Partion and Audio problems in Mandriva linux :?

[baccilus]

I am going to install Mandriva linux 2006. I am installing linux for the first time. Tried knoppix 4.0 and liked it. My D drive is totally empty. I am going to install in this partition. I dont want to disturb other partitions.

[mehulved]

Well mandriva has diskdrake, which is an easy to use GUI disk partitioning tool. You just need to know which partition is C:/ and which is D:/. You just have to click on D:/ and format it to any linux fs you like eg. ext3, reiserfs, xfs, jfs.
Well you can do one thing. Go to disc management in windows and delete the D:/, don't partition it with disk management. Then mandriva will detect it as empty partiton and you can select.
BTW, how much space is there on the D:/. 5GB will be enough if you gonna use linux as secondary OS.
And if your C:/ is NTFS make a small partitition of 2-3 GB as FAT32, which can be read and written by both OS'es.

[baccilus]

Hi tech. It has 13GB space. I use my computer to make assignments and projects. will it be possible to do so in mandriva and get print out from the market where the computers have windows installed. I will use it as a secondory operating system only since i like to play games too.

[mehulved]

Sure you can use OpenOffice.org(Oo.org) that will be installed by default for making projects. I myself use Oo.org Writer instead of MS Word and save in .doc format.
FOr Powerpoint presentations you can use Oo.org Impress and save the presentation in .ppt format.
They will open with MS Word and MS PPT but it just might need some small editing cause there are some features that aren't exactly the same but don't worry they will take about 5-10 mins depending on the size of your project.
I too get my printouts done in cyber cafe and documents open without a problem.

As reguarding the partitons, you can divide it into two partitions using diskdrake. One will be a linux native partition explained above. You can use any though the default is ext3. And make one FAT32 partition, yes diskdruid can do that.
You can divide into a 8GB linux partition and a 5GB FAT32 partition. No hard and fast rules here. It's totally upto your wish on the amount of space for each partitions.

[baccilus]

thanks buddy. I installed linux and even configured internet access. I have no idea why i have not installed linux uptill now. But i instaled it before you coul reply. So now i have 2 partitions and both in ext3 format. So will my *.doc files be recognised in windows i i save them in the already existing FAT32 partitions on my hard disk? One more thing, I have a 64 bit processor. Is Mandriva a 64 bit or a 32 bit OS?
Thanks for all your help tech. You have been a great help.

[baccilus]

Hey i dont hear any thing. And it even recognizes my onboard sound card correctly. So why cant i hear anything. Help Tech!

[mehulved]

Oops I forgot one thing. Did you make a swap partition?
The documents will be recognised and opened without a hitch in windows.
I guess the distro is 32 bit am not sure if mandriva is available in 64 bit.
Open the terminal and type alsamxer and see if Master and PCM are not muted. If anyone is muted you won't hear any sound.
OK in KDE panel, right click on system tray on the right, then select add -> applets -> sound mixer, and check if Master and PCM are unmuted.

[baccilus]

Yes i did make a swap partition. Its 1020 MB. And i made two ext3 partitions of 8GB and 3GB. I tried the alsamixer command but it said:
alsamixer: function snd_mixer_load failed: Invalid argument

[mehulved]

Then try the KDE panel part written above it will be easier.

[baccilus]

That didn't help either yaar. It has recognised the sound card correctly. So that means the driver has been installed. In amarok it shows the volume at 80%. So that doesn't seem to be the problem either. I have altec lansing 251 5.1 speakers. And they are fine too, i know. What could be the problem?

[mehulved]

Did you see that none of the mixers were muted besides master and PCM as you have 5.1 speakers. The volume level shown in amarok isn't the only indicator, you wil have to check the others that apply in your case. I don't know which all.

[baccilus]

I already did that buddy. Nothings happening. And it never asks me if i want a 6 channel or 2 channel sound. it just has one output. The realtek one shows three. one each for centre/sub, front and rear ones.

[baccilus]

Help me someone! I installed linux because i hate the fact that i use pirated windows. Now what will i do on it if i can't play games and watch movies and listen to music? this is an irritating problem. knoppix could play the sound buut ony 1 channel would work. Mandriva cant play anything.Where could i be going wrong?

[praka123]

baccilus,what is your soundcard..post details of ue system also..

[baccilus]

I have intel 915 mobo. I am using the onboard realtek ( not sure of the model no.)sound card. I have the intel 2.66 64 bit processor. also 512MB RAM. I have left out 13GB ffor linux and have 1GB for swap.

[praka123]

I am also running a 915GAV mobo with onboard realtek HDA auido.ALSA supports it fully.if u have installed alsa-utils rpm.u can try reconfiguring ALSA by issuing

alsaconf

as root.after that unmute the volume controls.you should try adjusting Audio controls and selecting 6/7 channel o/p using

alsamixer

in a terminal as root.after setting all volume controls and channel selection save the settings as root:

sarge:~# alsactl -d store 0

try and post the results.
if u want to play windows OS games u can try cedega demo or WINE software.
Also U should have all plugins installed to play .mp3's .wma's etc...

Never hooked with Mandrake,a KDE distro,You can try Debian Etch or Ubuntu Breezy/Dapper also;good support for i915GV/GM cards...

