On 24-Jun-01 John Seago wrote:

I last wrote to the forum yesterday, I see that there is some problem with something, and it is still undelivered. The good news is that I have overcome the problem, not by finding the solution but by erasing Mandrake 8 from my Hard drive and installing Red Hat 7.1. Mandrake is promoted as a system suitable for beginners, I however found trying to get it to work so frustrating that I considered taking the easy route and buying a hardware upgrade to make Windows/Office 2000 work. Luckily I had made a mistake when ordering the CD's for my prospective son-in-law and myself and bought two sets of each. Having seen how easily his Red Hat went in I installed it in my computer, the installation was about a 1000% easier than Mandrake, (took less than 90 minutes, I've been trying toget Mandrake function for 8 days), it worked first time, connected to the Internet and the web, and is up and running, I do have one problem with the sound card drivers which are there but not functioning. This however is not a problem as I usually work with the sound muted under Windows anyway.

John Seago

I am so glad all is working fine linux is a tricky thing to install. particularly lilo, X and internet connections stump begginers unfortunately all these need to be sorted out before you can use the web comfortably to look for help with linux. I still feel a begginer much the time, I think its the nature of linux. Some times I feel like its a "Civalisation" like stratagy game, in that as soon as you master one aspect of the system you find there is another level of technology to explore. Unless this is a hobby or profession I should target your efforts to what you want to do. Sound cards are a little tricky to install. Each sound card is installed slightly differently. What is your sound card brand, its interpt (irq) and io addresses. Theses details can be got from windows where the system works, if you post your details here we might be able to help Owen