The Price of 'Command Line' Ignorance

Since I've already warned the old Linux gurus that they may see some negative comments on their beloved OS, here at this blog, let me now give them their due.

In the following way: you CAN do more with Linux if you know how to use the Command Line Interface [CLI] and here is a perfect example.....I have NO ONE but myself to blame, either.

I like to tinker and I go by the maxim: it's only software, you can't break it.

Well, unfortunately, sometime you can, meaning, you can render your OS unbootable or your GUI
un-viewable and, if you don't know how to manipulate the 'guts' of your OS, via the command line, then you're pretty much screwed and have to start all over, by reinstalling the OS, in this case Suse 9.3.

Half the time, I can't remember exactly what I did to 'break' my install, if I recall, I merely tried out one of the 'alternate GUIs' that come with 9.3, not KDE and not GNOME, but Windowmaker, something or other. A real 'bare bones' GUI....and I must not have shut it down properly [couldn't find the damn 'log out' button, nor a terminal into which I could type: shutdown -h now].

In any event, when I booted back up, Suse seemed to boot, ie: ran through all the usual 'ya-da, ya-da' stuff on the screen, but when I got to the final GUI log in, there was no GUI log in!

What to do now?

Well, a seasoned Linux guru would simply get a command line going and do his or her thing to get the window back up. Well, when all you know basically is GUI solutions, there isn't much you can do.

Suse does have a pretty good Repair Options with the bootable DVD that comes with the OS, but I ran it and it still didn't 'repair' my GUI log in, so for the 2nd time in two weeks, I had to reinstall the OS, losing all my Home files in the process, which is no big deal, since I can simply drag and drop them over from my NTFS drives in Linux, but, it's still a pain.

[That's my ONE complaint about Suse Linux: it doesn't create a separate partition for your Home files, as most versions of Linux do, so when you have to re-install, you lose all those files. ]

So...that's my salute to the grizzled, grey Linux gurus: they ARE right when they say you can do more with the OS using the CLI, than you can with the GUI.

Now, if only I weren't so damn lazy, I'd get out there and learn a few UNIX commands beyond the 12 or so I know! The problem is, I just HATE typing commands, especially ones that seem to have no logic or meaning, like: tar -xvjpf /mnt/cdrom/stages/stage3--2005.1.tar.bz2 [!]

Does this mean I probably don't customize my own Linux kernel.....ummm, yeah!

Red Flag Linux

Chinese Linux

Well, well.....now, I've seen everything!

I knew there were over 100 versions of Linux out, but now apparently there is a version of Linux, designed by the commmunist Chinese, for Chinese customers, although an English version exists.

And, as if that were not enough [I spent 2 years in China in the 80s, teaching English], it's the only Asian version of Linux to win Intel Certification for Hyper-threading technology, a feature of newer Pentium 4 machines.

Now, that's impressive......


Hong Qi Linux Wan Sui!

[Long Live Red Flag Linux!]

[Don't think I'll download it, however: my Chinese isn't good enough.....hell, my knowledge of Linux isn't good enough!]

Reality Check on Linux: 'Hardware Hell'

OK, now that all my starry-eyed praise to the high heavens is over [see below], allow me to introduce a 'reality check' on Linux for those of you new to it [and even to the 'wise old gurus' who won't like what I'm about to say much, although I'll try and temper it with the good as well].

After getting Suse 9.3 up and running the other day, I rebooted, only to find: 'Ooops: No KDE.' That is, no desktop. Period. It would reboot into blackness.....and the reboot message didn't seem to indicate where the problem was: I tried reading it as it ripped by, but it never indicated a problem [I know: I should have checked the boot or system logs, but I couldn't boot the OS to get to them].

Just OS blackness....

So, what to do now?

Rule #1 with OSs: "Don't panic!" [Easier said than done, I might add...]

I put in the original Suse DVD and rebooted into it and went to the Repair Installation Option.

It is quite good, and offers: 1) Automatic Repair 2) Selected Repair and 3) Expert Repair.

If you don't know where the problem lies, #1 above is the logical choice. So, I selected Automatic Repair and let it run and it found 2 problems, one of which was a file called 'postfix,' I believe, and corrected that, and I let it reboot.

Still: OS Blackness. No KDE.

So, I ran Repair twice more, each time selected 'Selected' and 'Expert' Repair, which was hard, because, not knowing where the problem lay, I didn't know which area to select to repair, but did my best.

Still: OS Blackness. No GUI.

I had two remaining options at this point:

1) Reinstall the Linux files, without formatting the disk

2) Reformatting and reinstalling Suse [the last resort]

Well, need I say it? I tried option #1 and still: No Go: No KDE, no GUI.....

So, I was left with option #2, which obviously erases ALL your files and creates a fresh installation........so, I reluctantly admitted defeat and did that, giving me a new copy of Suse.

But, wait: the Saga is not over yet.

After formatting my disk, reinstalling Suse I rebooted, only to find: NO NETWORK CONNECTION!

--Couldn't download the OS Update files

--Couldn't get on the Internet.....

Once into the OS, I checked to make sure the Network Card was recognized and configured by Suse. It was. Reboot--still No Network.

Well, not being a Linux Network Guru, I was not able to get into the guts of the OS, to re-configure the Network or the NIC, so I was forced back into the Repair option.

Long Story Short: Repair didn't work and I was forced to format and re-install AGAIN.

But, wait: the Saga isn't over.

