Linux newbie in need of (a lot of) help

geistmorder

hi everybody,
I recently downloaded a copy of the latest pendrive linux i installed it on my usb key and it went on with little fuss except for one minor problem there is no sound, any idea why this is? also, is there any way to import XP wireless network settings into linux, it is looking for a wep key but i dont think the network is wep protected.
thanks in advance,
geistmorder

ps. i should probably clarify tat while im a reasonably competent windows user i know absolutely nothing about linux, so explain things slowly:D

md5

geistmorder wrote: »

hi everybody,
I recently downloaded a copy of the latest pendrive linux i installed it on my usb key and it went on with little fuss except for one minor problem there is no sound, any idea why this is? also, is there any way to import XP wireless network settings into linux, it is looking for a wep key but i dont think the network is wep protected.
thanks in advance,
geistmorder

ps. i should probably clarify tat while im a reasonably competent windows user i know absolutely nothing about linux, so explain things slowly:D

You need to configure sound. You go to applications and check there for the sound settings. Otherwise you can download settings. Go to console and type apt-get install alsa-config (you have to be root when typing that).

geistmorder

thanks for the reply,
im afraid what you suggested didnt work when i type apt-get install alsa-config it says command not found, am i doing it right? as i said i am a complete novice to linux so its very possible im doing something wrong
thanks again and if you can suggest anything else i would appreciate it

md5

geistmorder wrote: »

thanks for the reply,
im afraid what you suggested didnt work when i type apt-get install alsa-config it says command not found, am i doing it right? as i said i am a complete novice to linux so its very possible im doing something wrong
thanks again and if you can suggest anything else i would appreciate it

What linux do you use?

corkie

md5 wrote: »

What linux do you use?

He tried pendrivelinux!

As we don't know what hardware you have got, why not try one of the alternative distro's instructions available at the same site. Xubunutu, Slax or DSL. They maybe more compatible with your hardware! (i.e. your hardware maybe supported by default and you won't have to tweek it)

Regards,
J.

geistmorder

my version of linux is pendrive linux 2008 (it uses mandriva i think) my computer is a dell inspiron 1520 laptop, 2gb ram, 512mb gx card, intel dual core 1.5ghtz processor. so i hope this information helps

Snowbat

http://www.pendrivelinux.com/2008/02/13/pendrivelinux-2008-install-from-windows/

Pendrivelinux 2008 is a remaster created from MCNLive and based purely on Mandriva Linux.

The last release of MCNLive was 'Toronto' in May 2007 so you *might* be looking at this bug in the ALSA that shipped with Mandriva 2007.1. It was apparently fixed in Mandriva 2008.0.

geistmorder

i have tried the solutions listed on the link you provided, snowbat, but when i type in sudo apt-get install module-assistant i get the error -bash: sudo: command not found, as i said already i hav never used linux before so it is possible that i am doing something wrong if anyone can work out what it is please tell me, this is getting very frustrating thanks again

Snowbat

That bug report has comments from both Ubuntu and Mandriva users. The 'sudo apt-get' stuff is only for Ubuntu. Better check first if this bug affects you... can you open a Konsole, enter the following command, and tell me what you see beside Version and Release?

rpm -qi libalsa2

Also in a Konsole, what output do you get from the following:

lspci -nn

geistmorder

here is the output from rpm -qi libalsa2

Name        : libalsa2                     Relocations: (not relocatable)
Version     : 1.0.14                            Vendor: Mandriva
Release     : 2.rc3.2mdv2007.1              Build Date: Thu 08 Mar 2007 05:04:35 PM CET
Install Date: Sun 08 Apr 2007 12:49:28 AM CEST      Build Host: n3.mandriva.com
Group       : Sound                         Source RPM: libalsa2-1.0.14-2.rc3.2mdv2007.1.src.rpm
Size        : 1020750                          License: GPL
Signature   : DSA/SHA1, Wed 28 Mar 2007 10:00:07 PM CEST, Key ID e7898ae070771ff3
Packager    : Thierry Vignaud <tvignaud@mandriva.com>
URL         : http://www.alsa-project.org/
Summary     : Advanced Linux Sound Architecture (ALSA) library
Description :
Advanced Linux Sound Architecture (ALSA) is a modularized architecture which
supports quite a large range of ISA and PCI cards.
It's fully compatible with old OSS drivers (either OSS/Lite, OSS/commercial).
To use the features of alsa, one can either use:
- the old OSS api
- the new ALSA api that provides many enhanced features.

