On Jun 20, 8:51*pm, Bill wrote:
In message , Adrian Brentnall
writes

Pendrive (USB) live distro of Knoppix - can't find the network card, so
no local network and no connection to router.

I'm interested in this having just been guided by someone to use my
Ubuntu "stick" to successfully identify hardware on a machine.

Am I being stupid to ask: Isn't the point of having a distro on a usb
drive that you can write to it and treat it not like a live CD distro,
but as a permanent installation?

So long as you don't expect to write to it too often.

MBQ

On Jun 21, 11:28*am, "Man at B&Q" wrote:
On Jun 20, 8:51*pm, Bill wrote:

In message , Adrian Brentnall
writes

Pendrive (USB) live distro of Knoppix - can't find the network card, so
no local network and no connection to router.

I'm interested in this having just been guided by someone to use my
Ubuntu "stick" to successfully identify hardware on a machine.

Am I being stupid to ask: Isn't the point of having a distro on a usb
drive that you can write to it and treat it not like a live CD distro,
but as a permanent installation?

So long as you don't expect to write to it too often.

MBQ

It would also be *hideously* slow.

In message
,
Jethro writes
On Jun 21, 11:28*am, "Man at B&Q" wrote:
On Jun 20, 8:51*pm, Bill wrote:

In message , Adrian Brentnall
writes

Pendrive (USB) live distro of Knoppix - can't find the network card, so
no local network and no connection to router.

I'm interested in this having just been guided by someone to use my
Ubuntu "stick" to successfully identify hardware on a machine.

Am I being stupid to ask: Isn't the point of having a distro on a usb
drive that you can write to it and treat it not like a live CD distro,
but as a permanent installation?

So long as you don't expect to write to it too often.

MBQ

It would also be *hideously* slow.

Indeed it is. Would it be better to use a real usb external HD, or is it
the usb2 that is the bottleneck?
--
Bill

On 21/06/2011 08:57, Adrian Brentnall wrote:
On 21/06/2011 08:49, Andy Burns wrote:
Adrian Brentnall wrote:

On 21/06/2011 08:31, Andy Burns wrote:

Wow that's one confused bunny.

I'll assume you meant the distro....

Yeah, never seen a distro recognise *none* of the hardware ...

The file was named
KNOPPIX_V5.1.1CD-2007-01-04-EN.iso
and the motherboard lives inside a Dell that was purchased maybe 3 years
ago...

The first entry for your PCI controller in the PCI-IDs database stems
from December 2006,

http://pci-ids.ucw.cz/read/PC/8086/29c1

The right voodoo on the kernel boot line *might* persuade it to use
older drivers for similar PCI IDs that would work, but probably not the
sort of under-th-bonnet furtling you want when you're trying Linux for
the first time (useful to know eventually though).

So yes, a newer distro should help.

Hi Andy
Thanks for that - downloading a later distro now....
looks like it might take a while g

Thanks
Adrian

OK - downloaded Knoppix 6.2
Good news - it's a lot slicker, and understands my video card / monitor,
and can see my hard drive and other usb-connected drives.
Sound works.

Bad news ? - still no internet connection - although it does seem to
recognise 'Auto Eth0' which it thinks is active.
Sadly - not active enough to actually transmit any data through....!
and can't see any other machines on the local network (but I don;t know
if you'd expect that as they are all windows boxes)

Had a look at the firewall settings - tried 'on' and 'off' - neither
allowed the browser to see the web.

Not sure where to go from here ?

Adrian

On Jun 21, 2:36*pm, Adrian Brentnall wrote:
On 21/06/2011 08:57, Adrian Brentnall wrote:



On 21/06/2011 08:49, Andy Burns wrote:
Adrian Brentnall wrote:

On 21/06/2011 08:31, Andy Burns wrote:

Wow that's one confused bunny.

I'll assume you meant the distro....

Yeah, never seen a distro recognise *none* of the hardware ...

The file was named
KNOPPIX_V5.1.1CD-2007-01-04-EN.iso
and the motherboard lives inside a Dell that was purchased maybe 3 years
ago...

