Hi,
I am relatively new to Linux and brand new to AntiX. I have mostly used Mint. I am trying Antix out on a partition of my main PC and if I find it easy enough, I will put it on my sister's PC which is older and limited in configuration (celeron 900 & 128MB ram).

I have no clue how to install the ATI Driver (HD3850 card) on my system. In Mint I just used envy and that was that. I found a website linked from this forum, with a SGFXI script that is supposed to do the same thing. It is downloaded in my home/daddy/ directory but when I open a root terminal, switch to that directory and type the file name I get a message saying no such command. the instructions said to type sgfxi -h (no idea what the -h does to it.

Is this script safe? Does it work with Antix? Is there a how to for newbies?
Thanks. __{{emoticon}}__

Welcome to antiX, Big_Dog1968.

You are right to download the smxi and components script (sgfxi), but you must put it in /usr/local/bin.

Here is a basic how to. (5th post from h2 the creator of smxi)


========= SCRAPER REMOVED AN EMBEDDED LINK HERE ===========
url was:"antix.freeforu ms.org/smxi-script-on-antix-t864.html?highlight=smxi"
linktext was:"antix.freeforu ms.org/smxi-script ... light=smxi"
====================================


You have to run smxi/sgfxi out of X and as root. Easiest way is to
Ctrl Alt F1
login as root
sgfxi

follow instructions.

BTW What version of antiX do you have?

I wound up finding that post, with a downloadable zip file that successfully launched. I should have looked harder before asking.

Only thing is, it was a bit scary. Not quite sure what I said"yes" and"no" to if you know what I mean.

It told my my swap was not working. I have a swap file at the beginning of my hard drive that is used by Mint. I thought that swap files are automatically detected and used by linux. it asked if I wanted to continue without swap and I said no. I figured that would get me to a screen to add/mount the swap file I already had, but the script just seemed to continue as if nothing had happened. I haven't rebooted yet. I had tried to use Synaptic to install fglrx and it would up installing a new kernel which would not boot. I got back in by shoosing the older kernel. I then went into synaptic, uninstalled everything and then ran the script. The driver wroked when logged back in, but I have not yet rebooted to see if the bad kernel is off of grub. I'll try now and hopefully all is cool.

I think I may have screwed things up when I tried to install the drivers with Synaptic. I am only able to get AntiX to load when I choose use old kernel. I did this prior to your reply. I may just do a clean install and then only use the driver portion of the script. I hadn't installed anything yet so it's not a big deal.

BTW, is 7.5 significantly different from 7.2? Is it stable enough to use on my sister's (and mom's) PC, or was I right to choose 7.2? She does real simple things on her PC (web. email, personal finance, print pics, fax...etc).

7.5 will be released in a few days hopefully. Test 2 is pretty stable though.
Remember antiX is based on debian Testing and is a rolling release, which means that regular upgrades should keep it going without need to install a new release. antiX-M7.5 is more complete in this respect, though it is/will be possible to upgrade from antiX-M7.2 to antiX-M7.5.

Back to your problem.
In antiX-M7.2 there are 2 ways to install ATI/Nvidia drivers.
1. via sgfxi
2. via mepis xconfig

For 2, you need to re-enable the Mepis repos in /etc/apt/sources.list
apt-get update
open mepis xconfig (easiest way is via a terminal as root mxconfig and head to Ati

Good luck.

Did you get you /swap sorted out? Post your /etc/fstab to have a look if needed. The installer should have asked about a /swap and you could have selected an existing partition. Let us know.

eriefisher wrote:Did you get you /swap sorted out? Post your /etc/fstab to have a look if needed. The installer should have asked about a /swap and you could have selected an existing partition. Let us know.

First, thanks to you and Anti for your replies.

If 7.5 is to be released in a couple days, and you can upgrade from the beta, then for me, I will likely download and install the beta version and for my mom and sister (who this is ultimately for), wait for the final. As for the swap file goes, it was already there when I went through the install. In mint, which is what I have a limited experience in, it was detected. I thought that Antix was the same, so I may have missed it (we all know the saying about assuming). When I re-install th7.5, I will pay close attention, and see if I get the same issue.

7.5 runs solid here and I'm fully upgraded to sid/smxi.

When you install you should see the pull down menu to select the partitions to install on. Make sure you select your /swap. Enjoy the ride.

I went ahead and installed 7.5. Ran SMXI, and installed the ATI driver without incident. The only thing is the script would not permit a distribution upgrade, but would allow a system upgrade. Don't know what the diff is but it left the old kernel in place, so that maybe thats it. Anyway that's it.

I used Synaptic to install KDE base and KDM. I assume that is the same as the KDE lite version.

When running Ice or fluxbox, it is incredibly fast o n my new equipment. I am impressed, although I did have trouble re-sizing certain windows in Ice and Flux. They were either up or down. Not sure what that is. Thanks for the help. I am sure I will be back for more help as I continue my journey into the world of Linux and antiX.