Just installed debian and I have some questions

[Justin2021]

Hi, I just installed debian and I'm having a couple of problems.
1) I downloaded the flash plugin but when im listening to something, it sounds like a chipmunk talking extremely fast
2) Is there any way to use KDE for debian sarge?
3) Either my desktop thinks I am blind or everthing looks really, really big...how would i make things smaller (i.e. icons and webpages). Also, things look crowded in my webpages and they are smooshing together.
Thanks for helping

[genesus]

in a terminal as root type "man apt-get" this will tell you how to install and search for packages, you simply will have to search for the name of the kde package and type one terminal command through apt to download it, all its dependancies and install it on your system.

Make sure that your video card and drivers are installed correctly, if you are using an nvidia or ati look at our tutorial section, which provide guides for getting these to work properly

[displaced]

what video card are you using? in a standard install of debian, kde is installed by default. you have to choose it under sessions when you log in. apt-get is how you install packages but synaptic is easier, you'll find that under system tools. you also have to either be logged in as root or su to root to use either package. the operating system will not let a regular user install anything not allowed by root(security). The man pages are a good place to start but you might want to try info as well. example: "info command". if you can't change the screen size then you need to reinstall the video drivers (just like windows). installing the video drivers in debian is accomplished by running this command at a command line "dpkg-reconfigure xserver-xfree86". you should know what your video card is because "ati generic" will fail on most ati cards.

[farslayer]

Increasing the resolution on your system can be done simply by editing the /etc/XF86Config-a file. theres basically 2 things you need to be concerned about.. the Refresh rates for the Monitor (should be in the manual or on the manufacturers website) and the resolutions listed on the Modes line in the Screen section. simply add the resolutions you wish to support. the first one in the list is the default resolution. Usually you will only have to add the resolutions to the 24 bit section. .

Back up your file before editing
cp /etc/X11/XF86Config-4 /etc/X11/XF86Config-4.bak


Interesting parts are in bold

Section "Monitor"
        Identifier      "Visual SensatKDS"
        HorizSync       30-65
        VertRefresh     50-75
        Option          "DPMS"
EndSection

Section "Screen"
        Identifier      "Default Screen"
        Device          "Generic Video Card"
        Monitor         "Visual SensatKDS"
        DefaultDepth    24
        SubSection "Display"
                Depth           1
                Modes           "800x600" "640x480"
        EndSubSection
        SubSection "Display"
                Depth           4
                Modes           "800x600" "640x480"
        EndSubSection
        SubSection "Display"
                Depth           8
                Modes           "1024x768" "800x600" "640x480"
        EndSubSection
        SubSection "Display"
                Depth           15
                Modes           "1024x768" "800x600" "640x480"
        EndSubSection
        SubSection "Display"
                Depth           16
                Modes           "1024x768" "800x600" "640x480"
        EndSubSection
        SubSection "Display"
                Depth           24
                Modes           "1024x768" "800x600" "640x480"
        EndSubSection
EndSection

After editing hit CTRL+ALT+BACKSPACE to shutdown and restart X




Alternately you can try running dpkg-reconfigure xserver-xfree86 and run through the wizard to try and reconfigure your video for the settings you want.. This works for most people but never seems to give me exactly what I want.. YMMV