The first entry for your PCI controller in the PCI-IDs database stems
from December 2006,

http://pci-ids.ucw.cz/read/PC/8086/29c1

The right voodoo on the kernel boot line *might* persuade it to use
older drivers for similar PCI IDs that would work, but probably not the
sort of under-th-bonnet furtling you want when you're trying Linux for
the first time (useful to know eventually though).

So yes, a newer distro should help.

Hi Andy
Thanks for that - downloading a later distro now....
looks like it might take a while g

Thanks
Adrian

OK - downloaded Knoppix 6.2
Good news - it's a lot slicker, and understands my video card / monitor,
and can see my hard drive and other usb-connected drives.
Sound works.

Bad news ? - still no internet connection - although it does seem to
recognise 'Auto Eth0' which it thinks is active.
Sadly - not active enough to actually transmit any data through....!
and can't see any other machines on the local network (but I don;t know
if you'd expect that as they are all windows boxes)

Had a look at the firewall settings - tried 'on' and 'off' - neither
allowed the browser to see the web.

Not sure where to go from here ?

Adrian

How do you connect to the internet ? Do you have an ADSL router, or
modem ? If the latter, then it could be that your PC is expected to
supply logon credentials.

One of the things which blew me away, when my brother demoed a LiveCD
(Ubuntu 7.10 IIRC) was that it was able to access the internet
immediately - but that was because we're cabled here, and the cable
modem goes through a router which acts as a DHCP server.

HI Jethro

On 21/06/2011 16:50, Jethro wrote:
On Jun 21, 2:36 pm, Adrian wrote:
On 21/06/2011 08:57, Adrian Brentnall wrote:



On 21/06/2011 08:49, Andy Burns wrote:
Adrian Brentnall wrote:

On 21/06/2011 08:31, Andy Burns wrote:

Wow that's one confused bunny.

I'll assume you meant the distro....

Yeah, never seen a distro recognise *none* of the hardware ...

The file was named
KNOPPIX_V5.1.1CD-2007-01-04-EN.iso
and the motherboard lives inside a Dell that was purchased maybe 3 years
ago...

The first entry for your PCI controller in the PCI-IDs database stems
from December 2006,

http://pci-ids.ucw.cz/read/PC/8086/29c1

The right voodoo on the kernel boot line *might* persuade it to use
older drivers for similar PCI IDs that would work, but probably not the
sort of under-th-bonnet furtling you want when you're trying Linux for
the first time (useful to know eventually though).

So yes, a newer distro should help.

Hi Andy
Thanks for that - downloading a later distro now....
looks like it might take a whileg

Thanks
Adrian

OK - downloaded Knoppix 6.2
Good news - it's a lot slicker, and understands my video card / monitor,
and can see my hard drive and other usb-connected drives.
Sound works.

Bad news ? - still no internet connection - although it does seem to
recognise 'Auto Eth0' which it thinks is active.
Sadly - not active enough to actually transmit any data through....!
and can't see any other machines on the local network (but I don;t know
if you'd expect that as they are all windows boxes)

Had a look at the firewall settings - tried 'on' and 'off' - neither
allowed the browser to see the web.

Not sure where to go from here ?

Adrian

How do you connect to the internet ? Do you have an ADSL router, or
modem ? If the latter, then it could be that your PC is expected to
supply logon credentials.

I guess that might be the case....

It's via a lan, which then connects to the ADSL router which then goes
down the phone line...

I'm not aware of having had to do any particular setup on the Windows
install - pretty much plug it in to the lan & off you go....

As a final test, I'm downloading Ubuntu - which I'll try on the pendrive....

Thanks
Adrian

On Jun 21, 4:57*pm, Adrian Brentnall wrote:
HI Jethro

On 21/06/2011 16:50, Jethro wrote:



On Jun 21, 2:36 pm, Adrian *wrote:
On 21/06/2011 08:57, Adrian Brentnall wrote:

On 21/06/2011 08:49, Andy Burns wrote:
Adrian Brentnall wrote:

On 21/06/2011 08:31, Andy Burns wrote:

Wow that's one confused bunny.

