How to get K menu in Suse desktop when log in root?

[saikee]

Two-week newbie having a bit of problem in navigating.

I have double installed Suse 9,1 in the same hard disk and am trying to get to the menu.lst of both, in an attempt to get Grub to boot both as choices.

When logged in as a user I can see both partitions with KDiskfree program available in the K menu but I can't open the menu.lst files because of lack of permission.

To have the permission I switch to root user but the K Menu disappear in the desktop. I can look at booted version of the menu.lst but haven't found a way to access the other partition in command mode.

How do I get the K Menu on the root desktop of Suse? The desktop got nothing but the "trash" can and I have clicked every pixel in the screen to find a way.

Thanks for answering this silly question

[JohnT]

How do I get the K Menu on the root desktop of Suse? Describe this..." K Menu " you are looking for?
Do you mean the "file manager? Its Konqueror. Look at your panel (taskbar) you should see either a little house or a globe with spike -looking things sticking out of it. Either one will get you to the file manager. Use the drop-down menus if you have to for help in using it. it can also be reached from the main menu. Look for konqueror or file manager. You can also bring up a terminal and type "konqueror" to show it.

[saikee]

The K Menu is =the Red Hat In Fedora.

The whole of the bottom is blank! That is my problem.

I can get Konqueror by clicking the trash can but the file system does not go outside the partition. May be it could but I haven't found a way yet.

With the K Menu the KDiskfree icon shows all the partitions and I could click them to see the files. I am too early into Linux to do everything with a terminal and have to rely on the GUI a bit.

I suppose I can use the terminal to goto different drives but I haven't even managed this with the floppy yet. I did manage to create a grub boot floppy but couldn't create directories or write files on it yet..

[JohnT]

Look in the main menu.....find a terminal to click on. When it is on the desktop...type in the word.....konqueror

[JohnT]

This might help....i know its for mandrake but its still a version of KDE

http://www.linux-mandrake.com/en/demos/Tutorial/KDE3/

[saikee]

OK, Let me put it in another way.

The Konqueror can get me to see all the file within the partition or distro I am working on. There is no problem.

I need to access the menu.lst of another distro. The K Menu has the KDiskFree (by clicking K Menu/system/file system) which shows all the partitions in the drive. With that I can access another distro (in another partition) but have no permission to read the menu.lst file.

Log in a the root user Suse doesn't give me the K Menu. May be it is a tempoary thing but I am flustrated in not able to bring it back. Surely the root user should be able to access everything, or is he/she too good to bother with the GUI? Basically I have nothing in the desktop except the trash.

Problem disappear!!!

When I switched between Root and the ordinary user the bottom panel suddenly reappears. The one in the odinary user screen has gone and is now available in the root user screen. Still don't know how to control it though.

[JohnT]

Right-click on the desktop and you have several choices. if you want short-cuts to launch applications..etc.

Have you considered making a Grub floppy to boot with?
http://www.linuxjournal.com/article.php?sid=4622

[saikee]

John T,

I have been messed around by Suse no doubt because its Grub is a bit different than the books! Yes I managed to get a Grub boot disk out but the stage1 and stage2 are stored in different places but that is probably normal. However in place of splashimage command it has gfxmenu which I couldn't find on the books that I got. It certainly would not allow me to Grub-install /dev/fd0 saving stage1 unavailable at the specified location.

When the K Menu is not there (equivalent to the K-gear in Mandrake) right click the screen does provide certain function including configuring the desktop but there is nothing there as I tried every alternative.

Is there such a command to change drive in Linux? I am sure there must be methods but I am only two weeks into this wonderland. Enjoy it though.

Thanks for all the replies!!!

[JohnT]

How are you booting into the distro your using now?

[saikee]

John T,

I think I got both Suse bootable now but it is a bit confusing because I have named the second partition as /data1(remember I just started 2 weeks ago).

When I boot the second partition Suse still mounts file system of first partition because it was named "/" but I know the kernel has been picked from the second partition as per my instruction from menu.lst.

I have lost touch with the second partition for almost a week. Until today I got it back by amending the menu.lst (just duplicating the same entries but the addition has (hd0,0) altered to (hd0,1). It works.

It was the second partition alright as it is one version older (I checked it in terminal mode V2.6.4 instead V2.6.5) and it failed to connect with the Internet too. I am writing this reply with V2.6.5 or the first partition. Next thing I have to do is to shrink the first partition and load a few other distros. I shall delete the second Suse too but it is good to get it back and practise with Grub.

The K Menu disappearance and reappearance still a mystery to me.

Thanks again for the assistance.