@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@ > When I boot BasicLinux, everything seems to start OK. However, > when I try to login at the prompt, my keyboard is dead. Nothing > appears on the screen when I type. This is a BIOS bug (known to occur in some versions of the Compaq BIOS). It leaves the keyboard in a non-standard state, which doesn't bother Windows, but it does fool BasicLinux. The solution is simple: tell the kernel to reset the keyboard. You do this by editing boot.bat (in your DOS partition) and adding kbd-reset: --------------------------------------------------------- loadlin zimage kbd-reset root=/dev/ram initrd=baslinux.gz --------------------------------------------------------- @@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@ > BasicLinux does not work on my system. It starts to boot and then > crashes. BasicLinux needs two things to boot: DOS and 8mb RAM. Make sure that you are running in pure DOS. Make sure that you have at least 8mb RAM and that *all* of your RAM is good. It is not uncommon for old PCs to have faulty or mismatched RAM modules. Just because DOS is OK does not mean the RAM is OK (sometimes DOS is able to run with bad RAM modules). Linux is *very* intolerant of bad RAM. If you have problems with Linux crashing, you should run a thorough RAM test. The automatic power-on RAM test is not thorough -- do not trust it. You need a proper RAM tester, like the the one at: ------------------------- http://www.memtest86.com/ ------------------------- Something else that might crash Linux is an overclocked CPU or an aggressive CMOS setting. Sometimes people try to speed up their systems by pushing the hardware to the limit. If this has been overdone, Linux may crash (even though DOS does not). @@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@ > Can I use add-ons from BasicLinux 1.8 in BasicLinux 2.0? No. BasicLinux 2.0 uses a completely different set of libraries. BasicLinux 1.8 used very old libraries (libc5) and all its add-ons were compiled for those libraries. BasicLinux 2.0 uses glibc 2.1. @@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@ > I have a 486sx and would really like to run BasicLinux 2.0. Is > there any way to do this? Yes, but you will need to get a new kernel from Slackware 7.1. The BasicLinux kernel is called "zimage" and you will find it on your DOS partition (where you boot BasicLinux). Replace it with an appropriate Slackware kernel. If you have 8mb RAM, you should use the low-mem kernel from Slackware 7.1. You will find it in the /kernels/lowmem.i directory. It is called zimage (same as the BasicLinux kernel). Simply copy it over the old zimage and boot BasicLinux. The low-mem zimage is not a very good kernel. In order to make it small, Slackware left out several features. In particular, it is unable to do networking. However, there is no choice -- the low-mem zimage is the only kernel that can run the BasicLinux ramdisk on a 486sx with 8mb RAM. If you have more than 8mb RAM, you should use a more capable kernel. The standard Slackware IDE kernel is probably best. You will find it in the /kernels/bare.i directory. It is a bzimage. Copy it to the DOS directory where you boot BasicLinux. Since the BasicLinux boot routine is expecting a zimage, you will need to edit BOOT.BAT (with a DOS editor) and change zimage to bzimage. @@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@ > Central European phone lines do not have a dial tone. > So we need to use ATX3DT instead of ATDT. Can this > be implemented in pppsetup? Yes. Add the following line to the main config file: ------------ 0 init1 ATX3 ------------ This works for any modem init string (like ATM0L0 to turn off the modem speaker). @@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@ > What are the Linux names for my drives? The following will print the details of your HD partitions: -------- fdisk -l -------- > I have a drive C: Your C: drive is probably the first partition on /dev/hda. The Linux name for that partition is /dev/hda1 > and a CDrom drive (D:) Probaby /dev/hdb (no number because CDroms aren't partitioned). @@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@ > When I use "pr", it says it doesn't recognize that command. BasicLinux does not include a print daemon (although one can be added from Slackware 7.1). BasicLinux prints text by sending it directly to the printer port. That is what wp does. > How do I print a file? The simpest way is to copy the file to /tmp/document (the name of the current wp document). Then run wp and print the document. @@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@ > With the word processor in Basiclinux, how to save those > files as .txt, and then put them onto a floppy? When you have finished editing the document, exit the wordprocessor and do this: -------------------------- cd /tmp # goes to where document is stored ren document newname.txt # renames document mount /dev/fd0 /mnt # put floppy in drive first! copy newname.txt /mnt # copies