# FEDORA 4 + I NEED HELP!!! (same probs as SUSE!)



## adit_sen (Mar 6, 2006)

hi all..
I am running Fedora Linux 10 (tried earlier with suse 10) on my Compaq Presario M2202TU Notebook.
There are couple of things i need help in..
I connect to the internet using my college LAN network. In windows xp, this means that i just plug in the LAN cable to the ethernet card, and it automatically gets connected. I do not have to set any Static IP address. IP address is automatically set.
These are the details as I see it in Windows XP
Address Type : Assigned by DHCP
IP Address : 134.x.x.x
Default Gateway : 134.x.x.x
DNS Server : 134.x.x.x

Now I have no issues at all with windows. The connection is via the college proxy server, which I have to authenticate with my username & password. But I have been unsuccessful in setting up the network in SUSE. My ethernet card is detected properly (Realtech RTL8139 Family PCI Fast NIC). Could you please help me configure the network? I have tried tweaking around with YAST, but have had no success.

Secondly, I have a usb mouse, which again is not detected in Linux. How to I get that to work?

Thirdy, I have problems with the sound card. My sound card is also detected (Conextant AC-Link Audio AC'97), but there is no sound output. How do I reslolve that?

And lastly, how do I mount my USB flash disk in linux? Its not like Ubuntu (which I used before), where it would automatically mount as I plug it in.


I know its a lot of questions, but any help would be appretiated.

Thankx..
Peace...
adi


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## desertwind (Mar 6, 2006)

1. System administration --> Networking configuration --> Network base configuration. You can select "Automatically obtain IP address using dhcp" there for your NIC.

2. This is strange. That must work. What is your make of the mouse ?

3. Have you checked the volume levels ? Is there any error while playing any sound, there is a chance that the volume levels are muted by default.

4. try to mount your disk manually using the following command

$ mount /dev/sda


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## adit_sen (Mar 6, 2006)

1. I have already selected 'Automatically obtain IP address via dhcp', but it does not connect.

2. My mouse is an unbranded one. Its one of the 'Made In china' ones. LOL. But anyhow, under winxp it gets detected as 'PS/2 Compatible Mouse'

3. I cannot even open the volume levels, as I get the error message 'No Mixer Device'

4. Will try that. Isn't there anyway to automount it everytime I plug it in?


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## Satissh S (Mar 6, 2006)

2. Hmmm.. there is the downfall  
Do the following,
Open /etc/X11/xorg.conf in your favourite text editor, Now change the protocoll type
*Option "Protocol" "usb"*
 to usb in the mouse configuration section. Save and close the file. Now you shud have mouse workin'.

3. Open a terminal and run alsamixer as root (su in), press *m* to unmute the *Master* and the *PCM* sections and raise their levels by about 70 odd and press [ESC] to quit.
I that doesn't work,
Post the output of 
# lspci | grep audio


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## adit_sen (Mar 7, 2006)

@Satissh
Did what you said to configure the mouse. Still no luck on that.
As for the sound, alsamixer gave an error:
'function snd_ctl_open failed for default : No such device'

Here is the output of lspci | grep audio
00:1e Multimedia audio controller: Interl Corporation 82801FB/FBM/FR/FW/FRW (ICH6 Family) AC'97 Audio Controller (rev 03)

@Desertwind
I tried to mount the usb drive as you said. No hopes there either.


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## adit_sen (Mar 7, 2006)

and for diagnostics of my network problem, here's the output of ifconfig

Link encap: Local Loopback
inet addr: 127.0.0.1 Mask: 255.0.0.0
inet6 addr: ::1/128 Scope: Host
UP LOOPBACK RUNNING MTU: 16436 Metric: 1
RX Packets: 2637 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 frame:0
TX Packets: 2637 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 carrier:0
collissions:0 txqueuelen:0
RX bytes: 159518 (155.7kb)
TX bytes: 159518 (155.7kb)


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## mediator (Mar 7, 2006)

HI,
1) Try to ping ur college proxy server. If it doesnt affirm then it might be some other connection problem...but if it affirms...then its probably ur dhcp settings not working on for Suse. Try to manually fill in the dhcp settings(server) in the ethernet configuration.

