• TroubleShooting

DynebolicFaq : dyne:bolic homepage

Why can't I boot dyne:bolic 1.2 on my laptop?

Probably this has to do with the APIC extension of the new 2.4.22 kernel. Please type Linux noapic at boot prompt, that should fix it (until it gets done!); Otherwise try typing Linux acpi=off or Linux ide0=ata66 ide1=ata66 (which fixes booting on some Toshiba with Transmeta CPU). Or try a combination of these (it shouldn't hurt!). Or you can try and change the resolution dyne:bolic boots with; just read the following FAQ...

Oh and by the way read theBootPrompt-HOWTOwhich is a very good reference for Linux boot options.

How can I change the booting resolution?

You only have to type the following on dyne:bolics' boot prompt: Linux vga=ZZZ ...where ZZZ is a decimal number according to the following color scheme:

How can I use dyne:bolic with a video projector? I want to use it in multimedia training...

If dyne:bolic hardware recognition fails with the projector connected to the PC, a workaround may help (it still needs to be tested further): First boot Knoppix or Kanotix with the PC where dyne:bolic and the projector are installed. Once you reach the GUI and the projector is working (you may have to downscale the resolution to 1024x768), save /etc/X11/XF86config-4 to a device (such as a memory stick). Boot dyne:bolic as usual, and once you reach the GUI copy XF86config-4 to /etc/XF86config susbstituting the existent one. Restart the GUI, using the menu option "EXIT / Restarting X-Server" - and you should have working both the GUI and the projector. If Knoppix or Kanotix have recognized a higher resolution than what your projector is capable, then downscale the resolution or modify the saved XF86config, erasing the resolutions not fitting.

I've got an on-board soundcard and a PCI one, but cannot make the PCI one function. What's wrong?

Disable your on-board soundcard through the BIOS setup.

Another trick mentioned on the mailing list by jaromil:

The /dev/dsp device configured by default in dyne:bolic sound applications is a symbolic link (see 'man ln') to the real soundcard, and as such it can be linked to a different soundcard.

A list of the soundcard devices is given by the command:

ls /dev/snd/dsp*

which basically prints out all files starting by 'dsp' in the /dev/sound directory. First of all remove the old symlink with

rm /dev/dsp

and create a new symlink with:

ln -sf /dev/snd/dspN /dev/dsp

where N is the number of the soundcard you want, usually the onboard is the first.This way you will change the default soundcard pointed by the /dev/dsp device in dyne:bolic.

Consider that the volume gets set to a default value on the first soundcard and all other soundcards are muted. Most simple soundcards can be set using the 'audio levels mixer' from the menu, but multichannel soundcards need alsamixer (command from the XTERM) to change volumes on their channels.

How can I use my USB webcam on dyne:bolic?

You have to activate the camera loading its kernel module, depending on the webcam you have:

• for logitech/dexxa quickcams the module is mod_quickcam and is inserted by typing at the terminal: modprobe mod_quickcam

• for philips webcams the module is pwc: modprobe pwc

• for other webcams, please refer to the linux-usb or the Gspca/Spca5xx,Spca5xx-LE,Zr364xx Webcams site.

Please note that hasciicam and freej do not support philips webcams.

Once the module is loaded, you will get a device called /dev/v4l/video0

For convenience, you could also make a link to it:

ln -sf /dev/v4l/video0 /dev/video

How can I enable my "Alt"-Key as Meta-Key in xemacs?

Open an xterm and type the following command:

xmodmap -e "clear mod4"

How can I change the rate and delay of autorepeat of my keyboard when typing?

Open an xterm and use xset. For example:

xset r rate 400 11

The first value after "rate" is the time in milliseconds before autorepeat starts and the second value is the number of repeats per second. This is set at boot time in the file /home/.xinitrc, so if you do Docking http://lab.dyne.org/Docking, you can change it there.

Jackd will not start. What can I do ? (dyne:bolic 1.4.1)

If a message such as the following pops up: ALSA lib pcm.c:1962:(snd_pcm_open_noupdate) Unknown PCM /dev/dsp jackd: pcm.c:690: snd_pcm_nonblock: Assertion `pcm' failed. 23:44:09.273 JACK was stopped successfully. 23:44:11.471 Could not connect to JACK server as client.

This could be remedied by opening a xterm (rightclick/xterm) and then write:

#jackd -dalsa -dhw:0

Then jackd will probably start and you can work with ardour and other jack enabled programs.

How do I find out which soundcard is detected? (dyne:bolic 1.4.1)

Start an xterm; write:

$ aplay -l <enter>

or

$ cat /proc/asound/cards <enter>

Both should tell which soundcard is found.

My soundcard is correctly detected but I get no sound when playing something... (dyne:bolic 1.4.1)

start fx xmms and let it play a song. This xterm command will do that:

#xmms somesong.mp3 &

or type one of the following lines:

# cat /dev/urandom > /dev/dsp

# cat /dev/urandom > /dev/sound/dsp

(will produce noice)

In the xterm then write: #alsamixer &lt;enter&gt; here you can with the left/right arrow on the keyboard choose different output possibilities. With uparrow turn up one after the other each output until you get which output the card is using. When the correct one is found - turn down the others. (for me the correct one was <DAC>)

Some users find that turning off the Headphone Jack Sense in alsamixer will solve this problem. Just use the left/right arrow to select the Headphone Jack Sense item, then press the m key to turn it on/off.

How can I manually configure my soundcard? (dyne:bolic 1.4.1)

Start an xterm - write:

alsaconf

and go through the questions asked.

How can I autostart commands everytime I restart my dyne:bolic system? (dyne:bolic 1.4.1)

Make a nest and start using it. http://lab.dyne.org/Nesting

Then, add the commands (one per line) to the file

/home/GNUstep/Library/WindowMaker/autostart

If using commands that will take long to execute, add a space and a & after the command, for example

exampleprog &

You can test if it works by restarting WindowMaker from the right-click [dyne:bolic] menu under the option "EXIT".

To autostart X11-programs, don't use this method, but instead WindowMaker's session management facility. This can be found in the right-click [dyne:bolic] menu under APPEARANCE/Save Session

I remastered a 2.4.2 CD with dynesdk mkiso, but it fails to boot saying it can't find Linux

Assuming you have followed the instructions at http://dev.dynebolic.org/trac.cgi/wiki/DyneSdk, you need to edit the file /dyne/sdk/cdrom/isolinux/isolinux.cfg and change the line kernel /dyne/linux to kernel /dyne/2618ck1d.krn (or whatever the kernel is called) and run dynesdk mkiso again.

DynebolicFaq : dyne:bolic homepage

Created on 22-04-2004 by Tommy Drum for the community; please update, correct and contribute!