I'll assume you meant the distro....

Yeah, never seen a distro recognise *none* of the hardware ...

The file was named
KNOPPIX_V5.1.1CD-2007-01-04-EN.iso
and the motherboard lives inside a Dell that was purchased maybe 3 years
ago...

The first entry for your PCI controller in the PCI-IDs database stems
from December 2006,

http://pci-ids.ucw.cz/read/PC/8086/29c1

The right voodoo on the kernel boot line *might* persuade it to use
older drivers for similar PCI IDs that would work, but probably not the
sort of under-th-bonnet furtling you want when you're trying Linux for
the first time (useful to know eventually though).

So yes, a newer distro should help.

Hi Andy
Thanks for that - downloading a later distro now....
looks like it might take a whileg

Thanks
Adrian

OK - downloaded Knoppix 6.2
Good news - it's a lot slicker, and understands my video card / monitor,
and can see my hard drive and other usb-connected drives.
Sound works.

Bad news ? - still no internet connection - although it does seem to
recognise 'Auto Eth0' which it thinks is active.
Sadly - not active enough to actually transmit any data through....!
and can't see any other machines on the local network (but I don;t know
if you'd expect that as they are all windows boxes)

Had a look at the firewall settings - tried 'on' and 'off' - neither
allowed the browser to see the web.

Not sure where to go from here ?

Adrian

How do you connect to the internet ? Do you have an ADSL router, or
modem ? If the latter, then it could be that your PC is expected to
supply logon credentials.

I guess that might be the case....

It's via a lan, which then connects to the ADSL router which then goes
down the phone line...

Can you ping the router ? What does "ifconfig" show you ?

On 21/06/2011 17:00, Jethro wrote:
On Jun 21, 4:57 pm, Adrian wrote:
HI Jethro

On 21/06/2011 16:50, Jethro wrote:



On Jun 21, 2:36 pm, Adrian wrote:
On 21/06/2011 08:57, Adrian Brentnall wrote:

On 21/06/2011 08:49, Andy Burns wrote:
Adrian Brentnall wrote:

On 21/06/2011 08:31, Andy Burns wrote:

Wow that's one confused bunny.

I'll assume you meant the distro....

Yeah, never seen a distro recognise *none* of the hardware ...

The file was named
KNOPPIX_V5.1.1CD-2007-01-04-EN.iso
and the motherboard lives inside a Dell that was purchased maybe 3 years
ago...

The first entry for your PCI controller in the PCI-IDs database stems
from December 2006,

http://pci-ids.ucw.cz/read/PC/8086/29c1

The right voodoo on the kernel boot line *might* persuade it to use
older drivers for similar PCI IDs that would work, but probably not the
sort of under-th-bonnet furtling you want when you're trying Linux for
the first time (useful to know eventually though).

So yes, a newer distro should help.

Hi Andy
Thanks for that - downloading a later distro now....
looks like it might take a whileg

Thanks
Adrian

OK - downloaded Knoppix 6.2
Good news - it's a lot slicker, and understands my video card / monitor,
and can see my hard drive and other usb-connected drives.
Sound works.

Bad news ? - still no internet connection - although it does seem to
recognise 'Auto Eth0' which it thinks is active.
Sadly - not active enough to actually transmit any data through....!
and can't see any other machines on the local network (but I don;t know
if you'd expect that as they are all windows boxes)

Had a look at the firewall settings - tried 'on' and 'off' - neither
allowed the browser to see the web.

Not sure where to go from here ?

Adrian

How do you connect to the internet ? Do you have an ADSL router, or
modem ? If the latter, then it could be that your PC is expected to
supply logon credentials.

I guess that might be the case....

It's via a lan, which then connects to the ADSL router which then goes
down the phone line...

Can you ping the router ? What does "ifconfig" show you ?

Hi
Yes - it seems I can ping the router on 192.168.1.254
and log into its admin page via the web browser.

I can also ping www addresses via a command prompt.

What I can't do is actually browse www's from the browser.....
I feel like there's some litte bit of the jigsaw missing...

