mirror of https://github.com/tLDP/LDP
172 lines
8.0 KiB
Plaintext
172 lines
8.0 KiB
Plaintext
<!doctype linuxdoc system>
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<!-- Initially generated from The_LDP_HOWTO_Generator V0.51 -->
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<article>
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<title>Configuration HOWTO
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<author><url url="mailto:gearloose@fastwebnet.it" name="Gilbert O'Sullivan">
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<date>v1.99.8 2006-05-10
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<!-- Primary category: 2.1. {Configuration / Installation} -->
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<!-- Keywords: X windows system, GUI, command line, installation -->
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<!-- Oneliner: -->
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<abstract>This HOWTO would be the main doc from which every others can refer to
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configure most common hardware and services.</abstract>
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<toc> <!-- generate a table of contents here -->
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<!-- Revision v1.99.8 2006-03-11 Revised by: gos
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More changes
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Revision v1.99.7 2001-11-06 Revised by: gg
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Updated and fixed DocBook tags.
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Revision v1.99.6 2000-08-31 Revised by: gg
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End of revision history -->
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<sect>Introduction
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<p>This document is one of the most important for LDP, because by
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configuring hardware and software you can get your own Linux box.
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This HOWTO was born in the Golden Age of developers, mainly for the
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command line. As it became too big and old for the current distros,
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I rewrote it more simple as I could.
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Fundamentally, to configure the system, Linux users have to write some
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configuration files. To do it easyer, today programs and wizards
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are avaliable to manage them. This programs may be quite different for
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the various distributions.
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In this HOWTO, I will speak about Mandrake-Linux and about Red Hat.
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<sect1>Copyright
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<p>This document is Copyright © 2006-03-16 Gilbert O'Sullivan.
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Permission is granted to copy and distribute this document under the
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terms of the GNU Lesser General Public License. This license is available
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from http://www.gnu.org/licenses/lgpl.html. Please note that the LGPL
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terms don't allow any modifications except for the translations.
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<sect1>Disclaimer
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<p>This document is provided "as is". I put great effort into writing
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it accurately, but you use contained informations at your own risk.
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In no event shall I be liable for any damages resulting from the use
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of this work.
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<sect1>Credits
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<p>Many thanks to all other HOWTO authors and man pages writers, from
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which I have got my knowledge, and to all people who provided me with
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feedback.
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<sect1>Description
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<p>Even if the earlier versions of this document discussed about
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several distributions, I chose Mandrake-Linux and Red Hat, because
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they are the most representative, with kernels range from 2.4.3 to
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2.6.11, of wich last release you can easily purchase.
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For more informations, or if you don't understand anything, you can
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refer to other HOWTOs, among which is available the source code of
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this document, at <url url="http://www.tldp.org/HOWTO/HOWTO-INDEX/howtos.html" name="Linux Documentation Project"> site.
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The hardware we shall go to configure is for x86 architectures: modem,
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printer, scanner. A tablet is very common also.
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<sect>Configuration tools
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<p>Fundamentally, this document is made in two sections: the first,
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for the machines with a big hard disk and a working graphical interface,
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the second, for other which are in low resources, forced to work by
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typing from the command line.
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<sect1>Control Center
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<p>Of course, if you have a working graphical interface, to configure
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everything is very easy. As a matter of fact, starting from release 8.0,
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each Mandrake-Linux release comes with <em>drakconf</em> package.
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Other disrtibutions have their own control-center. This wizard allows
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to change the settings of <itemize>
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<item>Users<item>Bootloader<item>Disk management<item>Display<item>Firewall
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<item>Network<item>Keyboard<item>Mouse<item>Printer<item>Services</itemize>
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<sect1>Display
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<p>Now let me explain how you can change X server configuration through
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the following two steps.<sect2>Step 1
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<p>Linux operating system uses a Graphical User Interface (GUI)
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called XFree, just because it is a free version of X windows system,
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wich was developed by X.org website members, also getting some IBM contyibutions.
