Thinking of trying Arch once more...

I had used ArchLinux quite a few releases ago (0.2-0.5 were the versions I used). Back then, I suffered some losses and had some system issues. I believe I have addressed a few of those issues right now.
Back then, I had dialup; today, I have DSL, but only via a Buffalo Technologies wireless NIC that uses a Broadcom 43XX chip (e.g., I'd use fwcutter to get it running). That might be fairly easy, but I also never had ethernet and past experience has shown me I'm pretty easily lost by all the eth0/ifconfig stuff. So, Arch will hopefully have matured enough that I'm not going to feel as lost as I have felt in the past, because I still am not all that bright when it comes to figuring out how to configure stuff and where to get information.
Back then, I only had internal hard disks; today I have an external USB 2.0 hard disk with 2 partitions to same my data from unintended reformats.
I fear that I will get stranded at the commandline with no X server. Does Arch allow documentation to be installed in the target system, so that I can fix myself back up to having internet access? Yes, provided I take decent notes about my ethernet/wireless NIC.
Also, is an ATI chipset motherboard supported ... well, supported in a way that this simpleton can get it running at full speed, no errors? I had nasty experiences with ATAPI resets on several VIA chipset motherboards, so I fear the ATI chipset might be even more rough around the edge.
I have a Celeron D 3.33 GHz system, 64 bit uniprocessor. I can go with either 32 bit or 64 bit distro, but I think I want Flash for the simple reason that many tutorials are now Flash based. Flash seems to be difficult for Mandriva 64. Is Flash working under Arch 64bit? Or only for 32bit?
I want the stablest distro I can get my hands on. One issue I'm not fond of: when an automatic update kills ethernet, internet or X and also leaves behind no updated documentation that discusses the NEW versions FULL configuration needs. I'm also a man that has a hard time doing a cranial 'diff'. I'd need full documents installed at the same time that any new code arrives.
So, I'm faced with these questions, open for comment:
32 or 64 bit?
Does Arch support the ATI chipsets including the onboard Radeon Xpress 200 graphics?
Stable without rolling updates?
Does Arch offer local docs?
When something gets updated, does Arch also update docs in the same release?
Thanks!

dante4d wrote:I think you are at point where you have to decide if you want to be mere "user" or something more. If you don't want to get hands dirty, you will probably suffer with arch . You have to get familiar with all basic linux functionality.
My issues of being unable to administer a system have been caused by the LACK of accurate and thorough documentation on the target system. I'd search the man pages and find nothing or I'd read a document anywhere only to find it is not for the current version I'm using, or similar relevancy issues. Reading the wrong document should not be counted as 'having an answer'.
If you can boot to console and get internet connection working, you can use text web browser (links) and read wikis. Or print them beforehand. It's not that much work to get X and firefox running (with google ).
That is a mighty big if, dante4d. I can take notes about using the version(s) of binaries that I use; problems arise when large changes take place after an 'update' and then the wiki on the internet is not available (and even if it was available, experience tells me that web instructions such as wiki get updated months after the binary gets updated). While I'm not asking for a perfect world, I'm thinking that local documentation was the original intention of the man pages AND the info system; I feel that wiki is not the optimal choice if it is online only. The older ideas would work for me, if coders would only take the time to wait for documentation before they release newer, revamped binaries.
Google
Google contains millions of 'answers', the user has to determine which is the correct answer - Google is not asking for your kernel version, distro name, release date, etc. The biggest problem with Google is I can still find, at the top of search results, web documents discussing instructions that were only current at kernel 2.2.x. I tried Google many times, my system got botched many times. Google cannot be considered an effective answer: obfuscation.
Your names are all new to me; the arguments for and against internet documentation remain the same and remain tenuous. I know some folks can get by with it; but I want a dependable distro that does not fry itself with each update. I have Mandriva 64 for that!
Thanks again, folks; Arch is still not going to be installed.

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Want to learn GNU/Linux for real. Thinking of trying Arch.

