Announcement

Collapse
No announcement yet.

adventures of computer tech but linux newb

Collapse
This topic is closed.
X
X
 
  • Filter
  • Time
  • Show
Clear All
new posts

    adventures of computer tech but linux newb



    I have never used linux before but am a computer geek and after playing with Kubuntu on vmware thought I would give it a try. I installed it and LOVED it Linux seems to be for me ...

    HoweverI have had nothing but trouble with Kubuntu including some headaches and 4 formats(yes I know I shouldn't have had to format but im a noob) The first time I installed linux and decided to really learn how to use it. I spent hours and hours messing with it installing everything under the moon and really enjoying it. Well finally I started to experience problems. I said heck now I know linux alot better i'll just format and watch what I am doing this time. Wasn't mad at all.

    The second time I set everything up and off I went. I downloaded lots of stuff but this time was careful and was now happy with my setup except I started experiencing problems with my wine applications not having enough access. I installed through synaptics too, I studied for awhile did some research and grabbed gksudo updated my links and now just had to enter passwords all the time(felt like I was back in vista) I even tried uninstalling and compiling from source didn't fix it. Ok so im beyond this problem and decide to arrange my kubuntu menu and I go to drag something in edit and it says access denied /home/eric/.config/menus/applications-kmenuedit.menu. I read up people say delete that and it will reset it. I go there and no files exist which I know is not right. I create a new user and the same problem exists there. I troubleshooted for hours no luck. I am an organization freak and just couldn't stand it. Weird crashes occured I said heck I am just gonna reformat....

    So I reinstall everything again and things are working good wine doesn't have access problems no crashes I am happy. I install grubbed so I can get rid of the like 8 options I have on the linux bootup screen even recovery mode as I figure I can use the live cd if things go bad...I go and play with system settings goto the monitor enter my code and notice my refresh rate is set at 56 ouchee. I played around and was able to raise my refresh rate where I like. After changing the resolutions I do ctl alt backspace and the resolution is not very big on the login screen and it isn't lined up correctly anymore and flickering really bad. I go back in change the resolution and try to get everything back the way it was. With no luck. Finally errors are everywhere so I restart please note I didn't do anything but change refresh and screen size. I restart cause hey it's worth a try. I go in my login screen looks right now I am happy as can be and put in my password it loads up a minute then returns me to login screen. I am in a login loop? Tried my other user same problem. So I throw in the live cd because remember I have no recovery mode on my menu anymore and there is all kinds of files I can't edit to work on troubleshooting. Including deleting most my files even with a sudo after I mounted the drive I just don't have access to troubleshoot what I need. I tryed reconfiguing the x server went through entered all kinds of settings it asked me thought that fixed it reboot same problem. I goto windows to try to edit some files but the program wouldn't let me edit some files I needed to either I was trying to edit grub to get recovery mode back but I couldn't load my backup with vista or the live cd just couldn't edit grub at all. Oh yeah for some reason wine no longer loaded apps and I didn't touch it. Crossover when I installed had no icon anywhere and didn't work when i figured that out either.

    So I research and research no luck and no time to wait for forum replies as I need my computer so I format again. Now I have a fairly stable setup. I this time put in my monitor manufactor before playing with everything and that worked. I am no scared to install apps If I download something and compile from konsole I get way to worried when there are too many dependencies I need to compile it and don't want to download tons of stuff again. I experience crashes more then windows with the crash screen popping up randomly or going to add/remove programs and it hangs not asking me for my password I log in log out no fix reboot and now password prompt comes right up. Just weird things that happen now even though I have minimal things I have done.

    My next format was when installing something can't remember I sudo apt-cache search for all the stuff I need to compile. It uninstalls KDE for me I didn't notice it was doing that. So I reinstall kde but when I load its old kde version I said fresh format heck just redo it again as the other selections on grub had the same problem.

    I am not trying to rant and bash kubuntu/linux at all. I am just a frustrated person learning it and it seems to easy to mess everything up and harder to fix. I love the linux community love the os just wondering why I am having so many problems. I thank the community for all the help and website tutorials to teach me linux and thank everyone for letting me use the o/s for free and working hard at it. I am now studying a good way to back up my stuff so I don't worry as much.

    #2
    Re: adventures of computer tech but linux newb

    Wow there's a lot going on in this post! I know you're just venting but you're more likely to get specific practical tips if you break down your issues with individual apps / situations a bit and ask specific questions.

    My key tips would be:

    1. When you install make separate partitions for / (no more than 10gig needed here) /swap (the more the merrier but 1.5x your RAM as a rule of thumb) and /home (the rest of the drive) this means that if you break your install significantly you can reinstall without touching your /home folder (this has the caveat that if you break a conf file that reside in /home reinstalling may not fix the problem!)

    2. If you are browsing online and see an app you feel you must have always check to see if it is in the repository first (either the official one or one of the mainstream unofficial ones) if it's not check to see if they have an ubuntu .deb and finally resort to self compiling.

    3. If you are having trouble with a specific ubuntu app check the bugtracker opn launchpad to see if it's a recognised problem before running the risk of breaking a bunch of other stuff trying to 'fix' it.

    4. If you are using the machine to learn on and adding / taking away lots of apps self compiling and generally fiddling then you are kind of tempting fate and shouldn't be to gutted if it breaks, once you have got over the initial excitement make a list of what you actually need, run a clean install and then install all your bits one by one configuring and testing as you go along, it'll then be easier to work out what is causing problems should you run in to them. Also by following the repro / .deb / self compile pattern above you are more likely to allready have many dependencies drawn in already making tracking down the last few a lot easier.

    Hope some of this helps and isn't too 'egg sucky' :-)

    Cheers
    Child

    http://www.last.fm/music/The+Pony+Collaboration

    Comment


      #3
      Re: adventures of computer tech but linux newb

      I try to never install a lot of new applications at the same time. If one causes a problem it's too hard to figure out what went wrong. Install them one at a time, then run it and be satisfied that it is working correctly before going to the next one. Same thing with changing system settings. You change one, see the results before changing another.

      Comment


        #4
        Re: adventures of computer tech but linux newb

        rothchild and Detonate have provided great advice.

        Here's the analogy to keep in mind: How would you eat an elephant?

        That's exactly how you need to approach learning to be productive with your Linux system!

        Comment


          #5
          Re: adventures of computer tech but linux newb

          Originally posted by dibl

          Here's the analogy to keep in mind: How would you eat an elephant?
          With a hell of a lot of mustard?!

          ;-)

          Child
          http://www.last.fm/music/The+Pony+Collaboration

          Comment


            #6
            Re: adventures of computer tech but linux newb

            Thank you all. I will take it easy this time around and see what happens. I appreciate the tips thanks...

            Comment


              #7
              Re: adventures of computer tech but linux newb

              Originally posted by rothchild
              With a hell of a lot of mustard?!
              Yep, and in about 4500 meals, 12 oz. at a time!

              Comment


                #8
                Re: adventures of computer tech but linux newb

                Grilled, fried, baked, or broiled?

                Or raw (consuming raw or undercooked meats, poultry, seafood, shellfish or eggs may increase your risk of food borne illness)?
                For external use only.

                Comment

                Working...
                X