( Solved) New to PCLOS many questions

[JakeLogan]

I'm new to Linux in general having played with a few Linux Distros for less than a month. I think I like PCLinuxOS KDE the best so far but have questions that need satisfying if i'm going to keep it.

It says it has an ATI radeon driver for my chipset ( laptop) installed But with only one thing open, Firefox, if I move the windows I see the dragging effect. This should not happen. How can I check that this is the right driver?

How do you do updates in general - I do not see an update feature.

The video also seems to only have 16 bit color ( 16 million) I need 32 bit but I cannot find an option for that in video hardware settings.

Is there a 64 bit version? I didn't see a download for one.

Why is this based on  5x86? I did not even know 5x86 would run software made for 6x86 computers - How does that work?

Am I missing something performance wise because of this?

This machine is a compaq presario with an AMD Semprom II 2,7 ghz processor, 4 gigabytes of ddr2 ram an ATI Mobility Radeon HD 4200 chip with 336 MB of dedicated ram and up to 1.5 gigabytes of shared ram. It duel boots with windows 7 64 bit and it was bought as a portable gaming machine. It runs great in windows even running games FPS Shooters made this year quite well. I should not have any graphics or color problems with a Linux desktop that is supposed to use less resources than the windows 7 OS.

Is it safe to enable all of the repos in the list in Synaptic? I see this os ships with only one enabled.

[fredbird67]

I can answer four of your questions right off the top of my head:

To do updates, go into Synaptic, enter your root password, and then once Synaptic fully loads, click on "Mark All Upgrades" (don't remember the exact wording on that button -- sorry!), and then click "Apply".  PCLOS doesn't have any means to automatically notify you when updates are available, so this is something you'll just have to do periodically whenever you're in Synaptic.

In regards to your last question, as a general rule, it's best to only have one repository enabled at a time, since they could have different versions of the same software as the most recent.

No, there isn't a 64-bit version of PCLOS at the moment, but there is one in the works, and it's my understanding that it should be released in about a month or two from now.

About the 586 versus 686 architecture, I haven't noticed any problems on my computer.  Then again, I only have a 32-bit system and no plans to upgrade in the near future.

I'll leave the rest of the questions for others to answer for now.

Merry Christmas and welcome to PCLinuxOS! :-)
Fred in St. Louis

[Texstar]

If you really want to be satisfied you should eat a Snickers.



Because you're not you when you're hungry. 

1. open configure your computer - hardware - configure video card

2. open synaptic, press reload , mark updates, apply. You can also install update-notifier but it will probably bug the crap out of you as pclinuxos is dynamic not static and packages are constantly being updated daily.

3. 64 bit version is being worked on. All the packages in the repo have to be recompiled so that will take a while. The only difference between 32 bit and a 64 bit system is some larger programs will load a bit faster. The good news is my Christmas Quad 4 is coming tomorrow thanks to a Christmas donation so that should speed things along. woot!

4. i386, i586, i686 suffixes don't mean anything anymore. It is the compile options one uses to build the packages.

5. There is only one major repo. The others are just mirrors.

[JakeLogan]

Thanks Guys.. I really appreciate the info.

Texstar, you are up passed 3 am working and answering forum joining requests then you pop down here to answer a newbie scum like me's simple questions. I'm impressed - That's really good support. And you have a since of humor. Just wait till you guys get to know me. LOL I hope you're getting enough sleep.


I couldn't find the popular app gparted in that repo, so I enabled some others. I found it and it installed with no problem. There didn't seem to be a lot in that default list - could I have done something wrong to cause the apps not to show up??

I will see about fixing my video and color problems .. I looked in Hardware Configure Video card once but that didn't help.. perhaps if there is an update.. otherwise, I am libel to ask for more help.

I read that there is a 64 bit kernel that allows the PAE extension so I can at least use all 4 gigs of ram. It's found in Synaptic. Until you come out with an official 64 bit distro is it safe to install that?

[Bald Brick]

I've been using pae kernels since Texstar released his first one and I'd say it's very safe. I've never had any problems with the kernel. I have 8 gigs of RAM and I can use it all. (Although I've been told that no single app can use more than half of it; even that is more than is usually needed.)

Edit: Welcome to the forums!

[Rudge]

Thanks Guys.. I really appreciate the info.

Texstar, you are up passed 3 am working and answering forum joining requests then you pop down here to answer a newbie scum like me's simple questions. I'm impressed - That's really good support. And you have a since of humor. Just wait till you guys get to know me. LOL I hope you're getting enough sleep.

I couldn't find the popular app gparted in that repo, so I enabled some others.

You be running into certain disaster by enabling multiple repos. They don't all sinc at the same time and dependencies get all messed up.

Make sure you only use ONE repo at a time.  * just some advice *

Welcome to the forum!      

