Home

MX Linux Users Manual - MX & Mepis Community

1. _ Use system defaults v Keyboard layout selection t X Keyboard model itl Keyboard layout selection Generic 105 key Intl PC 1 tJ Select keyboard layout and variant Sgr porsy gt English US Li gt Esperanto Change layout option Compose key Keyboard layout gt Estonian gt Faroese Layout Variant gt Filipino d gt Finnish gt i Y OK Q Cancel Add N Edit E Heip GAll Settings YE Close Figure 3 25 Adding another keyboard layout in Settings Manager Here are the configuration steps you can take to localize your MX Linux after installation 61 e Change the keyboard Click Start Menu gt Settings gt Settings Manager gt Keyboard Layout tab Uncheck Use system defaults then click on the Add button at the bottom and select the key board s you want available Exit then click Keyboard Switcher flag in the Notification Area to select active keyboard e Get language packs for major applications click Start menu gt System gt MX Package Installer provide the root password then click Language to find and install language packs for the applications you use e Change time settings click Start Menu gt System gt TimeSet and select your preferences If you are using the digital clock DateTime right click gt Properties to choose 12h 24h and other local settings e Get spellchecker to use your
2. MX Linux comes with a distinct set of applications and procedures that in many instances differ completely It relies on the excellent upstream work by Linux Debian and Xfce It also incorporates the independent and innovative development products smxi and inxi The following Development Team members devs AT mxlinux DOT org played a particularly significant role in the creation of MX Linux e Lead Developer anticapitalista e Primary Coders Packagers Adrian BitJam kmathern Stevo timkb4cq e Project Manager jerry3904 e Significant contributors chrispop99 Dolphin Oracle Eadwine Rose fu sen Gaer Boy Ko m pav megatotoro namidal2 pcallahan80 richb Utopia zeeone Special thanks for strong ongoing support of this project go to the Mepis Community Packagers to video producers Dolphin Oracle and m pav to our volunteers especially Gordon Cooper mikeinsantarosa and Old Giza and to all our Translators 1 2 About this Manual SOLVE PROBLEMS CREATE PROBLEMS TOS THAT ToS THAT TOOLS THAT NEED TOOLS WHOSE MANUAL DONT NEED NEED A A MANUAL BUT STARTS WITH HOW TO A MANUAL MANUAL DONT HAVE ONE READ THIS MANUAL Figure 1 1 The need for manuals xkcd com This Users Manual is the product of large group of volunteers from the MX Linux community As such it will inevitably contain errors and omissions although we have worked hard to minimize them Please send us corrections or suggestions using one of the methods listed
3. w Welcome to UNetbootin the Universal Netboot Installer Usage 1 Select a distribution and version to download from the list above or manually specify files to load below 2 Select an installation type and press OK to begin installing Diskimage ISO x Space used to preserve files across reboots Ubuntu only o I me Type USB Drive v Drive OK Cancel Figure 2 3 Unetbootin NOTES e f you want to create a USB on a Windows base we suggest you use Rufus which supports our bootloader e f on a Linux base be sure to upgrade unetbootin syslinux and extlinux to the most recent versions e f your USB starts but leaves you with an error message gfxboot c32 not a COM32R image you should still be able to boot by typing live at the prompt in the next line Reformatting the USB and reinstalling the ISO should remove the error e f the graphic USB creators fail use one of the command line options below Let us assume your USB is identified as sde then copy and paste this line for the 32 bit kernels dd bs 4M if MX 15 b1_386 mx iso of dev sde amp amp sync e and this one for the 64 bit one dd bs 4M if MX 15 b1_x64 mx iso of dev sde amp amp sync e Be sure to make changes in the above code as needed the version of MX 15 e g MX 15 b1 to MX 15 rc1 the identifier of your USB stick e g sde to sdb 2 3 Pre Installation 2 3 1 Coming from Windows If you are goin
4. G in a root terminal while inside a running X session allows certain features of smxi to run such as removing unwanted kernels etc smxi home page smxi documentation 115 sgfxi This h 2 script runs inside smxi or separately and deals with installing graphical drivers Sgfxi currently supports ATI fglrx and NVIDIA drivers It also supports converting from or to xorg free drivers like ati intel or nv Follow the procedure above to start the script replacing smxi with sgfxi Sgfxi requires a working internet connection Some wireless internet connections may be dropped when operating outside of X If this applies to your internet connection either temporarily switch over to a wired internet connection before proceeding or use the Partial install in X completion outside of X method instructions in the next section below The sgfxi script automatically downloads and installs the kernel headers and everything else it needs Then it downloads the binary graphic driver installers from either nvidia or ATI prepares system installs then sets up xorg conf all in a fairly clean reasonably intuitive way Plus it updates itself so any new drivers released will be installed Finally sgfxi allows you to easily switch between proprietary non free drivers like ATI s fglrx and NVIDIA s nvidia driver and the free xorg drivers sgfxi manual inxi A third script from h 2 included in MX Linux is inxi a convenient command line system information
5. Settings w ll review m General Storage System Storage Tree Attributes Display Controller IDE Hard Disk IDE Primary M v Bv E Some OS vdi Solid state Drive Choose or create a virtua inna 2 hard disk file The virtual amp Network Information machine will see the data amp Serial Ports Type Format Normal VDI in the file as the contents P USB Virtual Size 8 00 GB of the virtual hard disk Shared Folders Actual Size 2 00 MB Details Dynamically alloca Location home jb VirtualBo Attached to Some OS Boas Help Cancel m OK Figure 6 3 Setting the ISO for a new VirtualBox guest Some OS Links e Wikipedia Virtual Machine e Wikipedia Comparison of virtual machine software e VirtualBox home page e VirtualBox Extension Pack 6 3 Alternate Window Managers A window manager originally WIMP Window Icon Menu and Pointing device in Linux is essentially the component which controls the appearance of Graphical user interfaces and provides the means by which the user can interact with them MX Linux is tightly tied to Xfce as part of its overall approach but other possibilities exist for users MX Linux makes it easy to install the most popular alternatives through the MX Package Installer as described below 107 A YD LA Fri Nov 20 09 56 Figure 6 4 MATE running on top of MX Linux with YouTube Browser open e Gnome Ultra a GT K based display manager and desktop that provides an ultra l