I did an ifconfig, copied/pasted the output into Open Office,
saved it to the pendrive (or so I thought) but WinXP won;t let me see
the file on the pendrive.

I can do it the old-fashioned way (print the output of ifconfig, scan it
under windows and put it up on the web as a jpg) if yuo think that's
likely to reveal something....

Thanks for your help
Adrian

In message , Adrian Brentnall
writes
On 21/06/2011 17:00, Jethro wrote:
On Jun 21, 4:57 pm, Adrian wrote:
HI Jethro

On 21/06/2011 16:50, Jethro wrote:



On Jun 21, 2:36 pm, Adrian wrote:
On 21/06/2011 08:57, Adrian Brentnall wrote:

On 21/06/2011 08:49, Andy Burns wrote:
Adrian Brentnall wrote:

On 21/06/2011 08:31, Andy Burns wrote:

Wow that's one confused bunny.

I'll assume you meant the distro....

Yeah, never seen a distro recognise *none* of the hardware ...

The file was named
KNOPPIX_V5.1.1CD-2007-01-04-EN.iso
and the motherboard lives inside a Dell that was purchased
maybe 3 years
ago...

The first entry for your PCI controller in the PCI-IDs database stems
from December 2006,

http://pci-ids.ucw.cz/read/PC/8086/29c1

The right voodoo on the kernel boot line *might* persuade it to use
older drivers for similar PCI IDs that would work, but probably not the
sort of under-th-bonnet furtling you want when you're trying Linux for
the first time (useful to know eventually though).

So yes, a newer distro should help.

Hi Andy
Thanks for that - downloading a later distro now....
looks like it might take a whileg

Thanks
Adrian

OK - downloaded Knoppix 6.2
Good news - it's a lot slicker, and understands my video card / monitor,
and can see my hard drive and other usb-connected drives.
Sound works.

Bad news ? - still no internet connection - although it does seem to
recognise 'Auto Eth0' which it thinks is active.
Sadly - not active enough to actually transmit any data through....!
and can't see any other machines on the local network (but I don;t know
if you'd expect that as they are all windows boxes)

Had a look at the firewall settings - tried 'on' and 'off' - neither
allowed the browser to see the web.

Not sure where to go from here ?

Adrian

How do you connect to the internet ? Do you have an ADSL router, or
modem ? If the latter, then it could be that your PC is expected to
supply logon credentials.

I guess that might be the case....

It's via a lan, which then connects to the ADSL router which then goes
down the phone line...

Can you ping the router ? What does "ifconfig" show you ?

Hi
Yes - it seems I can ping the router on 192.168.1.254
and log into its admin page via the web browser.

I can also ping www addresses via a command prompt.

What I can't do is actually browse www's from the browser.....
I feel like there's some litte bit of the jigsaw missing...

I did an ifconfig, copied/pasted the output into Open Office,
saved it to the pendrive (or so I thought) but WinXP won;t let me see
the file on the pendrive.

I can do it the old-fashioned way (print the output of ifconfig, scan
it under windows and put it up on the web as a jpg) if yuo think that's
likely to reveal something....

Thanks for your help
Adrian

Doesn't this point to not seeing DNS lookup?
--
Bill

Adrian Brentnall wrote:

Yes - it seems I can ping the router on 192.168.1.254
and log into its admin page via the web browser.

I can also ping www addresses via a command prompt.

What I can't do is actually browse www's from the browser.....
I feel like there's some litte bit of the jigsaw missing...

Do you have a firewall where you have to allow http ?
Or is Firefox or whatever set to Work Offline (in the File menu)?
If you can ping addresses by their names, eg "ping www.google.com"
then the DNS side must be OK.
If not add nameservers in /etc/resolv.conf ,
eg the OpenDNS nameservers

nameserver 208.67.222.222
nameserver 208.67.220.220

--
Timothy Murphy
e-mail: gayleard /at/ eircom.net
tel: +353-86-2336090, +353-1-2842366
s-mail: School of Mathematics, Trinity College, Dublin 2, Ireland

On 22/06/2011 01:05, Timothy Murphy wrote:
Adrian Brentnall wrote:

Yes - it seems I can ping the router on 192.168.1.254
and log into its admin page via the web browser.

