Weird Slackware Problems

[dboyer]

I recently installed Slackware 9 on my Dell Inspiron 2500 laptop... I have been using RedHat 9 on my desktop for some time now, and am most happy with it... my actual linux experience is pretty low, im still learning (arn't we all? :-))

I have a laundry list of problems with slackware, however... im not sure if its me not knowing what im doing, or my install disc is hosed, or what...

When i installed slack, i selected "all packages"... i planned on giving everything a runthrough, then reinstalling what i decided i needed/used... However, when i boot 'er up, she goes into this crappy fvwm2 windows manager... when i run xwmconfig, my only options are it, fvwm95, or twm... gnome should be on that list somewhere (i chose not to install KDE, because ive tried it before)... i d/led blackbox, floppied it over, and manually installed it... it still hasn't shown up in the xwmconfig... not sure if it should, or what... i had to make a .xinitrc file that starts blackbox (exec blackbox) but when i put in exec gnome-session, it pukes...

ive been trying to `locate` gnome, but no success...

i also hunted around for things like XMMS, Xine, xawtv and other things that i found in redhat that worked wonders for what i needed, but seem to be missing in slack... do you have to manually install stuff with slack?

vi seems screwy... in redhat, when i go into insert mode (by pressing "i"), it says --INSERT-- at the bottom... the vi on slack doesn't do that... the delete keys don't work in vi either... in order to uncomment a line, i have to copy it manually without the # on a new line, then dd the old one away.. very bad...

slack seems to forget my path variables too... when i was trying to diagnose problems, it would run xwmconfig, for example, 3 or 4 times, then stop... nothing would work (startx, or any of it) until i cd'd to the right folder, and started it ./xwmconfig... j


this is only about half of the weird stuff ive encountered yet... i played with some of the cute little text games (WTF, battlestar, etc) and they "work", but they complain about not having access to certain log files, even when i run them as root... seems like that should have been set up with the install...

is this me? This seems like the time i installed XP from a scratched cd (the bottom looked like someone had attacked it with 200 grit sandpaper) and weird stuff would happen (IE wouldn't respond to a rightclick/open in new window command)... just... weird...

I was up til four last night fighting things... and i still havn't made any progress :-(

[Darkbolt]

well for the wm problem,
$ touch ~/.xinitrc
then with your favorite editor(appearently vi)
$vi ~/.xinitrc

then put in
exec gnome-session
or
exec blackbox

or whatever it is you want to run

to check your path's try
$ echo $PATH , if it doesnt work right, su and edit it in /etc/profile, or touch ~/.bashrc for a single user

RH gave you many config tools, slackware wont

vi will be your friend ;)

[j79zlr]

OK, to help you out with your window manager, first login as root, then add the bolded gnome lines to your /etc/X11/xdm/Xsession file

# If a particular session type was requested in $1, start that session:
case "$1" in
failsafe)
xsetroot -solid SteelBlue
exec xterm -geometry 80x24-0-0
;;
kde)
exec startkde
;;
gnome)
exec gnome-session
;;

If you are using GDM (I am assuming that you are since you didn't install KDE) then add a new file Gnome to /etc/X11/gdm/Sessions/ with the following

#!/bin/bash -login

/etc/X11/xdm/Xsession gnome

make sure to chmod 755 that file.

[dboyer]

well, thanks for the help so far guys, but so far no luck... alright, in order i recieved them:

then put in
exec gnome-session
or
exec blackbox

i already did add exec blackbox, thats how i installed blackbox.. no prob there... when i add gnome-session instead, it still loads blackbox... i bleive it used to give an error, so i think when i installed blackbox, it falls back to that somewhere else...

to check your path's try
thanks, if they decide to act up, ill check them that way...

then add the bolded gnome lines to your The installer put those lines there already, along with about a million extra window managers i don't think i have (enlightment, after-something, etc)

then add a new file Gnome to /etc/X11/gdm/Sessions/ with the following
/gdm/Sessions/ does not exist... i believe i am using xdm to log on (gdm is the graphical log-on prompt, correct?) blue background, has a stretched out globe that says "the XFree86 Project, Inc." on the right... i think its XDM...

i wish i could get slack running... it just... sounds cooler :-) plus, should be good learning experience... ill prolly hose my isntallation and try it again later... gotta run down to the library and give a lesson on subnetting, my favorite :-)

[psi42]

Sounds to me like your installation is corrupt. If you installed all the packages, then gnome and xmms should be there. You should also have xfce3.

Your weird problems with your path and all that other stuff should definitely NOT be happening. :( I think (hope) you just got a bad install.

Check how much stuff was copied to your partition(s) with df -h. If you installed everything, you should have roughtly 1.9 GB.

Check md5sums, burn the iso again, and give it another try.

[dboyer]

exellent point, not sure why i didn't think to check disk space...

1.2 Gs... ouch, something went booboo...

looks like im reinstalling tonight...

anyone care to help me out with some info on checking md5 checksums in the meantime? a link would be acceptable

even in its broken state, slack is still pretty nifty... i love all of the little tidbits that show up on the terminal screens when they open... its the little things :-)

[o0zi]

You use the md5sum command to check MD5 checksums, and the checksum should be provided along with the ISO.

Your differences between Redhat's vi and Slackware's vi could be because on Redhat you're using vim, and on Slackware you're using vi. vim is an enhanced version of vi, and I think you might be using the original on Slackware.

[dboyer]

looks like no slackware for me until i get to college in a week (on dial up for the time being) dirty cdrom! i should have known better... max speed of 1x? i bet i just had a bad burn...

goody tho... gives me an excuse to repartition and make room to play with *BSD... >:-)

thanks for the help!

[deanrantala]

I'm surprised no one mentioned pkgtool. Type that at the command line and you get a really nice menu-driven config tool for setting up the network, default desktop and more. When you open it, scroll down to the bottom and select "choose slackware installation scripts to run again" and in the next menu, you will select the dialog the says change default window magager.

Also, the vi version that Slack 9 uses is "vi improved". But emacs also comes standard on slack, and is usually a little easier to use. (here we go with the battle of the text editors:D ).

[o0zi]

I despise both vi and emacs:(
Emacs is more of a philosophy than a text editor!