6. 80 Navigate to where you want the link to be right click an open area gt Paste Change if desired the link name e Command line Open a terminal and type In s TargetFileOrFolder LinkName Be sure to include full path as well as file folder names The s switch indicates that a symbolic link and not a hard link that points directly to data is being created For example to symlink a file named foo in your Downloads folder to your Documents folder enter this 4 7 4 Find files and folders Searching for manual Filename Size Location Last modified ManualMultimedia png 94 kB jb Pictures 01 20 2015 04 39 38 PM oe ee Manual_html png 244 kB jb Pictures 01 03 2015 05 25 17 PM C Hidden files Manual png 172 kB jb Pictures 01 03 2015 03 55 21 PM Fulltext search 1 Limit results 3 files found for manual Figure 4 9 Search screen of Catfish Catfish is installed by default in MX Linux and can be launched from the Start menu gt Accessories It is also integrated into Thunar so that the user can right click a folder gt Find files here Cattish home page CLI There are some very handy commands for use in a terminal e locate For each given pattern locate searches one or more databases of file names and displays the ones that contain the pattern For example typing 51 will return an extremely long list with every single file that has the word firef
7. The remaster and persistence tool HELP here 6 6 3 Save system to ISO Snapshot This tool makes a copy of your running system and creates an ISO from it The ISO can be put on a LiveMedium in the usual manner see Section 2 2 To then install from the LiveMedium open a root terminal and enter the command minstall Bnanck MX Sn ca Used space on root 4 0G Free space on home where snapshot folder is placed 133G Figure 6 7 Opening screen of Snapshot HELP here 117 6 7 SSH SSH Secure Shell is a protocol used to securely log onto remote systems It is the most common way to access remote Linux and Unix like computers MX Linux comes with the main packages necessary to run SSH in active mode the main one being OpenSSH a free implementation of the Secure Shell that consists of a whole suite of applications e Start or restart the ssh daemon as root with the command etc init d ssh start e To start the ssh daemon automatically when the computer starts click Settings manager gt Session and Startup gt Application Autostart Click the Add button then in the dialog box insert a name such as StartSSH a short description if you want and the command etc init d ssh start Press OK and you are done Once you restart the SSH daemon will be active e KDE users on MX Linux can do the same using Preferences gt Settings gt Start amp Stop gt Automatic Start 6 7 1 Troubleshooting Occa
8. Try raising all controls to a higher level Edit the configuration file directly see Section 7 4 e No sound and no speaker icon is in the Notification Area It could be that the sound card is missing or unrecognized but the most common problem is that of multiple soundcards which we address here 1 Solution 1 click Start menu gt Settings gt MX Sound Card and follow the screen to select and test the card you want to use 2 Solution 2 use the volume control of PulseAudio pavucontrol to select the correct sound card 3 Solution 3 enter the BIOS and turn off HDMI 4 Check the ALSA sound card matrix listed below 3 6 4 Sound servers Whereas the Sound Card is a hardware item accessible to the user the Sound Server is software that works largely in the background It permits general management of sound cards and provides the ability carry out advanced operations on the sound The most common is described here Y Install PulseAudio e PulseAudio PulseAudio is an advanced open source sound server that can work with several operating systems and is installed by default in MX Linux beginning with MX 15 It has its own mixer that allows the user to control the volume and destination of the sound signal According to the Debian Wiki it is possible to switch PulseAudio on off if needed a 7 Volume Control t Playback Recording Output Devices Input Devices Configuration Built in Audio Profile Digit
9. e hough terminal commands can be fairly complex understanding the command line is just a matter of putting together simple things To see how easy it can be open Xfce Terminal and try a few basic commands This will all make more sense if you do it as a tutorial exercise rather than just reading it Let s start with a simple command Is which lists the contents of a directory The basic command lists the contents of whatever directory you are currently in Is 109 e That s a useful command but it s just a few short columns of names printed across the screen Suppose we want more information on the files in this directory We can add a switch to the command to make it print out more information A switch is a modifier we append to a command to change its behavior In this case the switch we want is Is l e As you can see on your own screen if you are following along this switch provides more detailed information on the files in any directory e Of course we might want to see the contents of another directory without going there first To do this we add an argument to the command specifying which file we want to look at An argument is a value or reference we add to a command to target its operation By giving an argument of usr bin we can list the contents of that directory rather than the one where we currently are Is I usr bin e There are a lot of files in usr bin It would be nice if we could filter this output s
