[linux-audio-user] [OT] venting re: Mandrake 8.2

Greetings: Sorry to be a pain, but I'm having so much trouble installing and configuring Mandrake 8.2 that I'm beginning to doubt whether it can be done. Here's a partial list of my trials and tribulations: 1. The CD drive is actually a Toshiba DVD drive. Mandrake installed all right from it but afterwards is unable to read from any disc I insert. All I get is an uninformative "input/output error". 2. The sound configuration is a joke, right ? I boot into KDE and hear the KDE tune just fine, but when I try to run any bundled sound application (XMMS, MIDI synth, etc) I get an error saying that the output device is unreachable. When I test sound using the Drake tool it says it's playing an 8-bit sample but I hear nothing. The tool asks only if you do or do not hear the sample, it offers no advice on what to do if you don't hear anything. 3. The Internet configuration informs me that I have no connection even when I do. 4. The GCC 2.96 is weird, yes ? When I ran ./configure for the latest ALSA I get an error telling me that the C compiler cannot produce executables. This, whether I'm normal user or root. Whafug??!! So is it just me or are these well-known problems with Mandrake ? I'm setting up two machines here, both experience the same problems with Mandrake 8.2. I'm going to reinstall it once more then I'll give up and move on to Red Hat. The only reason I'm installing it at all is because the client wants it. Any and all advice will be vastly appreciated ! Best regards, == Dave Phillips The Book Of Linux Music & Sound at http://www.nostarch.com/lms.htm The Linux Soundapps Site at http://linux-sound.org Currently listening to: John Coltrane, "After The Rain"