[JakeLogan]

Thanks for the advice folks.

 First thing I did was hit the mark all for upgrade button. I saw some files had upgrades but I didn't know what the files were or if I had them installed. I ignored that and then upgraded the KDE to 4.5.4. When I installed the core files and rebooted I found a new option in Synaptic that wasn't there before. it said, " Installed ( upgradable) ".

This was a whole list of everything I had on the system that was upgradable from that repo. (the default repo) So, I marked all for upgrade ans hit the apply button.

Why did this option show up then and not before? Is it because i updated to KDE ver 4.5.4 or did it have something to do with restarting Synaptic?

Either way, I was very glad to have that list that made upgrading my apps and files a lot easier than having to scroll through the list and choose manually. Depending on your answer to the above question, I thought this info may help some folks out.

[Rudge]

Thanks for the advice folks.

 First thing I did was hit the mark all for upgrade button. I saw some files had upgrades but I didn't know what the files were or if I had them installed. I ignored that and then upgraded the KDE to 4.5.4. When I installed the core files and rebooted I found a new option in Synaptic that wasn't there before. it said, " Installed ( upgradable) ".

This was a whole list of everything I had on the system that was upgradable from that repo. (the default repo) So, I marked all for upgrade ans hit the apply button.

Why did this option show up then and not before? Is it because i updated to KDE ver 4.5.4 or did it have something to do with restarting Synaptic?

Either way, I was very glad to have that list that made upgrading my apps and files a lot easier than having to scroll through the list and choose manually. Depending on your answer to the above question, I thought this info may help some folks out.

The first thing you should have done is click on "Reload".. THEN click on "Mark All Upgrades".

This is covered in the "How to properly update Your System"  thread >   http://www.pclinuxos.com/forum/index.php/topic,63199.0.html

[JakeLogan]

Actually I know to reload the repos. I am pretty sure I did that before I hit the mark for updates button I just forgot to mention it because I didn't think it was important. However you may be right. I closed and opened it a few times looking through it, so I cant say at which point I actually hit the reload button.

[Rudge]

Actually I know to reload the repos. I am pretty sure I did that before I hit the mark for updates button I just forgot to mention it because I didn't think it was important. Anyway.. do you think restarting synaptic is what caused me to see the new option?

I was just passing along a tip. What is your problem? Reading back through the thread, I am not sure.. LOL

[JakeLogan]

Actually I know to reload the repos. I am pretty sure I did that before I hit the mark for updates button I just forgot to mention it because I didn't think it was important. Anyway.. do you think restarting synaptic is what caused me to see the new option?

I was just passing along a tip. What is your problem? Reading back through the thread, I am not sure.. LOL

Please read my edit.

I have no problem.. I was trying to figure out why the installed (upgradable) list didn't show up at first. Perhaps I did not hit the reload button and this caused it not to work at first. I do appreciate any tips I can get.

[Rudge]

Actually I know to reload the repos. I am pretty sure I did that before I hit the mark for updates button I just forgot to mention it because I didn't think it was important. Anyway.. do you think restarting synaptic is what caused me to see the new option?

I was just passing along a tip. What is your problem? Reading back through the thread, I am not sure.. LOL

Please read my edit.

I have no problem.. I was trying to figure out why the installed (upgradable) list didn't show up at first. Perhaps I did not hit the reload button and this caused it not to work at first. I do appreciate any tips I can get.

Humm interesting. My synaptic only says "installed (upgradable)" AFTER I hit " Reload" Then it shows up.

That's when I click on "Mark All Upgrades"

Are you doing something different?

[JakeLogan]

Actually I know to reload the repos. I am pretty sure I did that before I hit the mark for updates button I just forgot to mention it because I didn't think it was important. Anyway.. do you think restarting synaptic is what caused me to see the new option?

I was just passing along a tip. What is your problem? Reading back through the thread, I am not sure.. LOL

Please read my edit.

I have no problem.. I was trying to figure out why the installed (upgradable) list didn't show up at first. Perhaps I did not hit the reload button and this caused it not to work at first. I do appreciate any tips I can get.

Humm interesting. My synaptic only says "installed (upgradable)" AFTER I hit " Reload" Then it shows up.

That's when I click on "Mark All Upgrades"

Are you doing something different?

I honestly do not know what I could have done different. All I do know is I didn't see the Installed (Upgradable) until after I rebooted and restarted Synaptic. Did you see the edited version of that post? Here it is, that may explain things.. I may not have hit the reload button after all.

" Actually I know to reload the repos. I am pretty sure I did that before I hit the mark for updates button I just forgot to mention it because I didn't think it was important. However you may be right. I closed and opened it a few times looking through it, so I cant say at which point I actually hit the reload button."