So, I'm thinking about trying to put Arch Linux on a partition to force myself into a more "intimate" relationship with Linux, while still using Ubuntu as my primary operating system.
So far, I've been using Ubuntu for two years and kinda treading water in terms of actually understanding the system. I understand what my system is doing only slightly better than they average 'tech-savy windows user' might, which is to say that I am quite good manipulating the GUI, have customised a couple of configuration files (though nothing really essential to the system), and can get some basic tasks done from the command line. I've managed to figure out how to do custom booting and partitioning for multiple operating systems as well, but relying heavily on GUI tools. I have no idea how to, say, do a full hardware configuration, or even get the gnome GUI up and running from a console. I have used a couple of command line tools to listen to music, watch movies, and browse the web, but not much more. Last but not least, I'm terrified of vim and emacs. I can usually bend nano to my will if I must, but if edit any system files, it will normally be in gedit.
I want to fix all of that, and I think Arch might force me to learn it all properly.
Is it biting off more than I can chew? Is there a better way to learn Linux, or perhaps a distro that would be more conducive to my goal?
I'm no pro, I just want to learn.
Last edited by ninjaaron (2010-12-10 17:40:10)

ninjaaron wrote:
Well, linux ninjitsu would be idea.
What would you say if I did what you said here, but just skipped out on the slackware and the gentoo?
I've had this secret crazy dream of doing LFS for a while... I even have the book on my hard-drive, but I knew I could never pull it off at my current level of knowledge.
Hence: Arch
Well that is only my personal guide. I've actually seen people on this forum claim to go from Windows (and no real previous Linux experience) to Arch successfully. I think it really depends on how technical you are and how hard you're willing to try.
I put slackware in there because it's package managers usually don't track dependencies like Debian/Ubuntu does. The default Slackware install is pretty easy then but adding stuff will help you learn about dependencies more and how they work. And it'll help you get off any reliance you have on .deb packages coming from Ubuntu. It also gives you some experience with one of the earliest Linux Distributions.
As for Gentoo, I put that after Arch to act as kind of a transition into LFS (source based entirely). It shows you the difference between binary and source based distros -- although Arch or even Ubuntu can be entirely built from source too, in theory. The idea is by the end of it you would have a good idea of what you like best having had time to try most of the major distros and of various types.
You can do anything you like.
Last edited by davidm (2010-12-10 20:05:09)

I installed creative cloud to my desktop and it won't open. The icon bounces but nothing happens, I tried uninstalling and reinstalling but I think I screwed it up more. Please help!

I installed creative cloud to my desktop and it won't open. The icon bounces but nothing happens, I tried uninstalling and reinstalling but I think I screwed it up more. Please help!

Dd7 do you receive any specific error messages? What version of Mac OS are you using?

Why does FF4 start to download an image once more which is already on screen when trying to save this image?

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You can look at this extension:
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Infinity nightmares once more

And so i find myself looking for help once more on these forums.
Ever regret taking up the offer of an apparently better infinity experience by getting in touch with kelly communications for the modem refresh?
Since then i have seen my infinity speed drop from 22 meg ( it was 15meg not the 35 implied pre install on day 1 and after 4 -5 callouts i gave up and accepted 22 meg). Have to say Chris the Mod from here really went out of his way to help me.
Since Kelly communication came and changed modem my speed has dropped and where previously speedtest.net showed constantly the same results it is so sporadic now - one minute its 9 meg then its 18 meg then 14 meg or 16 meg - you get the picture!!!
I wonder was it due to the modem being off while it was being switched has caused the system to think there was a line speed and mess things up?
So being an idiot i thought oh lets upgrade to infinity 2 the idea of surely a better speed was worth restarting my contract? Sadly today was my live day and it has proved to not be the case. Im getting even slower speeds than before ranging from 9-14meg! Btlinetest says 13 meg - funnily enough just slightly above the 12.8 they consider to be an issue ??? Did it not used to be 15meg?
Yes i appreciate it is a 10 day window for learning but something is wrong when you end up with a slower speed and a ping in the 40-50s.
I have tried resetting the hub, made no difference. Im scared to touch the modem in case rebooting it makes things worse - ie system thnks there is a line fault.
Any ideas?

