[sclug] kubuntu probs/questions

[Will Dickson]

John Stumbles wrote:
> I'm grappling with kubuntu and have a few questions, possibly the main 
> one being "where are good places to ask?" (I can't find any *ubuntu* 
> newsgroups)

Semi-random googling has worked quite well for me so far. Ubuntu 
themselves have web fora, and a wiki.

  Also when I put a digital camera flash card in my reader or a
> blank CD in a cr-rw drive I get the same gnome app firing up as under 
> regular ubuntu.  I've just burned & tried a kubuntu live CD and that 
> does look and feel kde-like. Is it possible to get my installation into 
> line with the live-CD version without either reinstalling or an enormous 
> amount of faffing around?

At a complete guess, you may have to change the MIME bindings. Try 
starting Konq, then Settings|Configure Konq, File Associations. Worse, 
you might have to hack on hotplug. Gulp.

Alternatively, the KUbuntu install is a lot more minimal than SuSE's so
it might be that you simply don't have the KDE-equiv apps installed.

Unless you've put huge amounts of effort into your configuration (which 
you're now trying to throw away anyway), or you've got data on the same 
partition as root which you have no way to back up, my suggestion would 
be to grit your teeth and reinstall. Trying to get this Chimera up to 
scratch is probably more hassle than it's worth.

> 
> Second is probably a basic Debian/[k]ubuntu Q: how do I configure the 
> system for changes to hardware? I've replaced a DVD drive with a DVD-RW 
> but get errors* trying to write anything with it (with k3b). The live-CD 
> can write on the drive so I assume it's something kubunto 'knows' how to 
> do if I could ask it nicely.
> 
> * e.g. to a CD-R when k3b tries 'Optimum Power Calibration' it thinks 
> about it for a long time and then suggests that the drive didn't like 
> the media - for whatever clean blank writeable disc is in it.

It's possible that K3B has worked out that you now have a DVD burner and
is attempting to use the DVD backend, rather than the CD back-end (which 
won't work if you're trying to write a CD). (BTW, did you mean DVD-RW, 
not DVD+RW or DVD+/-RW - it matters. Excuse me if I'm teaching Granny to 
suck eggs here.)

I'd start by trying mkisofs / cdrecord directly (I've never had any luck 
with K3B personally, although it's been a while since I've tried). If 
that works, you probably need to reconfigure K3B itself - K3B has some 
kind of hardware setup dialog, doesn't it?

HTH

Will.