Alternate FAQ for newcomers
Posted: 19 Jul 2011, 00:13
This FAQ thread is for newcomers, or for those who forget some interesting tricks that come out handy when forgotten. In this first post I will update FAQ for newcomers. The original idea for this thread came from the following thread:
http://www.slax.org/forum.php?action=vi ... hlight=FAQ
Your suggestions are really welcome, especially newcomers.
1) Is there a FAQ on the porteus site? (Francois)
Yes. There is an access at the upper right of the page of this forum. The intent is not to replace it, but to complete it. Maybe some interesting FAQ within this thread will make their road to the official FAQ. Who knows?
2) What is a command line interface. (CLI)? (Mocabilly)
It's a program that will allow you to control your computer/server by typing commands
instead of clicking on windows and icons.
There are two sorts of CLI:
CLI in "text-modus" (any without graphics, only text)
CLI in "graphical modus"
2) How do I get into command mode, also called CLI (Command Line Interface)
or in Konsole (Graphical Command Line Interface)?
(Cichlasoma)
In the KDE environment you are in graphic mode.
At bottom left of your display in the KDE taskbar, there is a small black box.
By double-clicking it you start Konsele, a graphical command line program.
If you want to use a CLI in "text-modus" hold "ctrl + alt" down and press F2
Any F-key from F1 till F6 will do.
You can switch back to your graphic mode (KDE) by holding down "ctrl + alt" and pressing "F7"
It's very easy to get a lot of useful system information by using a few simple commands.
For example, try the "lspci" command, which will list detailed information about your
hardware components, the "poweroff" command will immediately shut your computer down.
4) How do I mount the iso image so to get an access to its files? (Brokenmand and Francois)
a. to mount the iso file, example for iso file in /root/Downloads/:
bash-4.1# mloop /root/Downloads/Porteus-v1.0-i486.iso
Your image has been mounted at:
/mnt/loop
You can unmount it by typing uloop
to unmount
bash-4.1# uloop
b. iso image can be mounted with the following commands in cli mode:
bash-4.1# mkdir /mnt/iso
bash-4.1# mount -o loop -t iso9660 /root/Downloads/Porteus-v1.0-i486.iso /mnt/iso
5) What would be an efficient way to ask questions on Porteus or Linux forum (CaptainPicard's suggestion)?
Strictly speaking you should have a look at the following thread on How To Ask Questions "the smart way or the hacker way":
http://www.catb.org/~esr/faqs/smart-questions.html
However, on the Porteus forum there are a lot of nice people, so try but don't be so nervous about the hacker's way.
6) What is a partition? (Francois)
A partition is a segment of a hard disk.
7) What is a file system?( Mocabilly)
The way files are stored in partitions on your hard disk, is arranged by
the file system you use.
If you want, you can choose a different file system for every partition on your hard disk.
Examples of file systems are FAT, NTFS, EXT3 XFS, reiserFS
Most common used filesystems at this time are NTFS for Windows operating systems and
EXT3 for Linux operating systems.
An important note, your operating system will only be able to read from a file system
if it supports that file system.
For instance, Windows operating systems, can not read files from file systems like EXT3.
(Not unless you install a EXT3 driver.)
8. What is a module? (Francois)
A module is a compressed program, like for instance Firefox.
Extra device drivers are also packed in modules.
Modules for Porteus have the ".xzm" filename extention.
There are many modules available for Porteus. But you can also look at the compatible Slax modules. All you have to do is to convert these lzm module into xzm modules. You can find them in the modules pages:
http://www.slax.org/modules.php
If you want to know more about modules, take a look at:
http://www.slax.org/documentation_create_modules.php
9) How can I start automatically some commands at bootup?
Scripts are executable files that contain command lines. They have to end in .sh. These could be started automatically at bootup if you put them in the autostart folder.
Example 1, (Setting keyboard language): setkeymap is a command to set the keyboard language. For multilingual canadian or french canadian keyboard the script called ca-keyboard.sh is simply:
Example 2 (Dual display): for my MSI 340dx and its accompanying its standalone BENQ G2220HD I have a script called dual-display:
Working with porteus 32 bit edition these files is automatically started at bootup by placing it in /root/.kde3/Autostart
10) For any other concerns, what is you best advice?
