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s.dot
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Post by s.dot »

That's the FPD1500 monitor with 15.1 inch screen.

Mine is the FPD1520 monitor with 15 inch screen.

Will it make a difference?
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feyd
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Post by feyd »

it shoudn't they are based on the same internals typically.
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s.dot
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Post by s.dot »

As expected, I'm having troubles with the display :P

I created an xorg.conf file and copied it to /etc/X11/xorg.conf

Then i used 'Xorg -config /etc/X11/xorg.conf' to test the configuration.

It does the same thing as before, the black/white checked background, mouse moves, but there's a black bar going through my screen (towards the bottom).

Here's what I put in my monitor section of xorg.conf

Code: Select all

Section "Monitor"
      Identifier         "Monitor0"
      VendorName   "Vendor Name"
      ModelName     "Model Name"
      HorizSync        30-61
      VertRefresh     56-76
EndSection
And here is the screen section

Code: Select all

Section "Screen"
        Identifier "Screen0"
        Device     "Card0"
        Monitor    "Monitor0"
        DefaultDepth 24
        SubSection "Display"
                Viewport  0 0
                Depth     24
                Modes     "1024x768"
        EndSubSection
EndSection
My monitor specifications are:

Horzontal frequency: 30-61
Vertical: 56-76
1024 x 768 x 70 mHz
24 bit (16 million)

--- don't know if this part matters, but here are my video adaptor specs

Intel 815EP Chipset Graphics Controller
4.00 MB RAM
windows driver file: i8lxdnt5.dll
(I believe this adaptor was automatically detected by xorg.conf as it appeared correctly in the xorg.conf file)
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s.dot
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Post by s.dot »

Okay, I'm on KDE now. 8) Things appear to be looking great. I fixed the bar in the middle of the screen by loading kde then switching to 70 mhz (it was on 75).. so the switching worked.

It's a bit bright.. kind of hurting my eyes :P But I guess I can tone that down.

Is there anything else I should be aware of? Or is it just sit, explore, and enjoy now? :P

Edit: Actually this is quite hard on my eyes. I don't know why. It's on 1024x768 x 70mHz... the same as on windows.

Has anyone else had this experience before, when switching to linux.. most likely kde.

I need to be really careful because I have photosensitive epilepsy. I can have seizures if the screen refreshes too slow. Is there anything I should be aware of, or is it just because KDE is more graphically intense?
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Post by feyd »

poke around for gamma settings, dropping them down to 1.2 (Windows, I think) or 0.8 (Mac)
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s.dot
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Post by s.dot »

I had played with that before, I just lowered the brightness on my monitor. Seems to have worked.

Now for downloading stuff.. this is tricky!

Do I need to be logged in as root to download/install things?

I don't want things to be a mess, so I Imagine I should make a folder similar to 'Program Files' on windows?
Right now I'm at /home/scott

Would I install these programs in my directory, or will that make it not available to other people who sign on

*sighs* confused :?
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Post by Chris Corbyn »

OK there's two ways to install software on Linux. You can either get a precompiled binary (like in windows), or you can get the source and compile it yourself (sometime's you don't have a choice).

Either way, most packages will run from your home directory once compiled but the tidiest thing to do is to install them as root.

There's more places on your linux system that are like program files in windows... it depends on the flavor but I'll attempt to summarise.

/usr/bin (Programs available to everyone - well, shortcuts to them)
/bin (More programs for everyone)
/usr/local/bin (More programs)

/usr/sbin (Porgrams intended for the root user only)
/sbin (More root user programs)

/opt (Some things end up here on some distros... kde resides here on my system)

Usually when you install from source you can specify the location to install at ./configure and it's usually

Code: Select all

./configure --prefix=/usr/local/appname
But just running often ./configure is enough and will go to it's default location (always read the INSTALL or README files first).

Binary installers are far simpler... but best idea... learn how your package manager works. I belive your distro installs from a portage tree (i think).
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Post by Roja »

d11wtq wrote:OK there's two ways to install software on Linux.
BSD != Linux, and as a result, most of your post isn't accurate. There are *three* ways to install software on BSD: Ports, Packages, and by building from source manually.

Many of the paths you described are fairly different (or non-existant) on a BSD system.

There is a handbook - use it.

http://www.freebsd.org/doc/en_US.ISO885 ... /handbook/

It has sections on how to install software, what the filesystem structure is, and more.

To answer the large question ("Should I be root to install things"), the answer is NO, unless you absolutely have to.

For example, a webbrowser should be installed by a user - because the user will be the one using it.

A web SERVER however, has to be installed by root, because it runs as a priveledged process.

Whenever possible, limit yourself to a user.
scrotaye wrote: I don't want things to be a mess, so I Imagine I should make a folder similar to 'Program Files' on windows?
Thats what your home directory is, sorta. Its where you put user-specific items. However, things install into proper paths, and its not centralized. Binaries go to several locations. Documentation goes to another. Its a different way of doing things, but its not alien to Windows users: Remember how applications install some files in the windows/system32 directory? Same deal.
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Post by Chris Corbyn »

Roja wrote:
d11wtq wrote:OK there's two ways to install software on Linux.
BSD != Linux, and as a result, most of your post isn't accurate. There are *three* ways to install software on BSD: Ports, Packages, and by building from source manually.
OK. I have never used BSD but I didn't realise there was that much of a difference. My bad :P
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Post by s.dot »

These are the installation instructions for Yahoo! Messenger
FreeBSD Installation

Save the file to your machine.
Log in as root and type: pkg_add fbsd4.ymessenger.tgz to install the application.
Run /usr/bin/ymessenger from X Window to launch the application.
#1. Save the file WHERE on my machine. /home/scott ? /root ?
#2 Why do I have to log in as root?
#3 I don't want to launch it by running a command, I want the icon on my KDE :P

See what I mean, lots of noobish questions :-D
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Post by Chris Corbyn »

You have to get used to typing commands most of the time ;) It's all good fun in the end :P

1. Save it where you like (I find /tmp is good)
2. Windows is insecure by not having this concept. With BSD/Linux you must log in as root to access certain parts of the filesystem the installer wants to put files in... half the reason you don't see viruses for such systems. The command "su" may offer you a login from the command line temporarily (super user)... type exit to get out of that mode again.
3. Get used to it ;) You'll be using the command line a lot. Once installed you should be able to use the Control Panel in KDE to add a shortcut in the K-menu or on the desktop if the installer doesn't make on for you.
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Post by Roja »

scrotaye wrote:#1. Save the file WHERE on my machine. /home/scott ? /root ?
Since root has to install it, I would probably save it to /root.
scrotaye wrote:#2 Why do I have to log in as root?
Dunno. Sounds like poor design. I highly recommend GAIM instead for all your messaging needs. Its opensource, it covers ALL the IM protocols (AIM, YIM, MSN-IM, IRC, ICQ, even google-talk and jabber!), and its more likely to be well supported on free/open platforms (like FreeBSD).
scrotaye wrote:#3 I don't want to launch it by running a command, I want the icon on my KDE :P
Thats the command to *install* the application. It should add an icon for you. If it doesn't (which isnt totally uncommon), you will have to do it yourself, which isn't too hard.
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