help me love debian!!!!please

[gwpritch]

After a year and a half loving mandrake I decided to get my hands a little dirtier and try Debian.
So far so good ... apt-get is awesome.
However,
1) I can't seem to play audio cd's as user. The disks arn't recognised as being in the drive by kscd.
I can mount and access data disks and everything seems to be fine as root -soundwise.
2) I can't seem to start kde as windowmanager...all the apps work under default WindowMaker but there doesn't seem to be a startkde script anywhere.
3) Xdm is starting without my bidding...how do I get rid of it?
What am I missing?
Thanks.

[klamath]

1) Can you mount data CDs as a user? Can you play normal sounds (e.g. WAVs) as a user? It's either incorrect permissions on the CD-ROM or the soundcard devices.

3) 'dpkg --purge xdm' or edit /etc/inittab and change the line that looks like this: 'id:2:initdefault:' to whatever's appropriate for you (e.g. '2' for CL boot).

------------------
- Klamath
Get my GnuPG Key Here (http://klamath.dyndns.org/mykey.asc)
Looking for an open source project to contribute to? Check out the Better Bulletin Board (http://bbb.sourceforge.net)

[7]

1. If root can do it but a user cant, then its probably a permission problem. Can users mount the drive? If not edit /etc/fstab and add the word 'user' to the options field for the cd drive(s) (the fourth field i think). If users can mount the drive check the permissions for /dev/dsp. Make it world readable or writable. Better yet change its group to yours and make it group read/write. Hope thats that problem sorted. Post back if im wrong.

2. I think your wanting to start KDE from startx, right? The file .xinitrc in your home directory has the name of the files that start when X starts. Stick 'startkde' in that... but you cant find one. How was KDE installed there should be a file called 'startkde' around /usr/local/kde/bin or something like that do a 'find / -name startkde' to search for the file.

3. Xdm? I dont even know what that is. But if it starts when X starts it might be started from .xinitrc in your $HOME dir. There is a system-wide X init file I think in somewhere like /usr/local/X11R6/blah/blah a 'man startx' should start the trail.

Hope this helps!

[gwpritch]

Ok I got rid of xdm...one down.

I can mount data cd's and play wav files, but several cd apps don't recognise music cd in the drive. Permissions for /cdrom and /dev/dsp ok.

There is no startkde anywhere. I installed from a 4CD set I purchased over the net. I assume downloaded and burned.

[klamath]

2) What about the other sound devices (e.g. /dev/mixer)? And the CD-ROM device is NOT /cdrom, that's the mount point. The device is /dev/something - try 'mount|grep /cdrom'.

------------------
- Klamath
Get my GnuPG Key Here (http://klamath.dyndns.org/mykey.asc)
Looking for an open source project to contribute to? Check out the Better Bulletin Board (http://bbb.sourceforge.net)

[DrDebian]

Originally posted by gwpritch:
There is no startkde anywhere. I installed from a 4CD set I purchased over the net. I assume downloaded and burned.


No surprise there. KDE is not included with Debian 2.2. If you want to install KDE, add this to /etc/apt/sources.list and run apt-get update && apt-get install task-kde:

deb http://kde.tdyc.com potato main crypto optional qt1apps

[X_Entity]

Add <username> audio
should add user to group audio and you will have permision to run audio apps.

[teeitup]

Nitpicking...

Debian documentation recomends using .xsession instead of .xinitrc.
They both seem to work fine in my limited xserver experience.

Good Luck,

Between rolling blackouts http://www.linuxnewbie.org/ubb/frown.gif

------------------
Don't take life to seriously, You'll never get out alive!
-Bugs Bunny-

[gwpritch]

Thanks I'll try updating kde from that site.

/cdrom just my lazy typing. Permissions for cdrom device are ok as I said data cd's are no problem.
Already have user added to audio group... no joy.
Now I can't get my canon bjc4400 printer working. Magicfilter suggested in online documentation doesn't seem to work, as root or otherwise. argh!
Live and learn...I hope.

[ColdPack]

Originally posted by gwpritch:

Now I can't get my canon bjc4400 printer working. Magicfilter suggested in online documentation doesn't seem to work, as root or otherwise. argh!
Live and learn...I hope.

That's one reason I've been happy using Stormix. It gives me the joys of Debian with some addition config tools that helped me get my printer setup in less than 5 minutes! Woo Hoo!
(Sorry if that came across too harsh. Stick with Debian... you will come to love it!)


------------------
What if everything is an illusion and nothing exists?
In that case, I definitely overpaid for my carpet.
-- Woody Allen, "Without Feathers"

[bobarian]

Just for your FYI, .xinitrc is when you start a single x client form a console, and .xsession is when you start x from xdm or kdm or whatever.

So most people modify both files, and it certainly can't hurt.

To start KDE, first put /usr/local/kde/bin in your PATH variable, and then in you .xinitrc or .xsession file put the line "exec kdestart" (without the quotes of course.)