2)For the mouse u may buy a usb to ps/2 or serial converter and then try again!

3)For sound check if ur volume is not mute or low.
 Then there is an option for 'external amplifier' in sound section. Enable it!

4)Lastly, for mounting usb disk....Make a new folder say "/mnt/usb"..Now try mounting the usb by commanding "mount /dev/sda /mnt/usb"!
Check whether its sda or sdb etc!

I hope dats solves the problem!!


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## Satissh S (Mar 7, 2006)

Try to change the "protocol" to "auto" or"microsoft" or "logitech" and try again.
For audio,
Do as root.,
modprobe snd-intel8x0
modprobe snd-hda-intel
Try the above and post back.
Refer to this ALSA  page if you want guidance.
*www.alsa-project.org/alsa-doc/index.php?vendor=vendor-Intel#matrix


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## adit_sen (Mar 7, 2006)

@mediator...
thanks for your reply, but i've still gotten nowhere.

1. i tried pinging my coll DNS server, all I got was "No Connection Available". And i really dont know where to put in the dhcp server configurations (im not even too sure what they are)

2. i think i'll give up on the mouse. i can do well with my touchpad

3. Mute was the 1st thing I checked, and that's not the problem.

4. And for mounting the usb, after i give mount /dev/sda or sbd, i get "No Such Device"..

Why is Linux such a pain??


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## naveenchandran (Mar 7, 2006)

@adit_sen

are u connecting your USB Devices to the docking station or directly to your notebook?

If it is not working after booting into linux try unplugging and replugging the device....


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## adit_sen (Mar 7, 2006)

i'm connecting it directly to the notebook. i dont have a docking station. come to think of it, no usb device seems to work in linux. i had fedora core 4 before suse 10, and i had the same issue there, with the sound, usb and the network!!


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## desertwind (Mar 7, 2006)

adit_sen said:
			
		

> i'm connecting it directly to the notebook. i dont have a docking station. come to think of it, no usb device seems to work in linux. i had fedora core 4 before suse 10, and i had the same issue there, with the sound, usb and the network!!



That's one of the wierdiest statement I've ever heard of a linux distro. I've been using gnu/linux(only) for past 8 years and I've rarely faced any troubles with usb. (except for some handycams).

Well, after plugging in the usb disk please issue the following command from a terminal window and post out put here.

```
fdisk -l
```

Also check whether your usbdisk's led is blinking or on while inserted.

After pluggin in the usb disk and usb mouse, please issue the following command from a terminal window and post output here.

```
cat /proc/modules
```


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## mehulved (Mar 7, 2006)

adit_sen I too use a USB mouse and it works fine though I have to do some fiddling around in some distros. Here's the part of my xorg.conf which relates to mouse, it might help you.

```
ection "InputDevice"
	Identifier	"Configured Mouse"
	Driver		"mouse"
	Option		"CorePointer"
	Option		"Device"		"/dev/input/mice"
	Option		"Protocol"		"ImPS/2"
	Option		"Emulate3Buttons"	"true"
	Option		"ZAxisMapping"		"4 5"
EndSection
```
BTW I use IBM USB mouse. 
See if this helps you.


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## Satissh S (Mar 7, 2006)

@riyaz: Eight Years!!! WOW! I'm just one up and already i've been addicted to this linux box of mine. And you , EIGHT years!! 
@adit:
*www.linux-laptop.net/
This might just help you. Choose your vendor from the right for some quirks specific on that.


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## desertwind (Mar 7, 2006)

@Satissh: Yes, My first distro was Red Hat Linux 5.1 (codename Manhattan), on some mid 1998's. I really doesn't remember where I get it, Along with RH Linux Bible or PCQuest. I moved on to gnu/linux by early 1999, and since then MyPC has witnessed no Windows. I've used Windows since that only in the following places.