10. e g repairing an installation Select Check for badblocks if you want to do a scan for physical defects on the hard drive during formatting This is recommended for users with older drives You can change the label of the partition where you want to install e g to MX 15 Testing Installation Finally you can optionally select the type of file system you want to use on the hard drive If you don t know what to choose here the default ext4 is recommended in MX Linux Help Installation in Progress Deg MX Linux is installing For a fresh install 3 Installation in progress this will probably take 3 20 minutes l l depending on the speed of your system Ready to install MX Linux filesystem and the size of any partitions you are 0 reformatting If you click the Abort button the Abort installation will be stopped as soon as possible Tips Z minstall x has chosen to support MX Linux Ok to format and destroy all data on fuggestions work praise ideas dev sdal for the root partition Jragement A Tee No be no MX Linux id antix Cammunities lt Back Close Figure 2 16 Installer Screen 3 Comments e Note that the partition shown here sdal is just an example your particular selection of partition may well differ e f you have any doubts about that whether you want to destroy all the data on the partition that you see listed in this warning message click No and then use the Back
11. 5 Exiting It is important to exit MX Linux correctly when you have finished your session so that the system can be brought down in a secure way All running programs are first notified that the system is going down giving them the time to save any file being edited exit from mail and news programs etc If you just turn the power off you risk the possibilities of damaging the operating system The usual way to exit is to click the Log Out icon in the upper right corner of the Whisker Menu or Alt F4 A Figure 2 12 command buttons at top right corner of Whisker menu with LogOut active Permanent To leave a session for good select one of the following on the Log Out dialog box e Log out Choosing this will terminate everything you are doing if you have not closed stopped things yourself and bring you back to the login screen with the system still running The command at the bottom of the screen Save session for future logins is checked by default lts task is to save the state of your desktop opened applications and their location and restore it during the next startup If you have had problems with your desktop function you can uncheck this to get a fresh start if that does not solve the problem click Settings manager gt Session and Startup Session tab and press the Clear saved sessions button o Ctrl Alt Bksp will return you to the login screen but any open programs and processes will not be saved e Re
12. 7 P FRANK LOYD WRIGHT Se TEMM A FILM BY KEN BURNS amp LYNN NOVICK a general motors mark of excellence presentation Layers channels Paths gt Opacity fioo gt I Preserve Transparency Learn about the man a trip to see his work pa and classroom activitie who chronicled the sto American spirit E ee pe eK 118 86 Doc 985K 74 28M gt Draw rectangular selection or move selection outline Use Shift Alt and Ctrl for additional options Figure 6 1 Photoshop 5 5 running under Wine 104 6 1 2 Commercial CrossOver Office allows you to install many popular Windows productivity applications plugins and games in Linux without needing a Microsoft Operating System license Supports Microsoft Word Excel and PowerPoint up to 2003 particularly well e CrossOver Linux Home Page e Wikipedia Crossover e Application Compatibility Links e Wikipedia Emulator e Checklist of games and emulators e DOS Emulators 6 2 Virtual machines Virtual machine applications are a class of programs that simulate a virtual computer in memory allowing you to install any operating system on the machine It is useful for testing running non native applications and providing users the feeling of having a machine of their own Many MX Linux users make use of virtual machine software to run Microsoft Windows in a window to seamlessly provide access to software
13. Help J Apply cancel Figure 3 13 Ready for a one click change HELP here 3 2 11 MX Sound Card Computers frequently have more than one sound card available In a common situation for instance a separate card may be present for HDMI output Unless the correct sound card is identified for the system the user will hear nothing and conclude that sound is not working This clever little application allows the user to select which sound card should be used by the system whether in a particular instance or in general v MX Select Sound wo ts lf your computer has more than one sound card you can use this application to select the one to be default Your current default sound card is none Select another sound card if necessary Generic HDA Intel HD Audio Generic v 4 Test current sound card A About Help J Apply close Figure 3 14 Making the selection in Sound Card HELP here 45 3 2 12 MX Switch User This tiny but handy tool allows a user to switch out of the current session into a session of another user without needing to log out and then back in eee eee eel ASET SWILCHIng Figure 3 15 MX Switch User information screen HELP here lt can also be run from the Start menu using the appropriate icon in the upper right corner 46 3 2 13 MX User Manager Everything in Linux runs under a specific user and each user s permissions govern whether and how it runs The superuser roo
14. Ifthe machine already has Windows 8 or later installed then special steps must be taken to deal with the presence of U EFI and Secure Boot Unfortunately the exact procedure varies by manufacturer Methods used for launching UEFI shell depend on the manufacturer and model of the system motherboard Some of them already provide a direct option in firmware setup for launching e g compiled x86 64 version of the shell needs to be made available as lt EFl_ SYSTEM _PARTITION gt SHELLX64 EFI Some other systems have an already embedded UEFI shell which can be launched by appropriate key press combinations For other systems the solution is either creating an appropriate USB flash drive or adding manually bctg a boot option associated with the compiled version of shell Wikipedia Unified Extensible Firmware Interface retrieved 10 29 15 The UEFI booting function is restricted to 64bit machines and is considered experimental For details please consult the MX antixX Wiki The Black Screen Occasionally it may happen that when you boot up with the LiveMedium you end up looking at an empty black screen that may have a blinking cursor in the corner This represents a failure to start X the windows system used by Linux and is most often due to problems with the graphics driver being used Solution reboot and select Safe Video or Failsafe boot options in the menu F6 details on these bootcodes in the Wiki You will be able to change dri
