> For months now I have been trying to make Debian behave like a real > OS. However, I still cannot print, format/initialize a new cd or use > one to back up files, get the sound working, watch a movie or read > images from my digital camera. With Windows all this was simple. I > downloaded the relevant program, set it up and it worked. Windows is > supposed to be devilspawn and doomed, and maybe it is. It does, > however, have one saving grace; it works. It works without expecting > me to become a systems engineer.
I've had that feeling in the past. Now, however, my computer does all of what you mentioned, and also is a webserver, a photo gallery server, and an ftp server as well. Do you have Etch installed (the current stable release)? Or do you have an older release installed? If you have an older release, then reinstall with Etch (aka Debian 4.0). Anyway, I'll assume you have Etch installed. I'll assume that you've got a high speed internet connection going. And I'll assume you chose the full default desktop when you installed (if not, install the meta-package gnome-desktop-environment). The default desktop is Gnome (unless you used the KDE, or the xfce install disks). I suggest sticking with Gnome. At the bottom of this letter, I'll include some stuff about KDE, if that's the desktop environment you have (though I'm less familiar with it). Assuming you have Gnome, from the default desktop: > I still cannot .. format/initialize a new cd This should work automatically. As soon as you put a blank disk in, a message should pop up asking what you want to do with it (see http://www.opseu540.info/pictures/wl/whylinux1.png). Try selecting, from the Menu Bar at the top left corner, Desktop/Preferences/Removable Drives and Media. See http://www.opseu540.info/pictures/wl/whylinux5.png. If you still cannot get blank CDs working, then make sure you've got nautilus-cd-burner installed (open the program synaptic, which is under the "Desktop" menu in the top left corner of your screen. From here, press on it, and go to "Administration". Now, go over and select "Synaptic Package Manager", and search for "nautilus-cd-burner" -- see http://www.opseu540.info/pictures/wl/whylinux4.png). Also make sure that gnome-volume-manager is installed. If not, I strongly recommend installing it, and installing the package gnome-desktop-environment. This is a meta-package that will give you most everything. Check the Removable Drives and Media program again. If the preceding fails, you could also install gnomebaker, which is another application for cd burning. Use synaptic to install it. > I still cannot .. get the sound working This should also just work. However, sometimes some extra twigging is necessary. So, try opening the terminal (under accessories, or, press Alt+F2, and type in the run application box "gnome-terminal" --without quotes-- see http://www.opseu540.info/pictures/wl/whylinux2.png). In the terminal, enter the following commands (I'll show you what it looks like in my terminal -- my user is "mark"; hence, "[EMAIL PROTECTED]", whereas your's will be something else, like perhaps [EMAIL PROTECTED], or, basically, "[EMAIL PROTECTED]", with the root being "host:/home/user" -- see http://www.opseu540.info/pictures/wl/whylinux3.png): [EMAIL PROTECTED]:~$ su Password: debian:/home/mark# alsaconf After the command "su" (which stands for "superuser"), enter your root password. Then, enter the command alsaconf. If there is a soundcard that Debian Linux will recognize, then this command will set up the drivers. If you get "bash: alsaconf: command not found" as a response, then install alsa-base, alsa-tools, and alsa-utils, and alsa-oss. If alsaconf does not work, well, you're outta luck for sound. > I still cannot .. watch a movie You probably need the Debian multimedia repositories. So, first, copy the following two lines: # multimedia deb http://www.debian-multimedia.org etch main Now, still signed in as root, in your terminal, enter the following command (just type the stuff AFTER the number sign, which is "nano /etc/apt/sources.list"): debian:/home/mark# nano /etc/apt/sources.list At the bottom of this file, paste what you had copied (right click your mouse, and select "paste"). Now, after pasting, exit this file by pressing Ctrl-x (hold down the Ctrl key, and press the X key). You'll be asked if you wish to save this file. Yes you do, so save it. If the dos-like interface of the text editor nano scares you, then press Alt+F2, and enter "gksu gedit /etc/apt/sources.list" (without quotes), and you'll have a more WordPad like text editor with which you can paste the multimedia repository in the sources.list file. You may be asked to enter the root password. Open synaptic (see http://www.opseu540.info/pictures/wl/whylinux4.png). Press Reload. Then, press "Mark All Upgrades". Now, search for the package w32codecs. Select this to install. Search for mplayer, and select this to install. Search for mozplugger, and select this to install. While you're at it, you can also select realplayer, acroread (with acroread-plugins), flashplugin-nonfree, sun-java5-jre with sun-java5-plugin, and debian-multimedia-keyring. Now press Apply. Note: this will take a while, and you'll be asked some questions about accepting user licenses for the nonfree software (like sun-java). After this, you should be able to play games at java.com, watch flash movies at youtube, download movies (wmv, mpg, avi, etc) and watch them, read acrobat files, watch embedded and/or streaming movies at most sites, listen to music, etc. > I still cannot .. read images from my digital camera This should have happened automatically (I would have included a screenshot, but my camera is out of batteries). With the package gnome-volume-manager, digital cameras, connected via a usb cord, should just automatically show up on your desktop when you connect the camera, turning it on. However, if not, you can try gtkam. Install this, and run it (Alt+F2, gtkam), and perhaps this will work. Still, with the automounting facility of gnome-volume-manager, I'm surprised that you've had any trouble with this what-so-ever. > I still cannot print Printing too should be automatically set up, but, if it wasn't, I'm not surprised (printers are still a bit tricky to set up in Linux, from my experience.) Hopefully you have a printer that works with Linux (if you have a Canon, you're outta luck, I'm afraid). First, as root in the terminal, try the following command: debian:/home/mark# printconf This should set up your printer. You may need to reboot with the printer on). If printing still is not working, try opening your browser (Epiphany, or Firefox, or whatever) and enter the following address: http://localhost:631/ Try to add your printer. See if it will print a test page. If you still can't get your printer working, go to synaptic and install foomatic-filters-ppds. This will install almost every driver for most every printer known to work on Linux. Then, go back to http://localhost:631/, and try to set up your printer. See http://www.opseu540.info/pictures/wl/whylinux6.png If your printer still won't work, try a Google search with the name of your printer, and linux, and perhaps it'll mention something that might give you a clue. So, that's it. Hopefully, this will help. I even set up a gallery/slideshow for you, at http://www.opseu540.info/gallery2/main.php?g2_itemId=83 If you're using KDE, much of this is the same. Cameras, blank disks, etc, should be recognized (though with a different utility than gnome-volume-manager). Various other people have mentioned K3B for burning CDs, which is a good choice if you're using KDE (it's a good choice even if you're using Gnome, too, but I prefer to use either gnomebaker, or nautilus-cd-burner). For finding a digital camera, in KDE, you could try digikam instead of gtkam. For package management, KDE has a program called adept (or an awful program called kpackage, which should be avoided....you could also just use synaptic) KDE looks a bit more like Windows, in that the panel set up, and start button location, are similar. KDE works well, too. I still would stick with Gnome (I feel it's easier -- though I currently use ion3). Good luck. Mark