1. My Office
2. School/College Lab
3. Public internet cafes
4. My friends home.

There was one funny experience for me while on a cafe, in some 2001 or so. Inspite of one  (and only one) cabin being free, the owner refused me to offer the cabin. When asked fr reason, I was answered "It's not that the usual one. It's some other else". He was unable to clear my anxiety, and I decided to check out myself, what is this "The Other One". To my surprise, what I found there was a PC installed with SuSE Linux. And he himself was unable to use that PC. He told me that it was some freakin joke by his friend, who formatted the PC, and installed SuSE onto it.


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## digen (Mar 7, 2006)

adit_sen said:
			
		

> and for diagnostics of my network problem, here's the output of ifconfig
> 
> Link encap: Local Loopback
> inet addr: 127.0.0.1 Mask: 255.0.0.0
> ...



I dont see a ethernet interface except the loopback interface, are you sure you have activated the correct ethernet interface?


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## adit_sen (Mar 7, 2006)

there is only one ethernet card that shows up in the Yast Network devices, and that is the only one which is activated. If there's something wrong, please tell me how to rectify it..
Thankx


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## desertwind (Mar 7, 2006)

pease post the output of the follwoing command


```
netstat
```


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## mediator (Mar 8, 2006)

Yea i too think ur ethernet isnt activated! Please make one ethernet connection if u dont have one in the "network connection setting wizard"...find it urself..i never experienced suse!


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## praka123 (Mar 8, 2006)

post ur 
	
	



```
[prakash@sarge:~# lsmod
```
 here.if ur eth card is detected try 
	
	



```
prakash@sarge:~#ifconfig eth0 up
```
 and ping the proxy server.i assume u already configured eth using Yast.i dont use Suse now,i thing in /etc/sysconfig/...somewhere u'll find ifcfg-eth0 file.just check it for ip addrs set properly.

For Audio it must be autodetected using alsaconf command.


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## adit_sen (Mar 8, 2006)

hmmm. **looks tried and frustrated**.
@tech_your_future: I tried editing my xorg.conf and replacing it with wat you gave, but still no luck

@desertwind: theres really no easy way i can post the output of those as i would have to take a pen and paper and write down everything. the thing is i cannot copy the text in a file and post it, cuz i can only post it from windows, where my network connection is working. i cannot copy the text file into the windows drives, cuz i cannot write on ntfs systems using suse. neither can i copy it to a usb flash disk, cuz that too does not work in linux. **sigh**

@prakash kerala: same goes as to what i said to desertwind

I give up on linux. I dunno how some of you managed 8 years with it. Hats off to you. My college computers are all on linux, and everything i'm taught is linux based, but I dont think I can manage it on my computer. Someone from my dept told me to switch to fedora core 4, cuz thats wat they use. I wonder if its really worth the trouble.

Thanks anyway guys...
Peace...


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## naveenchandran (Mar 8, 2006)

I suggest you to Try Knoppix Live CD and check it....


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## mehulved (Mar 8, 2006)

Linux is sure worth all your efforts. Have you tried Ubuntu linux? I feel that it has one of the best hardware detection rates. Try out Ubuntu live cd and if all goes well you can install it. 
Sometimes some hardware becomes troublesome to install but a few trial and error hits and a bit of frustration really pays off in the end. I know how it feels cos I too had the same problem a few months ago.


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## adit_sen (Mar 8, 2006)

hmmm. here i really cant get hold of ubuntu or any other distro for that instance cuz my college ban's me from downloading linux distros, as it takes up too much bandwith (i live on campus). neither can i get hold of any cd's as this place is damn expensive. the only distro's i can get are suse 10 and fedora core 4, cuz they are hosted on my college ftp server and i can download them. so should i give a try with fedora?