file from HD to FD umount /mnt # do this BEFORE removing floppy -------------------------- @@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@ > in the /etc directory there seemed to be a bunch of > configuration files. Are there specs somewhere which can > tell my what, how and why I would want to change in these? Here are a few to get you started: -------------------------------------------------------------- rc system startup file (for ramdrive BasicLinux) rc.d system startup files (for HD version) profile shell startup file fstab table of filesystems automatically mounted at startup passwd user data for login issue text that gets printed on screen at login -------------------------------------------------------------- @@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@ > DOS took me only a short time to get on to, the Linux CLI has > been much more difficult, the command line seems longwinded and > roundabout to do even simple things compared to DOS The Linux CLI is more difficult to master because it has so many different options and so many ways of doing things. However, for simple stuff, it parallels DOS pretty well. DOS Linux ---------------------------------------------------- cd \tmp cd /tmp cd .. cd .. copy xxxx \tmp cp xxxx /tmp move xxxx \tmp mv xxxx /tmp del xxxx rm xxxx deltree xxxx rm -r xxxx mkdir xxxx mkdir xxxx rmdir xxxx rmdir xxxx dir /w ls dir ls -l dir | more ls -l | more xxxx (to execute xxxx) xxxx type xxxx cat xxxx CTRL-C CTRL-C ------------------------------------------------------ > I've also found it difficult to find a book or information that > I can understand, Have you looked in your public/university library? When I started out, I found several beginners books on Linux in my public library. I got them all out and read the first few chapters of each. I found that I usually got lost around chapter three, and it really helped to stop reading that book and start again with a new one. > BasicLinux so far being my best teacher. BasicLinux was designed to be a smaller, simpler Linux that could be used and (eventually) understood by new users (particularly users with some DOS experience). A lot of stuff has been left out; however, I tried to keep all the core tools and functionality. Most of the lessons in the beginners books can be practiced in BasicLinux. @@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@ > Was wondering if there was a way to see again all that > info at bootup? Enter the following: ------------ dmesg | more ------------ The only reason 'more' is there is to stop it scrolling off the screen. @@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@ > Is it possible to increase the size of the BasicLinux ramdisk? The size of the ramdisk is fixed at 4mb. However, if you have 16mb RAM or more, BasicLinux automatically gives you a second 4mb ramdisk (mounted at /tmp). This additional space is only available in the /tmp directory (and any subdirectories below it). To see the space available on your system, do 'df' @@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@ > I boot BasicLinux on my "D:" drive in a "blinux" directory. > How can I mount this drive from BasicLinux? I tried > "mount /dev/hda1 /hd" changing various parameters (like hda2) > for the d: drive, but it didn't work. You are on the right track, but first we need to figure out exactly where the D: drive is (physically) located. /dev/hda is the primary master IDE drive. C: is usually the first partition of this drive (/dev/hda1). If D: is on the same HD as C:, it will also start with /dev/hda. However, if D: is on a different HD, it will start with something else. For example, if D: is on the primary slave HD, its Linux name will start with /dev/hdb. The simplest way to figure this out is to boot BasicLinux and do this: -------- fdisk -l -------- This will show you all occupied partitions. /dev/hda1 is probably C:. Can you figure out which one is D: ? For example, if it appears that D: is /dev/hda5, mount that and have a look: -------------------- mount /dev/hda5 /hd dir /hd -------------------- @@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@ > I am trying to install BasicLinux to HD. I downloaded the listed > packages from a Slackware 7.1 mirror. The installation routine > finds all the packages but it does not install them. Instead I > get error messages. What's wrong? The packages might have been altered when you downloaded them, Perhaps they were truncated or perhaps the server downloaded in ascii (rather than binary) or perhaps your client automatically decompressed them. Check the sizes of the the packages. They should be as follows: ---------------------- a2/bin 1,029,260 a2/e2fsprog 261,848 a3/gzip 52,484 a4/fileutls 414,358 a6/grep 202,451 a6/hdsetup 141,626 a6/ldso 199,847 a13/tar 302,427 --------------------- If the sizes are correct, use md5sum (in BasicLinux) to check the integrity of the files. You should get: ---------------------------------------------- 0efec464fd245ff472b293932ec97e87 