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>Solutions to Common Problems</TITLE
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>14. Solutions to Common Problems</H1
><DIV
CLASS="qandaset"
><DL
><DT
>Q: <A
HREF="common-problems.html#ls-colors"
>How Do I Remove (or Change) the Colors in the <SPAN
CLASS="application"
>ls</SPAN
> Display?</A
></DT
><DT
>Q: <A
HREF="common-problems.html#programs-in-cwd"
>Why Won't a Program Work in the Current Directory?</A
></DT
><DT
>Q: <A
HREF="common-problems.html#my-notebook-runs-linux"
>How Do I Find Out If a Notebook Runs Linux?</A
></DT
><DT
>Q: <A
HREF="common-problems.html#resume-ftp"
>Can Can I Resume an Interrupted Download?</A
></DT
></DL
><DIV
CLASS="qandaentry"
><DIV
CLASS="question"
><P
><A
NAME="ls-colors"
></A
><B
>Q: </B
>How Do I Remove (or Change) the Colors in the <SPAN
CLASS="application"
>ls</SPAN
> Display?</P
></DIV
><DIV
CLASS="answer"
><P
><B
>A: </B
>If <B
CLASS="command"
>ls</B
> is displaying in color and you haven't told it to, you probably have an alias configured for it. Some distributions ship this way by default.
</P
><P
>The shell command, <TT
CLASS="literal"
>unalias ls</TT
>, should completely unset the
configuration that some distributions provide as standard.
</P
><P
>To permanently make this change, check your initialization script, <TT
CLASS="filename"
>.bashrc</TT
>.
</P
></DIV
><DIV
CLASS="answer"
><P
><B
>A: </B
>To change the colors, rather than removing them, refer to the <SPAN
CLASS="application"
>ls</SPAN
> man page
(<TT
CLASS="literal"
>man ls</TT
>).
</P
></DIV
></DIV
><DIV
CLASS="qandaentry"
><DIV
CLASS="question"
><P
><A
NAME="programs-in-cwd"
></A
><B
>Q: </B
>Why Won't a Program Work in the Current Directory?</P
></DIV
><DIV
CLASS="answer"
><P
><B
>A: </B
>Because the current directory (i.e.,
<TT
CLASS="literal"
>.</TT
>) is not in the search path, for security reasons, as
well as to insure that the correct program versions are used. If an intruder
is able to write a file to a world-writable directory, like
<TT
CLASS="filename"
>/tmp</TT
>, presumably he or she would be able to execute it
if the directory were in the search path. The solution to this is to include
the directory in the command; e.g., <TT
CLASS="literal"
>./myprog</TT
>, instead
of <TT
CLASS="literal"
>myprog</TT
>. Or add the current directory to your
<TT
CLASS="literal"
>PATH</TT
> environment variable; e.g., <TT
CLASS="literal"
>export
PATH=".:"$PATH</TT
> using <SPAN
CLASS="application"
>bash</SPAN
>, although
this is discouraged for the reasons mentioned above.
</P
></DIV
></DIV
><DIV
CLASS="qandaentry"
><DIV
CLASS="question"
><P
><A
NAME="my-notebook-runs-linux"
></A
><B
>Q: </B
>How Do I Find Out If a Notebook Runs Linux?</P
></DIV
><DIV
CLASS="answer"
><P
><B
>A: </B
>There's no fixed answer to this question,
because notebook hardware is constantly updated, and getting the X display,
sound, PCMCIA, modem, and so forth, working, can take a good deal of effort.
</P
><P
>Most notebooks currently on the market, for example, use
"Winmodems," which often do not work with Linux because of their
proprietary hardware interfaces. Even notebooks which are certified as
"Linux compatible," may not be completely compatible.
</P
><P
>Information about installing Winmodems in general is contained in the
<I
CLASS="citetitle"
>Winmodems-and-Linux-HOWTO</I
>.
Refer to <A
HREF="online-resources.html#howtos-and-other-documentation"
><I
>Where Is the Documentation?</I
></A
>.
</P
><P
>You can find the most current information, or ask other users about their notebook
experiences, on the linux-laptop mailing list, which is hosted by the
<TT
CLASS="literal"
>vger.redhat.com</TT
> server.
Refer to <A
HREF="online-resources.html#what-mailing-lists-are-there"
><I
>What Mailing Lists Are There?</I
></A
>.
</P
><P
>A mailing list for Linux on IBM Thinkpads has its home page at
<A
HREF="http://www.topica.com/lists/linux-thinkpad/"
TARGET="_top"
><I
CLASS="citetitle"
>http://www.topica.com/lists/linux-thinkpad/</I
></A
>.
</P
><P
>Another Thinkpad mailing list is hosted by <A
HREF="http://www.bm-soft.com/"
TARGET="_top"
><I
CLASS="citetitle"
>http://www.bm-soft.com/</I
></A
>.
Send email with the word <TT
CLASS="literal"
>help</TT
> in the body of the message to
<A
HREF="mailto:majordomo@www.bm-soft.com"
TARGET="_top"
><I
CLASS="citetitle"
>majordomo@www.bm-soft.com</I
></A
>.
</P
><P
>There is a Web page about Linux on IBM Thinkpads at <A
HREF="http://peipa.essex.ac.uk/tp-linux/"
TARGET="_top"
><I
CLASS="citetitle"
>http://peipa.essex.ac.uk/tp-linux/</I
></A
>.
</P
><P
>The Linux Laptop home page is at <A
HREF="http://www.cs.utexas.edu/users/kharker/linux-laptop/"
TARGET="_top"
><I
CLASS="citetitle"
>http://www.cs.utexas.edu/users/kharker/linux-laptop/</I
></A
>.
</P
><P
>For information about interfacing peripherals like
Zip and CD-ROM drives through parallel ports, refer to the Linux Parallel
Port Home Page, at <A
HREF="http://www.torque.net/linux-pp.html"
TARGET="_top"
><I
CLASS="citetitle"
>http://www.torque.net/linux-pp.html</I
></A
>.
</P
><P
>If you need the latest version of the PCMCIA Card Services package, it
is (or was) located at <A
HREF="ftp://cb-iris.stanford.edu/pub/pcmcia/"
TARGET="_top"
><I
CLASS="citetitle"
>ftp://cb-iris.stanford.edu/pub/pcmcia/</I
></A
>, but that
host no longer seems to be available. Recent distributions are on
<A
HREF="ftp://metalab.unc.edu/pub/Linux/kernel/pcmcia/"
TARGET="_top"
><I
CLASS="citetitle"
>ftp://metalab.unc.edu/pub/Linux/kernel/pcmcia/</I
></A
>.
You will also need to have the kernel source code installed as well. Be sure
to read the <I
CLASS="citetitle"
>PCMCIA-HOWTO</I
>, which is included in the
distribution.
</P
></DIV
></DIV
><DIV
CLASS="qandaentry"
><DIV
CLASS="question"
><P
><A
NAME="resume-ftp"
></A
><B
>Q: </B
>Can Can I Resume an Interrupted Download?</P
></DIV
><DIV
CLASS="answer"
><P
><B
>A: </B
>You can use the <TT
CLASS="literal"
>reget</TT
> command of the
standard <B
CLASS="command"
>ftp</B
> client program after reconnecting to pick up
where you left off.
</P
><P
>Clients like <B
CLASS="command"
>ncftp</B
>
support resumed FTP downloads, and <B
CLASS="command"
>wget</B
> supports resumed
FTP and HTTP downloads.
</P
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