Look at the team's documentation leaded by Ahau:
http://porteus.org/forum/faq.php
And take some counselling from Captain Picard:
http://forum.porteus.org/viewtopic.php?f=39&t=59
Edited as of 2010708, 2230h, Montréal.
http://www.slax.org/forum.php?action=vi ... hlight=FAQ
Your suggestions are really welcome, especially newcomers.
1) Is there a FAQ on the porteus site? (Francois)
Yes. There is an access at the upper right of the page of this forum. The intent is not to replace it, but to complete it. Maybe some interesting FAQ within this thread will make their road to the official FAQ. Who knows?
2) What is a command line interface. (CLI)? (Mocabilly)
It's a program that will allow you to control your computer/server by typing commands
instead of clicking on windows and icons.
There are two sorts of CLI:
CLI in "text-modus" (any without graphics, only text)
CLI in "graphical modus"
2) How do I get into command mode, also called CLI (Command Line Interface)
or in Konsole (Graphical Command Line Interface)?
(Cichlasoma)
In the KDE environment you are in graphic mode.
At bottom left of your display in the KDE taskbar, there is a small black box.
By double-clicking it you start Konsele, a graphical command line program.
If you want to use a CLI in "text-modus" hold "ctrl + alt" down and press F2
Any F-key from F1 till F6 will do.
You can switch back to your graphic mode (KDE) by holding down "ctrl + alt" and pressing "F7"
It's very easy to get a lot of useful system information by using a few simple commands.
For example, try the "lspci" command, which will list detailed information about your
hardware components, the "poweroff" command will immediately shut your computer down.
4) How do I mount the iso image so to get an access to its files? (Brokenmand and Francois)
a. to mount the iso file, example for iso file in /root/Downloads/:
bash-4.1# mloop /root/Downloads/Porteus-v1.0-i486.iso
Your image has been mounted at:
/mnt/loop
You can unmount it by typing uloop
to unmount
bash-4.1# uloop
b. iso image can be mounted with the following commands in cli mode:
bash-4.1# mkdir /mnt/iso
bash-4.1# mount -o loop -t iso9660 /root/Downloads/Porteus-v1.0-i486.iso /mnt/iso
5) What would be an efficient way to ask questions on Porteus or Linux forum (CaptainPicard's suggestion)?
Strictly speaking you should have a look at the following thread on How To Ask Questions "the smart way or the hacker way":
http://www.catb.org/~esr/faqs/smart-questions.html
However, on the Porteus forum there are a lot of nice people, so try but don't be so nervous about the hacker's way.
6) What is a partition? (Francois)
A partition is a segment of a hard disk.
7) What is a file system?( Mocabilly)
The way files are stored in partitions on your hard disk, is arranged by
the file system you use.
If you want, you can choose a different file system for every partition on your hard disk.
Examples of file systems are FAT, NTFS, EXT3 XFS, reiserFS
Most common used filesystems at this time are NTFS for Windows operating systems and
EXT3 for Linux operating systems.
An important note, your operating system will only be able to read from a file system
if it supports that file system.
For instance, Windows operating systems, can not read files from file systems like EXT3.
(Not unless you install a EXT3 driver.)
8. What is a module? (Francois)
A module is a compressed program, like for instance Firefox.
Extra device drivers are also packed in modules.
Modules for Porteus have the ".xzm" filename extention.
There are many modules available for Porteus. But you can also look at the compatible Slax modules. All you have to do is to convert these lzm module into xzm modules. You can find them in the modules pages:
http://www.slax.org/modules.php
If you want to know more about modules, take a look at:
http://www.slax.org/documentation_create_modules.php
9) How can I start automatically some commands at bootup?
Scripts are executable files that contain command lines. They have to end in .sh. These could be started automatically at bootup if you put them in the autostart folder.
Example 1, (Setting keyboard language): setkeymap is a command to set the keyboard language. For multilingual canadian or french canadian keyboard the script called ca-keyboard.sh is simply:
Code: Select all
setxkbmap caCode: Select all
xrandr --output LVDS1 --mode 1366x768 --output VGA1 --mode 1920x1080 --right-of LVDS110) For any other concerns, what is you best advice?
Look at the team's documentation leaded by Ahau:
http://porteus.org/forum/faq.php
And take some counselling from Captain Picard:
http://forum.porteus.org/viewtopic.php?f=39&t=59
Edited as of 2010708, 2230h, Montréal.