Hi
You could try turning the vdsl modem off and on once to see if it helps ( the only way you could trip the dlm is if you sit there and reset the modem a lot off times).
There could be a fault on your line resulting in low speeds, to be fair I would consider 13 meg down to be a bit off an issue.
I guess you have a choice you could reset the vdsl modem once and leave it on for up to 3 weeks to see if your speed recovers ( assuming the dlm has reduced your speed due to a possible fault).
Or you could get back in contact with the forum team and discuss your current issues with them to see if they can help you.
Hope it gets better for you soon

Since the os7 update on my iPad, my safari is not right, it only opens one page at a time, crashes when trying to open more, it has no back button. Help

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Well, I rebuilt the entire workbook... that was a few months ago and so far, the problem hasn't resurfaced. It really wasn't fun to do, but whatever glitch there was in the file, I eliminated it.
I think I should mention that I am using Office v.X, NOT Office 2004. I got a new Intel iMac this week and yesterday when I opened up my files, it opened up the test drive (a JOKE of a program if you ask me) Anyway, some of the very minor issues I had with Office v.X were solved in the 2004 version. (When opening up large multi worksheet files without Excel being already opened, the tabs have white text) Anyway, I am still going to wait for the universal version to come out, but it seems that the newer versions may have fewer glitches (as is to be expected)
At any rate, best of luck to you!

I am trying to copy more or less 30G from my MacbookPro to an external hard drive and it is stuck in the "preparing to copy" step. But that for more than one hour. What should I do to make it faster? Thanks a lot in advance!

I am trying to copy more or less 30G from my MacbookPro to an external hard drive and it is stuck in the "preparing to copy" step. But that for more than one hour. What should I do to make it faster? Thanks a lot in advance!

Thanks Shootist007, by blockd files I mean files that I have changed to blocked and when I tried to move then for the first time, I had to unblock again. I am trying to backup my pictures, my songs and other files like word documents and excel tables. First I put all of them as blocked, what caused the first problems on trying to move them. Then, I've unchecked the block option and if I try to move one by one, there is no problem. The issue is to move all together, because it gets stuck in the preparing to copy files step. Anyway, if I cannot do all by once, I'll do it one by one, event though that was not suposed to happen if we are talking about technology, right? Anyway, I thank you again for trying to help me!

[SOLVED] Arch have more dependencies for packages than other disroes?

I got arch running decently two days ago, and have some spare time tonight, so I'm hoping to get more things set up. One thing I was hoping was to have as few demons running as possible to maximize battery life. Unfortunately, everything wants me to install tons of other packages - more of them than debian, actually. Compiz's gtk-window-decorator requires metacity, along with gnome-control-center which I definitely don't need. Both gnome-do and tomboy require me to install gnome-panel, which I definitely don't need. It's seeming like dependencies will kill my dream of minimalism, except on ubuntu I didn't need those packages as dependencies. So I'm confused; does Arch has more dependencies, or is there a flag I can set, like the debian recommenced option? I just don't want to install so many packages that I don't need. Thanks.
Last edited by Compintuit (2010-06-17 15:35:57)

XYne, thank you ever so much. I was feeling a little alienated, but now I understand. I support Arch in using vanilla source, and one of the reasons I am trying to switch is so the *-dev packages are done away with. I guess not splitting other packages comes with this. I know I need to learn about those fantastic aspects of Arch you mentioned, and I now have hope as well as an incentive.
Thank you all. I'm aware that extra data on disk doesn't really hurt performance, and compiz is just eyecandy, though I don't know how much power it actually consumes. Still, there are different ways of trying to get the max out of what you have. I'm curious about what I can without loosing functionality to use less power. There were just so many gnome daemons and functions I didn't use in ubuntu; I had unrealistic expectations. I've gotten the idea to try to build a system that can both drop to a simpler, reduced functionality X or even with console apps when I need a long battery life, and I'll just deal with some dependencies I don't want for the rest. Until I master ABS, of course.
Thank you all for the advise; I feel much happier now. I'm going to mark this topic as solveansweredd now, as my initial question has been answered.

Message 'USER LOCKED' when trying to give more line items in VA03

Hi All,
We have created a 'Z' smartform layout at delivery level and it has a 'Z' Output type.
When i am trying to enter more line items in va03 then it says user is locked .
Kindly give me suggestion whether this has a problem in the Layout OR else is some configurational problem.
Very Urgent.
Regards,
Rajesh Kumar.

Rajesh,
its not a layout or print program problem at all.
i think you have implemented some EXIT for va* and it may be creating problem.
you have to see by debug from where this message comes from.
than you will come to know and rectify this.
Amit.

