[ale] Greetings.

[Vernard Martin]

> with installing and getting linux online.  First, my video card (Diamond
> Monster Fusion, Banshee Chipset) isn't supported by any of the X servers,
> so I can view with the VGA16 server, which isn't exactly the most
> thrilling experience.  Second, I really don't have the know-how to figure
> out how to get it online.  I have Bellsouth.net as my ISP.  Do they
> support Linux?  Anyway, enough of my rambling.  Just didn't know if anyone
> could shed some light on the subject(s).  Thanks.

Hello Rob,

Welcome to the mailling list and to linux. Hopefully we'll be able to answer 
your questions for you. Here's a start:

Concerning your video. XFreee86 is the X server found in most distributions and
in general, it thends to lag behind in support for 3D video cards

What linux distribution are you using? The reason I ask this is that there are
usually easier ways to set things up depending on what distribution you are
using. For instance, you can juse scripts to setup dialin ppp on any
distribution but some of the more popular distributions use.

For instance, if you are using RedHat 5.2 you can do the following. 

0) Login as root
1) Copy /usr/doc/ppp*/scripts/ppp-on-dialer to /etc/ppp/ppp-on-dialer
2) chmod ugo+rx /etc/ppp/ppp-on-dialer
3) Copy /usr/doc/ppp*/scripts/ppp-on to /usr/loca/bin/ppp-on
4) chmod ugo+rx /etc/ppp/ppp-on
5) Copy /usr/doc/ppp*/scripts/ppp-off to /usr/loca/bin/ppp-off
6) chmod ugo+rx /etc/ppp/ppp-off
7) edit the /etc/ppp/ppp-on file and change the fields for your login name,
   password, and telephone number you dial to access your ISP.
8) Type "ppp-on" to dial your ISP.  It is sometimes very useful to type the
   command "tail -f /var/log/messages" in another window that is also
   logged in as root so that you can watch what is going on during the dialin 
   process.

You will probably need to add a nameserver to your /etc/resolv.conf files as
well.

hope this helps

V
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Vernard Martin (vernard at cc.gatech.edu)  http://www.cc.gatech.edu/~vernard/
"Luck is just one of my many skills." - Isamu from Macross Plus