bin.tgz 45c5f6c74b69a5df602f23a6f5b92c4d e2fsprog.tgz fff2175e6b3e2751ff34f43872cb785d gzip.tgz e7dd3fa72e5a01d4d3955996cd328db2 fileutls.tgz 56a7c6b1d54181032fd3a97f0970bc7e grep.tgz a6cff493e87d77e1ee1da038af3975b4 hdsetup.tgz f4a08daddf4d68c3613e6d1e19884922 ldso.tgz f157a0726914dddab346a22b455ccd68 tar.tgz ---------------------------------------------- (Thanks to Krzysztof for providing this information.) @@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@ > I don't want to re-partition my HD. Is there a UMSDOS version of > BasicLinux? Is is not difficult to make a UMSDOS version. However, I do not recommend it. UMSDOS has many disadvantages. In particular, it is significantly slower. For example, I recently made a UMSDOS version of BasicLinux 1.7 and put it on drive C:. On the second partition of the same drive, I did a standard HD installation of BasicLinux 1.7. The UMSDOS version took 43 seconds to run a test program. The standard version took 28 seconds to run the same program. @@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@ > I can't login to BasicLinux from another computer. BasicLinux includes several network clients, but no servers. Only servers can accept logins from other systems. > When i try to telnet my BasicLinux system, it says > something like "could not connect" BasicLinux has a very capable telnet client, so you are able to telnet *to* other systems (as long as they are running telnet servers). However, without a telnet server, BasicLinux cannot accept telnet logins *from* other systems. The solution to your problem is to install the server package from Slackware 7.1 @@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@ > I don't seem to have the "pkg" command. The pkg command was used in BasicLinux 1 to install Slackware packages. BasicLinux 2 does not use this method. Instead, it uses the standard package manager from Slackware 7.1 (which is installed automatically when you put BasicLinux on its own HD partition). With the Slackware package manager, you can install individual packages using "installpkg" (which acts like the old BasicLinux "pkg") or you can run "pkgtool" for a menu-driven routine that installs/displays/removes packages. @@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@ > I am using BasicLinux on an IBM Thinkpad 360CS. Everything > seems to be working OK except for the floppy disk. Most Thinkpads have an "inverted floppy drive change line" (why IBM did it this way, I don't know). To fix it, add: --------------- floppy=thinkpad --------------- to the loadlin line in boot.bat (in your DOS directory) @@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@ > My computer has a network card. How do I connect BasicLinux > to the network. Step 1 - install the driver for the network card ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ First, you need the appropriate module (driver). The most common type of network card is ne2000 and its module (ne) has been included in BasicLinux. There are also modules for ne2k-pci, wd, smc-ultra, eepro, 3c509 and 3c59x network cards. If you have a different type of network card, you will need to download the appropriate module from the /modules directory of Slackware 7.1. Once you have the module, you use the 'insmod' command to install it. For example, with an ne2000 card at address 0x320, you use these two insmod commands: ---------------------- insmod 8390 insmod ne io=0x320 ---------------------- The 8390 is a helper module used by ne, ne2k-pci, wd and smc-ultra. If you insmod ne without 8390, it will complain. Step 2 - initialize the network connection ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ -------------------------- ifconfig eth0 192.168.1.17 -------------------------- This assumes 192.168.1.17 is the network address of this computer. Step 3 (optional) - define the default route ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ -------------------------------- route add default gw 192.168.1.1 -------------------------------- This assumes that 192.168.1.1 is your gateway to the internet (or other external network). Any address not in the 192.168.1.x range will be sent to the default gateway. @@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@ > I set up a 32mb swap partition on /dev/hda2. Do I have to format > it or what? ---------------- mkswap /dev/hda2 # this formats the swap partition swapon /dev/hda2 # this turns it on ---------------- You can check that swap is working by doing 'free'. Your 32mb should be listed on the Swap line. If you are running BasicLinux on its own HD partition, you can list the swap partition in /etc/fstab: ------------------------------------------------ /dev/hda2 swap swap defaults 0 0 ------------------------------------------------ Then, swap will be turned on automatically at system startup and you will never have to do the swapon command again. @@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@ > When I type "mount -t iso9660 -o ro /dev/optcd0 /h" > it says ... > mount: the kernel does not recognize /dev/optcd0 What kind of CDrom drive do you have? Most are ATAPI and simply plug into an IDE cable. Try this: --------------- dmesg | grep hd --------------- Does one of the lines show an ATAPI CDrom drive? On my system, I get this: ----------------------------------- hdc: WPI CDS-32X, ATAPI CDROM drive ----------------------------------- To mount my CDrom drive, I do this: ------------------------------ mount -t iso9660 /dev/hdc /mnt ------------------------------ @@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@ > If I mount a partition on the HD, say hdc1, while running > BasicLinux out of hdc5 partition, can I then store files on > hdc1 partition up to the capacity of the partition? Yes. The 'df' command will show you how much space is available on each partition. @@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@ > Why is it that when I do 'ppp-on' I sometimes get: > "Sorry, PPP is not supported in this kernel" That's the message you get when the ppp module has not been activated. > and then I did pppsetup, but only selected #4 (exit), > but then ppp-on worked. Because pppsetup automatically activates the ppp module for you. > Am I doing something wrong or is it some problem with BL? The ppp module can be activated automatically by putting it in the startup script. Edit /etc/rc.d/rc.S and remove the # sign from last two lines: ------------- # insmod slhc # insmod ppp ------------- If there are any other modules that you want activated at startup, you can add them there. @@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@ > Can I use packages from other Slackware distributions? Most of the packages in 7.0, 8.0 and 8.1 will work. The earlier Slackwares will not work. @@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@ > I'm trying to get 1024x768x65536 at an 85Hz vertical > refresh rate. The graphics card I'm using is an ATI 3D > Rage Pro. What Xserver do I use with this card? Here are the Xservers available in Slackware 7.1: ------------------------------------------------------------- xvg16 generic 16-color VGA x8514 IBM8514 x3dl GLINT 500TX, GLINT MX, Permedia, Permedia 2 xagx AGX-016, AGX-015, AGX-014, XGA-2 xi128 Number Nine Imagine 128 xma32 Mach32 xma64 Rage: 3D, II, IIC, II+DVD, Pro, LT Pro xma8 Mach8 xmono mono VGA, Hercules mono, HGC1280 xp9k Diamond Viper, Orchid P9000, STAR 2000 xs3 Trio32, Trio64*, Aurora64V+, and most other S3 cards xs3v ViRGE, ViRGE/DX, ViRGE/GX, ViRGE/VX xw32 w32, w32i, w32p, et6000 xsvga Trident, Cirrus, and other SVGA cards not listed above --------------------------------------------------------------- So, it looks like you need the xma64 Xserver. You will find it in /slakware/x1/ -------------------- installpkg xma64.tgz -------------------- You must use the installpkg command (or the pkgtool menu) to install it. Otherwise it will not be initialized. > How do I set up the resolution, color modes and refresh rate? Execute xf86config. Configuring a hi-res Xserver is complicated. You can easily make a mistake. If startx produces a sick screen, press CTRL-ALT-BACKSPACE and run xf86config again to correct the mistake. @@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@ > How can I add support for foreign languages to BasicLinux? Adding support for foreign language can be divided into: 1. changing font and keyboard layout to proper one. 2. setting linux to show messages in proper language. 3. adding support for other programs like mc. 4. adding manpages in required language As for Console: =============== 1. changing font and keyboard layout to proper one. Check and put if required your font into /usr/lib/kbd/consolefonts (BL1) /usr/share/kbd/consolefonts (BL2) and keyboard /usr/lib/kbd/keymaps (BL1) /usr/share/kbd/keymaps (BL2) Now tell linux to use required font and keyboard map: (suppose we want to do Polish for BL1) ---------------------------------------------- setfont /usr/lib/kbd/consolefonts/iso02grf.psf loadkeys /usr/lib/kbd/keymaps/pl02.map ---------------------------------------------- I think in BL2 you might have to use 'consolechars" instead of 'setfont' Test if it works: try `pico` QUESTION: "It works in pico but not under pure command line!" ANSWER: Put in ~/.inputrc the following: -------------------- set meta-flag on set convert-meta off set output-meta on set input-meta on --------------------- 2. setting linux to show messages in proper language. For example, to do Polish, edit /etc/profile (or: ~/.profile) and put # before `export LC_ALL=POSIX` and add below: ------------------------ export LANG=pl export LC_ALL=pl_PL export LESSCHARSET=latin1 ------------------------- 3. adding support for other programs like mc. In mc set in Options -> Display Bits -> ISO 8859-1 and Full 8 bits input, and Full 8 bits output. 