Debian 4.0r4 on Sager NP2092

I'm new to linux and I really didn't like the instability of vista on my machine so I decided to give the stable branch of debian a shot.

Installation went without a hitch but on boot it sends me into bash because X can't start. After spending hours learning the inner workings of the xorg.conf to no avail I decided to use my old win-desktop to download the proprietary drivers from NVIDIA.

I put them on cd and went to install them on the laptop and after some more roadblocks concerning gcc and libc (fixed now) I got as far as this.

"Unable to find the kernel source tree for the currently running kernel. Please make sure you have installed the kernel source files for your kernel and that they are properly configured; on Red Had Linux systems, for example, be sure you have the 'kernel-source' or 'kernel-devel' RPM installed. If you know the correct kernel source files are installed, you may specify the kernel source path with the '--kernel-source-path' command line"

My current kernel is 2.6.18-6-amd64

If anyone could help me with the specifics on obtaining and configuring the proper kernel source tree I would appreciate the help immensely.

Thanks in advance,
Brendon

 

Uhh, try an easier distro, like Ubuntu?

 

Do you have a working internet connection on your Debian machine? If so, try installing the kernel-headers with apt-get.

Code:

# apt-get install kernel-headers-`uname -r`

 

thanks archer, apparently the headers I had weren't the right version. X starts now

X starts now but only into a brown screen and cursor

edit - restart fixed it


thanks again

 

Have fun with Debian
EDIT: 4000 POST!

 

By the way, Debian 5 is coming out soon, so you'll want to get ready to upgrade to that ;/

 

I just can't win sruuni


Thanks for the update, I'm going to google for some info about it

 

Yeah, Ubuntu is more automated, easier. In Kubuntu I can prorform specific task eaier like Synci'ng Blackberry with Kontact, easily virtualize a Windows install with usb support with VirtualBox. I use Kubuntu because I prefer KDE. Your data will be safer in Linux than Windows....a windows crash can be very ugly and data loss can result

 

I've found that "dumb" distros like Arch and Debian are far easier to maintain than heavy ones like Ubuntu and Fedora. They are also faster at the outset and much more customizable.

 

And Gentoo is even easier to maintain than Arch or Debian Just run an

Code:

emerge --sync && emerge -uavDN world && revdep-rebuild

once a week

 

Duly noted. :laugh:

However, I was talking more about troubleshooting than system updates. In Debian, Arch, and probably Gentoo (never tried it), when something goes wrong, you have a better idea of what broke and how you can fix it; firstly because you set up much of it yourself, and secondly because the OS doesn't do any automagical self-maintainance behind your back.

 

Well, I haven't had any problems so far

 

Oh yes, that just rolls off the tongue nicely. I'll stick with aptitude

 

In arch it's:
sudo pacman -Syu
Very easy.....

Of course, it's Gentoo

 

Just a minor correction .

It's actually pacman -Syu.

 

sudo apt-get update && sudo apt-get dist-upgrade

 

I just use Shaman at this point..lol.
Me is lazy lol.
sy syncs the packages with the remote repo..
WTH does that mean lol?

 

And use precompiled packages? Eww ;/

 

haha i love gentoo, but i would never say its easier!

i mean if your updates work sure no problem... but what happens when a package fails to compile? you have to find out why, and unless youre still in the install process something failing usually means something obscure happened in the update that you have to go hunting for etc etc...

again i love messing with gentoo, but i dont mess with updates when i need to be productive.

 

That's the truth of the matter actually

 

I actually don't have any problems with updates. I just run those commands every now and then, and everything is fine. Even kernel updates aren't that big of a deal.