15. Lock On many laptops there is no indicator light for the activation of the CapsLock or NumLock keys which can be very annoying To solve this with an onscreen notifier install indicator keylock from the repos 54 4 8 Backup The most important practice is to back up your data and configuration files regularly a process that is easy in MX Linux It is highly recommended that you back up to a different drive than the one your data is on The average user will find one of the following graphical tools convenient though CLI methods will also work luckyBackup x Profile Task Settings Help default bl ex Sa YW 6a oy Run include Task list ton ee MM MMM MM add MX back up ee T remove e modify 4 Information window Last execution time not available status OK Source directory home jb MX Destination directory media data jb Figure 4 12 Main screen of Lucky Backup e LuckyBackup An easy program to back up and sync your files Installed by default LuckyBackup manual e SystemBack Makes it easy to create backups of system and users configuration files SystemBack home page e Cloud service There are many cloud services that can be used for backing up or synching your data DropBox and Google Drive are probably the best known but many others exist e Cloning Create a complete image of the harddrive Clonezilla Download Clonezilla Live from the Clonezilla home page and then r
16. Wiki Compiling e Gdebi The Debian package management tools Debian APT Guide Wikipedia Alien 103 6 Advanced use 6 1 Windows programs under MX Linux There are a certain number of applications both open source and commercial that will allow Windows appli cations to run under MX Linux They are referred to as emulators meaning that they replicate the functions of Windows on a Linux platform Many MS Office applications games and other programs can be run using an emulator with varying degrees of success ranging from near native speed and functionality to only basic performance 6 1 1 Open source Wine is the primary open source Windows emulator for MX Linux It is a kind of compatibility layer for running Windows programs but does not require Microsoft Windows to run the applications Installable through MX Package Installer Wine versions are rapidly packaged by the Community Repository members and made available to users e Wine Home Page e MX antiX Wiki Wine DOSBox creates a DOS like environment intended for running MS DOS based programs especially computer games e DOSBox homepage e DOSBox Wiki DOSEMU is software available from the repos that allows DOS to be booted in a virtual machine making it possible to run Windows 3 1 Word Perfect for DOS DOOM etc e DOSEMU Home Page e MX antiX Wiki DOSEMU Adobe Photoshop File Edit Image Layer Select Filter View Window Help Ho FLWhome psd 119 Background RGE
17. all common digital media files from local and network storage media Kodi home page Kodi Wiki 4 4 3 Organization e Notes This handy Xfce plugin xfce4 notes plugin allows you to create and organize sticky notes for your desktop Notes home page e Osmo Nice compact application that includes calendar tasks contacts and notes Osmo home page e Lightning calendar Integrated with Thunderbird Osmo 0 2 12 Calendar Tasks Contacts Notes Hu Or amp FBSE A y 2 February 2015 Mon Tue Wed Thu 3 4 5 9 10 11 12 16 17 18 19 23 24 25 26 gt Previous and next month Current time 08 10 53 PM Day number 33 332 days till end of year Today distance 0 Week number 6 53 Marked days 0 Weekend days amp Moon phase Full Moon Figure 4 7 The personal information manager Osmo 18 4 5 Security 4 5 1 Firewall e Gufw A personal firewall configuration utility that makes it easier for the user to configure the firewall Installed by default Gufw home page Wikipedia Personal firewall 4 5 2 Antivirus e KlamAV Useful to stop Linux users from unknowingly passing virus infected emails and other documents to susceptible Windows users KlamAV home page Wikipedia Antivirus 4 5 3 AntiRootkit e chkrootkit This application scans systems for known and unknown rootkits backdoors sniffers and exploits chkrootkit home page Wikipedia Rootkit 4 5 4 Password protection e K
18. already been done The MX Linux Torrent Team maintains a seeded BitTorrent swarm of the latest MX Linux ISO original release only registered at LinuxTracker org within 24 hours at the latest of its official release Here are the basic steps How to Create a Torrent e Go to the Download page and click on the correct Torrent link When the LinuxTracker page opens find and click the link for the torrent e g MX 15 586 pae in the row labeled Torrent 7 On the next screen look for the link labeled Download Now and click on it Make sure Open with lt NameOfYourDefaultTorrentClient gt is selected and click OK Your torrent client MX installs Transmission by default will then show the torrent in its list highlight it and click Start to begin the download process If you have already downloaded the ISO make sure that it is in the same folder as the torrent you just downloaded MX 14 3 pae S 2 Recommend this on Google SELE 2 people like this Sign Up to see what your friends Torrent eg SOT R Tore If you need a Bittorrent client try TransmissionBT on MacOS or Lint index php page forum amp action viewtopic amp topicid 6217 Magnet Link 4 b5fib63cbabc73ae2e623955128361cec789d6el Figure 2 1 LinuxTracker small link to torrent Your torrent file is ready for download Thank you Below are some free resources on us Figure 2 2 LinuxTracker small download link 2 2 2 C