I can also ping www addresses via a command prompt.

What I can't do is actually browse www's from the browser.....
I feel like there's some litte bit of the jigsaw missing...

Do you have a firewall where you have to allow http ?
Or is Firefox or whatever set to Work Offline (in the File menu)?
If you can ping addresses by their names, eg "ping www.google.com"
then the DNS side must be OK.
If not add nameservers in /etc/resolv.conf ,
eg the OpenDNS nameservers

nameserver 208.67.222.222
nameserver 208.67.220.220


OK - had another go.
The bundled browser is something called Iceweasel (!) -
and it has an online/offline switch - neither position works.

From a command line I can ping 'www.bbc.co.uk'
From within the browser I can connect to my router and navigate round
its config pages
Have tried the firewall on / off / up / down & sideways - no difference

I did find /etc/resolv.conf - edited the nameservers in -
but then it wouldn't let me save the modified file....

I've go to be out to see a client today - so I've left Ubuntu
downloading in the background and I'll try that on the pendrive when I
get back in.

Thanks for your assistance
Adrian

Adrian Brentnall wrote:

OK - had another go.
The bundled browser is something called Iceweasel (!) -

It's firefox by another name, mozilla are precious about distros fixing
bugs and shipping it under the same name.

From a command line I can ping 'www.bbc.co.uk'
From within the browser I can connect to my router and navigate round
its config pages
Have tried the firewall on / off / up / down & sideways - no difference

Odd, wonder if something's trying to be clever and use IPv6?

after you've pinged e.g. www.bbc.co.uk, what if you point your web
browser at the IP address it's just resolved?

On 22/06/2011 09:01, Andy Burns wrote:
Adrian Brentnall wrote:

OK - had another go.
The bundled browser is something called Iceweasel (!) -

It's firefox by another name, mozilla are precious about distros fixing
bugs and shipping it under the same name.

From a command line I can ping 'www.bbc.co.uk'
From within the browser I can connect to my router and navigate round
its config pages
Have tried the firewall on / off / up / down& sideways - no difference

Odd, wonder if something's trying to be clever and use IPv6?

Dunno - if something is trying to be clever then it's not me! g


after you've pinged e.g. www.bbc.co.uk, what if you point your web
browser at the IP address it's just resolved?


Browser can't see the site.
Adrian

Adrian Brentnall wrote:

after you've pinged e.g. www.bbc.co.uk, what if you point your web
browser at the IP address it's just resolved?


Browser can't see the site.

Another possibility.
In Edit=Preferences=Advanced=Settings
is Configure Proxies to Access the Internet
set to No Proxy ?

(I'm assuming your browser is like Firefox.
The path may be slightly different in your case.)

--
Timothy Murphy
e-mail: gayleard /at/ eircom.net
tel: +353-86-2336090, +353-1-2842366
s-mail: School of Mathematics, Trinity College, Dublin 2, Ireland

On 22/06/2011 11:26, Timothy Murphy wrote:
Adrian Brentnall wrote:

after you've pinged e.g. www.bbc.co.uk, what if you point your web
browser at the IP address it's just resolved?


Browser can't see the site.

Another possibility.
In Edit=Preferences=Advanced=Settings
is Configure Proxies to Access the Internet
set to No Proxy ?

(I'm assuming your browser is like Firefox.
The path may be slightly different in your case.)

Hi Timothy

yes - set to no proxy....

Thanks
Adrian

Timothy Murphy wrote:
Adrian Brentnall wrote:

after you've pinged e.g. www.bbc.co.uk, what if you point your web
browser at the IP address it's just resolved?

Browser can't see the site.

Another possibility.
In Edit=Preferences=Advanced=Settings
is Configure Proxies to Access the Internet
set to No Proxy ?

(I'm assuming your browser is like Firefox.
The path may be slightly different in your case.)

Are you saying you can ping the site and it responds, but cant get a web
connection?

