Grasshopper Posted June 1, 2003 Share Posted June 1, 2003 I saw it posted that some other Linux groups are snobby and I've also gotten that impression. What a turnoff!I also just finished skimming Bruno's sticky for Linux starters. What a deal! I understood some of it but I'm not really with the program as far as terminology goes.Anyway, just installed Mandrake 9.1 and it was pretty much a breeze. Here's the specs:Typical Athlon setup with Radeon DDR card, KDE, 10/100 NIC on a Windows network under a Linksys router. DHCP enabled, blah, blah, blah.I do have a few extremely low level questions that just reek of Windows influence. Hey, I made it to MCP, what can I say? 1) How do you log onto the root? I've made a user for myself besides the root and don't know how to switch. You need to for certain things -- see Q#2.2) I'm having some trouble browsing my local network. I (blush) don't even know where to start. I did run across a message saying that I needed to be in root -- see Q#1. I'm on the net so I know that I've got the NIC configured. Now I just need to know where to start with the local network.3) How would I browse the local "C:" partition (Windows 2k 8 GB NTFS partition) from Linux? I plan to use this machine as a personal Linux training tool and also, with Win2K partition, do some video capturing after I add another HD.I'm sure I'll run into some others (I almost couldn't figure out how to shutdown from KDE -- talk about blushing) but I think that familiarity will be my best tutor --- besides reading Bruno's great discourse.Thanks for helping a novice.tbird Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
quint Posted June 1, 2003 Share Posted June 1, 2003 tbird9768,Congratulations. Can't help much, but Bruno should be waking up soon. To get into "root", open a console, type: "su" (no quotes), then just enter your "root" password, and you're in. BTW, here's your prize:T-BirdHave fun, Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GolfProRM Posted June 1, 2003 Share Posted June 1, 2003 3) How would I browse the local "C:" partition (Windows 2k 8 GB NTFS partition) from Linux? I plan to use this machine as a personal Linux training tool and also, with Win2K partition, do some video capturing after I add another HD.I can help you with this one! It's under /mnt/win_c You can get to it from either the console or from the "explorer"... You'll be able to read it no problem! I do believe, if it's formatted NTFS, you'll have trouble writing to it (not 100% sure on that though)... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bruno Posted June 1, 2003 Share Posted June 1, 2003 Congrats tbird9768 ! A new Mandraker on the forum, and a happy one from what I read . . . .I just woke up and see that Quint and Ryan already took care of your questions, nice work guys !First try to get a bit familiar with your new OS and if any more questions come up let us know buddy.One IMPORTANT thing is getting the updates and bugfixes that were not downloaded during install ( they only do the bare minimum during install ). Go to the Mandrake Contol Center ( the little monitor with the wrench icon on your taskbar ) --> Software <Management --> Mandrake Update. You will be presented with a list of mirrors to get your updates from, most US mirrors are no good, only the last 2 in the list are good mirrors, just try a few and get yourself + 200 MB updates, do not install them all at once, do little groups at a time.Have fun with your Linux box tbird ! BrunoPS: There are no such things as incredibly dumb questions ! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest genaldar Posted June 1, 2003 Share Posted June 1, 2003 To switch to root I always just use logoff and then at then login as root. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bruno Posted June 1, 2003 Share Posted June 1, 2003 That is indeed a way genaldar !But because most root actions have to be done in a console anyway, why would you log in and out if you just could type ¨su¨ in a console ?BTW once in a console ( terminal/shell/konsole ) as root ( after doing su and giving your password ) you can log out as root and become normal user again by doing; Ctrl+d, an second time Ctrl+d will then close the console. ( typing exit is also a way of doing that ) Bruno Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Agent007 Posted June 1, 2003 Share Posted June 1, 2003 To get into "root", open a console, type: "su" (no quotes), then just enter your "root" password, and you're in. It would be better if u logged in as su - (pls make note of the - after su)....This will make sure that the path, profiles etc is changed to the r00t account..and not the current one of the logged in user..007 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bruno Posted June 1, 2003 Share Posted June 1, 2003 Thats right 007 !Plus, logging in as root from boot is just not very wise, it makes you vulnerable because you set everything open. Logging in as root at a console and working on a specific file or application gives only root permissions for that application.If you want to click through your filesystem as root; just open a console, su root and type Konqueror, this will open Konqueror as root in the root directory, copy and pasting, dragging and dropping all those actions can then be performed as root. ;)As soon as you close Konqueror and do a Ctrl+d in the console you are normal user again. Bruno Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bruno Posted June 1, 2003 Share Posted June 1, 2003 Sorry tbird, saw an open question:For browsing your LAN you need ¨samba¨ if there are windows-boxes you want to share files with or NFS if htese are Linux boxes. Bruno Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Peachy Posted June 1, 2003 Share Posted June 1, 2003 To switch to root I always just use logoff and then at then login as root.Mandrake won't let you do that by default. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zox Posted June 1, 2003 Share Posted June 1, 2003 Mandrake won't let you do that by default.Neither will Suse.If you really want to use "root" in login, you actually have to "unhide" it in KDE control center.I think this is smart move by KDE and distro companies."su" is the way to go, easy, painless and more secure.tbird, congrats for taking plunge.Welcome to the wonderfull world of north pole.I see you've got nice picture from Quint as reward so I have nothing else to offer logoff and shutdown are same as in windows in your "K menu" which is equivalent of "Start" button under windows.You have 2 control centers, one is KDE from your visual desktop environment, where you don't need password for most of the stuff and other, more powerfull where you need password is Mandrake Control Center.In KDE control center you tweak regular stuff such as your desktop, icons, visual appearance, etc..In Mandrake Ccontrol center you tweak low-level stuff such as your hardware, servers, drivers, boot managers, etc..Read Bruno's tips (it will take you a while) they are really good.Any questions, friendly bunch is here to help you whith whatever you want.It is good thing there is a lot of