19. arrow indicating session and power buttons The actual boot process finishes with the login screen in a Live session only the background image is shown but if you log out from the desktop you will see the complete screen as shown The red arrow points to two small icons at the right end of the top bar e The power button at the edge contains options to suspend hibernate restart and shut down e The session button to the left of the power button allows you to choose which desktop manager you wish to use Default Session Xfce Session followed by any other you may have installed Section 6 3 If you wish to avoid having to log in each time you boot up not recommended for security reasons you can change the behavior on the options tab of MX User Manager Section 3 2 12 2 4 4 The desktop LY Xfce 4 12 The desktop is created and managed by Xfce 4 12 though its appearance and arrangement have been heavily modified for MX Linux 19 ELL 6 veil TC Tr kO yapi 3 ST D B Figure 2 7 Default desktop Panel The default desktop of MX Linux has a single vertical panel on the left side of the screen A horizontal panel format is available by clicking MX Tools gt MX Panel Orientation Default panel elements from top to bottom e Clock in LCD format click for orage calendar e Window Buttons area where open applications are shown e Firefox browser e File manager Thunar e Notification Area Update ma
20. at the beginning Updates will occur online on a regular basis the backup copy on the hard drive usr local share doc mxum html will be updated less often through the standard package procedures The Manual is designed to walk new users through the steps of obtaining a copy of MX Linux installing it configuring it to work with one s own hardware and putting it to daily use It aims to provide a readable general introduction and purposely gives preference to graphical tools when available For detailed or infrequent topics the user should consult the Resources or post on the Forum New users may find some of the terms used in this Manual to be unfamiliar or confusing We have tried to limit the use of difficult terms and concepts but some are simply unavoidable The Glossary located at the end of the document provides definitions and comments that will help in getting through difficult passages All content is 2015 by antiX Linux and released under GPLv3 Citation should read MX Linux Community Documentation Project 2015 Users Manual for MX Linux 1 3 System requirements For an MX Linux system installed on a harddrive you would normally need the following components See also LiveMedium options in Section 6 6 Minimum A CD DVD drive and BIOS capable of booting from that drive or a live USB and BIOS capable of booting from USB A modern i486 Intel or AMD processor 512 MB of RAM memory 5 GB free hard drive space
21. be altered by hand by editing the files in etc apt in a root terminal In Synaptic click Settings gt Repositories then click the button New and add the information The repo information is often given as a single line like this deb http main mepis deb org mepiscr mx test mx 15 test Be careful to note the location of the spaces which separate the information into four chunks that are then entered into separate lines in Synaptic 94 Enabled Type URI i Up vi v Down v deb http download virtualbox org virtualk Binary deb h URI nttp main mepis deb org mx repo Distribution mx15 Section s non free main New Delete Cancel vOK Figure 5 1 Repos with the main MX 15 repo highlighted Some repositories carry special labels e contrib which depend on or are accessory to non free packages e non free which do not meet the Debian free software guidelines DFSG e security which contain security related updates only e backports which contain packages from newer versions of Debian that have been backwards compiled for Debian Stable the version MX is built with to keep your OS up to date e MX which contain the special packages that make MX what it is The current list of standard MX repositories is kept in the MX antiX Wiki 5 2 2 Community repos MX Linux has its own Community Repos with packages that the Packagers build and maintain These packages are distinct from official MX packages coming from Debian Stab
22. computer and domain names can SaMBa Server for MS Networking contain only alphanumeric characters dots hyphens They cannot contain blank Workgroup Workgroup spaces start or end with hyphens The SaMBa Server needs to be activated if you want to use it to share some of your directories or printer with a local computer that is running MS Windows or Mac OSX Close Ee Figure 2 18 Installer Screen 5 28 Comments e Many users choose a unique name for their computer laptop1 MyBox StudyDesktop UTRA etc You may also just leave the default name as it Is e You can just click Next here if you have no computer network MX Linux Install t X Help Localization Defaults 3 Dee Set the default keyboard and locale 6a Localization Defaults These will apply unless they are overridden later by the user Keyboard us Configure Clock Locale en_US UTF 8 X If you have an Apple or a pure Unix computer by default the system clock is set to GMT or Universal Time To change 6b Configure Clock check the box for System clock uses LOCAL System clock uses LOCAL Timezone Settings l The CD boots with the timezone preset to 6c Timezone Settings GMT UTC To change the timezone after you reboot into the new installation right Timezone America New York 7 click on the clock in the Panel and select Adjust Date amp Time 6d Service Settings advanced Service Settings Most users should not change the
23. e Battle for Wesnoth A highly rated turn based strategy game with a fantasy theme Build your army and fight to regain the throne Battle for Wesnoth home page LBreakout2 Figure 4 18 Trying to break through the first wall in Lbreakout 4 9 8 Windows games A number of Windows games can be played in MX Linux by using a Windows emulator such as Cedega or DOSBox or some may even run under Wine see Section 6 1 4 10 Google tools Inbox Personal Mozilla Thunderbird 4 File Edit View Go Message Events and Tasks gContactSync Tools Help A Get Messages f Write v Chat E Address Book Tagv Q 4 Inbox Personal Ca ol Figure 4 19 Integrated Google Calendar and Contacts in Thunderbird 4 10 1 Gmail Gmail accounts can be easily integrated into Thunderbird Directions in the Help file 4 10 2 Google s Contacts Google s Contacts can be linked into Thunderbird by using the add on gContactSync MORE gContactSync home page 4 10 3 Gcal Gcal can be set up on a tab in Thunderbird with the add ons Lightning and Google Calendar Tab MORE Lightning calendar home page 4 10 4 Gtasks Gtasks can be included in Thunderbird by ticking the Tasks entry of the calendar 92 4 10 5 Google Earth An installer for Google Earth is available from the repos as googleearth package Once downloaded you need to run the installer e Open a terminal and enter e An error message will appear on sc
