Having to much trouble with arch. What other distros do you recomend?

bredin · 2008-08-18 15:47:55

I've been trying to geet arch running flawlessly on my thinkpad x61 for the last month.
But I've run in to some problems that I can't solve.

The iwlwifi-4965-ucode drivers unstable and gives me kernelpanics. Tried to roll them back but nothing happend.
I'm having problems with my xorg. It worked flawlessly under kubuntu but in arch I get some strange lines when things moving horizontaly on my screen. Like the image is splitting into 2 pieces instead of one. Have been configuring my xorg for weeks without any result.

Feels like I need some other distro.
I like the whole from scratch idea.

Ramses de Norre · 2008-08-18 15:49:59

Zenwalk maybe.

ralvez · 2008-08-18 16:34:17

The closest match I have ever used was Slackware. It's rock solid, very stable, and fast.

R.

daf666 · 2008-08-18 17:29:54

bredin wrote:

It worked flawlessly under kubuntu

Then use kubuntu...

timetrap · 2008-08-18 17:40:00

I think you misunderstand what a linux distro is. There is no secret sauce that makes one distro better than the other. They all have the same ingredients. What make distros different is how they put the same ingredients together.

I am assuming you went here http://www.linux-on-laptops.com/lenovo.html and looked at this http://pi-ist-genau-3.de/?page_id=344

And I am assuming you looked at this too (regarding your wireless) http://bugs.archlinux.org/task/10984

Last edited by timetrap (2008-08-18 17:43:58)

jordi · 2008-08-18 18:05:45

daf666 wrote:

bredin wrote:
It worked flawlessly under kubuntu
Then use kubuntu...

Or compare the kubuntu xorg.conf file with that from arch?

bredin · 2008-08-18 19:32:36

jordi wrote:

daf666 wrote:
bredin wrote:
It worked flawlessly under kubuntu
Then use kubuntu...
Or compare the kubuntu xorg.conf file with that from arch?

Done that a couple of times. The thing is nothing changes when I change my xorg.conf :S

http://pastebin.com/m275f883e

my xorg. Using xf86-video-intel drivers

bredin · 2008-08-18 20:13:17

timetrap wrote:

I think you misunderstand what a linux distro is. There is no secret sauce that makes one distro better than the other. They all have the same ingredients. What make distros different is how they put the same ingredients together.
I am assuming you went here http://www.linux-on-laptops.com/lenovo.html and looked at this http://pi-ist-genau-3.de/?page_id=344
And I am assuming you looked at this too (regarding your wireless) http://bugs.archlinux.org/task/10984

tried the xorg.conf from "debian on lenovo x61" and its a dualscreen configuration. And I actually had a 1680x1050 samsung syncmaster standing in a closet so I plugged it in and tried to play movies @ both screens and I get the same result on both screens no matter what mediaplayer I run. So something must be wrong with my intel driver?
My xorg.conf before I tested the dualscreen xorg, witch gives me the same problem.
Using xf86-video-intel driver.

And about the wifidrivers. A bug is allways a bug no matter if it's known or not. Still a problem.

Last edited by bredin (2008-08-18 20:14:30)

yama · 2008-08-18 22:09:15

We can all throw in what distro we think is the best. Beside Arch of course... But if one distro doesnt float your boat, then try another one. But if it all work under Kubuntu then that might be the one for you.

Or just try a distro you have not used yet... There is alot to explore and what works for one user doesnt mean works for you.

Gullible Jones · 2008-08-18 22:50:13

For desktops, Slack is where it's at.

For laptops... I'm not really sure. For various reasons I'm still looking for a distro to replace Arch, but power management on a lot of them is incredibly shabby. Vector, perhaps? All I know is that very few use pm-utils - even freaking OpenSuSE 11 still seems to be using acpid & co.

moljac024 · 2008-08-18 23:21:42

Gullible Jones wrote:

For desktops, Slack is where it's at.
For laptops... I'm not really sure. For various reasons I'm still looking for a distro to replace Arch, but power management on a lot of them is incredibly shabby. Vector, perhaps? All I know is that very few use pm-utils - even freaking OpenSuSE 11 still seems to be using acpid & co.

Why replace Arch ? Aren't you assimilated into collective already ? Resistance is futile my friend.

Gullible Jones · 2008-08-19 00:24:38

Boredom, lack of manpower, desire to learn more about the guts of Linux.

scrawler · 2008-08-19 00:55:39

I haven't seen frugalware mentioned around here in general lately... maybe you should give that a try. Also. have you tried to boot with a livecd, then used it's xorg.conf? Just a thought. I'm satisfied with arch, myself. PCLinuxOS isn't too terrible--my nephew has had no trouble with it, unlike Mint and Fedora. I just read today that Mandriva's latest was nice, too, but yama is right: distros abound.

timetrap · 2008-08-19 01:09:34

bredin wrote:

tried the xorg.conf from "debian on lenovo x61" and its a dualscreen configuration. And I actually had a 1680x1050 samsung syncmaster standing in a closet so I plugged it in and tried to play movies @ both screens and I get the same result on both screens no matter what mediaplayer I run. So something must be wrong with my intel driver?
My xorg.conf before I tested the dualscreen xorg, witch gives me the same problem.
Using xf86-video-intel driver.

