Pardus 2009 on EeePC 901 -- several issues

[paulfxh]

I've been experimenting with Pardus (first 2008.2 and then 2009) on my EeePC901 for more than 2 weeks now. Although it works fine, it's just not perfect. I've already used this forum (and the Turkish forum) to resolve some problems but here's a list of what's still unresolved.
1. The CPU monitor widget "flatlines" after using for a while. I can remove this problem by uninstalling the widget and re-installing. But, is this unavoidable?
2. The clock in the bottom panel operates with AM/PM. How do I get it to operate in 24-hour mode?
3. Wireless works fine with rt2860sta but ONLY if wireless security is disabled. Once I try with WEP 28-bit, I cannot get a connection.
4. I cannot get the Kwin-cube to stop operating WITHOUT going back to the login page
5. I use the Opera 10 browser but can only run Opera by opening Lancelot, typing in "opera" and clicking on the "run opera" launcher that shows up. Why can't I get Opera to appear in favorites or as a tray icon?
6. It would be so much more convenient to have Terminal as a tray icon or keyboard shortcut rather than only accessible through Lancelot
7.  Lancelot crashes a lot
8. The small Desktop panel thing on the, well, Desktop has disappeared and I'm unable to find how to retrieve it.
9. Although ~/.kde4/Autostart/ is empty, both Lastfm and Kgpg launch on startup every time. How do I stop this?

I'd welcome comments on any of the above.

[Michiel]

I would start with changing Lancelot style menu back to classic KDE3 menu style, from there you can drag and drop applications to your systempanel (bar) and create quick launch icons for Terminal Firefox Opera or whatever.

This may adress some of your encountered difficulties.

[paulfxh]

Thank you for the reply.
OK, I managed to get Opera and Terminal launcher icons on the tray which is a big step forward as >90% of what I do involves either one or the other.
However, I found I needed to put the Lancelot icon back as I can't see how else to make a menu of all available applications (like Applications in Ubuntu).
I should mention that my Linux experience has been almost exclusively with Gnome so a but rusty on the KDE front. Therefore not exactly clear what you mean by "classic KDE3 menu style".

[johnh3]

During the installation process with Kaptain you could choose the old KDE3 meny.
It was 2 steps if I remember it correct. First you choose between KDE4 or KDE3 style.
But if you just click forward its easy to miss that and it choose KDE4 as standard.

And in the next step choose Kick Off, Lancelot or the old KDE3 meny. Its 3 options.
(Kick Off is standard)

I have checked in the English Pardus Wiki but it not say anything about this there.
Its more about network configuration:

http://en.pardus-wiki.org/Pardus:Installation2009#After_the_first_start

It jump from welcome direct to network in the Wiki and not show this at all.

KDE3 reminds of Ubuntu or Windows XP, very simple to handle.

[atolboo]

1. The CPU monitor widget "flatlines" after using for a while. I can remove this problem by uninstalling the widget and re-installing. But, is this unavoidable?

What is "flatlines" ? Could you make an image with Graphics > KSnapshot (use Capture mode: Region) and post it in this topic (use Extra options... Attachment:) ?

2. The clock in the bottom panel operates with AM/PM. How do I get it to operate in 24-hour mode?

Have a look in System Settings > Regional & Language > Time & Dates > Time format.

3. Wireless works fine with rt2860sta but ONLY if wireless security is disabled. Once I try with WEP 28-bit, I cannot get a connection.

With reference to this topic. The RT2860 is supported (by default) with the 2.6.30 kernel and therefore rt2860sta can not be installed. This package is only necessary for P2008.
In My Sitecom WL-160 I can set the keys WEP-64, WEP-128, WPA, WPA2, WPA2 Mixed.
How about these other keys? Did you test them?

5. I use the Opera 10 browser but can only run Opera by opening Lancelot, typing in "opera" and clicking on the "run opera" launcher that shows up. Why can't I get Opera to appear in favorites or as a tray icon?

In Lancelot (and other menu types) Opera is in Internet and I can right-click > Add to Favorites or drag-drop Opera to the Panel.

6. It would be so much more convenient to have Terminal as a tray icon or keyboard shortcut rather than only accessible through Lancelot

Use right-click> Add to Favorites and/or use drag-drop to where you want it.

7.  Lancelot crashes a lot

Have a look at Lancelot and at FAQ.

8. The small Desktop panel thing on the, well, Desktop has disappeared and I'm unable to find how to retrieve it.

You mean "Desktop Folder"? Try Add Widgets > Show Desktop or Folder View or .......!

9. Although ~/.kde4/Autostart/ is empty, both Lastfm and Kgpg launch on startup every time. How do I stop this?

Maybe a right-click > Quit will do the trick?

It jump from welcome direct to network in the Wiki and not show this at all.

I did this because it's very easy to switch the  menu style  or to add a new  Menu-widget.
Because network connection is important I payed some attention to this in the Wiki..

[paulfxh]

Thanks to everybody for the replies. I was able to use these to make quite some progress.
@johnh3
Thanks for reminding me of kaptan of which I had forgotten. I was able to use this to check the KDE3 menu systems. However, in the end I learned that I could get the opera and terminal icons on the tray without leaving KDE4.

@atolboo
Thanks for your comprehensive reply.

1. The CPU monitor widget "flatlines" after using for a while. I can remove this problem by uninstalling the widget and re-installing. But, is this unavoidable?

What is "flatlines" ? Could you make an image with Graphics > KSnapshot (use Capture mode: Region) and post it in this topic (use Extra options... Attachment:) ?