24. e Linux Home Page e Wikipedia Debian 7 2 The file system structure There are two basic uses of the term file system The first is the Operating System s Filesystem This refers to the files and their organization that the operating system uses to keep track of all the hardware and software resources it has as its disposal while running The other use of the term file system refers to the Disk Filesystem designed for the storage and retrieval of files on a data storage device most commonly a disc drive The Disk Filesystem is set when the disk partition is first formatted prior to writing any data on the partition The Operating System s Filesystem One of the first problems many new Linux users struggle with is how the file system works If you have been looking around your MX Linux system trying to find the C drive or D drive for instance you are searching in vain MX Linux handles hard drives and other storage media differently from Windows Rather than having a separate file system tree on every device MX Linux has a single file system tree called the root of the file system which is marked and contains every attached device When a storage device is added to the system its file system is attached to a directory or subdirectory of the file system this is called mounting a drive or device If you open Thunar and click on File System in the upper left pane you will notice a number of directories with names based on th
25. for directories partitions and whole drives Basic syntax is dd if lt some file gt of lt some other file gt Symbols Table 8 Symbols PD The pipe symbol used to send the output of one command to the input of another The redirect symbol used to send the output of a command into a file of device Doubling the redirect symbol will cause the output of a command to be added to an existing file rather than replacing it Adding the ampersand to the end of a command with a space before it causes it to run in the background so that you don t have to wait for it to complete to issue the next command Double ampersand indicates that the second command should only be run if the first has been successful Troubleshooting For most new Linux users the command line is mainly used as a troubleshooting tool Terminal commands give quick detailed information that can be easily pasted into a forum post search box or email when seeking help on the web It is strongly recommended that you keep this information at hand when asking for help Being able to refer to your specitic hardware configuration will not only speed up your process of obtaining help but also it will let others offer you more accurate solutions Here are some common troubleshooting commands see also Section 3 4 4 Some of them may not output information or not as much information unless you are logged in as root 111 Table 9 Troubleshooting commands Ispci Shows a quick su
26. loading to pass control from itself to a boot sector on a hard disk partition The target boot sector is loaded in from disk replacing the boot sector from which the boot manager itself was loaded and the new boot program is executed In addition to when it is necessary as in booting Windows from GRUB the advantage to chainloading is that each operating system on the hard disk drive and there could be dozens can be responsible for having the correct data in it s own boot sector So GRUB residing in the MBR need not be rewritten every time there are any changes GRUB can simply chainload the relevant information from the boot sector of a given partition whether it has changed or remained the same since the last boot time cheat code Codes can be entered when booting a LiveMedium to change the booting behavior They are used to pass options to the MX Linux operating system to set parameters for particular environments command line interface CLI Also known as console terminal command prompt shell or bash This is a UNIX style text interface which MS DOS was also designed to resemble A root console is one where administrative privileges have been acquired after entering the root password desktop environment The software which provides a graphical desktop windows icons desktop task bar etc for an operating system user disk image A file containing the complete contents and structure of a data storage medium or device such as a
27. may sometimes be informed that a new configuration file is available for a certain package and be asked whether you want to install the new version or keep your Current version If the package in question is from an MX repository it is recommended that you install the main tainer s version Otherwise answer keep the current version N which is also the default choice 5 5 Other methods 5 5 1 Aptitude Aptitude is a package manager that can be used instead of apt get or Synaptic It is available from the repos and is particularly helpful when dependency problems arise Can be run as a straignt CLI or as a primitive GUI a Terminal poak File Edit View Terminal Tabs Help Actions Undo Package Search Options Views Help C T Menu Help q Q oad Install Remove Pkgs aptitude 0 6 8 2 Brok of disk space DL Size 154 MB New Packages 1936 Apply Solution Installed Packages Next Solution Not Installed Packag Obsolete and Locally Virtual Packages 49 These packages have been d the list of new packages Reject Breaking Holds ges from the Actions menu to empty this List This group contains 1936 packages 1 1 Suggest 5 keeps e Examine Apply Next Examine the currently selected solution to the dependency problems Figure 5 5 Aptitude s home screen GUI showing dependency resolver For details on this option see the MX antiX Wiki 100 5 5 2 Deb packages The software pack