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Today, X server configuration is totally automatic, so in the end
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of your new Linux system installation, if you are lucky, you can reboot,
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without having anything to do. Nevertheless, often it happens that,
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in spite of an installation of a lot of packages, it display a message
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saying that you are not able to start X server.
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The reason why this happens is that your monitor, or your graphic card,
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is not rightly detected. So you have only to update the whole
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installation, until to the Summary. Here, you can change your graphical
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interface settings, but, be very careful, when the opportunity knocks:
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when ask, disable the automatic starting Option for X server after the
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reboot. This allows to use your PC in text mode, so if you want to
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start X server, you have manually to run "startx" command.
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<sect2>Step 2
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<p>If X server doesn't work yet, try with<p><tt>&num XFdrake</tt>
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<p>It allows to change current settings with minimal ones:
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<tscreen><verb>
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Monitor: SVGA (not interlaced) 1024 x 768
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Frequency: 60 Hz
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Graphic card: VGA standard
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Resolution: 640 x 480
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Colours dept.: 8 bpp
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</verb></tscreen>
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You can increase these values, by degrees, but without overclocking
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frequency speed. It may damages your monitor! When you are ready, run
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XFdrake again and select to start Xfree, upon booting.
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This has always worked for me, so I suggest you to write down these
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values, before.
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<sect1>Keyboard
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<p>First of some old raw applications, upon which was built current
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control-center. Of course if you work by typing from command line,
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it is very important to set your keyboard accordingly. For many
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countries and keyboard types appropriate keymaps are available already.
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So you can give "loadkeys" command followed by the two last letters of
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any your country URLs.
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<sect1>Users<p>Expecially if you want autologin, you have to add an
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user. Type "adduser" command, then set up his password whith "passwd -n",
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followed by the user name.
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<sect1>Mouse<p>If you chose to work by typing from command line only,
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you have no need to configure your mouse. Nevertheless, whith a
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working graphical interface you cannot use itself to change wrong
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settings. Open a console as a root user and type "mousedrake".
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<sect1>Printer<p>Lastly, if you want to set up your printer, you have
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to install CUPS driver. Type "printerdrake".
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<sect1>Bootloader
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<p>The program which loads the kernel into the memory at the boot time
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is called bootloader. The bootloaders that come with Linux distributions
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are LILO and GRUB. If you want change LILO configuration, you have to open
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the file /etc/lilo.conf. using your favorite editor. In this file each
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line has its meaning. <tscreen><verb>
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boot=/dev/hda Install LILO in the MBR
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prompt If you want select another section
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timeout=50 Wait five seconds before booting
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default=linux The section to boot after the timeout
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image=/boot/vmlinuz-x.x.x
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label=Linux Name we give to this section
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read-only Start with a read-only root
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root=/dev/hda3 Location of the root filesystem
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other=/dev/hdaX The host where Windows is installed
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label=windows
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</verb></tscreen> Typical is how GRUB refers to hard drives and
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partitions.
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<sect1>Firewall<p>If your system is attached directly to Internet, or
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is on a large public network, enable it to help prevent unauthorized
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access.
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<sect>Others
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<p>These have their own websites, where you can find everything you
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need.
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<sect1>Scanner
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<p>SANE (Scanner Access Now Easy) package, offers the suppport for
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scanners. It can be downloaded from ftp://ftp.mostang.com/pub/sane.
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Documentation are avaliable at <url url="http://www.mostang.com/sane" name="SANE"> webpage,
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where you can also find several frontends and backends.
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<sect1>Tablet<p>Today at <url url="http://linuxwacom.sourceforge.net" name="The Linux Wacom Project">
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website there are useful tools to manage a Wacom pen tablet: drivers,
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libraries, documentation for configuring and getting it running.
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Not only but also diagnostic applications and of course mailing lists
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and FAQ. This website is maintained by John E. Joganic
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<jej@j-arkadia.com>
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</article>
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