Nick: kZo,kZo[home],kZo[work]

Name: Dallas

Location: USA, Iowa

 

Job: Network Administrator for hospital

Network Type: MS Network

Email: Redhat Linux 7.3

 

Just recently gave my resignation as the Network Administrator. Going to leave position here to work on a Server Admin Team for a corporate office in Iowa.

 

You can normally find me on IRC, efnet, #redhat #wipples #jumex and few others.

When starting kde on my system, (I use startx from the command line), I did not like the way that KDE would startup with a baby blue background and then transition to my configured background color. I wanted a way to make the color consistant from the start of the X server until my default desktop was up.

 

KDE starts with the command "exec startkde" usually found in ~/.Xclients-default or ~/.Xclients. "startkde" is a script that, on my system, is in /usr/kde/3.1/bin/ (your system may be different).

 

Within that script are the following lines:

 

test "$XDM_MANAGED" || bkg="-solid #000000"

xsetroot -cursor_name left_ptr $bkg

 

As you can see, the startkde script uses "xsetroot" to set its initial color. I have mine set to "#000000" which

is black but you can set the color to anything you like. You can use a utility like "gcolor" to pick a color code that you like or you can use the utility here to experiment. [/url][url=http://www.imagitek.com/bcs.html]http://www.imagitek.com/bcs.html

Which Logos does anyone like?

 



 



 



 



 

How to I see what version of Kernel I have installed?

 

 

You should be able to see the version as a normal user, so open up a console.

 

Once done type uname -ar

 

you should see something like this:-

 

 

[anyweb@localhost anyweb]$ uname -ar

Linux localhost.localdomain 2.4.22-1.2115.nptl #1 Wed Oct 29 17:00:00 EST 2003 i686 i686 i386 GNU/Linux

 

That tells me that my kernel version is = 2.4.22-1.2115.nptl.

Login as root by typing

 

su -

 

in a console. Once done type cat /etc/redhat-release

 

you should see something like this:-

 

 

[root@localhost root]# cat /etc/redhat-release

Fedora Core release 1 (Yarrow).

 

That tells me that I am using Fedora Core release 1 on this linux box.

Quote:please NOTE:- java VERSIONS change quite a bit, meaning that a line such as  

rpm -ivh j2re-1_4_2_02-linux-i586-rpm

 

may now have changed to something like....

 

rpm -ivh j2re-1_4_2_06-linux-i586-rpm

 

please MAKE SURE that you are rpm'ing the correct VERSION of software that you have downloaded otherwise your java plugin will fail to install. The instructions below ONLY refer to the version that I downloaded at the time of writing this howto, of course, versions have changed since then, and as a result, you have to adapt the instructions below, to match the new version of JAVA plugin that you are downloading.

How to change the default login to Xwindows to console or vice versa.

 

do as follows: open a console and login as

 

su -

 

then, as root type the following:-

 

cp /etc/inittab /etc/inittab.org

 

That has just copied (cp) a text file called 'inittab' to a new text file called 'inittab.org'. The reason for that is incase you accidently screw up the text editing that comes next ;-)

 

 

 

once done, type the following:-

 

vi /etc/inittab

 

that opens a pretty cool (or anal depending on how you think) console based text editor, and opens a text file. Use your up and down (and left and right) cursor keys to navigate the flashing cursor around this file.

Scroll down to the line that reads:

 

id:5:initdefault:

 

^^ yes that line there ^^

 

and change the number five (5) to a number three (3) so that it now reads

 

id:3:initdefault:

 

^^ now it's a 3 ^^

 

 

If you find you cannot type the number 3, try pressing the INSERT key on your keyboard. (hint: pressing INSERT will toggle between INSERT and REPLACE mode, also, pressing ESC will CANCEL out of those modes and allow you to enter commands).

 

Once you have managed to get the line looking like this

 

id:3:initdefault:

 

press ESC to get control back, and press

 

:wq

 

Thats right, just a colon with a w (to write) and a q (to quit)

ok, you are done !

 

now let's exit from X windows, easiest way is to reboot ! so go ahead and reboot, once you have rebooted you'll be presented with a console login prompt...

 

(to get Xwindows to load automatically at boot time change the 3 in /etc/inittab back to 5).

First things first i'd suggest you PRINT this document if you have access to a printer.

 

By default, and out of the box with Red Hat 9 you will have no OpenGL acceleration with your Nvidia card. It will not be optimised for 3D games, or opengl applications. Installing this driver will hopefully fix that and allow you to play Quake 3 and more ;-)

 

To get this support back, you'll need to get nvidias 3d accelerated linux driver and install it as follows, so click on the nvidia link below (for Intel Pentium based systems) or, go to their website directly to download your computers version.

