Excellent hardware detection!

[blackbelt_jones]

I just got a nice P3 Dell for 75 dollars at http://www.babbagesbasement.com/, and so far, Vector is the only thing that I've been able to install it on, because the two video cards seem to stump the hardware detection for Debian and Suse, two heavyweights.   There's probably something I could do to disable the onboard graphics card in the bios if I knew how, but I haven't been able to figure that out.   So the only success I've had getting this thing running is with Vecor.  Vector was able to give me a dialogue box during the installation that listed both cards, and gave me a choice of which one to enable.  SUSE couldn't detect either one of them.

I'm not too thrilled with Vector's package management, so I keep using it as a fallback distro.  For example, for whatever reason, slapt-get just can't seem to download fluxbox.  But that's small potatoes compared to not being able to read the graphics card.  I can live without fluxbox if I need to.  If I was just a little more into KDE, and had just a little less problem building the packages I want from source, Vector would be all I ever need, but even if  it doesn't become my distro, I'll always reccomend it to others, because it continues to impress me with quality performance.  And if I can't get Ubuntu to work on this machine (my last attempt) I think it's going to become my distro on this machine after all, fluxbox be damned.

[M0E-lnx]

i have installed and removed fluxbox numerous times without any problems. It's just a matter of having the correct repositories enabled

[blackbelt_jones]

Fluxbox is no big deal.  I have also installed fluxbox without any problems.   It's in the repositories or I wouldn't be seeing it when I do a search, right?  I think that eventually it'll just work, and if not it's easy to build.

I couldn't get Ubuntu to detect my graphics card either, so it's time to stop complaining about the limited package management and count myself fortunate for having Vector as an option.

[lagagnon]

...I'm not too thrilled with Vector's package management, so I keep using it as a fallback distro.  For example, for whatever reason, slapt-get just can't seem to download fluxbox.  ...  I can live without fluxbox if I need to. 

Then later..

Fluxbox is no big deal.  I have also installed fluxbox without any problems.   It's in the repositories or I wouldn't be seeing it when I do a search, right?

Sorry, but I don't understand Did you mean in the first instance then that it did actually download but did not install correctly? If so, what were the symptoms and did you get it working?

[blackbelt_jones]

It's not a terribly interesting story.

The error message says the package didn't download.

I have downloaded and installed fluxbox before, with a previous installation of Vector.

And I have had the experience of a package not download like this, and download later after giving it some time.

And I can always build it myself, so it's no big deal.

This is actually not a good example of what I dislike about Vector's package management, but I've already had that discussion in here.  Like I said, I'm finished complaining.   There's a reason why Slackware package management is the way it is, and I might as well go to France and complain that everyone speaks French.

[lagagnon]

It was then probably just a glitch at the ftp server.

[M0E-lnx]

Like I said, you might not have the correct repos enabled... Also, make sure the mirror you are using is live
The ones provided by default usually work.
to get the most out of the repos, make sure you enable at least the Testing, Extra, Patches, and Packages.

That way gslapt or slapt-get can find just about any dep.

HTH

[blackbelt_jones]

Yeah, I've been enabling repos.  It's processing them right now.

[exeterdad]

There's a reason why Slackware package management is the way it is, and I might as well go to France and complain that everyone speaks French.

Well said!

[blackbelt_jones]

Well, I didn't really mean to complain in the first place, only to explain why, as impressed as I was with Vector's ability to sort through my graphics cards, I was still trying to get something else to work for me.  Anyway, that didn't work, either... so... VIVE LE SLAPT-GET!

PS: Speaking of impressive, Vector not only detected my nVidia graphics card, it downloaded and installed the appropriate proprietary driver, and built the corresponding kernel modules... SWEET!!

[blackbelt_jones]

I was pretty much dragged kicking and screaming into using Vector.  I kept trying to get Debian to run X on this computer, for about 12 hours after this last post, but nothing worked.  So I bit the bullet and made my self at home... and now I am quite comfortable with Vector. The fact is that I don't have nearly as many readily available options as i am used to having,  I'm discovering that the options that I have are more than satisfactory.

The problem that I was having getting fluxbox to install was finally fixed by clicking on the "update" button on the gslapt window.  I still have some problems with fluxbox.  I'm used to taking my fluxbox configuration text files that I've been using for a the past year and a half, copying them into ~/.fluxbox, and presto, fluxbox is set up just the way I like it, but because of different supporting software, that's not working. 

On the other hand, for what I'm using this desktop for, KDE is turning out to be pretty good, so fluxbox may not be an issue.  Eventually, if I decide to use fluxbox, I'll simply reedit my configuration files.

I was also happy to discover that, while I can't seem to get gnome without compiling or buying the 2 CD set, I can get the libraries necessary to install my favorite gui-based editor, gedit.  Gedit is the number one reason why I would always install gnome libraries, and now that I've got it running, I may be able to install some of my other favorites like gthumb.

And again, the speed and performance are exceptional.   I'm pretty happy with Vector Linux.

[exeterdad]

I can't seem to get gnome without compiling or buying the 2 CD set, I can get the libraries necessary to install my favorite gui-based editor,

Gnome is in "extra"

slapt-get --install gnomemeta-2.18.0-noarch-4vl58.tlz

or us gslapt (GUI for slapt-get) and find gnomemeta-2.18.0-noarch-4vl58.tlz
That is the main file that will make sure EVERYTHING needed to run Gnome is installed.  But hold on to your hat, go pour yourself a drink because it's one doosey of a install. 

[lagagnon]

... I'm used to taking my fluxbox configuration text files that I've been using for a the past year and a half, copying them into ~/.fluxbox, and presto, fluxbox is set up just the way I like it, but because of different supporting software, that's not working. 

They should work just fine. The only thing that might need editing would be ~/.fluxbox/menu as you would have had diffferent applications installed on the Debian system. There is a Python script called menumaker that will generate a new Fluxbox menu for you with almost every application easily found, but you will still need to edit it by hand to get it fixed.

I have a Fluxbox menu file all fixed up for VLSOHO 5.8, if you are interested you can download it from my website: http://www.freewebs.com/lagagnon/menu

[blackbelt_jones]

Well, I don't really want Gnome, I mostly wanted gedit, and I got gedit, so that's that.  I like using gnome-terminal, but that's not all that necessary.

I don't know what my problem with fluxbox was, but I'm not yet convinced that it wasn't, as they say, located somewhere between the keyboard and the chair. 

It's not a terribly interesting story, but I may start using KDE for the first time, because I'm going to be doing different things with this computer, and I'm finding the desktop to be functional.  It's cool to have whatever I've been working on handy on the desktop.