Using the ALSA api requires to use the ALSA library.

and here is the output from lspci -nn

00:00.0 Host bridge [0600]: Intel Corporation Mobile Memory Controller Hub [8086:2a00] (rev 0c)
00:01.0 PCI bridge [0604]: Intel Corporation Mobile PCI Express Root Port [8086:2a01] (rev 0c)
00:1a.0 USB Controller [0c03]: Intel Corporation 82801H (ICH8 Family) USB UHCI Contoller #4 [8086:2834] (rev 02)
00:1a.1 USB Controller [0c03]: Intel Corporation 82801H (ICH8 Family) USB UHCI Controller #5 [8086:2835] (rev 02)
00:1a.7 USB Controller [0c03]: Intel Corporation 82801H (ICH8 Family) USB2 EHCI Controller #2 [8086:283a] (rev 02)
00:1b.0 Audio device [0403]: Intel Corporation 82801H (ICH8 Family) HD Audio Controller [8086:284b] (rev 02)
00:1c.0 PCI bridge [0604]: Intel Corporation 82801H (ICH8 Family) PCI Express Port 1 [8086:283f] (rev 02)
00:1c.1 PCI bridge [0604]: Intel Corporation 82801H (ICH8 Family) PCI Express Port 2 [8086:2841] (rev 02)
00:1c.3 PCI bridge [0604]: Intel Corporation 82801H (ICH8 Family) PCI Express Port 4 [8086:2845] (rev 02)
00:1d.0 USB Controller [0c03]: Intel Corporation 82801H (ICH8 Family) USB UHCI Controller #1 [8086:2830] (rev 02)
00:1d.1 USB Controller [0c03]: Intel Corporation 82801H (ICH8 Family) USB UHCI Controller #2 [8086:2831] (rev 02)
00:1d.2 USB Controller [0c03]: Intel Corporation 82801H (ICH8 Family) USB UHCI Controller #3 [8086:2832] (rev 02)
00:1d.7 USB Controller [0c03]: Intel Corporation 82801H (ICH8 Family) USB2 EHCI Controller #1 [8086:2836] (rev 02)
00:1e.0 PCI bridge [0604]: Intel Corporation 82801 Mobile PCI Bridge [8086:2448] (rev f2)
00:1f.0 ISA bridge [0601]: Intel Corporation Mobile LPC Interface Controller [8086:2815] (rev 02)
00:1f.1 IDE interface [0101]: Intel Corporation Mobile IDE Controller [8086:2850] (rev 02)
00:1f.2 IDE interface [0101]: Intel Corporation Mobile SATA IDE Controller [8086:2828] (rev 02)
00:1f.3 SMBus [0c05]: Intel Corporation 82801H (ICH8 Family) SMBus Controller [8086:283e] (rev 02)
01:00.0 VGA compatible controller [0300]: nVidia Corporation Unknown device [10de:0407] (rev a1)
03:00.0 Ethernet controller [0200]: Broadcom Corporation BCM4401-B0 100Base-TX [14e4:170c] (rev 02)
03:01.0 FireWire (IEEE 1394) [0c00]: Ricoh Co Ltd R5C832 IEEE 1394 Controller [1180:0832] (rev 05)
03:01.1 Generic system peripheral [0805]: Ricoh Co Ltd R5C822 SD/SDIO/MMC/MS/MSPro Host Adapter [1180:0822] (rev 22)
03:01.2 System peripheral [0880]: Ricoh Co Ltd Unknown device [1180:0843] (rev 12)
03:01.3 System peripheral [0880]: Ricoh Co Ltd R5C592 Memory Stick Bus Host Adapter [1180:0592] (rev 12)
03:01.4 System peripheral [0880]: Ricoh Co Ltd xD-Picture Card Controller [1180:0852] (rev 12)
0c:00.0 Network controller [0280]: Intel Corporation PRO/Wireless 3945ABG Network Connection [8086:4222] (rev 02)

i hope this helps, i dont undrstand any of it i hope you do

Snowbat

That is the same build of ALSA that shipped in Mandriva 2007.1 (Spring) so the bug applies. Your audio hardware is Intel 82801H (ICH8 Family) HD Audio Controller. I had a look in the 2007.1 Updates and Backports repositories for a later version of ALSA but there is no update available. You could try installing the ALSA from Mandriva 2008 - do you have /usr/sbin/urpmi ?

geistmorder

yes i hav usr/sbin/urpmi, excuse my noobness but what is that and what do i do with it?

Snowbat

This is the package description:

urpmi is Mandriva Linux's console-based software installation tool. You can
use it to install software from the console in the same way as you use the
graphical Install Software tool (rpmdrake) to install software from the
desktop. urpmi will follow package dependencies -- in other words, it will
install all the other software required by the software you ask it to
install -- and it's capable of obtaining packages from a variety of media,
including the Mandriva Linux installation CD-ROMs, your local hard disk,
and remote sources such as web or FTP sites.

If you want to try installing the ALSA package for Mandriva 2008 (WARNING: I don't know if this will work - backup anything important first), here's what I'd try as root in a Konsole (if the Konsole prompt shows you are guest, run the su command and use root for your username and pw):

urpmi.addmedia 2008main ftp://ftp.esat.net/pub/linux/mandrakelinux/official/2008.0/i586/media/main/release with media_info/synthesis.hdlist.cz
urpmi --allow-force --media 2008main libalsa2

You may be asked if you want to overwrite files or install dependencies - answer yes. If the install completes without error, restart ALSA to run the new version:

service alsa restart

If you still have no sound, start kmix and check that the Master and PCM sliders are turned up and that both are unmuted.