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Troubleshooting PCQLinux 2007

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PCQ Bureau
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Source: https://forums.pcquest.com

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Once you are through with the installation of PCQLinux 2007, you can apply

the following tweaks to get the distro to work smoothly on your machine.

  • First the graphical login is disabled. To fix this issue, after logging in

    as root, edit the file /etc/inittab using vi. Locate the line that starts with

    'id' and change it to look like 'id:5:initdefault:'
  • Save the file and reboot. But before making this change, run startx

    command and see if your x-server is working. If not configure xserver first by

    typing system-config-display command.
  • Now reboot your computer and you will be greeted with a graphical login

    screen. Login as root as this is the only user created at installation time.

Now create another normal user.

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  • Disconnect your PC from any broadband Internet connection, if present.

    First disable all the unwanted services including yum-updates. This is a

    service that can make your system hang and crawl on performance as soon as you

    start up, as FC starts the autoupdate process without confirming with the

    user. Subsequently, you can turn off the graphical tool pup (package updater)

    that pops up. You can now connect the broadband modem and enjoy surfing.
  • Now edit the /etc/grub.conf file and increase the timeout value to 20 secs.

    Also remove unwanted entries (for example, home users can remove the xen

    kernel entry).

Problem: I have installed PCQLinux

2007, but during start up when processes are starting continuously a message

saying 'timer went backwards...' is shown. The notebook I have installed PCQLinux

has a core duo processor. Now when I enter the startx command, by default, it

enters the gnome desktop. How should I login to the KDE desktop?

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Also I found the clock moves very fast, for each second the clock seems to

count 2 secs. I changed the time in BIOS but still after logging in Linux, it

shows wrong time that changes at a faster speed. I would also want to know how I

can login to the different desktops type-Home, Media Center, Scientific or

Development? All I found was one icon in the gnome desktop, which when double

clicked installed something related to Java. Both the Xen written and

non-written boot options at booting time, after giving startx command, lead you

to the gnome desktop.

Solution: For the issue of fast moving

clock, open the file named grub.conf, found in /boot/grub, in a text editor.

There will be one or more lines which say:

kernel

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To the end of this line, add clock=pit, after a space. For example, currently

I am running FC6 on my notebook and have the following line:

kernel /boot/vmlinuz-2.6.18-1.2868.fc6 ro

root=LABEL=/ rhgb quiet

So this line will be changed to:

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kernel /boot/vmlinuz-2.6.18-1.2868.fc6 ro

root=LABEL=/ rhgb



quiet clock=pit

Now reboot the machine to see it working.

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Problem: In my Core Duo notebook, the

non-Xen kernel is working fine, but in Xen kernel after changing the grub.conf

file (adding clock=pit as reply given in my previous topic) file, still the time

is going very fast. For instance, if I want to write Exit, what I get is 'eeeeexxxxiiiiiiiiiiiiittttttt'.

As a result, I am unable to give commands properly, and only after very

carefully pressing the key do I get the result. I found there are two CPUs, CPU

0 and CPU 1 in the file /proc/cpuinfo. Also since the clock is still running

fast in the Xen kernel, is there any other file I need to change?

Also for mounting an NTFS partition, I want to add NTFS in the file /proc/filesystems.

But after adding it at the end of the file in vi editor, and then for saving :wq,

I get an error 'E667:Fsync failed'. What is this error? How will I be able to

change the file? Note that I have already given write and execute permission of

that file before editing.

I thought I would be able to change the file in rescue mode, but from

booting PCQLinux 2007 DVD, then pressing F5 and giving Linux rescue at boot:

prompt, it shows no image. I just want to enquire whether PCQLinux 2007 has

rescue operation or not.

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Solution: If earlier, the time issue was with non-Xen kernel, try

removing clock=pit for the Xen kernel. To mount an NTFS partition, try 'mount -t

ntfs /dev/hda1 /mnt'.

If this does not work, you will need to install the kmod-ntfs rpm from the

fedora repositories as 'yum install kmod-ntfs'

Please do refer to the post http://forums.pcquest.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=4635

before issuing the above command. Note that it's also possible to have write

access (kmod-ntfs just gives you read access) to an NTFS partition without

recompiling the kernel. If you want the partition to be mounted at boot time,

you can add an entry in /etc/fstab file. Create a directory /mnt/ntfs. Assuming

that the hard disk device name of your ntfs partition is /dev/hda1, append the

following line in fstab: /mnt/ntfs /dev/hda1 ntfs defaults 0 0

Next save the file and reboot.

Problem: Is it possible to load

PCQLinux 2007 on a partition where Win XP had been installed earlier?

Solution: Primarily No. Windows XP runs on FAT-32 or NTFS partition.

For PCQLinux 2007, you should have one Linux partition and one swap partition.

Warning: PCQLinux 2007 does not have customized installation option. For desktop

type, it would take around 12 GB. So, keep at least 10 to 15 GB space.

Secondly, the installer will give you an option to use the free space to

create layout. Choose that option. But on the existing partition, you should

have adequate free space. Not sure if this option would work for you when you

have a NTFS partition where you had Win XP earlier.



So our advice is go with the first option.

Problem: What is the recommended

configuration for PCQLinux 2007 installation? Will it work on P III with 192 MB

RAM. While attempting installation, the system shows a message stating RAM

inadequate for Graphics. My XP installation is in NTFS and I am attempting Linux

on the FAT partition that has a free space of about 12 GB.Is it Ok?

Solution: The PCQLinux 2007 desktop is based on Fedora Core 6. So the

hardware requirements needed for the same are



specified in section 6.3 at


http://fedora.redhat.com/docs/release-notes/fc6/en_US/sn-ArchSpecific.html

For PCQLinux 2007 Enterprise (though based on CentOS 4.4), it is difficult to

list down the specs as it is meant to be run as a host system for virtualized

guests. So lots of RAM (minimum 1 GB) and a processor greater than 1 GHz would

be needed. The graphics card should not matter, but a faster hard disk would

definitely do.

Problem: After installation of the

server without any errors, I am unable get the desktop window after startx

command. I am using Compaq, Intel PIII 256 MB RAM system. What should I do to

overcome this?

Solution: Server version does not have XWindows included. You can only

run the X through a remote SSH terminal. Refer to the article on Virtualization

with VirtualBox, page 80, March 2007, PCQuest.

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