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## mehulved (Mar 8, 2006)

You can order Ubuntu free of cost from shipit.ubuntu.com. But, only drawback is that it takes about 1-1.5months for arrival.
You can surely give FC a try. If it works gr8.


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## desertwind (Mar 8, 2006)

In my personal opinion FC4 is far better than SuSE, though many wont agree with me. Anyways give it a try


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## desertwind (Mar 8, 2006)

adit_sen said:
			
		

> I dunno how some of you managed 8 years with it.



You'll even get wondered knowing the fact that RMS is using his gnu/hurd OS, fors last 20 years, that too without any GUI.

He browse internet, reply emails, type documents, all in shell using a very powerful software, GNU emacs.


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## Satissh S (Mar 8, 2006)

it's interesting how people feel afraid of linux, when something is just not working for them. Patience is a virtue and is so important when learning new things. 
I always felt a bit frustrated and broken when it didn't work for me first up, but you have to try again and again to get thinks workin' as you learn a lot from the experience. 

@aditsen:
You are leaving linux, just because you can't get audio and ethernet workin'. When i used Asrock AGI p4i65 mobo, it used a patented technology called AGI which allows you to plug both a AGP Graphics card and a PCI card in the same slot. 
Of-course they didn't release their design specs to the kernel developers and a AGP card plugged in always caused a panic when booting with a 2.6 kernel. 
I remember weeping bitterly over nights just b'coz i couldn't install FC4 and most of them in this forum thought that i was having problem installing my graphics drivers. See kernel BUG#5807. 
Everytime i tried to install FC4 in it it will hang while loading anaconda with some bug call traces, while i tried my hand with a 2.4 series kernel and everything worked fine. The problem was with hotplug. Then i got another mobo (Asus) and i'm running GNU\linux without any trouble and i'm experiencing freedom. Iam learning driver programming to learn and make drivers for my old Mobo so that people with the same don't suffer. Thats the way you have to be, you shud never give up. I'd REALLY suggest not to give up linux b'coz you have the support of your teaching staff and you can handle and come out of problems much easily than any of us here.
For You Information:
If working on root terminal, you need to have gpm enabled to select stuff with the mouse and use the middle mouse button to paste them. If workin on a terminal emulator,
Select text with mouse and then,
[shift] + [delete] ==> copies stuff
[shift] + [insert] ==> paste stuff


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## adit_sen (Mar 8, 2006)

thanks for the pep talk. i know how to copy and paste stuff...but like i mentioned, i cannot post it online, cuz i can connect only from windows. now the text which i have copied and put in a txt file, i cannot access from windows cuz i cant access the linux partition from windows (i've tried ex2fs, and similar programs, but they cannot access the suse filesystem). so im stuck there too. anyhow, i'll be busy with classes for the rest of the wk, will install fc4 during the weekend. (actually suse is now not booting up at all....i get all sorts of errors...kernel panic...unable to find bla bla....)
thankx anyway..
peace


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## desertwind (Mar 8, 2006)

You've got support from your teaching staff, you've worked gnu/linux on lab, you've excellent communities over, a lot of forums (including this one), and a buch of ppl ready to help.

When I started using it, I only have a book in hand. Red Hat Linux bible. And internet. There has been a single day in my life which hasn't any problems at all. I'll just explain one such incident.

I was trying to compile audioscrobbler plugin for rhythmbox in my FC4 box. Inspite of hard tries for over a month, it just refuses to compile. It has given me errors and errors. I searched all over net, posted my problems on various forums, including thinkdigit, contacted audioscrobbler support, but in vain.