I have been trying to upload more music to my iphone 3gs but whenever i try to even click on the artist or name buttons in itune they dont get highlighted or anything all i can do is play music from my phone through itunes ...

i have been trying to upload more music to my iphone 3gs but whenever i try to even click on the artist or name buttons in itunes they dont get highlighted or anything all i can do is play music from my phone through itunes ... if you know of anything i have done wrong plz tell me how to fix (besides restore)

Success!! There truly is a light at the end of the tunnel. Apple support really did come through and I am successfully back into my account. Ready to purchase more music. I followed the instructions, with patience I thought I lost, submitted my problem, someone emailed me back within two days and all is now perfect. Thanks again Apple.
To all the frustrated users out there, don't lose hope!!!

I'm trying to buy more storage on my iPad but when I get to the "buy" button, it has my old Apple ID and I can't go any farther. I've changed my Apple ID on all my devices, logged out, logged back in, rebooted, etc., but that one area still has old one.

I'm trying to buy more storage on my iPad but when I get to the "buy" button, it has my old Apple ID and I can't go any farther. I've changed my Apple ID on all my devices, logged out, logged back in, rebooted, etc., but that one area still has old one.

You can't buy more storage on an iPad. You are referring to space on iCloud and that probably won't accomplish what you are trying to do.

I am trying to buy more icloud storage and am putting in the correct password. everytime i do it it says completing purchase and then keeps asking me for my password as if it wasnt correcr and wont let me buy the storage.

I AM TRYING TO BUY MORE ICLOUD STORAGE. I PUT IN THE CORRECT PASSWORD AND SAYS COMPLETING PURCHASE. IT THEN GOES BACK TO MY PASSWORD AND I HAVE TO PUT IT IN AGAIN. I CANT GET ANY FURTHER SO WONT LET ME BUY IT. ANY IDEAS?

While we all have MacBooks in this forum most of us don’t use iCloud. There's an iCloud Support Community where everybody uses iCloud. You should also post this question there to increase your chances of getting an answer. https://discussions.apple.com/community/icloud/icloud_on_my_mac

HT1725 I can no longer download music from itunes store. Happened when I was Downloading from songs dragged from itunes store to a playlist. I tried to downloaad more than one at a time. The download stopped. Now I can not download at all.

I can no longer download music from itunes store. It happened when I was trying to download songs dragged into a playlist. I tried to download more than one at a time. It stopped. Now I cant download at all. Even rebooted my machine.

OK thanks I will try that. I just don't understand why I still can't download new videos as I've deleted the software I installed and I've changed my camera settings back to what they were before when I could download into iPhoto. I perhaps should have mentioned it's iPhoto '08 version 7.1.5. Is there any way of putting iPhoto back as the "default download and view" programme?
It could be as simple as longer (larger) videos - iPhoto does not always handle larger video files well
Is there any way of putting iPhoto back as the "default download and view" programme?
iPhoto is not a download and view program - it is a photo management database program that imports photos - Image Capture is a download program - Preview is a view program
The default program to download your photos is set in the preference panel of either iPhoto or image capture
LN

I keep getting an error message when trying to purchase more gold coins?

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Using FaceTime http://support.apple.com/kb/ht4319
Troubleshooting FaceTime http://support.apple.com/kb/TS3367
The Complete Guide to FaceTime + iMessage: Setup, Use, and Troubleshooting
http://tinyurl.com/a7odey8
Troubleshooting FaceTime and iMessage activation
http://support.apple.com/kb/TS4268
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http://support.apple.com/kb/HT4245
iOS: About Messages
http://support.apple.com/kb/HT3529
Set up iMessage
http://www.apple.com/ca/ios/messages/
Troubleshooting Messages
http://support.apple.com/kb/TS2755
Setting Up Multiple iOS Devices for iMessage and Facetime
http://macmost.com/setting-up-multiple-ios-devices-for-messages-and-facetime.htm l
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http://www.ilounge.com/index.php/articles/comments/facetime-and-imessage-not-acc epting-apple-id-password/
Unable to use FaceTime and iMessage with my apple ID
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For non-Apple devices, check out the TextFree app https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/text-free-textfree-sms-real/id399355755?mt=8
 Cheers, Tom

Trying to add more photos to photo stream from albums

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These links may be helpful.
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http://tinyurl.com/7qep7fs
 Cheers, Tom

Thinking of trying Arch once more...

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