Community archive

Ask something
Discussion Locked

Please help the little guys.

0 helpful
12 replies

by jardinier

Closed to new repliesThis discussion is closed. It stays readable, but it takes no new replies.

I was moved by the response to the pleas from COUNTRY-SIDE BOYS when it was finally understood that the principle problem was lack of finance.
However, as I browse through New Postings and find that many remain for days without a single response, Icheck each one out to see if my very limited field of knowledge can provide an answer. Usually it can't, but surely some of you highly experienced IT Pros can at least steer the enquirer in the right direction. [These comments do not apply to TheChas or GuruOfDOS who share their extensive knowledge freely and widely].

12 replies

by admin

I do try to make the rounds and either flag a post to get it more exposure or provide an answer.

Technically though, if it requires an answer it's Q&A rather than discussion :)

Always glad to help when I can though.

~

by jardinier

Yes, I have a question. I had put this one aside in the "too hard" basket. I have a 486 with Linux installed, two HDs, a floppy drive and no CD-ROM. It seems fully functional, except that the desktop is password protected. Do you know of a way around this? I have a Lilo boot-up disc, not associated with this particular computer, if that's of any use.

by djent

Try a google search for: alt.os.linux. This board is dedicated to many flavors of linux is MS heavy.

by admin

Let me know what distribution and desktop (KDE, GNOME?) you are using and also specify if it's for sure a desktop protection or if you lost root.

:)

by lordinfidel

Do you know what version of linux? (RH, Mandrake, Slackware etc)

By the word "desktop" I am assuming that it has either KDE or Gnome running. And is not FreeBSD.

When you say it has a "password" assigned to the desktop, it does not make sense. I would assume that you are just unable to log in with the root password.

It should be an early version of linux, maybe like 1.x kernel. the 2.2 and above kernels, especially 2.4 won't run in graphical mode with anything less then 32 megs of ram. I have not known a 486 to be more beefy than that, although it is possible if someone was able to find the correct simms.

I really would not use a boot disk from another kernel build. Especially if the flavor is different.

If you know the root password, you can use the 3 finger salute to shut it down and reboot it. Then log in as root.

You may be able to spawn a another console and log in.

by timwalsh

You really need to go look at the Q&A postings before making an assertation that we aren't helping.

1. I've noticed that many posters will post the same question both here and in Q&A. If I've already answered a question in Q&A, why answer it twice.

2. Many of the "highly experienced IT Pros" may spend most of their time perusing the Q&A vs. the Discussion area. If you are looking for the answer to a specific question, it should be posted in Q&A.

3. If you want to open a discussion on a topic to see what others think about that topic, this is the place to do it. Think of the Discussion area as a chat room (as it almost is) rather than Free Tech Support.

4. If you are concerned about lack of points to ask questions in Q&A, I think you will fing that most posters who regularly visit this site will give you the same answer whether it is worth 5 points or 5000 points.

5. There are a couple of things that tend to make regular posters become disgruntled from time to time:
a. Posting a question with a high point value , getting a 100 percent correct answer, and then rejecting all answers and closing the question.
b. People asking "where can I find..." when they could have gotten the answer we give them by running a simple search on Google or Yahoo.
c. People asking "please give me an exact step by step process to..." when they are trying to accomplish a complicated process about which many BOOKS have been written. Bottom line - at least attempt to do a little of your own homework first. There isn't enought space here to give you many pages worth of steps.
d. We don't give out hacking advice; we don't give out software; we don't like people trying to use the site to push their goods and services; this isn't a job site; we don't give out product keys;

Okay, I'll get off my soapbox now; Hope you got pointed in the right direction.

by maxwell edison

I seem to migrate from one area to the other, but lately have been pretty much avoiding the Q&A section. I used to spend much more time answering questions. The points were fun to accumulate, but are rather meaningless unless you want to use them toattract attention to your own questions (which I've often done). But the Q&A section can be more frustrating for the participant (well for me, I shouldn't speak for others) because of the rejects of perfectly good answers, because of the questions that never close, and so on. On the discussion side, even though it often diverts to a less technical tangent, the back and forth dialogue and debate is more stimulating - but less technical, to be sure.

by thechas

There are far too many Technical questions posted in the discussion center.

Depending on my mood, when I respond to a technical question in the Discussion center, I may advise the poster that their question belongs in the Q&A forum.

If they are concerned about their point total, there are several ways to quickly get more points.

Subscribe to some of the Tech-Mails. Besides, it is a great way to increase your PC knowledge.

Visit the site. You get points for logging in each day.

Visit the sister site www.builder.com.com
Again, points for just logging in.

Answer the bi-monthly quizzes.
Even if your answers are all wrong, you still get the 500 points.

Chas

by thechas

There are numerous users posting the same question in several different categories.

This usually does not improve there chances of getting a good answer. It only clogs up the site and slows things down.

Further, when they post to the discussion forum, there is NO feed-back loop.
When a question is posted in the Technical Q&A section, the peer gets an e-mail as soon as anyone posts an answer to their question.
Further, if the answerer check the notify box when they posted their answer, they will get a response when their answer is rated.
Many times, I have gone back after my answer has been rejected, and from new information posted in the comments been able to devise the correct solution.

Finally, PLEASE, PLEASE if your correctuser name does not show up when you go to post a question LOG out, and LOG back in.

Chas

by guruofdos

Thanks for the kind words, and I'm sure that The Chas would echo that sentiment, but...

Two do not a Republic make! I could fill the 1930 characters with names of many members who have probably forgotten more than I'll ever know, and it's good tosee them all chipping in ther two cents (pence, kopeks, dinar or whatever).

A big thank you and round of e-beer to Maxwell Edison, Admin@l33t, Anna77, TomSal and all the rest from whom even a Guru can learn a thing or 5!

by jardinier

The three replies that I have received to this posting have more than adequately reassured me that everyone who seeks help from techrepublic will get it, from a very generous IT community.

by jackofalltech

If you recall, there was a discussion recently about a similar subject. There is a difference between helping someone who is stuck with a thorny problem and someone who is too lazy to do a little research. I have a pin-button on my desk with largeletters RTFM (Read The ... Manual).

There are literally hundreds of sites that focus on specific areas for trouble-shooting. If nothing else, ASK.COM and Google searches usually provide more than enough information anyone would need.

Ralph

This discussion is closed to new replies.