maplecookie Veteran Posted May 20, 2008 Veteran Share Posted May 20, 2008 Questions 1 - First, stuff froze up earlier and I couldn't figure out what to do! I couldn't close anything, and I don't know what to do to see memory usage and stuff like in Windows. Nothing I tried worked! I finally restarted. I was running Writer, Evolution and Firefox when it froze. 2 - Next weird thing. It's a bit hard to describe so I'll try my best. I have two windows open currently. Writer and Firefox. Writer was on first, then I opened Firefox. I clicked on Writer to bring it to the front, then AS SOON as my mouse leaves the taskbar on the bottom and enters the screen area, Firefox comes to the front! I click on Writer, move my mouse...and Firefox pops up! It's like my 3rd day on Linux, so be gentle. So far I'm loving it, but I just don't know what to do when there are problems. How do I see errors? Is there an error log? What's the equivalent of ctrl alt delete, how do I get my internet to show US spellings of words I've mistyped?????? Really.....I search on google, but since I'm still trying to figure all of this out, it's like there are a million different things and I can't figure out what the correct option is! SOOOO I figure I'll turn to Neowin. Please help me learn how to use Fedora. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
markwolfe Veteran Posted May 20, 2008 Veteran Share Posted May 20, 2008 If your screen (X Window) is 'frozen', there are a couple of options. To just kill X, use CTRL+ALT+Backspace. This will pass a kill to X, which will drop you back into text and kickstart your g/k/xdm login screen. Alternatively, you can use one of your local virtual terminals (under CTRL+ALT+F1 through F6 or so, typically) to login via commandline and troubleshoot (check running processes, etc.). The system keeps logs, and Fedora has a GUI logviewer you can use, I believe (of course, you have to have your GUI to check the logs). There are more options, like being able to SSH in and troubleshoot from another computer, if you have SSH set up. Tons of options, but the usual is the CTRL+ALT+Backspace, or CTRL+ALT+F2 (or other available terminal) to terminal into your system via TTY. Your problem #2 sounds a little odd, and I am not sure I understand exactly what is going on. Is it a focus issue? Or an app start issue? US spellings? In Firefox? Mine is doing so. Not sure how to change it, or if even that is what you are having problems with. Anyhow, this is just a quick run at your post, as we had a late baseball game with the kids, and it is time for bed. :sleep: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rpgfan Posted May 20, 2008 Share Posted May 20, 2008 I'm guessing you have the en-GB dictionary rather than the en-US dictionary. You can download the US one here - https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/3497 markjensen already answered your first question, so I'll just elaborate on the command-line bit: Go to a virtual terminal (Ctrl+Alt+F1, F2, F3, etc.) and login. From there, you can use `killall firefox-bin' or whatever other application you might need to force-quit. To see a list of processes, use `ps ax'. You can redirect the output to a file or pipe it into something like `more' or `less' (`ps ax | more', for example). If at any time you need to attempt to switch back to X, you can use Ctrl+Alt+F7, I believe (if not that one, try Ctrl+Alt+F5 or higher). If all else fails, you can use Ctrl+Alt+Backspace to force-quit X and make it restart, or you can use `killall X'. Note that if things aren't quitting, there is an absolute last resort if you can still get to a virtual terminal - `killall -9 <application-name>'. That should make the application completely shut down, not really doing any sort of cleanup that it normally would when it was exited normally. The -9 is a parameter that states the signal to send. You can see a list of signals by reading the manpage for the `kill' command. You can find an online version of the manpage at http://www.hmug.org/man/1/kill.php that lists some of the more common signals. You don't need to worry about the warning about `kill' being a builtin command in some shells because if you're only at 3 days, I doubt you changed your default shell from bash to something else. :p Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kyro Posted May 20, 2008 Share Posted May 20, 2008 yup. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
maplecookie Veteran Posted May 22, 2008 Author Veteran Share Posted May 22, 2008 Your problem #2 sounds a little odd, and I am not sure I understand exactly what is going on. Is it a focus issue? Or an app start issue? I think it's a focus issue. I just can't stay on the screen that I want to. And yesterday my email opened 5 times for some reason. lol I can't tell whether it's me (I don't SEEM to be doing anything wrong) or if it's something about the programs! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
