New Life for Old Computer? Linux?

A category for whatever! Can be Mudlet-related or offtopic.
Orlendr
Posts: 71
Joined: Thu May 12, 2011 11:04 pm

Re: New Life for Old Computer? Linux?

Post by Orlendr »

Ok, quick question though, 32 Bit or 64 Bit?

Orlendr
Posts: 71
Joined: Thu May 12, 2011 11:04 pm

Re: New Life for Old Computer? Linux?

Post by Orlendr »

OK! CrunchBang is now installing and it seems like it's going to work! Thanks for your help everyone, and if I have any problems I'll just come back here and bug y'all again! :D

Orlendr
Posts: 71
Joined: Thu May 12, 2011 11:04 pm

Re: New Life for Old Computer? Linux?

Post by Orlendr »

k, back already! I would really appreciate it if someone could explain to me how to download and install things in CrunchBang, as I tried getting Mudlet but it doesnt seem to work with like windows, something about command lines? (Also everything is REALLY dim for some reason and the brightness and contrast on the moniter itself is at the max, any idea how to fix this? I just tried to watch a video and I could barley see anything.)

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kevutian
Posts: 217
Joined: Fri Aug 20, 2010 8:18 pm
Location: United Kingdom
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Re: New Life for Old Computer? Linux?

Post by kevutian »

Sure thing.

Basically, you have two main options to install software in Crunchbang. Mainly, you will be using a an application called Synaptic. This is a graphical installation environment that is pretty self explanitory. For now, though, we'll be opening up a command prompt and installing a few essential packages.

Start by right clicking the desktop. A menu will appear. Go down to "Terminal" and click the left mouse button. This will open up a prompt for you.

From here, you will have access to a set of scripts known as APT. (Debian Advanced Packaging Tool.) To install any software in a GNU/Linux operating system requires superuser (otherwise known as root) privileges. As we will be installing a few packages, start off by typing:

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sudo su
This will change our "user" prompt flag from $ to # (The # signifies that we hold superuser privileges.)

Now, to use APT.

First off, check out these pages: APT Tutorial and APT cheat sheet.

Right, let's install a package. We'll start off by pulling in a sane web browser. (I am unsure how much RAM this computer has. Both Firefox and Chrome are pretty memory intensive. As a result, I generally opt for a much more lightweight browser.)

At the command prompt, type:

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apt-get install midori
Once this finishes, the package will be available. You can start it by holding down alt and pressing F2. This will bring up a run dialog. In here, simply type midori. Our new, fast browser will now load.

You can easily search for packages with APT in the following fashion:

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apt-cache search <package>
Now, as for Mudlet. You have two options here. You can either use the pre-compiled Linux binary (Although at this stage, only version 1.1.1 is available.) You can get this here.

Save that to /home/<username>/downloads.

To install this package is a little different than with using APT. Because it is a binary package (Not a Debian package) we need to install in the following fashion:

Type the following:

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exit
This will drop superuser privs. We don't want this right now.

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cd /home/<username>/downloads
This will change our current directory.

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chmod 700 mudlet*
This will change the file permissions for the Mudlet download. Right now, the permissions do not allow the file to be executed. (Only read.) - Read this page for more information of file permissions.

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./mudlet*
This will execute our file and run the installer.

Should you require a more up to date Mudlet, this will require a lot more work. (Installing multiple packages and compiling some source code.)

As for your brightness issue. I am unsure as to what is causing this. Is the problem persistent when you load an application? The default desktop background in #! is pretty dark. You can change this by right clicking the desktop and selecting Settings -> Openbox -> GUI Config Tool.

Hopefully you have enough information there to get you started. If you have any problems, don't hesitate to poke me and I'll see what can be done.

:)

Good luck.

Orlendr
Posts: 71
Joined: Thu May 12, 2011 11:04 pm

Re: New Life for Old Computer? Linux?

Post by Orlendr »

Well, the thing is, the big screen I was using wasn't always so dim, and now I've switched to a smaller brighter screen. But on waking up this morning and finding that CrunchBang does not automatically use a screensaver (it just turns the screen black!) I have been thoroughly annoyed to find that now THIS screen is just as bad if not worse than the other one! I can hardly read anything on it now (I cant read these forums on it, the letters are to dark against the background and too blurry), and it was never this dim before! Right now I'm on my mothers laptop again, just so i could check these forums... :( The only thing i can think to do is increase the size of the font, but I'm not sure where to find the settings for that...

Orlendr
Posts: 71
Joined: Thu May 12, 2011 11:04 pm

Re: New Life for Old Computer? Linux?

Post by Orlendr »

Ok, i use the package manager thing to install a package called xbacklight, but now I have o idea how to access it/use it, and telling it to run it as a program does nothing... I've made the font bigger on the forums so I can read it, but I cant read any of the commands you tell me to type, ugh... (It takes me forever to read anything, squinting at the screen like this...)

Orlendr
Posts: 71
Joined: Thu May 12, 2011 11:04 pm

Re: New Life for Old Computer? Linux?

Post by Orlendr »

Ugh, feel like I'm spamming. I dont know WHAT the hell is going on now, but, I decided to give the first monitor I had another shot, and now, it's PERFECT! Now, lets find out if I can finally install Mudlet, and I dont mind going through the hassel of everything in order to get the newset version if your willing to explain how to do everything.

Bah! It crashes as soon as it connects! :cry:

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