Question I cant ask on Xandros Forum !

[jaboua]

IMO redhat is out - once everyone had redhat, but now they only have the enterprice version left (fedora was sat free u know).

[sepius]

Yeah, dodge Fedora until you get used to setting up linux. It is great to customize your environment, but you want to be running for a bit first and get used to Linux being better.
I feel Mandrake is good, still pretty powerful but has its qewks now and then. Ubuntu does do well out of the box, but I had screen resolution issues. Mepis I just looked at is pretty slick as well and really good with the vids, also these both come with live CD's ... a handy way to look at Linux without the risk of killing win/XP if you dont want to yet.
I have never tried Suse, but many people give it great praise, and I intend to give it a shot myself.

Your Winmodem. Dump it, get an external. If you change distros later, you will most likely have the same headaches again and again (although this can be fun too!!). Also be careful, I have found that if you ever load a kernel driver, such as the nVidia or ATI drivers after you get everything running. You need to redo the sound and some other things as well, like internal modems. So my little rule is always do 3D first after install.

My experience with inernals was after around 2 years on and off with RH6 to RH7 and no go, went external and it happened with no real work, I've kept to externals ever since.

[Cabhan]

I do not like Fedora Core, and I do not recommend it for you. I'm a big fan of SuSE for a newbie-friendly distro. It's easy to install and its got a good package manager. You can download the DVD ISO from their site.

As far as the hardware stuff, I can't help with the Winmodems. I can help with the card, maybe, though.

I used to have a Soundblaster Live! 5.1 PCI that came with my Dell Dimension 4600. And basically, it didn't work. There was a single driver that did (the Free/OSS driver, I think it was called), but even that didn't work on a more recent kernel.

Basically, I got a different card. Almost every other Soundblaster (or so I hear) is supported. I personally now use a Soundblaster Live! 5.1 PCI MP3+. And it works fine.

So yeah. Sorry, but you'll probably need a new card if you want sound in Linux.

[redbeard]

Given your newness to linux, and if you have a bit of cash the two things I'd advise as a fellow noob is to save the hassle of the internal modem and get a serial one, and go to one of the linux cd shipping sites and get a copy of Mandriva 10.2 and perhaps the latest Suse.

I started with linux back in November with Suse, and only later tried other distros. While suse and Mandriva configure automatically on both of my PCs, I found that I often have to do some manual tweaking to get many other distros to work. I'm really glad I started with one that worked out of the box, and was able to enjoy the benefits of linux before learning more about how it works.

[d38dm8nw81k1ng]

i love SuSE but if you are going to download the DVD ISO then use the one i posted on the second page of the sticky'ed topic. it is the fastest server by far, and it has the correct file size. i had problems with my sound in SuSE 9.2 which were magically solved in 9.3 so sometimes a change can help. if you still have problems on different distros then buy new stuff. that's what i did with my keyboard. just remember that it doesn't have to be the expensive stuff and remember to ask the stores if they are linux compatible. it might seem strange but it is better to be safe than sorry.

[intrepi]

Hi All,
I admit I am a Linux newbie - have had Xandros 3.0 for just under a month.
Although I am very competent with XP nitty gritty, I have to admit to being rather disappointed with Xandros and Linux so far.
Installation as a dual boot with XP went with just a few problems that I fixed up, but I am still without sound [Creative Sound Blaster Live Value], and have no internet connection [Winmodem with Connexant chip]. I must have tried 50 times to fix up each - all with heaps of Forum support - but so far no luck
My initial printing problems were solved by replacing a Lexmark with a hpLaser Jet.
Now I am definately not about to give up - thats for certain, but I have to ask the question - do other distros present the same sort of problems for newbies ? Will one day soon there be a blinding flash of light and everything will work ? I need to know.
Maybe every 'expert' on every forum experienced what I am experiencing - or did they?
So guys, do I persist with Xandros or is there another distro that is just a little more 'user friendly' ?Your comments [and encouragement] would be welcomed !
Thanks.
Mike

Ok, well, first off, I'm an Xandros user, have used your edition and now using Pro 4 which I'm happy with. Reading your post, I'm not sure as to why you can't or feel you can't ask any of these questions on the Xandros Forum as there doesn't appear to be any reason why you couldn't, however. First, Soundblaster Live board, I had, stopped using their products years ago as telephone support goes beyond ridiculous and even Windows has had issues with Soundblaster so my advice is, I'd move on to a newer Auzentech Xplosion PCI card, huge difference in sound quality and not terribly expensive. I'm not sure as to what Winmodem is but I'll assume it's an onboard WiFi and you can correct me if this isn't. If this isn't working, go to Xandros Website and take a look at what hardware is compatible with Xandros 3.0 as you will find listings for different types and makes with model numbers. There is a lot of compatible hardware and Xandros has drivers that will install automatically when new hardware is found. Going to a different distro may or may not cure your problems, I know, I used to use SuSE but changed as it was more of personal choice. The biggest problem with linux is each distro or version has it's own issues but all hardware manufacturers with a few exceptions do not develop drivers or software for linux. The same is true for software so linux has had to work around these issues by using software to enable windows based software to run on linux OS's. My best advice is confront each issue as a singular issue, work on it by checking what hardware and make any hardware changes you have to make. This will cure the problems you are having with Xandros. Ironically, the same would apply for all distros, check the hardware compatability that each distro has before buying the distro. This will enable you to know in advance what you might have to change or buy to make that distro run. Linux has a learning curve and you will learn more and more as you use it, much like MS DOS it was an OS that took a lot to get to use it with any fluidity. Hang in there, you'll make it through all of it. Try, my suggestions, but don't hesitate to use Xandros help forum as there are a lot of very helpful people there.

[oz]

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