 

nvidia

 

Download that rpm somewhere handy (or check here and get the right driver for your machine) and do as follows:-

 

login as root in a console by typing:-

 

su -

 

Then do

 

sh NVIDIA-Linux-x86-1.0-4496-pkg2.run

 

Now i'm willing to bet that you will get the following error:-

 

NVIDIA Accelerated Graphics Driver for Linux-x86 (1.0-4496)

 

ERROR: You appear to be running an X server; please exit X before installing. For further details, please see the section INSTALLING THE NVIDIA DRIVER in the README available on the Linux driver download page at www.nvidia.com.

 

OK

 

NVIDIA Software Installer for Unix/Linux www.nvidia.com

 

Dont worry about that, i'm just proving a point here, so lets press 'ok' and fix that problem.

 

Pressing ok will pop up this MESSAGE:

 

Installation has failed. Please see the file '/var/log/nvidia-installer.log' for details. You may find suggestions on fixing installation problems in the README available on the Linux driver download page at www.nvidia.com.

 

One more 'ok' exits from the routine.

 

So.... how do i fix the 'log out of X windows' problem ?

 

do as follows: open a console and login as

 

su -

 

then, as root type the following:-

 

cp /etc/inittab /etc/inittab.org

 

That has just copied (cp) a text file called 'inittab' to a new text file called 'inittab.org'. The reason for that is incase you accidently screw up the text editing that comes next ;-)

 

 

 

once done, type the following:-

 

vi /etc/inittab

 

that opens a pretty cool (or anal depending on how you think) console based text editor, and opens a text file. Use your up and down (and left and right) cursor keys to navigate the flashing cursor around this file.

Scroll down to the line that reads:

 

id:5:initdefault:

 

^^ yes that line there ^^

 

and change the number five (5) to a number three (3) so that it now reads

 

id:3:initdefault:

 

^^ now it's a 3 ^^

 

 

If you find you cannot type the number 3, try pressing the INSERT key on your keyboard. (hint: pressing INSERT will toggle between INSERT and REPLACE mode, also, pressing ESC will CANCEL out of those modes and allow you to enter commands).

 

Once you have managed to get the line looking like this

 

id:3:initdefault:

 

press ESC to get control back, and press

 

:wq

 

Thats right, just a colon with a w (to write) and a q (to quit)

ok, you are done !

 

now let's exit from X windows, you could exit from X by pressing CTRL + ALT + BACKSPACE together or the easiest way is to reboot ! so go ahead and reboot, once you have rebooted you'll be presented with a console login prompt...

 

login as root and type this

 

sh NVIDIA-Linux-x86-1.0-4496-pkg1.run

 

Click ACCEPT to accept the license and then click OK to the 'compiling the kernel' message, and watch as it works it's way...

 

Once done you are nearly there. Let's BACKUP a file thats fairly critical to our X windows operation, by logging in as root and typing:

 

cp /etc/X11/XF86Config /etc/X11/XF86Config.org

 

Now, you have to edit the original file, your XF86config file.

 

Login again as root (if you are not already) and type:

 

vi /etc/X11/XF86Config

 

find the line with Driver "nv" (or Driver "vesa") and REPLACE WITH

 

Driver "nvidia"

 

now (taken directly from the Nvidia README)

 

In the Module section, make sure you have: Load "glx" You should also remove the following lines: Load "dri" Load "GLcore" (if they exist).

 

Thats it, save your settings with

 

:wq

 

ok, .... finally, lets test ! logout as root and login as normal user

 

type

 

startx

 

 

 

you'll KNOW you have succeeded becuase the big NVIDIA WHITE login splash screen is there :)

 

(to get Xwindows to load automatically at boot time change the 3 in /etc/inittab back to 5).

 

well done !!

To take a screenshot of your beautiful desktop in Red Hat you could either try pressing the 'Prt Scr' key on the keyboard.... or if that fails (and it sometimes does) then try this.

 

Open a console and type the following:-

 

import -window root filename.ext

 

Where filename.ext is the filename you want to give to your work of art. You can then check the directory you are in, and there will be the screenshot waiting for you.

 

If you want to add a delay BEFORE the shot is taken (so you can move stuff out of the way) then add a sleep command as follows:-

 

sleep 3s; import -window root screenshot.png

 

The above waits 3 seconds before taking the screenshot and saves it in PNG format. That's it, have fun :)