28. on a local machine The portal GitHub is a convenient method of managing projects using Git More Wikipedia Software repository 5 3 Synaptic Synaptic is a friendly easy to use frontend GUI to the APT packaging system It is a graphical tool that allows you to install remove upgrade downgrade or get information on all the software packages available in the online repositories on your repository list Note that your root password is required and naturally you will need to be connected to the Internet 5 3 1 Installing and removing packages Installing Here are the basic steps for installing software in Synaptic e Click Start menu gt System gt Synaptic Package Manager supplying the root password if necessary e Hit the Reload button This button causes Synaptic to contact the online repository servers and download a new index file with information on what packages are available what versions they are and what other packages are required for them to be installed If you get a message that some of the repositories failed to be contacted wait a minute and then try again e f you already know the name of the package you are looking for just click in the pane on the right and start typing and Synaptic will incrementally search for what you type e f you don t know the package s name use the Search box in the upper right corner to locate software based on name or keywords This is one of Synaptic s greatest advantages over o
29. page e Frozen Bubble Colored bubbles are frozen at the top of the playing screen As the Ice Press descends you must pop out groups of frozen bubbles before the Press reaches your shooter Frozen Bubble home page e Planet Penguin Racer a fun racing game with your favorite penguin e Tuxracer home page e Ri li A toy train game Ri li home page e Supertux A classic 2D jump n run side scrolling game in a style similar to the original SuperMario games Supertux home page e Supertuxkart A much improved version of tuxkart Supertuxcart home page 87 Ri li V2 0 1 Figure 4 14 Ri li train needs a turn choice soon 4 9 3 Board Games e Gottcode games Peg E Peg solitaire game installed by default Gottcode home page e Mines gnomines A minesweeper game for 1 player e Do SSi Zo la The goal of the basic Isola game is to block the opponent by destroying the squares which surround him Do SSi Zo la home page e Gnuchess A chess game Gnuchess home page 88 m Mines Figure 4 15 High tension moment in Mines 4 9 4 Card Games Here are some fun card games available from the repos 4 9 5 Hearts gnome hearts The classic hearts game Gnome hearts home page Pysolfc Over 1 000 solitaire games from a single application Pysolfc home page Desktop Fun Xpenguins Penguins walk around your screen Can be customized with other characters like Lemmings and Pooh Bear need to allow programs to run
30. script Enter inxi h in a terminal to see all the options available which include an entire range from sensor output to the weather MORE MX antix Wiki 6 6 Advanced MX Tools In addition to the configuration MX Apps discussed in Section 3 2 MX Linux includes 2 utilities for the advanced user available from MX Tools 6 6 1 NOTE the button Create Live USB opens Unetbootin Section 2 2 3 which is not an MX Tool It is included on the dashboard as a convenience to the user 6 6 2 Live remaster persistence RemasterCC Remaster WARNING for use in a Live session only The primary purpose of live remastering is to make it as safe easy and convenient as possible for users to make their own customized version of MX Linux that can be distributed to other computers The idea is that you use a LiveUSB or a LiveHD a frugal install to a hard drive partition see Section 8 4 as the development and testing environment Add or subtract packages and then when you are ready to remaster use a simple remaster script or GUI to do the remaster and then reboot If something goes horribly wrong simply reboot again with the rollback option and you will boot into the previous environment Persistence WARNING for use in a Live session only Yhive USB with persistence Persistence is a hybrid between a LiveMedium and a full install it allows you to retain any files you install or add during a live session 116 Figure 6 6
31. t X EJ HotCorner Custom Command Xfdashboard skippy xd activate wi Show Desktop Disable when active window is full screen Figure 3 30 The HotCorner settings dialog box 3 8 6 Keyboard By default MX Linux uses the keyboard layout that matches the user s language choice To make another layout available see Section 3 7 2 67 3 8 7 Menu Whisker customizing Whisker menu YyFun with the Whisker menu MX Linux comes by default with the Whisker Menu though a classic menu can be easily installed by right clicking a panel gt Panel gt Add New Items gt Applications Menu Whisker Menu is highly flexible e Right click the menu icon gt Properties to set preferences e Favorites are easy to add right click any menu item gt Add to Favorites e Simply drag and drop Favorites to arrange them as wished Right click any entry to sort or remove Whisker menu features Menu entries can be edited with two applications the menu entry desktop files are located in usr share applications and can also be edited as root directly e MX Menu Editor Section 3 2 8 e A native Xfce application Click Start menu gt Accessories gt Application Finder or Alt F3 and right click any entry Context menu contains Edit and Hide the latter can be very useful Selecting Edit brings up a screen where you can change name comment command and
32. 5 1 5 4 deb7ul 5 1 5 4 deb7ul 378 kB Shared library for the Lua interpreter version 5 1 109 kB 197 kB 695 kB 1071 kB 621 kB 872 kB Open client for Cisco AnyConnect VPN shared library library that simplifies the interaction with PKCS 11 Advanced Milkdrop compatible music visualization library 3 20 4 1 09 1 2 1 0 dfsg 1 2 4 1 3 3 20 4 1 09 1 2 1 0 dfsg 1 2 4 1 3 0 6 1 6 0 6 1 6 Installed auto removable Installed local or obsolete Installed manual Not installed Not installed residual config libopenconnect1l libpkcs11 helperl libprojectm2 libprotobuf7 libqxt core0 protocol buffers C library extensions to Qt core classes LibQxt libqxt guid libxmmsclient6 Pinned mobile broadband provider openconnect openvpn pptp linux projectm data python wnck realpath vpnc vpnc scripts 0 6 1 6 0 6 1 6 0 8 dfsg 4 deb7 0 8 dfsg 4 deb7 229 kB 20140317 1 deb 20140317 1 deb 379 kB 3 20 4 3 20 4 1096 kB 2 3 2 7 bpo70 2 2 3 2 7 bpo70 2 986 kB LTF I i ea 131 kB 2 1 0 dfsg 1 2 1 0 dfsg 1 1577 kB 2 32 0 dfsg 2 b 2 32 0 dfsg 2 b 240kB 1 18 1 18 114 kB O 5 3ra 12 2 O 5 3r9 12 2 248 kB 0 1 git20120602 0 1 git20120602 71 7 kB extensions to Qt GUI classes LibQxt XMMS2 client library database of mobile broadband service providers Open client for Cisco AnyConnect VPN virtual private network daemon Point to Point Tunneling Protocol PPTP Client Advanced Milkdrop compatible music visualiza
