others may offer a menu option that you have to select first.

Even more confusing, if you remove a media thing without unmounting it first, you may well find that nothing ever got written to it: Linux may have been configured to just save up all your changes for one big write at the end (bit like a transactional database if you know about such things). mantra #3, never pull the stick or press the plastic eject button if there is an onscreen option: use that first.

And don't rely on the unmounting procedure to exactly mirror the mounting - you may have to click a different reverse sequence.

I have had some cussed installs in my time that needed a fair bit of trial-and-error to suss out, even knowing about all that. However, as I said, this issue is not as common as it used to be.

Other than that, it's a piece of cake, grin.

*You have already been given mantra #1, Linux is not Windows

Re: Hello I need some help and direction.

towy71 — Tue Mar 13, 2012 8:16 pm

Author: towy71

Posted: Tue Mar 13, 2012 8:16 pm

count_zero99uk wrote:

... screaming about my laptop being on fire / taking over the world.

probably the latter