Theophile

I don't think I was rude. Rather, I believe I very politely stated my firm opinion. Linux is not for everyone. And yes, I would say that Windows is, even though I haven't used it in 3 years. The simple fact is that Linux is not ready for end users who want Microsoft's compatibility and easy of use. End users shouldn't have to compile anything, know what a kernel is, etc. I started using computers when I was 5 or 6 and then, the family computer was a Commodore 64. By the time we migrated over to the PC, it was a 386 with Windows 3.1. I learned it by poking around. Of course I had help and others people's opinions when I started learning Linux, but I didn't even install the thing on my computer until I had read the book RedHat shipped with 5.2. I certainly didn't have a friend come over and install it for me leaving me just enough ability to post questions on a web forum. I think you have to have a fair amount of background information befre trying to run Linux. In short, I do not and would not recommend Linux for the caual user who wants their computer to do what it is already doing fine in Windows. Those people should stick to Windows.

Okay, it seems that yast2 is trying to load the correct module for the chipset you mention. Something that will help us help you is if you could paste here the output of 'lspci -v'. Also, sometimes integrated sound chips will have BIOS-level options. Go into the BIOS setup and pole around looking for anything having to do with the sound card. Also, while you're in there, set it to "PnP (Plug and Play) OS? NO" if there is such an option. Sometimes, in the BIOS you will have the option of slecting the irq and I/O settings. Just write down what they are if it is in fact listed. Then, back in the OS, paste us that output and we'll see what we can figure out. Also, give us some info such as your exact distro information, what kernel you are running ('uname -a'), what modules are loaded ('lsmod'), and whatever else you would consider helpful.

I'm not trying to be mean or unkind, but as I said in the other thread (before I read this one), Linux is definitely not for everyone. I am wondering why your friend installed Linux on your machine. Based on the threads you have started, it seems very clear that running Linux will not benefit you at all. I have been using Linux exclusively for three years and while it is possible to get certain Windows programs to run in Linux using Wine, getting Wine installed and properly configured is not a task for a newbie. Even then, I promise you you will not get anything to run with the speed or reliability you expect. If you want to run Windows software, don't use Linux. I'm saying this as gently as possible. Call your friend and have him come put Windows back on your computer.

Linux is not for everyone. Personally, I would recommend that you go back to Windows 98. As far as your Evo issue, you're going to have to provide more detailed information than "I installed lots of files and it won't work." What did you install? How did you install it? In what order? From what repository (I'm assuming you're using RPM's)? Copy and paste error messages and debuggin information. You can search Google for similar errors or check Ximian bug reports. Good luck...

http://freshmeat.net/search/?q=divx+database&section=projects&x=0&y=0

No. The kernel is not a file, it is the entire operating system. Without the kernel, you would have nothing. As gfolket said, the kernel IS Linux. If you are running RedHat 8, you are already running the RH8 kernel. Your Evolution problem is completely unrelated to the kernel.

Kyrie eleison...

Just to let everyone know, there is an ATI developer working with the XFree86 team to write an accelerated driver for the U1/3*0M chips. So far, it's working pretty well. They still need to fix some bugs in the 2D acceleration and then begin work taking advantage of the 3D acceleration. But it is promising!

Perhaps try one of the various Mandrake forums? In the mean time, you could try poking around in the /etc/X11/XF86Config file. If it's a PS/2 mouse, a standard PS/2 entry should work with no problem. From there you can try adding scroll wheel support.

Small digression, yes... ...but I've heard the whole "never use root as regular login" speech. But I've been a Linux end user for a little over three years now and I've never logged in to any of my boxes as anything other than root. I've never had any problems from this and it prevents much headache. i.e. commands always work, I always have permission to do what I want, I never have to be annoyed by 'su', maintaining my system on a daily basis is a piece of cake, etc, etc, etc... Carry on!

If you're looking for experienced developers, real-time or otherwise, you're definitely in the wrong forum. And by the way, applying the term "hard determinism" to kernels is a very new application of the phrase. Any casual student of philosophy or theology would understand it in a very different sense.

You need "hard determinism"? Are you doing a philosophical project or are you using this term in a different way?

Download the 2.4.20 kernel: http://www.kernel.org/pub/linux/kernel/v2.4/linux-2.4.20.tar.bz2 Patch it to 2.4.20-pre4: http://www.kernel.org/pub/linux/kernel/v2.4/testing/patch-2.4.21-pre4.bz2 Patch it with the ACPI patch: http://prdownloads.sourceforge.net/acpi/acpi-20030218-2.4.21-pre4.diff.gz?download Patch it with the kernel-level suspend patch: http://fchabaud.free.fr/English/Tricks/Laptop/Swsusp/patch-acpi-acpi20030125-swsusp18.gz 'make menuconfig' The additional options for APCI will be present. Enable them. Recompile. In the mean time, read the documentation on the pages above. Read it all.

I'd wait on the 2.5 kernels. I'm running a patched 2.4.21-pre3 and it's working nicely. Once you apply the appropriate patch, 'make menuconfig' should give you a couple extra menu items for power management. Also, 'make clean' should preceed 'make dep'

ACPI support in the 2.4 kernels is not really good enough for general useage. If you want to use features like battery and AC adapter status (and others), you'll need to patch your kernel. You should find what you need at: http://acpi.sourceforge.net/download.html