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Linux

Installing Fedora

Update 091212

Installing Fedora is getting increasingly easier and bug free since FC10. FC12 installs very easily. The Network Manager handles static IP addresses fine. The autoten installation package handles most multimedia issues very well. In short, this page will probably see little action in the near future given that FC12 appears to be problem free, WITH THE EXCEPTION OF lingering Skype video issues on FC64, and then only on some environments. Skype video works fine on my AMD64 Asus notebook, but not on my AMD64 PC with an Asus board.

As of FC12, the autoten package no longer installs kmod-nivdia (did it ever?) To install, yum install kmod-nvidia.

Network Manager handles wireless connections very well, at least since FC11.

What I've learned:

• Install only needed packages on initial installation. I no longer install KDE because I never use it.
• Update everything via yum regularly. I update entire system at least weekly. I use command line yum rather than yumex, but yumex is great for locating and installing new packages.Don't update selectively; update everything. That's my approach.
• Use the Network Manager. I resisted it at first, but I've realized how good it is. There's a reason it's there. Trying to go around it via deletion of the package causes more problems than necessary after FC10.

Todo

• Wireless went out on my FC11 after a partial update. The solution might be located on this page: http://www.fedoraforum.org/forum/showthread.php?t=230740. In short, try booting in the previous kernel. To set the Kernel boot order, edit the /etc/grub.conf file. Near the top you'll find a default=0 line. This determines which OS or kernel boots first. The first in the list is 0, followed by 1, 2, etc. UPDATE: I reinstalled FC11 and set up all connections using Network Manager this time, and all works fine.

I've created this page in preparation to install FC10. The following should be done in roughly the order presented:

Main

1. Install OS
2. Network
3. Livna NOTE: FC10 now uses RPM Fusion
4. Yumex
   1. After installing, go to updates. You may need to update the repository before any files are listed. You'll need to do this to update the kernel (see below).
5. Disable yum-updatesd
   NOTE: It appears FC10 no longer uses yum-updatesd. I haven't figured out what FC10 uses to check for updates. So far, it hasn't been much of an issue, but I'm going to be careful not to update the kernel until I'm sure there's a compatible kmod-nvidia package to go along with it.
6. Nvidia drivers if Nvidia chip used. It's important to do this early using a modern monitor. I had luck using the yum command: yum install -y kmod-nvidia (as root).
   1. NOTE Before installing the nvidia drivers, be sure to install the gspca package for webcams. Do the following:
      1. Update to the most recent kernel
      2. Install the gspca by following the appropriate links beginning at http://atrpms.net/dist/.
         NOTE: This is no longer necessary in FC10. However, see my blog for notes on getting video to work on FC10.
      3. Then install the kmod-nvidia package.
   2. In FC8, I had to update the kernel before I could install kmod-nvidia.
7. Disable sendmail, sshd, etc
8. File manager such as MC
9. gFTP
10. Disable suspend by going to system > preferences > system > power management

Multimedia

1. FC11 update: Autogen painlessly installs most all multimedia on FC11. It also takes care of Skype, Google Earth, and other things.
2. ffmpeg
   1. This should install lame as a dependency
3. Audacity
4. Mplayer
5. Kplayer
6. VLC
7. RealPlayer
8. libdvdcss to allow for copying encrypted dvds using K3B or something similar

Firefox

1. Flash
   NOTE: I'm currently having trouble getting Flash to work on my x86 64 FC10 installation. I've found a download for a 64 version of Flash here. That file extracts to a single file, libflashplayer.so, which needs to be copied to the /usr/lib64/mozilla/plugins folder.
2. Java (This was not necessary on FC8. Java worked in my browsers out of the box for the first time.)
3. Chinese Pera-kun
4. Tong Wen Tang
5. Scribefire
6. Fireinput
7. Download helper
8. Foxyurl

Chinese

• Page on iBus

Issues

Adobe 8 Error on FC 8

After installing Adobe Reader 8 on FC 8 I received the error message, 「Unable to find HTML rendering library (libgtkembedmoz). Please specify the folder location in Edit- >Preferences > Internet..」

This fix in my case was to copy the XULrunner package to the /usr/lib folder (I'm on an AMD 64 box, but I did not copy to /usr/lib64) as describe on the following link and it worked fine. I downloaded the latest version of XULrunner here. Note that after copying XULrunner to the /usr/lib folder, you need to update the preferences in Adobe Reader.

Acroread: Adobe Reader 8.1.1 FAQs

Check to see if you have XULrunner installed (you can install the latest XULrunner from here), and find the folder containing libgtkembedmoz.so in the XULrunner installation. Set this folder in the 「Preferences > Internet > libgtkembedmoz Folder」 preference in Adobe Reader.

SATA drives

I had problems trying to install on a SATA drive. Apparently installers aren't set up to handle SATA very well. I had a second ATA drive that I used to install the OS on. I told Anaconda not to use the SATA for the installation. After installing everything, I formatted the SATA with gparted.