I formatted my disk, reinstalled and rebooted, only to find: NO MOUSE!

Tried by USB mouse: no go.

What really baffles me is how Linux provides you with mouse drivers for the installation, but somehow, after it's over and you reboot into the OS, you can lose them.

Same Deal Again:Repair...This time, I found there is NO Repair Hardware Option, so that didn't help.

With no mouse, I had no choice: Reformat and Reinstall.

FINALLY: on the [count it]: second reinstallation, I now have a working version of Suse, with mouse and network connections.

SO: Let This Be a Lesson.....In WHAT, I'm not sure........

--Just because Linux is installed, doesn't mean you won't have problems...?

--Suse Linux doesn't like my mouse....?

--Suse doesn't like my Network Card....?

Well, whatever, let this be a lesson to never get complacent about Linux.

Despite major advances in recent years, and more sophisticated drivers and better User Interface, Linux can be tricky, especially for the beginner.

Now, I can hear the Wise Old Linux gurus clucking their collective tongues and saying, "Well, you should have done this [configuration] or checked that [configuration file] or done that......

But, we are NOT all Wise Old Linux Gurus....We can't ALL boot into the kernel with a Command Line and diagnose problems......

Some of us are just computer users with some degree of experience, but that doesn't make us Command Line Gurus who can fix everything.........

So, we are left with the options provided to us by 1) experience and 2) by the maker of the OS, in this case, the GUI [Graphical User Interface] options......and, when they don't work, it's the Dreaded:

--Reformat and Reinstall

Now, the question becomes: why does Linux 'balk' or 'choke' on hardware like this, when it worked on the same hardware on the prior installation?

Now, if it encounters these problems on the FIRST installation, it would make more sense, ie: well, it doesn't support my mouse.

But, why on earth would Linux support my mouse on the first installation and not on the second?

THAT makes no sense.........

So, these 'Hardware Hell' experiences tend to temper your enthusiasm for the OS, despite [and let me repeat]:

DON'T WORRY: I [STILL] LOVE LINUX! :)

SuSe Linux 9.3 Rocks!

Well, after a couple 'bumps in the road,' I now have SuSe Linux 9.3 installed and it rocks, let me tell you....it's rock solid, detected all my hardware correctly, including my Microsoft wireless keyboard and mouse [who knew?], and even my ATI TV card, and now I can watch TV in Linux in living color.

I'll admit, the TV card programs, which are written separately, by other programmers, not SuSe people, have been problematic in the past. 9.3 includes a couple other programs besides XAWTV, but it didn't seem to like ATI cards [what I have] but, now that I've figured out out to adjust the color, it works great. In the past, I could never get the color adjusted properly and was always in semi-B&W mode.

Apparently, MOTV is an improvement on the XATV layer and allows for finer color adjustment....after drilling around a bit to locate the controls for it.

So....I'm jazzed! 9.3 comes with a firewall which installs automatically, as well as YAST, which allows fine tuning of Security Setttings. Apparently, the Reiser File System is installed automatically, a more recent improved on the older Ext2-3 FSs, and which allows journaling, in case of system failure.

Fedora Linux Core 3 [Formerly 'Red Hat']: The Short Version

OK, starting about a week ago, I got a craving to re-install Linux on my XP machine--having uninstalled it about 6 months ago after putting in a wireless keyboard.

I [mistakenly, it turns out] believed that Linus does NOT support MS Wireless Keyboards--wrong!

Although I hooked up a regular keyboard and mouse for the Fedora installation, I accidentally left in the USB connection to the MS wireless set up, and, lo and behold.....when Fedora booted, my wireless keyboard and mouse still worked! I was amazed and delighted!

However, for some God-unknown reason, Fedora is the ONLY Linux version that does NOT support NTFS disks, of which I have two [XP] and I want access to them, so 'buh-bye' went Fedora and 'hello' to SuSe 9.3! [See above]

A Word About Mandrake [Now: Mandriva] Linux

Mandrake is a good, easy to use version of Linux for beginners: one of those: just pop in the disk and sit back while all your hardware is automatically detected and configured and you're good to go within 30 mins or so. No complaints there. I used it for a couple years.

My gripe with them was twofold:

1. You had to join the 'Mandrake Club' for $60 per year [that may have changed since then] in order to download their 'free ISOs,' and they pestered you constantly to 'upgrade' your membership to Premium, or some other more expensive version. So, that took some of the 'fun' out of Linux supposedly being 'free.'

2. The worst aspect of it, however, was: downloading those ISO [CD images] of Mandrake using this system they thought was the best thing since sliced bread, but one I could never get to work: the dreaded 'Bit Torrent,' which is supposedly faster and uses less bandwidth.

Well, not only could I never get Bit Torrent to work, but the process of getting ISOs suitable for burning and creating a bootable CD for installation was an absolute nightmare--I could never that it to work either. Now, I can hear the Linux Gurus shaking their wise old heads and clucking, "But, did you verify your Check Sum first?" And the answer would be 'yes and no.'

When I could get the freakin' Check Sum program to work, I did. But, half the time, either I couldn't get it to work, or I couldn't verify the results, so it did me no good.

So, I would get 4 CDs burned and at least one or two of them would be either unbootable or corrupt and useless, causing me to have to start all over again. Aarrrrh!

I finally just gave up on the whole ISO/burning my own CD process and just opted to going down to Fry's and purchasing factoring made CDs. It's worth the price to avoid the aggravation and wasted CDs, at least as far as I'm concerned.