On 22/06/2011 17:18, The Natural Philosopher wrote:
Timothy Murphy wrote:
Adrian Brentnall wrote:

after you've pinged e.g. www.bbc.co.uk, what if you point your web
browser at the IP address it's just resolved?

Browser can't see the site.

Another possibility.
In Edit=Preferences=Advanced=Settings
is Configure Proxies to Access the Internet
set to No Proxy ?

(I'm assuming your browser is like Firefox.
The path may be slightly different in your case.)

Are you saying you can ping the site and it responds, but cant get a web
connection?


Yes - absolutely!

FWIW, I just tried Ubuntu - which didn't want to run from the pendrive
but did install more or less successfully onto a 'real' usb drive.

It was also able to browse the internet....
so that would seem to be a result.

Adrian

On Jun 22, 6:34*pm, Adrian Brentnall wrote:
On 22/06/2011 17:18, The Natural Philosopher wrote:









Timothy Murphy wrote:
Adrian Brentnall wrote:

after you've pinged e.g.www.bbc.co.uk, what if you point your web
browser at the IP address it's just resolved?

Browser can't see the site.

Another possibility.
In Edit=Preferences=Advanced=Settings
is Configure Proxies to Access the Internet
set to No Proxy ?

(I'm assuming your browser is like Firefox.
The path may be slightly different in your case.)

Are you saying you can ping the site and it responds, but cant get a web
connection?

Yes - absolutely!

FWIW, I just tried Ubuntu - which didn't want to run from the pendrive
but did install more or less successfully onto a 'real' usb drive.

It was also able to browse the internet....
so that would seem to be a result.

Adrian

It is really about time that someone asked the all to obvious a
question which is why are you bothering. OK, it's a challenge, but
could you explain what is the point as you've been at this for 3 days
now obviously using a Windows based machine - so why not stick to
that?

Rob

On 22/06/2011 21:46, robgraham wrote:
On Jun 22, 6:34 pm, Adrian wrote:
On 22/06/2011 17:18, The Natural Philosopher wrote:









Timothy Murphy wrote:
Adrian Brentnall wrote:

after you've pinged e.g.www.bbc.co.uk, what if you point your web
browser at the IP address it's just resolved?

Browser can't see the site.

Another possibility.
In Edit=Preferences=Advanced=Settings
is Configure Proxies to Access the Internet
set to No Proxy ?

(I'm assuming your browser is like Firefox.
The path may be slightly different in your case.)

Are you saying you can ping the site and it responds, but cant get a web
connection?

Yes - absolutely!

FWIW, I just tried Ubuntu - which didn't want to run from the pendrive
but did install more or less successfully onto a 'real' usb drive.

It was also able to browse the internet....
so that would seem to be a result.

Adrian

It is really about time that someone asked the all to obvious a
question which is why are you bothering. OK, it's a challenge, but
could you explain what is the point as you've been at this for 3 days
now obviously using a Windows based machine - so why not stick to
that?

Rob

Hi Rob
Do you know my wife? - that's exactly the sort of question she'd ask! g

It's the little boy with the finger in the dyke syndrome - started out
as mild curiousity, and hearing good things from the linux enthusiasts.

Sometimes these things pay off (like installing Open Office rather than
paying Bill Gates for Microsoft Office) - but it's slowly dawning on me
that this machine and the two flavours of *nix that I've tried don't
play nice together and I should find another way to occupy my day....

As luck would have it - two new websites and a couple of big
stained-glass commissions have just appeared - so I think I'll stop
fretting about operating systems and get on with some paid work!

Thanks to all who have offered assistance - it's appreciated.

Adrian

robgraham wrote:

It is really about time that someone asked the all to obvious a
question which is why are you bothering. OK, it's a challenge, but
could you explain what is the point as you've been at this for 3 days
now obviously using a Windows based machine - so why not stick to
that?

I don't agree.
If the OP can ping a site but can't access it on his browser
then he is 98% there, and might as well persist.