Atlast i found that the code was written for python 2.4, and i have python 2.6. So i tried uninstallin python 2.6 which give me a hell of dependancy problems. I forced it, installed python 2.4 and compiled the code. Still it got errors. I found out that there is some missing headers, so i manually copied all that files into the specified directory. compiled again. It worked. so i upgraded to 2.6 again. after a reboot it give ne a hell of problems, a lot of panel applets and other application were crashed. so i killed X boot into runlevel 3, removed python 2.6 and installed again. Still the same problem. After 3 hours of continous work, i managed to get back my system worked. I uninstalled 2.6, installed 2.4, then removed 2.4 and then installed 2.6 afresh. It was really one of my worst experience, which i got any help from others. After that i gzipped that compiled audioscrobbler plugin, and used it after my further formats. I never compiled that piece of code again.

So my advice is keep trying, there will be one day, all your problems will be solved. From that day onwards you'll wait for problems. As I do now.

@Satissh: His problem is not about copying stuff from terminal, but porting the copied stuff from linux to windows. He has only net access on windows, usb disk is not working, and he's got ntfs partitions. Suggest a solution for that.

@adit: Download the following file, using which can browse your linux partitions from windows. copy all the outputs to a text file, copy this file from windows using the software and post it here.
*www.freewebtown.com/desertwind/progs/explore2fs-1.00pre6.zip


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## adit_sen (Mar 8, 2006)

i must say i'm overwhelmed by the support. thankx guys. i will have another go at linux, and get right down to the very bottom of it. lol.

@desertwind: like i mentioned b4, i've already tried explore2fs. it said it could not read the linux partitions cuz it did not find any linux partitions on my hdd. funny. and anyhow, my suse is not booting up at all. so i'll wait till friday, when i get fc4, and have a go with that

thanx.


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## Satissh S (Mar 8, 2006)

Oh sorry! I thought, he was having probs with copying text over terminal. As riyaz suggested, Explore2Fs is your best bet.
Try hard to get your ethernet working, and half of ur probs will be solved.


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## adit_sen (Mar 17, 2006)

i'm gonna install fedora this wkend...now durin the installation, my ethernet is detceted, but it fails to configue (i chose auto configure with dhcp). is there any tweaks thr which could help me? suse linux was no help.

peace..
aditya


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## mehulved (Mar 17, 2006)

How do you connect to internet on windows? If you have static IP you can check it from windows and write down your IP address, DNS, Gateway and Netmask. Now try configuring ethernet again and instead of DHCP choose static and insert those values and see what happens.


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## adit_sen (Mar 18, 2006)

fedora 4 is finally installed, but im still stuck with the same three problems that i had with suse.
1. no network access
2. no usb devices functioning
3. no sound

so i need help all over again.

@tech_your_future - i connect to a proxy server via lan, which requires authentication. i dont have a static ip address, but a dynamic ip address which is autoconfigured by dhcp in windows, but does not seem to work in linux.
i've already once tried putting a static ip address, but with no effect...


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## Satissh S (Mar 18, 2006)

1. About your network. Do you have any dns addresses? add them to /etc/resolv.conf .
run system-config-network and try to configure your network with dhcp.

2. Your usbdisk should be of win filesystems fat or msdos or any lin fs's . No Ntfs support default in fc4.
try,

```
# su
<password>
# mkdir /mnt/flash
# mount -t vfat /dev/sda /mnt/flash
```

3. Sound seems to be u'r problem, is it? may be lack of drivers? or sumthing else? 
See if you get chorus sound with this command

```
cat /dev/urandom >> /dev/dsp
```


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## praka123 (Mar 19, 2006)

I dont use FC4 uses rhel4,u can select network as configured by dhcp using system-config-network or "netconfig".if not,i fear ur ethernet card isn't detected in Linux.U can atleast get us what card make it is by  referring lappy manual or if u got M$ XP u can get infi from start menu:>accessories>system tools>system information.4 audio,get FC4 latest alsa-driver,libasound,alsa-libs and alsa-utils rpms and install from 
*www.atrpms.net 
try alsaconf,will configure sound 4 U.make sure u unmute volume control using "gnome-volume-control" or any other.
usb mouse..FC4's got GUI tool to configure mouse..?
another tip will say is to get latest bash-completion rpm and install it.now double click TAB will show all,now

```
sarge:~# modprobe
```
research for the module mostly matches ur ethernet card model and modprobe it.for info about a module,try "modinfo xxx"


