Re: RH 6.2 install causes screen to explode

[Peter Evans <peter@example.com>]

Tom, thank you for your input.

> Don't be fooled by listening to such and such an other Linux 
> is easier. Sure they may be, but they've still all got their
> little problems for you to get stuck on.

That's rather what I guessed.

> Okay, you've 2 choices...

> a) re-install RH again, this is the fastest way to get you
> up and running. Select to install X, but then when it asks
> you to configure it, skip that part till later.

Sorry, I may have missed something, and my memory is already fraying, but
I believe that when I attempted to install without avoiding X I had two
courses: (a) to have my video card misidentified (and thus for
installation to become completely indecipherable and crap out), and (b)
to be *told* that I had such-and-such a (different) video card.

Something seems wrong here.  Anyway, installing from the start with X seems
a waste of time for the combination of my particular computer and RH 6.2.

I'd prefer to take your other suggestion.  [Extensive snipping of your
advice here -- though I'll keep it to refer to later.]

> rpm -ihv XFree86*
> 
> Did it work? What dependancies failed? Send in the full list
> if you can't make head nor tail of it and I'll try help out.

I ran it and it stopped after a single rpm, saying that this needed
libtcl.so and libtk.so.  So I tried

rpm -q --whatprovides libtcl*

which said that nothing provided it.

> [snippety snip]
> Another way to find the name of the rpm that it comes from
> is to go to rpmfind.net and type in the name of the library 
> or filename and let it find the rpm name. Then look for that
> on your cd.

Amazing site. Aha, it's obvious that libtcl* is within
tcl-8.0[blahblah].rpm. All right, I try:

rpm -ihv tcl*

but read that I can't install that without libtk8.0.so and libtk8.0jp.so.

ls tk*

reveals the existence of something called tk-8.0[blahblah].rpm --
incidentally, what's a sensible way to refer to this? In DOS it would be
tk-8*.rpm, of course on the (inapplicable) assumption that there's only
one period -- so I try

rpm -i tk-8*

but this tells me that I need libtc8.0jp.so

Catch-22, or what?

While I'm agonizing over this, Josh Glover contributes an informative
and erudite message that confuses and depresses me still further,
emoticon.

Hmm. Hah. Hmm. Here's how I see it. RH has a reputation of being easy to
install (although there are dissenting voices).  Ease of installation is
what I need as an ignoramus.  The RH 6.2 installation routine doesn't
like my computer. That of 7.1 is unlikely to be worse and might be
better, and youse seem to be saying that 7.1 is actually better than
6.2.* 

  * As somebody who normally uses Windows [wince],
    I certainly don't assume that newer means better!

A CD-ROM of RH 7.1 would cost me thirty minutes and \1500 at most -- a
trip to Laox or Kinokuniya for a magazine (tho' I might even find it in
a magazine in the bookstore in front of the station).

So that's what I'll do.  Over and out for the day.

(Oh, one nice thing I've already discovered about Linux. It realizes
that the key to the left of A is Ctrl.  I was wondering about how I'd be
able to remap the keyboard this way, rather than as some committee of
twits in IBM decided back in 1986 or whenever it was.)

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Peter "hold on, I have some work I should
be doing" Evans peter@example.com