Several problems

[dranorter]

I have installed Debian Etch on my Macbook, in accordance with the instructions at http://wiki.debian.org/MacBook. I have now been dual-booting with Linux for two weeks. I am very pleased.

I would have installed Debian Sarge, just for that safe feeling of knowing everything I use has gone through the Debian testing process and passed, but the tutorial seemed to indicate some things would only work on a more up-to-date system. (Actually it looks like like the tutorial has changed somewhat, just glancing at it... I should take a look.)

I will post a description of my efforts on linux-on-laptops.com eventually, but first I would like to ask some questions about general issues I have had (none really serious).


1.
First, when I am running just the shell without X windows system, that is, the command prompt, the text is quite fuzzy. I would love to have a crisp, beautiful shell to work with. Can anyone help?

[edit]I have edited lilo.conf to switch to VGA mode 6, which succeeds in squishing down the text to the right size vertically, but I don't know how to get more than 80 columns (my computer probably could get along with 200). And the text is still fuzzy; I Don't know how I would go about making it actually know the true resolution of my screen. Also, these settings go away as soon as my computer is done starting up, so its not good for anything anyway. [/edit]


2.
Another annoyance while running the shell is that an error message will appear every so often, corrupting the screen in text-based visual apps, and confusing me while I type commands. It is:

hda: cdrom_pc_intr: The drive appears confused (ireason = 0x01) trying to recover by ending request.

dmesg is, of course, filled with this error.

People who have seen me working at the shell get very concerned when they see this. I have gotten used to it and ignore it. Does anyone know how I can make it stop appearing?


3.
I can get system sounds to work in X by switching to device 1 in the volume control panel. However, I have not heard any sounds from other applications, such as the game Enigma, or RhythmBox. Any ideas?

[edit: I get the following error when starting up one KDE game:

Sound server information message:
Error while initializing the sound driver:
device: default can't be opened for playback (Device or resource busy)
The sound server will continue, using the null output device.]


4.
I have set up right-clicking by switching the mouse button to mouse button 3 when I go to one corner of the screen, and back to button 1 when I go to another. I would appreciate a better solution.


5. Keyboard
I do not know how to install Pommed (which the tutorial recommends); I cannot find it with apt-get or in Synaptic. However, my sound buttons, function key, eject buttons work fine; my screen backlight button is the only one which has any problem.

Also, I love Linux's international keyboard support! Just sayin'.


6. Internet

Wifi: The WEP network at school works fine [with network-manager-gnome]; however, at home I have to either start KWifi, or already be plugged into my router by ethernet cable in order to get it to work. (Plug in cable, go to a webpage, log into wifi network, unplug cable.) KWifi is annoying because I use Gnome; the cable is annoying because I have to get up. Why would this be behaving like this?

When I update my packages, I always get the following error:

E: openbsd-inetd: subprocess post-installation script returned error exit status 1
E: netbase: dependency problems - leaving unconfigured
E: exim4-base: dependency problems - leaving unconfigured
E: exim4-daemon-light: dependency problems - leaving unconfigured
E: exim4: dependency problems - leaving unconfigured
E: nfs-common: dependency problems - leaving unconfigured
E: ppp: dependency problems - leaving unconfigured
E: kppp: dependency problems - leaving unconfigured
E: kdenetwork: dependency problems - leaving unconfigured
E: kde: dependency problems - leaving unconfigured
E: libio-socket-ssl-perl: dependency problems - leaving unconfigured
E: ktalkd: dependency problems - leaving unconfigured
E: ytalk: dependency problems - leaving unconfigured
E: cupsys-bsd: dependency problems - leaving unconfigured

Another internet issue is that on startup, the computer hangs a long time looking for an internet connection when I am not plugged in. How could I make it stop this?


7.
When I close the lid of the laptop, the backlight turns off and the little light on the front of the computer turns on; when I open it back up, one of two things occurs: if I do it quickly, the screen turns back on and everything is fine, but if I wait much time before opening the screen, the light turns back on but the display shows only black, and I can find no way of getting things working again other than holding the power button to restart.


8.
The iSight camera does not work with ekiga (or anything else). (I tried the Debian wiki instructions but they did not work.)


9. Java
I tried to install Java 6 using the JDK 6 download from Sun. I also installed the Java 5 package in Synaptic. I can run Java jars from Nautilus by double clicking, but if I try java -jar from the command line, it doesn't work. It makes the computer's fans turn on. I assume it is somehow making the computer begin to overheat. I have therefore not tried this very many times, and it may just be one jar which does this; however this same jar works from Nautilus. Why would there be a difference? Also, it is using Java 1.5 though I disabled 1.5 (and enabled 1.6) in the Java Applications Runtime Settings.



Thank you for any help.


Also, just a simple newbie issue; how do I get the computer to start up in the shell by default instead of going into gdm?

[Vergil83]

I have installed Debian Etch on my Macbook, in accordance with the instructions at http://wiki.debian.org/MacBook. I have now been dual-booting with Linux for two weeks. I am very pleased.

That is great to hear!

1) You might increase the screen resolution (in your /boot/grub/menu.lst include vga=791 on the kernel line)

5) That program is only in unstable

6) Instead of kwifi you might use network-manager-gnome or wifi-radar
To remove those errors try running apt-get -f install

[dranorter]

Thanks for your reply!

I am using Lilo, not grub. Is there a way to do that with Lilo?

I am using gnome-network-manager; it is the program which is being buggy. wifi-radar does not seem to work either.
Running apt-get -f install only repeated the same errors in more detail.

Thanks again,

-Dran

[ibanex22]

i posted on your other thread about the mouse issue, got mine figured out
http://www.linuxforums.org/forum/ins...g-macbook.html

also, here is a list of xmodmap keys/numbers, you may find it useful
http://oroborosx.sourceforge.net/USA.xmodmap

[dranorter]

I edited lilo.conf, telling it to ask me what resolution to use on startup. On startup I press enter to get to a list of possible resolutions and it asks me to type which one I want, but it seems that no keys get any response. Have I done something wrong?

[dranorter]

Also, more information on the sound: I started one of the KDE games and got the following error:

Sound server information message:
Error while initializing the sound driver:
device: default can't be opened for playback (Device or resource busy)
The sound server will continue, using the null output device.

[dranorter]

Whatever editations I make to the command-line resolution in lilo.conf go away as soon as I've started up.