--
Timothy Murphy
e-mail: gayleard /at/ eircom.net
tel: +353-86-2336090, +353-1-2842366
s-mail: School of Mathematics, Trinity College, Dublin 2, Ireland

On Jun 22, 10:54*pm, Adrian Brentnall wrote:
On 22/06/2011 21:46, robgraham wrote:









On Jun 22, 6:34 pm, Adrian *wrote:
On 22/06/2011 17:18, The Natural Philosopher wrote:

Timothy Murphy wrote:
Adrian Brentnall wrote:

after you've pinged e.g.www.bbc.co.uk, what if you point your web
browser at the IP address it's just resolved?

Browser can't see the site.

Another possibility.
In Edit=Preferences=Advanced=Settings
is Configure Proxies to Access the Internet
set to No Proxy ?

(I'm assuming your browser is like Firefox.
The path may be slightly different in your case.)

Are you saying you can ping the site and it responds, but cant get a web
connection?

Yes - absolutely!

FWIW, I just tried Ubuntu - which didn't want to run from the pendrive
but did install more or less successfully onto a 'real' usb drive.

It was also able to browse the internet....
so that would seem to be a result.

Adrian

It is really about time that someone asked the all to obvious a
question which is why are you bothering. *OK, it's a challenge, but
could you explain what is the point as you've been at this for 3 days
now obviously using a Windows based machine - so why not stick to
that?

Rob

Hi Rob
Do you know my wife? - that's exactly the sort of question she'd ask! g

It's the little boy with the finger in the dyke syndrome - started out
as mild curiousity, and hearing good things from the linux enthusiasts.

Sometimes these things pay off (like installing Open Office rather than
paying Bill Gates for Microsoft Office) - but it's slowly dawning on me
that this machine and the two flavours of *nix that I've tried don't
play nice together and I should find another way to occupy my day....

As luck would have it - two new websites and a couple of big
stained-glass commissions have just appeared - so I think I'll stop
fretting about operating systems and get on with some paid work!

Thanks to all who have offered assistance - it's appreciated.

Adrian

Thanks Adrian - that was the answer I hoped I'd get and well expressed
too.

My curiosity has been piqued on a couple of occasions without actually
taking the plunge. I now know not to bother taking the plunge,
particularly as I run a Dell machine too.

Rob

On Jun 20, 3:07*pm, Adrian Brentnall wrote:
HI Folks
Recent discussions about recovering files from broken Windows installs
reminded me that I _always_ meant to take a look at Linux....

Downloaded Knoppix and created a bootable USB 'pendisk'.
So far, so good.
Actually boots as well!

Unfortunately, Knoppix seems unable to find my lan card -
and googling around the problem only adds to the confusion as folks
start bandying around all kinds of techie stuff g -
I was hoping for a 'windows-like' install (as in, it finds the hardware
& runs it) rather than delving about in the pc's innards.

PC is Dell Vostro 200, netcard is on the motherboard but Knoppix
couldn't find a USB wireless card either...

Is Linux still the preserve of geeks - or is there a "plug'n'play" live
distro available?

Did you try using your internet connection?

I switched ovr to Linux before I got an ISP then plugged the line in.
The first message I got on booot up was that BT had connected me to
the world. I hadn't even tried to find any drivers.

I can't believe a fairly recent Knoppix has failed you. If it has, it
must be because your old hardware doen't meet the IPCC? standard.
(Something CC not sure.) In which case all you need do is update the
version of Knoppix.

Live CDs do have a problem with some hardware these days but only
because the latest rend is mini distros with virtually no hardware
tools. You update with the Linux version of File Manager and grab he
tools you need.

On Jun 20, 3:07*pm, Adrian Brentnall wrote:
HI Folks
Recent discussions about recovering files from broken Windows installs
reminded me that I _always_ meant to take a look at Linux....

Downloaded Knoppix and created a bootable USB 'pendisk'.
So far, so good.
Actually boots as well!

Unfortunately, Knoppix seems unable to find my lan card -
and googling around the problem only adds to the confusion as folks
start bandying around all kinds of techie stuff g -
I was hoping for a 'windows-like' install (as in, it finds the hardware
& runs it) rather than delving about in the pc's innards.