markwolfe Veteran Posted May 22, 2008 Veteran Share Posted May 22, 2008 If it is a focus issue, have you looked at your settings? Probably under something like System => Preferences => Windows Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
maplecookie Veteran Posted May 22, 2008 Author Veteran Share Posted May 22, 2008 I'll try that later! There are probably tons of settings I don't know about yet, lol. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
markwolfe Veteran Posted May 22, 2008 Veteran Share Posted May 22, 2008 Well, I just use simple fluxbox for my Window Manager, so this whole Gnome thing is unfamiliar to me, I am afraid. :( Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
-JMC- Posted May 22, 2008 Share Posted May 22, 2008 For the focus issue; do you have any special effects installed and in use such as compiz fusion or what Fedora seems to call "GL Desktop". This could be the issue because there is a feature in there that means the mouse focuses windows on mouse over. This was just a shot in the dark btw. Keep trying to use it and get over these issues, Fedora 9 is an amazing OS and you will love it after these problems have been sorted. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
maplecookie Veteran Posted May 24, 2008 Author Veteran Share Posted May 24, 2008 For the focus issue; do you have any special effects installed and in use such as compiz fusion or what Fedora seems to call "GL Desktop".This could be the issue because there is a feature in there that means the mouse focuses windows on mouse over. This was just a shot in the dark btw. Keep trying to use it and get over these issues, Fedora 9 is an amazing OS and you will love it after these problems have been sorted. No, I turned that on and then off again because it made everything act odd. I also just tried the windows settings and the one that I thought would be the problem...is already off. :/ So I turned it on, turned it off and we'll see. I installed flash all by myself! lol Yay for me! I need to update some drivers (per Flish) and then I'm going to try to make it plays videos and music and stuff! By the way...love Linux so far. :wub: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
markwolfe Veteran Posted May 24, 2008 Veteran Share Posted May 24, 2008 As I recall in Fedora, there was a bit of manual setup to get a system to where I like it. Needed to get a few repos added into the yum configuration. Then install flash, java and my nVidia drivers with a few short commands. But it was using Linux for a long-term OS that really hooked me. A bit of learning curve at the beginning, but I really enjoy using it. :yes: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
-JMC- Posted May 24, 2008 Share Posted May 24, 2008 Its true that Fedora is not as easy to get up to a working standard as something like ubuntu, but that means more customization as you can make it how you see it. The music and video aren't that hard to get working, there are a couple of tutorial site around especially for a Fedora 9 showing you step by step on how to get it working. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
maplecookie Veteran Posted May 25, 2008 Author Veteran Share Posted May 25, 2008 Well I got a book to work through, it's Fedora 7, but I figure the stuff about installing and such can't be too different. Heck, if it is it'll just give me something to do. I'm just going to work through it. Flish is completely excited because he's always wanted me interested in something more than just basic computer support. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kyro Posted May 25, 2008 Share Posted May 25, 2008 OMGZ its trills . ya give it a try, its fun to work around :D Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
maplecookie Veteran Posted May 30, 2008 Author Veteran Share Posted May 30, 2008 lol Nothing moves much in this forum so I've got my own little thread! I guess I can keep creating them, but at some point the entire page is going to just show my name. :D Is there a way to add my computer to a work group? That way I can access the files located on our server and print? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
markwolfe Veteran Posted May 30, 2008 Veteran Share Posted May 30, 2008 You don't need to be a part of a workgroup to access network shares like printers. You can use a smbclient -L 192.168.1.100 command (change the IP addy, of course) to ask the specified computer what shares are available. I am sure there is a GUI front-end for this sort of network connection, too. For example, when you add a printer, you can specify the IP address. If you want to add the Linux box to a workgroup, I believe that this is part of the samba server setting. I am pretty sure that Fedora prompts you for a workgroup on install to get this set up for you. But maybe things have changed in the past few releases... :unsure: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts