zenarcher

Does the Full Batman Costume come with a fully-functional Batman Utility Belt?

I've had very good success with the MSI KT-6V motherboard. It works with all of the AMD XP series processors, has 5 PCI slots, AGP 8X slot, two SATA drive connectors and has been very reliable. In fact, I use two of them here on my network and have used the same motherboard in many customer systems. It's been very reliable. zenarcher

I've always had good luck with SANE, as well. I don't know much about the PH1315 PSC, but here's a consideration. I have the HP T45 PSC, which is an older one. It worked great with Mandriva 2005LE, but does not scan with SUSE 9.3. Everything works fine on it, except the scan function with SANE. Reading about the drivers, when going to the scanner setup, I found that SUSE has two HP drivers. By default, it installs the new driver, which doesn't work for scanning, with my older HP. I didn't bother to change it, since I'm planning to get a new HP PSC. But, if I read correctly, you have to use the other HP driver, which is included. Also, I think you have to remove the newer driver and install the older driver. You cannot have them both trying to run at the same time. Maybe someone knows more about this than I do....but that is how I understood the situation when I looked at printer and scanner device installation in SUSE 9.3. In your situation, the wrong HP PSC driver may be installed. Regards, zenarcher

Here is an update on my SUSE 9.3 Pro installation. Seems that I had messed some things up, so I decided to do a reinstall, possibly correcting some of my mistakes. While I was at it, I thought I'd give RAID one more try. I'm not even quite sure how, but I did manage to set up the RAID0 array!!! I don't think I set up the partitions, so that I have full use of the RAID0, but hey, it worked! When the regular release of SUSE 10.0 comes out, I think I can do it right, with a fresh install! I have encountered some problems with SUSE 9.3, which I did not experience with Mandriva 2005, however. Possibly, if I'm reading correctly, due to a newer kernel. Here are the things which won't work with SUSE 9.3, but did work fine with Mandriva 2005. I wonder if anyone else has experienced this? 1) I am using an MSI KT6V motherboard with onboard sound, via the VIA VT8237. Worked fine with Mandriva. Yet, I have no sound with SUSE. Looking at the sound configuration, SUSE shows I am using a MSI K8 NEO motherboard with VIA VT8237, but a different version. When I try to install the sound under VT8237, I get an error...can't remember exactly what it says, but essentially that the VT8237 cannot be installed. I think something to do with a kernel problem. I suppose my option here is to get a regular sound card and go that route. 2) Using Evolution email, with Mandriva 2005 and prior, I was able to set up my Sony CLIE PEG-S360 PDA to synch with Evolution email. It is a USB connection to the cradle. Won't happen with SUSE. I did some reading and apparently, this kernel has an issue with the Sony CLIE. 3) The last problem is using XSANE to scan from my old HP T-45 multifunction printer. There is apparently an HP multifunction driver with SUSE, which I was advised to install. It won't install. Again, I get an install error, but not sure as to exactly what it says. I can print with the old HP printer, without a problem. It's a pretty old multifunction printer, so I suppose it's time to replace it, as well. Those are the three problems I've encountered with SUSE, which did not exist with Mandriva 2005. Otherwise, everything seems to be working fine. Regards, zenarcher

I just run a single O/S on my system, so I also have plenty of room. I've never tried to set up multiple operating systems and really not found a need to do so. It took a lot of convincing, but I finally talked my wife into letting me put Mandriva 2005LE on her computer a few months ago. She's gotten used to that now, but I haven't managed to talk her into letting me switch it to SUSE yet. Her system is basically the same as mine, but without the SATA drives, so shouldn't be a problem. It's just that she's a hair stylist and not a computer person...and doesn't take to change easily! I do have keep one old clunker computer with Windows XP on the network, as she plays a couple of games on it and I use it for reference, when I'm working on a Windows system for a customer. I'm hoping by the time SUSE 10.0 comes out I can talk the wife into letting me change her system over to SUSE, as well. As you've said, this is a wonderful distro and version...not a problem at all. I just had a bad experience with SUSE 9.0 and switched to Mandrake, at the time. I don't think I'll be switching back, unless there is some major problem with SUSE 10.0. zenarcher

That sounds good, danleff. I have plenty of room, as I now have the pair of 80GB SATA drives in RAID0 array. I'm a bit scared of the beta, with my limited Linux expertise, but I'm watching it closely and plan to get the SUSE 10.0 Pro, as soon as it's released. I figure that should be within the next two to three months, but I don't recall seeing an estimated release date, yet. I'm sure impressed with SUSE 9.3. I like it better than Mandriva 2005LE, so far....I like some of the update features and such, much better. Regards, zenarcher

I'm probably the last person to find out about this, but I thought it was interesting, so I'll pass it along. There's a website, called, "The Linux Counter," where you can register as a Linux user and also register the information about your system. No mailing lists or anything, it seems, if you choose to register. Once you register, you get a cool little Linux logo, showing you as a registered Linux user, with your registered user number. From the website, you can see a breakdown by country, state and city, as to how many registered Linux users there are in each place. Also, you can see how long Linux boxes have been up without a reboot. Kind of cool to be able to look at the statistics, I thought! Anyway, if you're interested, the website is: http://counter.li.org/ You might find it interesting to check out and register as a Linux user. All distros of Linux are welcome! Regards, zenarcher

I switched over to Nvidia video cards, when I switched to Linux. The ATI video cards were too much of a hassle. No problem with video here. The install would have gone much more quickly for me, except the sole purpose for my trying SUSE 9.3 was to set up SATA RAID. As a lot of people here on the forum know, I've been trying to do that for months with Mandriva...quite unsuccessfully. I had read that it was quite simple with SUSE 9.3. Actually, it was. It's just that I'm getting old and my brain doesn't comprehend instructions as well as it used to do, so I had to make about three attempts to get it right. At least SUSE told me I was doing it wrong, so I didn't waste time with a bad install. Once I understood, all went well. I think any of the later HP multifunction printers would work fine. Just that mine uses the old driver and I'd have to take the new driver out and reinstall the old one. As you say, the updater is wonderful! I also appreciate the automatic deletion of source packages. As for games, I've only found one glitch. My wife is a big "Same Gnome" player. I still have Mandriva 2005 SE on her system, but she was trying the newer version of Gnome Games on mine. In Same Gnome, I am unable to save high game scores. I think I read somewhere that it is a glitch in the version. Everything works fine in the other games I've tried. I had ordered SUSE 9.3 Pro on DVD, which works well. I always get my disks from the same source....very inexpensive...I think it was $4.99....and their disks always work. I've ordered many from the same source. No hassle burning disks and not having them work right...and for that price, I wouldn't be bothered. Regards, zenarcher [Edited by zenarcher on 2005-08-23 08:28:39]

Well, wonders never cease with Linux. I had noted my three problems, after installing SUSE 9.3 Linux. I removed the sound card driver and reinstalled it...and it's working perfectly! After a bit of Googling, I found someone else with the same problem with SUSE 9.3 and a Sony PDA. Turns out, it was a permissions problem. I did a dlpsh -p /dev/usb/ttyUSB1 in the terminal and found it "sleeping." Tried the same thing as su and it worked fine! SUSE 9.3 made a suggestion for a chmod command, which I copied and pasted...and the problem was resolved! The Sony PDA now syncs perfectly with Evolution. As for the old HP T-45 multifunction printer, it's a matter of HP up[censored] drivers. For now, I can't scan through XSANE. I could take the new HP driver out and install the old one and I understand it would then work. However, I think it's about time to get a new printer anyway, so I'm leaving it as is, since I rarely scan. Once I install anything in the way of a new HP multifunction printer, it should resolve that issue, as well. I've installed a lot of extra applications and all work, as well. One thing I found in SUSE 9.3 that I really like. After downloading an RPM, beginning to install, you have the option of either installing or testing. By checking the test box, the application runs like it is installing, but actually does not. When finished, you know whether it will install properly, or if you need to install other libraries, etc. first. You are shown which libraries or dependencies must be installed, so you can do that, before installing the RPM...saving a lot of hassle. I'm really pleased with this version of SUSE.

I just got SUSE 9.3 Pro installed a couple of days ago, myself. I switched over from Mandriva 2005 SE PowerPack. I'm fairly new at Linux, so this is the second distro I have tried. I was happy with Mandriva, but was unable to set up my SATA drives in RAID0 array with it. With SUSE, it was actually quite easy, once I got the idea of the GUI. Overall, I think SUSE is a bit more professional looking. I don't miss the Penguin with the wild looking eyes. I really like some of the features, such as YAST, better than Mandriva. I missed a few of the applications in Mandriva, but found them with little effort in SUSE RPM's, so not a problem. No hardware issues, except that the newer kernel doesn't like my Sony CLIE PDA, so won't sync with Evolution or work with the other PDA applications. Not really serious, although it did work with Mandriva 2005. I hope you find SUSE as enjoyable as I'm finding it to be. I would still say, based on my experience, if you knew nothing about Linux, Mandriva might be a little more friendly to install. Regards, zenarcher

Maybe I'm looking for something that's not needed. But, I've done a bit of searching and not come up with any sort of application of this nature. I'm wondering if there is any sort of secure file shredder in Linux. I used several different ones in Windows, including the one in PGP and Evidence Eliminator, which is an excellent security application. One more question, as I get more comfortable with Linux. I know in Windows, history is kept on everything and anything you do. Every application opened, etc. Does this occur with Linux, as well? If so, where would this me kept? If it is, would it be safe to delete? Okay, maybe I sound paranoid, but one of my primary reasons for switiching to Linux in the first place, was additional security features! Regards, zenarcher

Since installing SUSE 9.3 Pro, I've found a shredder for files, at any rate. When I installed KGpg for my file encryption, I had an option to put a shredder on the desktop. Kind of different, how it works. You merely drag a file (won't do an entire folder) to the shredder icon on the desktop and it is shredded. KGpg does 39 passes, for shredding, so should be well beyond DOD standards, I would think. Of course, that still doesn't address what is kept by Linux as far as history files, but it's sure a step in the right direction and way ahead of merely emptying the Trash Bin. zenarcher

It's unreal, the difference in speed, isn't it? I'd have never guessed! zenarcher

Wow! Thanks for that tip! I went into StarOffice and it was showing 9M for RAM, so I increased to 32M and what a difference! Since I have 1GB of RAM in this system, I seriously doubt it will bother anything! Regards, zenarcher

I'm using StarOffice 7.0 here, Dan. As I say, I'm running 1GB of PC2700 RAM and actually, StarOffice opens fairly quickly. I admit, it is a bit slow, but not more than about 5 - 10 seconds, or thereabouts. I can't complain. I think right now I have 1GB of swap on this system, with Mandriva 2005LE PowerPack. Oh, and the hard drives are 7200 RPM SATA drives. Today or tomorrow, I should receive my SUSE 9.3 Pro disks. I ordered this time on DVD. Anyway, I'm going to give it a try, as from what I've read, using the SUSE LVM setup, I can use both my hard drives effectively and easily...set up through the GUI. Or, I can set up SATA RAID0 through the GUI, as well....while I've never figured out how to do it right with MDADM or Mandriva. I tried SUSE 9.0...first time I played with Linux. It installed fine, but after something between 20 seconds and ten minutes...time varied....my ethernet connection would freeze up...then, everything would freeze up. The only way out was a hard boot from the power switch. I never figured out the problem. That's when I tried Mandrake and all worked perfectly. I'm hoping I don't encounter this issue with SUSE 9.3 Regards, zenarcher

I think you answered my question here, which I had in another post, Dan. I have been wondering about the swap, as well. I'm using 1GB of PC2700 RAM with an AMD XP3000+ processor. I also use an AGP Nvidia video card with 128M of video RAM. So, I guess you'd say that my system would run fine without the swap and maybe even a bit faster? Probably one of the most memory intense applications I run would be Star Office, just at a guess. Regards, zenarcher

That's exactly the way that Evidence Eliminator works for Windows. It overwrites 0 and !'s...then, random overwrites. It's been shown to defeat literally any forensics software or data recovery system. I've always been highly impressed with the way it works with Windows. Wouldn't have a Windows machine without it.It goes through the entire system, so is quite efficient. Of course, it sells for $150.00, so you expect it to do something right. A lot of people aren't familiar with the program, but if they are security conscious, they should be. You can check out how it works and what it does at: http://www.evidence-eliminator.com/product.d2w zenarcher

I have been using Mandrake(Mandriva) for the past three versions. I am currently using Mandriva 2005LE. I am now preparing to install SUSE 9.3 Professional, replacing Mandriva, as from what I've read, I can accomplish my goal in an easier manner with SUSE. My SUSE 9.3 Professional DVD should be here in a couple of days, so I'm attempting to avoid installation issues, where possible. My objective has been to set up my two hard drives in a RAID0 array. I have read about doing so in the SUSE documentation, but have also read about using the SUSE LVM to create a single volume from the two hard drives. I am using two identical WD SATA 80GB hard drives in my system. I use an MSI KT6V motherboard, which uses the VIA 8237 for RAID, which I would prefer to avoid, since I understand it does not work well with Linux. Anyway, having read the SUSE documentation, I am still not completely clear on a few items. Perhaps it's age and I just don't comprehend as quickly as I used to. I am wondering if anyone could tell me, since they seem so similar, if there is any significant difference/advantage to using LVM over RAID) or visa-versa. They appear, from my reading, to be quite similar. If I am correct in what I think I've read, using LVM, I can create a single volume, using my pair of SATA hard drives. Would that be correct? I am a bit unclear on partitioning that volume, as well. My thought would be to create /, /usr and swap. I believe that is how I have the partitions now, using one drive only, with Mandriva. I currently have 1GB of PC2700 RAM installed on my system. Could anyone suggest what they feel would be the best partition scheme, using SUSE 9.3 with LVM? And, best sizing for those partitions? Any advice or tips would be most appreciated, since I'm trying to avoid as many pitfalls as possible, doing this installation, when SUSE arrives. I do not run any other operating system on my box, except for Linux. Therefore, only SUSE 9.3 will be on the system. I am using an Nvidia FX5200-128 video card, so I think SUSE has a driver for that. I'm also using a 17" LCD display. I have a separate CD burner and DVD burner and will be installing from a DVD. Thanks in advance for any suggestions or tips. Regards, zenarcher

Thanks much for the info. Since I use SATA drives, mine would be sda and sdb, rather than hda and hdb, but I understand that. I've been doing a bunch of reading from the SUSE Admin manual, while waiting for the disk to arrive, so have something of a feel for it..but just wasn't too clear on what I should make for partitions. That looks good to me...just as I would have thought. Thanks for confirming that. I'm wondering if I need to bother with swap. As I say, I'm running 1GB of PC2700 RAM on the system, so probably not. If anyone has thoughts on that, I'd appreciate it. Regards, zenarcher

Well, Dan, I'm 60 years old and I still ride my motorcycle every day, so paranoid works. Not a scratch on me or the bike. As for confidence in government and political parties, I completely agree. All are about power...and power means they must control...right down to the very actions within your own private home. I figure it's my duty to protect myself, even if that means from government intrusion. What I would have given for computers in a radio station! At one time, I was Sr. News Editor for a government owned radio service in southern Africa. My office and newsroom was in the Parliament building. As you might imagine, weather and utilities are both unreliable in that part of the world. "Emergency lighting" translated into a box of candles. "Backup power" translated into a small portable generator, capable of running wire service machines...sitting on the floor of the newsroom, spitting out carbon monoxide throughout the room. All I had were manual typewriters and replacement ribbons were scarce. Sometimes, reading a newscast required some imagination and ad-libbing, when the type faded out. Ah, the luxuries of technology! Regards, zenarcher

Hi Dan, Well, I can completely understand your concern with the business and you make some very good points. Legally, it's difficult to say who would be held responsible, since even the laws seem a big vague in this area. I often wonder the same thing, when I'm working on computers for individuals. It seems to me that I read somewhere, that even doing so, if you come across what may be "illegal material" on a hard drive, you are obligated to report it to the authorities. I don't, as I'm not in the law enforcement business and I'm not interested in doing their job for them, or placing myself in a position of liability. I am well aware of the cache that Windows maintains and it's a nightmare, which is what got me thinking about Linux. As for the browser, I use Firefox and set the Cache and the History both at "0" thinking that should help. But, what other history remains in Linux is a real question, it seems. Sure wish someone would come up with some answers....sounds like it would have to come from the real Linux experts. Like you, I've done some searching and come up empty, too. Yes, I'm not particularly concerned about [censored] and the like on my systems. But, I often do keep what I consider sensitive information, such as banking info, passwords, PIN numbers, even y safe combination and such, on the computer. Likewise, a lot of business and personal correspondence. Many years ago, I began securing this material using PGP and a 4096 bit encryption key. Often, in my paranoia, I would then even resort to steganography, to futher bury the files. Yeah, I know...I'm paranoid. Unfortunately, I worked in several African countries over the years, with secret police grabbing records and such and I was in the news business. You learn paranoia can be very, very healthy. Without getting particularly political, I'll just say I don't have any more confidence in this government than I had in several others where I've lived and worked. Anyway, as an example, once a document is encrypted, the original is deleted, but without some sort of proper file shredding, could be recovered, making the encryption a bit of a futile effort. Same if there is some history lurking around on the hard drive. With Windows, which I no longer use at all, I used an excellent program called, "Evidence Eliminator." I don't know if you're familiar with it or not, but it gets rid of virtually all history, above and beyond DOD standards. It will defeat Encase and other forensics file recovery software used by law enforcement. I sure wish there was something along that line for Linux. Incidentally, I can related to your radio station concerns. I worked in many of them over the years, before the advent of computers and still, the people working there can give you an ulcer! Regards, zenarcher

I'm planning to try this same deal real soon, so I'll be anxious to hear how it works! zenarcher

Likewise.....my SATA hard drives work fine with Mandriva 2005 LE....recognized immediately during installation.

I also like the Asus motherboards and have had good luck with them. Here's another one you might want to add to your "No Way" list.....Syntax motherboards. I ordered a new Syntax motherboard and found it to be faulty, right out of the box. I contacted Syntax, went through the troubleshooting and was given an RMA number to return the board. Before sending, I read the details of the RMA sheet and found this: "Syntax Groups Corporation has discontinued all Motherboards and USB Wireless Adapters. Syntax does not provide replacements for motherboards. Syntax RMA Department will need a copy of the original purchase in order to reimburse credit to the customer." I returned the motherboard, per their instructions, on 24 May 2005, from Oklahoma, all the way to the distant land of California. After three inquiries, I finally received the refund check last week. zenarcher

I'll add that response from ASRock to my list of reasons why I always stay with MSI motherboards. I've had exceptionally good luck with them and always use them in customer systems, unless a customer insists otherwise. zenarcher