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## adit_sen (Mar 19, 2006)

ok. i tried configuring the network using system-config-network. I have a primary and tertiary dns address given to me, and i have set those values. But once i go to activate the device, i get 'Determining IP address for eth0: failed'. Also, at bootup i get the following msg when its trying to activate the network device
'SIOCSIFFLAG5 Invalid Argument'

my usb disk does have a fat filesystem. @satish: i tried mounting as you said, but I got the following error
'special device /dev/sda does not exist'.
its not just the usb flash drive, even like i said before, my usb mouse also does not work.

as for the sound, my sound card is properly detcted, but i get on boot the msg 'No volume control elements/device found'.

basically if i could get my network up and running, that would solve 80% of my problems. i cannot even access the ntfs filesystem of windows thru fedora, so i cannot download and install any rpm's for sound.

and suggestions?


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## Satissh S (Mar 19, 2006)

abt the flash drive, sorry.. thats /dev/sda1 try with it!! Since linux can write on fat partitions, copy the logs to the flash disk and post here. Good luck. 

abt sound.. umm.. wat cud be the problem?? besides.. do you hear static when u execute the other command.
ie

```
cat /dev/urandom >> /dev/dsp
```


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## adit_sen (Mar 22, 2006)

its been over two weeks and i'm still stuck where i started with linux.... 
@satish...even for /dev/sda1, i get the same error 'special device /dev/sda1 does not exist'
and for the sound, for the cat /dev/urandom >> /dev/dsp command, i dont get any output. just nothing happens!!
so HELP!!!


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## Satissh S (Mar 24, 2006)

ok .. adit , try with /dev/sda1.. /dev/sda2 upto /dev/sda4.. but is the usb's light blinking..?? and 4 da sound post back what u get out of the following..

1. cat /proc/asound/cards

2. /etc/init.d/alsasound restart 
u get ny error messages from it?

3. lspci | grep -i audio

Give me u'r entire specs such as motherboard name.. model code, manufacturer name and MOST IMPORTANTLY audio hardware name such as Intel HD AUDIO.. etc.,

know adit.. that the support must be enabled in the kernel.. a part of the os.. for u'r hardware to work.. and remember that no hardware is unsupported.. just that u need drivers for it.. I'll tell ya how to do.. but fr now dont lose hope.. we are making this work.. but why not ask one of u'r professors to help u _by hand_ .


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## adit_sen (Mar 30, 2006)

hi..
i just learned that at my university, where they have use the same network that I am trying to get access to, they have configured the proxy server through the firewall settings. so how to i edit the firewall settings in fedora? i remeber that I had selected 'no firewall' during installiation. is there any way I can enable it and then edit the configuration?
@satish....i'll post the output of what all u've specified once i get back home tonite....jus to let u kno, my prof's say that i shud try to figure it out myself than just asking him straight away...lol...

peace..
aditya


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## adit_sen (Mar 30, 2006)

@satish...
here's my output of lspci | grep -i audio
00:1e Multimedia audio controller: Interl Corporation 82801FB/FBM/FR/FW/FRW (ICH6 Family) AC'97 Audio Controller (rev 03)

2. for /etc/init.d/alsasound restart i got plenty of error messages. alsa device not found etc etc

My hardware details are as follows
1. Intel 915GM Mobile Chipset Motherboard - I dont have any more details beyond this for my motherboard, as my laptop documentation does not specify it.
2. My sound card is onboard Conextant AC-Link Audio.

I guess I should also mention that when I run 'system-config-soundcard' and I choose 'play test sound', in the terminal the following error msg appears

amixer: mixer attach hw:0 error: no such file or directory
aplay: main:sos audio open error:no such file or directory


-aditya


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