Frequently Asked Questions

1.Which is the best distribution for me?

It's just a matter of preference. Check out a few based on your needs and figure the the most suitable one for you.

2.Where can I get the installation media?

  • Borrow it from the library(Digital Section).
  • Get it from any of the club member.
  • You can get discs that from commercial linux magazines.
  • Download the iso s of the net and burn 'em.

    • 2.a.How do I install?

  • Take part in the club sessions.
  • Visit the Google groups and search.

    • 3. Why don't linux distros bundle mp3 support for its players by default?

    Refer Mp3 Licensing
    2. How to listen to music and watch video in Linux?

    • All multimedia support will be provided by VLC


    • Xine is another wonderful player.
      Install Xine-ui(xine front-end) and xine-lib for xine player to work normally.To  install rpms use the rpm command.For eg :
      rpm -ivh  xine-ui-0.99.4cvs-051003.i586.rpm (you can use -Uvh option instead  of  -ivh for upgradation of an already installed version)
    4. Can we update Linux from internet?

                   or
        Can we install softwares from internet?

    Yes there are provisions for automatic installers. Yum and Apt
    are for this. Apt is also available in freshrpms.net.

    You can also go through the instructions on our website about Apt.

    4. How to untar the tarballs(filenames with extensions .tar, .tar.bz2 ,       .tar.gz,etc..)?Also how to install softwares from such tarballs/compressed folders?
    Refer Linux Newbie Administrator Guide for file decompression.
    5. How can I play windows games under Linux?
    For all your Win gamers. Install Wine: download it from here

    Else Tryout Cedega
    6. How  can we use the Novell Netware server (kdu-novell) of Karunya

        University ?

    Install ipxutils , ncpfs and then NovelClient on your Linux system.If the versions of these softwares are not working you can get them from the internet by googling and from source forge.

     

    Once you finished installing,open and edit the etc/hosts file as follows:

    (a) In terminal  type vi /etc/hosts. This will open the file in vi editor.Press   i for insertion.

    (b) In the file there should be something like:

             127.0.0.1            localhost  

       Under that type as follows :

         192.168.2.252        kdu-novell 

        where 192.168.2.252 is the IPAddress of the server.After adding the above line press Esc key and then  :wq (colon followed by w and q to save and quit) .This for your system to know that kdu-novell is the domain name for our netware server.

    Screenshots

    1.Logging to Novel NetWare server (kdu-novell) through NovelClient.You can start Novelclient by typing novelclient in terminal or graphically by going to the Internet menu of the Main menu. Please use the Advanced button to enter the tree name,context name and the server name as follows:

    Note : If the above NDS values(the tree,context and the server names) are not helping in making the connection ,then type the IP Address in those columns(which is 192.168.2.252 at present).For IP Address of the server,contact the University Computer Centre.

    2.After successful logging , you get a screen as shown below:

       Close the popped up window and minimize the novelclient screen.

    3. Go to the home folder of the current user. For example if root user has mounted the NovelNetWare server , then he can browse through the mounted netware files like the one shown below:

    4. For logging out go to  Connections tab/button and disconnect the mounted volume as shown below:

      

    Press the Refresh buttton.The NovelNetware server will be disconnected from your system.
    7. I have re-installed Windows and my linux bootloader has gone.What should i do?

    When you re-install Windows after you have installed Linux,Windows over-write the Master Boot Record with it's bootloader file.The bootloader file of Linux is grub (lilo was used earlier) and only grub is being replaced by the windows bootloader.Hence your linux system nust be safe unless and otherwise you delete/format the partition/drive of Linux.

    Follow the steps given below:

      (a). Insert the first disk of Fedora Core Linux (will be enough for any distribution installed on your system) onto CD ROM and boot from the CD ROM.At the boot prompt type : Linux rescue   and   press enter.

       (b). The rescue system will show the partition containing Linux installation and will mount that partition under /mnt/sysimage.After the rescue system is ready , a shell appears with #.There you need to change the root (/) directory to the mounted system by typing :

    chroot   /mnt/sysimage

    For other system the installed Linux will be mounted  under /mnt diretory or /media directory.To know where the system has been mounted type :  ls  /mnt   or ls  /media  and see that  all the subdirectories are bin, etc,dev,root,home,mnt,media, etc....If this is so, then type : chroot  /mnt or chroot  /media for mnt and media respectively,  wherever the system is mounted.Once chroot is done then type :

    grub-install  /dev/hda

    where hda is your device name. For some systems it may be sda or hdb.To see your harddisk info type:  

    fdisk -l and see the output.The grub-install  command will re-install the grub of your installed system onto your MBR. Your grub has been re-installed successfully !!!Type exit twice to exit from the mounted linux system and the rescue system respectively.

    7.What if i  have more doubts/problems?
    Google is your friend.

    Or else Visit our   group