4. adding manpages in required language If you have manpages in your language (from SLackware), you are lucky. If not, you have to download it from somewhere (look for "localized man pages" on WWW in your country). Structure of downloaded file is something like: \usr\man\pl_PL\man1 \usr\man\pl_PL\man2 ... Now you have to config man (/etc/man.config or /usr/lib/man.conf) Check if `-T` in NROFF /usr/bin/groff -S -Tascii -mandoc is set properly. For example for Polish I have to change it to: NROFF /usr/bin/groff -S -Tlatin1 -mandoc You may want hyphenation patterns for your language. The simplest way is just to take them from TeX. :) Copy /usr/lib/texmf/tex/generic/hyphen/plhyph.tex to /usr/share/groff/tmac/hyphen.pl Now set macros in /usr/share/groff/tmac/troffrc Change the following lines: .\" Set the hyphenation language to `us'. .do hla us .\" Load hyphenation patterns from `hyphen.us' (in tmac directory). .do hpf hyphen.us to: .\" Set the hyphenation language to `pl'. .do hla pl .\" Load hyphenation patterns from `hyphen.pl' (in tmac directory). .do hpf hyphen.pl Now back to /etc/profile and change: export MANPATH=/usr/local/man:/usr/man:/usr/X11R6/man to: export MANPATH=/usr/man/pl_Pl:/usr/local/man:/usr/man:/usr/X11R6/man Then re-login for the changes to take effect. (Thanks to Chris for providing this information.) @@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@ > I would like to install a better mail reader, but my PC is > too old to run X. Is there a good mail reader for the CLI? I suggest you try Pine. The package is in /slakware/n8 To set up Pine 4.21 as a pop/IMAP "checker," i.e., as a utility for manipulating messages on the server (e.g., viewing and deleting them there), the simplest way is to select "s" (setup), then "c" (configure) from the main menu. At the "inbox-path" entry add the following (note the curly brackets!): ----------------------------------------------------- {your.pop-orimapserver.addy/user=youruname/pop3}INBOX ----------------------------------------------------- If the server is IMAP, put "IMAP" in place of "pop3" in the example entry. Save the configuration (exiting will prompt you to save your changes). When you start Pine, or when you navigate to the INBOX while Pine is running, you will be prompted for your password. Pine then downloads a list of messages on the server and lets you view or delete them, respond to or save them locally (one at a time in this scheme). The password is saved as long as Pine remains open, so it will only need to be entered again if you close and then restart the program. If you have several pop/IMAP accounts, the best way to set up Pine will be to enable incoming folders (i.e., by adding a check mark to the appropriate entry in the configuration menu). You can then create local folders that point to each pop/IMAP account. They open similarly to the INBOX entry discussed above: navigate to the folder in question and press enter. This setup is, of course, a bit more complex, but there is plenty of material available on the web for configuring Pine to do this. The incoming folder entries follow the same format as the example given for inbox-path above. If you want Pine to act as a sort of pseudo-MRA (mail retrieval agent), do the following. These directions assume that you have Pine set up with the inbox-path pointing to your pop3 server. At the main menu press "s" (setup) then "c" (configuration). Scroll down to the entry "enable-aggregate-command-set" and place a check mark at that entry. Save the configuration. When Pine has loaded and displayed a list of all your messages on the server press the ";" key (semicolon), then the "a" key (for select all), then the "a" key again (for apply), and finally the "s" key (for save). Pine will then ask to which local folder you want to save the messages listed (default is the "saved- messages" folder). Hit enter to save them there. Pine automatically marks the messages for deletion from the server. Hit "x" to delete them right away, or when you quit Pine, it will confirm if you want to delete the messages (if this bothers you, the confirmation can be disabled under configuration). Go to www.ii.com/internet/messaging/pine/ for plenty of further information on configuring Pine. (Thanks to James for providing this information.) @@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@ > Can I use a wlan card (lucent) on BasicLinux? I think so. However, I do not have access to such hardware and I do not have experience with wireless networking. > and how? First, you need to familiarize yourself with BasicLinux by running the standard version (on ramdrive). Then, when you are comfortable, install it to its own partition on the HD. Then (when that is working OK) install the pcmcia.tgz package from Slackware 7.1 (in the /slakware/a11 directory). It will install several pcmcia modules -- hopefully, one of these modules will work with your card. For more information on configuring wireless LANs in Linux, see: ----------------------------------------------------- http://www.hpl.hp.com/personal/Jean_Tourrilhes/Linux/ ----------------------------------------------------- @@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@