I think you may be missing xinerama,

Wikipedia http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Xinerama

iphitus · 2008-08-19 04:06:11

Gullible Jones wrote:

Boredom, lack of manpower, desire to learn more about the guts of Linux.

The alternate solution is to do some work on it It solves all three of those, and solves them better than changing distro.

Seeing as power management is a pain for you, that's something you could work on. Write your own tool that does what you want. Thats what I did with netcfg... thats what other developers did with stuff on projects.archlinux.org, thats what Judd did with pacman...

You'll learn more about the guts of GNU/Linux by hacking on it and utilising it than configuring it for the fiftieth time.

James

Last edited by iphitus (2008-08-19 04:07:59)

celthias · 2008-08-19 04:11:27

Feels like I need some other distro.
I like the whole from scratch idea.

Umm off the top of my head, "from scratch" distros include

- slackware
- crux
- debian netinstall
- freebsd i think (and even then it's bsd, not a linux distro)
- zenwalk isn't really from scratch..they have the "one tool for each job" philosophy, but still light nonetheless (based on slackware)
- linux from scratch
- rock linux

OR keep hammering at arch till you get it working, but either way good luck to you!

rostoQ · 2008-08-19 07:52:49

I've been trying to geet arch running flawlessly on my thinkpad x61 for the last month.
But I've run in to some problems that I can't solve.
The iwlwifi-4965-ucode drivers unstable and gives me kernelpanics

I have the x60s... are u sure you have the Intel Wireless 4965AGN chip? Some x61s were built with the 3945ABG chip... thats what i have and with "iwlwifi-3945-ucode" it works without problems... as like as everything else (bluetooth sd-card, sound, ethernet, video)

iphitus · 2008-08-19 08:29:05

rostoQ: probably a newer one then - The 4965 drivers wouldnt never have loaded if it was a 3945 device.

bredin · 2008-08-19 09:08:30

Xinerama was installed. And I'm sure that there's a 4965AGN wireless card in my computer.

bredin · 2008-08-20 21:37:56

Downloaded 64bit ubuntu mininal and installed ubuntu-restricted-extras. And the videoplayback is great.

To bad that I didn't have any luck with arch. I really liked pacman!

Arch Linux

#1 2008-08-18 15:47:55

Having to much trouble with arch. What other distros do you recomend?

#2 2008-08-18 15:49:59

Re: Having to much trouble with arch. What other distros do you recomend?

#3 2008-08-18 16:34:17

Re: Having to much trouble with arch. What other distros do you recomend?

#4 2008-08-18 17:29:54

Re: Having to much trouble with arch. What other distros do you recomend?

#5 2008-08-18 17:40:00

Re: Having to much trouble with arch. What other distros do you recomend?

#6 2008-08-18 18:05:45

Re: Having to much trouble with arch. What other distros do you recomend?

#7 2008-08-18 19:32:36

Re: Having to much trouble with arch. What other distros do you recomend?

#8 2008-08-18 20:13:17

Re: Having to much trouble with arch. What other distros do you recomend?

#9 2008-08-18 22:09:15

Re: Having to much trouble with arch. What other distros do you recomend?

#10 2008-08-18 22:50:13

Re: Having to much trouble with arch. What other distros do you recomend?

#11 2008-08-18 23:21:42

Re: Having to much trouble with arch. What other distros do you recomend?

#12 2008-08-19 00:24:38

Re: Having to much trouble with arch. What other distros do you recomend?

#13 2008-08-19 00:55:39

Re: Having to much trouble with arch. What other distros do you recomend?

#14 2008-08-19 01:09:34

Re: Having to much trouble with arch. What other distros do you recomend?

#15 2008-08-19 04:06:11

Re: Having to much trouble with arch. What other distros do you recomend?

#16 2008-08-19 04:11:27

Re: Having to much trouble with arch. What other distros do you recomend?

#17 2008-08-19 07:52:49

Re: Having to much trouble with arch. What other distros do you recomend?

#18 2008-08-19 08:29:05

Re: Having to much trouble with arch. What other distros do you recomend?

#19 2008-08-19 09:08:30

Re: Having to much trouble with arch. What other distros do you recomend?

#20 2008-08-20 21:37:56

Re: Having to much trouble with arch. What other distros do you recomend?

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