Strangely, since I posted this message this problem has not recurred so I can't take a screenshot. However, by "flatlines" I meant that instead of bouncing around as CPU monitors usually do, it remains at one constant reading (say 55%) for ever -- or at least untill the widget is re-installed.

2. The clock in the bottom panel operates with AM/PM. How do I get it to operate in 24-hour mode?

Have a look in System Settings > Regional & Language > Time & Dates > Time format.

OK, that worked fine so this is resolved.

3. Wireless works fine with rt2860sta but ONLY if wireless security is disabled. Once I try with WEP 28-bit, I cannot get a connection.

With reference to this topic. The RT2860 is supported (by default) with the 2.6.30 kernel and therefore rt2860sta can not be installed. This package is only necessary for P2008.
In My Sitecom WL-160 I can set the keys WEP-64, WEP-128, WPA, WPA2, WPA2 Mixed.
How about these other keys? Did you test them?

I have five security options for the ra0 interface (from rt2860sta) which are: No authentication, WEP, WEP ASCII, WEP-PSK and Dynamic something or other (can't read as it's truncated).
However, all of them, without exception give the message "Could not acquire an address". The WEP 28Bit key that I'm using I'm sure is correct and I've checked it over and over.
Interestingly, if I do a scan within Network Manager it identifies the ESSID without problem but suggests WEP ASCII as the security type. However, my security type is WEP 28Bit with a 26-digit key

5. I use the Opera 10 browser but can only run Opera by opening Lancelot, typing in "opera" and clicking on the "run opera" launcher that shows up. Why can't I get Opera to appear in favorites or as a tray icon?

In Lancelot (and other menu types) Opera is in Internet and I can right-click > Add to Favorites or drag-drop Opera to the Panel.

For me, Opera does not appear in Lancelot>>Internet and is nowhere to be seen within the Lancelot menu. Nevertheless, I was able to create an application launcher for Opera and place it on the panel.

6. It would be so much more convenient to have Terminal as a tray icon or keyboard shortcut rather than only accessible through Lancelot

Use right-click> Add to Favorites and/or use drag-drop to where you want it.

Yes, OK, that works

7.  Lancelot crashes a lot

Have a look at Lancelot and at FAQ.

Once again, Lancelot hasn't crashed since I posted here.

8. The small Desktop panel thing on the, well, Desktop has disappeared and I'm unable to find how to retrieve it.

You mean "Desktop Folder"? Try Add Widgets > Show Desktop or Folder View or .......!

Yes, that solved it.

9. Although ~/.kde4/Autostart/ is empty, both Lastfm and Kgpg launch on startup every time. How do I stop this?

Maybe a right-click > Quit will do the trick?

Well, right-click>>Close will close the app but doesn's stop it from launching on next boot. Obviously, there must be something other than ~/.kde4/Autostart/ which is being used to autostart apps on boot.

[atolboo]

I have five security options for the ra0 interface (from rt2860sta) which are: No authentication, WEP, WEP ASCII, WEP-PSK and Dynamic something or other (can't read as it's truncated).
However, all of them, without exception give the message "Could not acquire an address". The WEP 28Bit key that I'm using I'm sure is correct and I've checked it over and over.

Which security option (key type) is used can only be set in the router.
Which type (make,model) of router are you using? (So that I can see its options).
And in Network Manager (after a scan and select) the right key type is  automatically set.
(the manager gets this key type and ESSID from the incoming stream)
You only have to fill in the key value.

[paulfxh]

Hi, Thank you for the reply.
I'm using a Netopia 2247 NWG router with a WEP-Automatic key type. This requires a 128 Bit encryption key (26 hex digits).
However, when the Network Manager in Pardus 2009 (on my EeePC 901) scans for wifi aps, while it correctly identifies the ESSID for my router, it suggests the key type is WEP ASCII which is INCORRECT.
It is for this reason that I tried ALL of the 5 key types offered by Network Manager, but every one of them returned the same "Could not acquire an address" message.
Strangely, when I changed, within Network Manager, to a static IP rather than DHCP, Network Manager apparently managed to connect to the wireless network. Nevertheless, pinging just gave a "Destination Host unreachable" and, of course, browsing was impossible.
Under these conditions, I ran "# iwconfig" in a terminal and found that encryption was shown as "off" which of course it wasn't.
Even running "# iwconfig ra0 key xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx" did not manage to alter the encryption setting in "# iwconfig" to anything other than "off".
Note that I had no problem getting wireless to work in Pardus 2008.2 after installing the rt2860sta driver.
I am tempted to conclude that the rt2860sta module in the Pardus2009 kernel is broken. Does it work for others?

[atolboo]

According to this site the Netopia 2247NWG has the following keys 128-bit WEP, 64-bit WEP, WPA.
I also would try WPA.
And if that one doesn't do the job file a Bug report.
As I don't have the hardware, I can't test this.

[paulfxh]

Thanks for the reply. However, no luck with WPA-PSK either.
I'll file a bug report.
Although I could probably compile the rt2860sta module myself, is perhaps the binary already available anywhere for Pardus 2009 as it is for Pardus 2008.2?

[atolboo]

....... is perhaps the binary already available anywhere for Pardus 2009 as it is for Pardus 2008.2?

I don't expect this to be available because of

The RT2860 is supported (by default) with the 2.6.30 kernel and ...........

Because of this the Pardus developers can only answer this problem in the bug report.

[paulfxh]

Because of this the Pardus developers can only answer this problem in the bug report.

Okeedokee. One bug report coming up.

[atolboo]

One more package to check.
Could you check if the package "wpa_supplicant" has been installed?