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A few linux questions
ManyCowsMoo
Registered User regular
Registered User regular
Alright, so based on the suggestions from a previous thread, I have installed Vector Linux (version 5.8 I believe) on my old box. So far, I've encountered a few problems. I'm trying to install Pidgin, which used to be called GAIM, because the version that came with Vector is a bit old. I read up on how to install programs from source and I followed the instructions which were basically: untar, ./configure, make, become root with su, make install. But then when I try to run it (as root and my user account) I get this error: "error while loading shared libraries: libpurple.so.0: cannot open shared object file: No such file or directory" However, I don't recall receiving any errors during the installation process.
Second problem is that I'm stuck with a max resolution of 1024x768 but this monitor + video card can go up to 1600x1200 using windows. So I'm guessing the video card drivers aren't properly installed. So I dled the drivers from the nvidia website and tried to find a tutorial for installing them, but the tutorial was way too confusing for me. My video card is Geforce 4 mx440 in case it matters.
Also, is there some way to add a widget to the task bar that monitors memory usage? I found one for CPU usage which is really useful but can't find one for memory usage. My window manager is XFCE. Is there something similar to Device Manager in windows which would give me a list of connected hardware?
TL;DR:
0. Installed Vector Linux 5.8
1. Trying to install Pidgin (new name for GAIM), follow instructions, but given missing library error when attempting to open Pidgin.
2. Resolution is capped at 1024x768 but should be 1600x1200; How do you install video card drivers?
3. Is there a widgit for memory usage for XFCE
4. Is there an equivalent to Device Manager in windows for linux?
EDIT: Figured out my problem with pidgin. I just updated everything using slapt-get a few times and Pidgin is working now.
Second problem is that I'm stuck with a max resolution of 1024x768 but this monitor + video card can go up to 1600x1200 using windows. So I'm guessing the video card drivers aren't properly installed. So I dled the drivers from the nvidia website and tried to find a tutorial for installing them, but the tutorial was way too confusing for me. My video card is Geforce 4 mx440 in case it matters.
Also, is there some way to add a widget to the task bar that monitors memory usage? I found one for CPU usage which is really useful but can't find one for memory usage. My window manager is XFCE. Is there something similar to Device Manager in windows which would give me a list of connected hardware?
TL;DR:
0. Installed Vector Linux 5.8
1. Trying to install Pidgin (new name for GAIM), follow instructions, but given missing library error when attempting to open Pidgin.
2. Resolution is capped at 1024x768 but should be 1600x1200; How do you install video card drivers?
3. Is there a widgit for memory usage for XFCE
4. Is there an equivalent to Device Manager in windows for linux?
EDIT: Figured out my problem with pidgin. I just updated everything using slapt-get a few times and Pidgin is working now.
ManyCowsMoo on
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2. No idea on the video drivers. If Vector doesn't package a proper autoconfiguration program, you're stuck manually editing /etc/X11/xorg.conf. Good luck, you'll need it.
3. XFCE is apparently able to run GNOME applets. You may be able to find a guide on Vector's site with instructions on how to use the GNOME system monitor applet, which can display stats on CPU, RAM, network, etc.
4. Some other distros (Ubuntu & Fedora) have device managers, no idea if Vector has one. You can run "lspci -vvv" as root in a terminal to get some text-based information if needed.
1. Are you sure you did not get an error message during install? It sounds like that library might be missing. First thing I would try is installing/reinstalling that library, if possible through the package managent system. I suppose Pidgin in not yet in repositories since you did compile it yourself?
2. This sounds more like an issue with xorg.conf rather than with the Nvidia drivers, but have you tried installing the drivers through gslapt/apt-get? I'm pretty sure the Nvidia drivers are in the repositories. However, it is more likely that you need to fiddle around with the xorg.conf file. Do some googling for how to add the proper info to this file, there should be lots of tutorials out there.
3. Yes, there is such a widget. I can't remember its name, but there is one I used on my parents computer when I set up XFCE for them. It gives three bars in the taskbar, memory usage, cpu usage and network activity. I'm pretty sure this widget should be in the base XFCE install, so look around for it, should not be that hard to find.
4. Not really sure what you are looking for here, I don't know if there is a central place in XFCE that gives you all the information from Device manager. However, there are widgets that at least gives you info about removable drives and stuff like that.
Sorry I could not be of more help. Vector is a nice distro, but not the most newbie-friendly. Also, I guess it is one of the weaknesses of linux that shows itself here, as soon as something does not work right away you will have to go under the hood and try to figure things out for yourself... but hopefully you will learn things along the way. Perhaps you could try these questions on the Vector message boards?
And one last thing that probably will not help you at all. If your hardware is not completely ancient, it might be a better idea to run Xubuntu. This gives the benefit of having all the debian repos in a pretty lean distro that have the great hardware support of Ubuntu/Kubuntu with the XFCE window manager. I run Xubuntu on my parents computer, which have the same video card you have, and they have been very happy.