[mehulved]

To play songs and watch videos you will need to install win32codecs. To learn more about it have a look here

[baccilus]

Hi Prakash. Do i have to type thse commands in the console ? I did that but it says
bash: alsaconf: command not found. And what is alsa util rpm? I have mandriva in cd's and i installed directlly from there. I guess these already had all the drivers as i didn't install any software separately. Should i try reinstalling it?
None of the commands you gave are working in the console.

[praka123]

Mandriva's got a lot of rpms to get ..
http://rpms.mandrivaclub.com
http://rpms.mandrivaclub.com/rpms/Sound.html
And here is ur alsa-utils rpm.this is useful for saving your audio settings and a detection script also comes with it -alsaconf.
http://rpms.mandrivaclub.com/rpms/ma...2mdk.i586.html
try it and post.
ps:try as root user all commands posted in previous post in a konsole or terminal.

[baccilus]

What is RPMs. I am a newbee. I hate to admit, but i feel like a 5th standard kid trying to understand Quantum mechanics. I have no idea where i am going wrong. I think i will learn linux in my holidays this time. I am loosing hope on my current problems

[praka123]

get the .rpm file downloaded to ur computer.just thing .rpm is nearly equal to a .exe setup file in windows.now after downloading,find where u downloaded alsa-utils rpm.suppose u downloaded to ur home directory /home/baccilus,U should open a console/terminal and try this:

root@mandriva#cd     /home/baccilus

now install the rpm as below

root@mandriva#rpm   -ivh alsa-utils.rpm

remember there is a SPACE between each commands stated above.after installing rpm.try what i said in previous threads.its easy losting hope.have some commitment on continuing Linux,Leaving the m$ one.

[baccilus]

I will try that now. And i am not going to loose hope buddy. That's why i will read some book on linux in my holidays. It has been a week since i used windows even though i can't do anything except surfing the net on this right now.

[baccilus]

I did what you said but it says the package(s) are already installed

[praka123]

try as below:

root@mandriva#rpm   -ivh  alsa-utils-1.0.10-2mdk.i586.rpm     --force

then try running alsaconf.if alsaconf is then also not showing up just issue this command in terminal

root@~#whereis alsaconf

also may be u should check for alsa packages like-libasound,alsa-driver..alsa-libs etc installed.mandrake may have better configuration tools for ur hardwares

http://mandrivausers.org/

EDIT :hmm...it seems to me that ur distro wants alsaconf rpm installed!.try the link below and install as rpm -ivh as described earlier.
http://club.mandriva.com/xwiki/bin/v...-2mdk.i586.rpm

[baccilus]

For installing the rpm i just went to the baccilus folder and then to downloads. Here i clicked on alsa***something something.rpm
The commands that you are telling dont seem to work. I guess i am typing it in a wrong way. Can you elaborate on that. I have had this audio problem for far too long. thanks for sticking around. Friends like you and Tech are really going to make Bill Gates fear the penguin.

[praka123]

hey buddy,just a miss download n install alsaconf rpm.ur distro doesnt have alsaconf default.that was the proble.we may be near the soltn
if u dont know what is a terminal/konsole try in kde menu or taskbar for "konsole" or select "run" from kde menu and type small letters "konsole" inside run and proceed..in Linux only small letters are used.a terminal/konsole is essentially a bash shell.do exactly as follows.also what directory do u have ur rpm packages downloaded...

have a terminal- that with a #(root) prompt opened.then locate where u have ur rpms downloaded..then cd(change directory) into that folder.

root@baccilus:#cd            /home/baccilus/directorywhichholds ur alsaconf rpms

then type the rpm install command:

root@baccilus:/home/baccilus/# rpm          -ivh  alsaconf-1.0.10-2mdk.i586.rpm

/usr/sbin/alsaconf

if u are in a '$' prompt in terminal,then type "su" and press ENTER.it will ask u for root's password.type it and again ENTER.now u r root/#.then do as above.Please Please understand what we are doing.with linux,u may need to know terminal and commands atleast a few of them.u can get more details of a command jus by typing "man commandname"..phow..

[baccilus]

It did start with $. Now i typed the command you mentioned and it changed to #. no progress since then buddy. I still can't figure out how to type the commands you are telling me. It just says "Bash- blah blah blah"

[mehulved]

baccilus you have to type the portion after the # only. are you typing the whole command that prakash gave you within the code tags? And please post the correct error message not "bash blah blah blah", so people will be able to help you.

[praka123]

@tech:help him yaar explain the terminal thing;am poor in explaining things

A terminal with a '#' sign and a cursor blinking ----->there u have to type the commands what i've posted earlier.
read this:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bash
look at the bash terminal as on wikipedia's page.'$" sign shows that u r a local user.local users are having no permission to mess with files and other things.so for us,inorder to install "rpm" thing we need to be "#" or root user or super user,we need to type "su" in $ prompt and then give password of root.then $ sign will change to # sign also u have a root user terminal..a root user have all the permissions he can remove/install/do many things on his Linux box as he wish.so try this .

[mehulved]

I will try to install Mandriva on vmware tonite. If I manage to I will try to help him out. Actually I am not too comfortable myself wid ROM distros as I haven't used them much. But, I will give a try.