PC is Dell Vostro 200, netcard is on the motherboard but Knoppix
couldn't find a USB wireless card either...

Is Linux still the preserve of geeks - or is there a "plug'n'play" live
distro available?

Thanks
Adrian

A disc of linux mint 7 shuold do the job, and provide a good newbie
friednly replacement for win. Mint is ubuntu with the missing bits
added. For anyone not familar with linux, its as well to install win
and lniux side by side, then they can move over as and when they want.


NT

Adrian Brentnall wrote:

Unfortunately, Knoppix seems unable to find my lan card -
and googling around the problem only adds to the confusion as folks
start bandying around all kinds of techie stuff g -
I was hoping for a 'windows-like' install (as in, it finds the hardware
& runs it) rather than delving about in the pc's innards.

What is your LAN card?
Are we talking ethernet or WiFi?

In my experience Knoppix is roughly as good as Windows
in finding hardware.
Eg on my present Thinkpad T60 Knoppix (and Fedora)
found my ethernet and WiFi cards, while Windows XP found neither.


--
Timothy Murphy
e-mail: gayleard /at/ eircom.net
tel: +353-86-2336090, +353-1-2842366
s-mail: School of Mathematics, Trinity College, Dublin 2, Ireland

Adrian Brentnall wrote:

Tried another distro (can't remember which it was - says further up the
thread) - but even though it looked better at finding lan cards, and did
a reasonably job of detecting the video - it still failed to allow me to
connect to the web - although pinging www addresses worked from a
command line prompt.

If you are not familiar with Linux,
this was almost certainly a problem with NetworkManager,
which is almost as difficult to use as Network Connections in Windows.

--
Timothy Murphy
e-mail: gayleard /at/ eircom.net
tel: +353-86-2336090, +353-1-2842366
s-mail: School of Mathematics, Trinity College, Dublin 2, Ireland

On 02/07/11 15:05, Adrian Brentnall wrote:

Bottom line - gave up on Knoppix 'cos it couldn't find the lan card
and was not all that good with video cards etc.
Tried another distro (can't remember which it was - says further up the
thread) - but even though it looked better at finding lan cards, and did
a reasonably job of detecting the video - it still failed to allow me to
connect to the web - although pinging www addresses worked from a
command line prompt.

Gave up..... g

Your hardware will probably be supported in the next round of releases.
If you are still interested try again in six months.


--
Bernard Peek

On 02/07/2011 19:48, Timothy Murphy wrote:
Adrian Brentnall wrote:

Tried another distro (can't remember which it was - says further up the
thread) - but even though it looked better at finding lan cards, and did
a reasonably job of detecting the video - it still failed to allow me to
connect to the web - although pinging www addresses worked from a
command line prompt.

If you are not familiar with Linux,
this was almost certainly a problem with NetworkManager,
which is almost as difficult to use as Network Connections in Windows.

HI Timothy

I remember now - it was Ubuntu.
Found the hardware OK - just wouldn't let me browse.
Also seemed to have issues running from the pendrive -
then it all got complicated with an aborted install to a 'read' USB
drive - and a bad case of 'can't-be-bothered' set in ! g

Many thanks to everybody who tried to help along the way....

Adrian

On 02/07/2011 20:12, Bernard Peek wrote:
On 02/07/11 15:05, Adrian Brentnall wrote:

Bottom line - gave up on Knoppix 'cos it couldn't find the lan card
and was not all that good with video cards etc.
Tried another distro (can't remember which it was - says further up the
thread) - but even though it looked better at finding lan cards, and did
a reasonably job of detecting the video - it still failed to allow me to
connect to the web - although pinging www addresses worked from a
command line prompt.

Gave up.....g

Your hardware will probably be supported in the next round of releases.
If you are still interested try again in six months.


Thanks Bernard
The machine's a Dell Vostro 200 -
about 4 years old....

On the positive side, it was quite impressive seeing an entire o/s
running from a pendrive g - 'twould have been even better if it'd
supported web browsing as well!

Thanks
Adrian