[Sussex] The "usual" linux weirdness......

[Harry Rickards]

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On 05/25/09 12:02, john davis wrote:
> Wotcha List,
> 
> Why is it, that after 6 or 7 years of using linux, I can still find
> strange stuff?
> 
> Ok, I'll define the "strange" bit a little.
> 
> Now it so happens that it hasn't, until now mattered which distro I've
> used, I've stuck to KDE for my desktop. Yes, perhaps it was to do with
> it feeling more familiar to windows when I first started the linux
> thing, but recently I've found that it's not quite as straight forward
> as that.
> 
> For instance, recent iterations of the *buntu's have caused me a little
> grief (which dovetails into yesterdays problem, but more of that later).
> I think it was 8.10 (kubuntu) that had some bugs in the network manager,
> where for reasons that are far, far above me, it was proving a PITA to
> input my static IP address. One of the "work rounds" was to uninstall
> the kde version of the network manager and install the gnome network
> manager. Now those who've been on the list a long time may recall my
> former self proclaimed status as "LUG nugget". I still claim that title,
> as I couldn't, for the life of me, work out how that was done. So I
> ended up just installing the whole of gnome and configuring the network
> that way, but still using KDE as my preferred desktop.
> 
> That seemed to have done the trick - fine.
> 
> Now, when it became available recently, I installed 9.04 (I'd all ready
> been meddling with KDE 4 - with much frustration in trying to do
> "normal" tasks, that would have been straight forward under KDE 3), this
> was a straight dist upgrade. A little time after that, it became
> apparent, that the newer version had problems with my sound device(s),
> and on logging in would get a warning that AL2100 (I think that's what
> it's called) analogue doesn't work and it was falling back to AL2100
> digital. I've got no idea what it is that actually produces the sound
> from the system......
> 
> Another problem arose, though I can't remember what it was, but it
> seemed that I'd need to log into gnome to sort it out. Since then I've
> hardly gone back into KDE, as it now seems that it's gnome that's become
> the "user friendly" desktop. The sound works fine, I don't need to keep
> changing the default apps to open various types of media files, the
> choice of screensaver is amusing (currently the bouncing cow) and quite
> a number of other things.
> 
> This has all come as a surprise, because of the last 5 or so years, I've
> attempted on a number of occasions to learn how to use gnome and it's
> just got me frustrated with (IMO) the dis-jointed way it was put
> together. Don't get me wrong, I'm still "just a user" and not techie,
> there are still a few bits that I haven't sussed out, but it's been
> easier then getting my head round KDE 4.
> 
> One of the strange things, is, as I alluded to earlier, the
> networking........Yesterday morning, it just stopped working. Since I
> got this new PC, I've returned to dual booting with windows (curiosity
> about Vista mainly). Windows wouldn't connect either and I ended up
> coming to the conclusion that it was either the network card or the
> router/modem - it took a lot of swearing, much frustration, time and
> digging around to work out that it was the bit between the network card
> and the router/modem i.e. the 8 port network switch had decided to
> "seize" up and I had to disconnect and unplug it to get it going again.
> 
> Ok, I can hear you saying "what's strange about that, you should have
> looked at that as one of the first things", yes you're right - it just
> didn't occur to me. The strange thing though, is by using the browser in
> my phone to try and locate an answer, I found the bit about
> re-configuring the networking i.e. clicking the network manager icon in
> the top right hand corner of the desktop screen, highlighting the
> connection and then clicking "edit" to change/amend it. If I do that, I
> don't see any connection whatsoever, wired, wireless, etc etc, just an
> empty dialogue box. Yet here I am, typing this into gmail with no
> problems at all. I can access the net in both gnome/ubuntu and windows
> again..... So what the hell's going on????
> 
> I'm not in any rush to find out how it's working (I don't really care,
> as long as it's working - as I said, I'm just a user, not a techie).
> Though it would probably be advantageous to know......
> 
> Or is it just me being thick (entirely possible) ???
> 
> Anyway, I hope you're all having a useful bank holiday...
> 
> regards
> 
> John D.
> 
> 
> ------------------------------------------------------------------------
> 
> __ 
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> https://mailman.lug.org.uk/mailman/listinfo/sussex
What happens if you type 'cat /etc/network/interfaces' into a Terminal
(Accessories > Terminal). Also, what happens if you type 'sudo ifconfig
- -a' and enter your password when prompted.

- -- 
Many thanks
Harry Rickards

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