us starters (Bruno would slap me if I use newbie word), so we can help each other since we are all fresh going through the same troubles Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AbeL Posted June 1, 2003 Share Posted June 1, 2003 Hi third:I agree with your assessment of this group. A bunch of nice people helping one another, and the experts don't look down their beaks at us newb..users. A couple of twists on the answers you've gotten:I've found that when logged in as a user and I try to do something that requires root privs, I get a msg telling me that, as well as a dialog box allowing me to enter root pw. With that I can make the changes I want; (and I avoid for a little longer learning the arcane command line stuff) In response to your question about accesing your Windows C: drive, Bruno's starter tips tells you how to put a C: icon in your Home directory. I found, by stumbling around, that using the same procedure you can add the icon to the desktop. The only change; right click on a blank spot on the desktop instead of in the Home dir, or, after you have it in Home, drag it to the desktop. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Grasshopper Posted June 2, 2003 Author Share Posted June 2, 2003 Wow! Thanks for all the responses.Thanks for the tbird pic too. It's one I haven't seen. I didn't realize that running in "root" would be that scary. I wondered why it was hidden. I found that out a few hours after posting my Q's. I got some dialog boxes that asked for the root password but when I went to try to find out how to browse the network, I first didn't know what application to use and then it just told me, without asking for the root password, that I'd need to be logged in as root. Does samba come installed with a standard installation? I'm having trouble finding it, compounded by the newness of course.I will take these suggestions and run with them. Updates and consoles and learning navigation.I'm not sure I'll be able to totally discard Windows cuz I've got a couple of devices and pieces of software that run on Windows only (big shocker!) but maybe soon I can perform a clean install of Mandrake Penguin on my good machine and become a part of the underdog community. I usually enjoy doing that, but MS is so ubiquitous. On top of that, I know a good deal about their stuff so...this ought to be fun!!And again, it makes me feel great that this forum is truly open to all questions, big and small. I'm sure I'll have some more questions along the way and I'll be sure and read Bruno's continuing "saga".Thanks for making me feel welcome.tbird Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
georgeg4 Posted June 2, 2003 Share Posted June 2, 2003 Hi tbird and welcome I am also a newbie and I want to echo what you have allready learned by yourself . This a great bunch of people and you won't find any more helpfull any where else . For one example bruno worked with me for over a week to get my modem to work for me . And I assure you if you need help there will be someone right there for you. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chr1s Posted June 2, 2003 Share Posted June 2, 2003 Wow! Thanks for all the responses.Thanks for the tbird pic too. It's one I haven't seen. I didn't realize that running in "root" would be that scary. I wondered why it was hidden. I found that out a few hours after posting my Q's. I got some dialog boxes that asked for the root password but when I went to try to find out how to browse the network, I first didn't know what application to use and then it just told me, without asking for the root password, that I'd need to be logged in as root. Does samba come installed with a standard installation? I'm having trouble finding it, compounded by the newness of course.I will take these suggestions and run with them. Updates and consoles and learning navigation.I'm not sure I'll be able to totally discard Windows cuz I've got a couple of devices and pieces of software that run on Windows only (big shocker!) but maybe soon I can perform a clean install of Mandrake Penguin on my good machine and become a part of the underdog community. I usually enjoy doing that, but MS is so ubiquitous. On top of that, I know a good deal about their stuff so...this ought to be fun!!And again, it makes me feel great that this forum is truly open to all questions, big and small. I'm sure I'll have some more questions along the way and I'll be sure and read Bruno's continuing "saga".Thanks for making me feel welcome.tbirdI'm no Linux expert but here're some pointers that may help (things I found out when trying to sort out networking in Linux):Samba *should* be already installed depending on the options you selected when you setup Mandrake (I think it would come under network server and network client). If they're not installed, just go into Mandrake Control Center and then the Software installer section. In there you can add software, click on the icon to add software and just search for "samba" (if there are no results then it's probably allready installed), you'll need samba server if you're going to share files and samba client if you're going to access Windows shares.Once they're installed, you need to go about configuring samba. There are many ways in which to do this (like editing the "smb.conf" text file directly) but the best way for a new user is to use a GUI program such as LinNeighborhood (http://www.bnro.de/~schmidjo/). This will allow you to browse your Windows network and mount the shares (e.g. I mount mine in /home/chris/network).An important thing to remember is that to use the files on remote shares (e.g. to play a video file), you need to mount them. If you were to browse your network using "smb://server/share", you couldn't play a video file from that location, you'd need to mount "//server/share" somewhere (like "/mnt/network" for example). You can do this manually using "smbmount", but I'd use a GUI like the above mentioned LinNeighborhood.Another powerful tool to use is called Webmin (you can configure many items from a web interface - including Samba).Hope this helps Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bruno Posted June 2, 2003 Share Posted June 2, 2003 I'm not sure I'll be able to totally discard Windows cuz I've got a couple of devices and pieces of software that run on Windows only (big shocker!) but maybe soon I can perform a clean install of Mandrake Penguin on my good machine and become a part of the underdog community. I usually enjoy doing that, but MS is so ubiquitous. On top of that, I know a good deal about their stuff so...this ought to be fun!! Nobody is asking, nor pushing you to dump Windows, all of the friends here dual-boot ( or multi-boot ) Linux and Windows ! It is just common sense . . . only very few only run Linux, but even those have hidden somewhere in the attic an old P1 with Windows on it ( nostalgia ?? ) !Just one thing: if you have any windows-related questions you´re better off next door , all the other questions are welcome here ! Bruno Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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