33. A SoundBlaster AC97 or HDA compatible sound card Recommended A CD DVD drive and BIOS capable of booting from that drive or a live USB and BIOS capable of booting from USB A modern 1686 Intel or AMD processor 1 GB of RAM memory or more At least 10 GB free hard drive space A 3D capable video card for 3D desktop support 1 4 Support What kind of support is available for MX Linux The answer to this question depends on the type of support you mean User based problems A raft of support mechanisms exists for MX Linux from documents and videos to forums and search engines See the Community Support page for details Hardware Hardware is supported in the kernel where continuous development goes on Very new hardware may not yet be supported and very old hardware though still supported may no longer be sufficient for the demands of the desktop and applications Desktop Xfce4 is a mature desktop that remains under development The version shipped with MX Linux is considered stable important updates will be applied as they become available Applications Applications continue to be developed after the release of any version of MX Linux meaning that the shipped versions will get older as time passes This problem is addressed through a combination of sources Debian individual Developers including MX Devs and the Community Packaging Team Security Security updates from Debian will cover MX Linux users well into the foreseeabl
34. Backend Programming User Forum Server Security HTTP and IPP APIs Using Kerberos Authentication PPD API Using Network Printers Raster API cupsd conf Reference PPD Compiler Driver Information File Reference Developer Forum CUPS and the CUPS logo are trademarks of Apple Inc Copyright 2007 2014 Apple Inc All rights reserved Figure 3 2 the CUPS adminstration screen for managing printers Network Samba on MX Linux allows printing via the network to shared printers on other computers Windows Mac Linux and NAS Network Attached Storage devices offering Samba services See also Section 3 5 Using the Printing Utility to Set Up Printers e Click Start menu gt System gt Print Settings Select Server gt New gt Printer Select Network Printer gt Windows Printer via SAMBA In the dialog window for smb enter either servername printername or server ipaddress printername For example bigserver usbprinterl or 192 168 0 100 printer2 If you have trouble identifying the server and printer names click Start menu gt System gt MX Find Shares for details 34 Leave the button selected for Prompt user if authentication is required then click Forward Leave the button selected for Select printer from database and then click Forward Select the driver and then Forward Describe Printer if necessary and then Apply When the printer appears in the window right click Properties gt Print Test Page to make sure the connection and driver a
35. First look In case you want to log out and back in install new packages etc here is the LiveMedium login information e Regular user name demo password demo e Superuser Adminstrator name root password root 2 4 1 Boot the LiveMedium LiveCD DVD_ Simply place the DVD in the tray and reboot LiveUSB You may need to take a few steps to get your computer to boot correctly using the USB e To boot with the USB Drive many computers have special keys you can press during booting to select that device Typical Boot Device Menu keys are Esc one of the Function keys or the Shift key Look carefully at the first screen that shows up when rebooting to find the correct key e Alternatively You may have to go into the BIOS to change the boot device order Boot the computer and hit the required key e g F2 F10 or Esc at the beginning to get into the BIOS Click on or arrow over to the Boot tab 15 Identify and highlight your USB device usually USB HDD then move it to the top of the list Save and exit lf unsure or uncomfortable about changing the BIOS ask for assistance in the Forums e On older computers without USB support in the BIOS you can use the Plop Linux LiveCD that will load USB drivers and present you with a menu See the website for details Once your system is set to recognize the USB Drive during the boot process just plug in the Drive and reboot the machine UEFI
36. G 4G mobile device for access to the web Click the Add button to set up e VPN Click the Add button to set up e DSL Click the Add button to set up z Network Connections X Name Last Used amp Add Ethernet Wired connection 1 1 hour ago aa v Wi Fi Delete BONN VOW linksys 3 days ago BL Guest Network ewer x Close Figure 3 19 Network Manager main screen MORE Ubuntu Wiki Network Manager 3 4 1 Wired access MX Linux typically picks up wired internet access upon boot without much problem Ethernet and cable MX Linux comes preconfigured for a standard LAN Local Area Network that uses DHCP Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol to assign IP addresses and DNS Domain Name System reso lution This will work in most cases as is You can change the configuration with Network Manager When you boot MX Linux your network adapters are assigned a short interface name by udev the kernel s device manager For normal wired adapters this is usually ethO with subsequent adapters eth1 eth2 eth3 etc USB adapters often come up on the eth0 interface in MX Linux but the interface name can also depend on the adapter s chipset For instance atheros cards often show up as athO while ralink usb adapters may be rausb0 For more a detailed list of all found network interfaces open a terminal become root and enter ifcontig a It is wise to connect to the Internet through a router as nearly all wired routers contain optiona
37. G error some repository URL Release The following signatures couldn t be verified This message appears because apt get includes package authentication in order to improve security and the key is not present To fix this click Start menu gt System gt MX Check Apt GPG and follow the prompts Occasionally packages will fail to install because their install scripts fail one or more safety checks for instance a package might try to overwrite a file that is part of another package or require downgrading another package due to dependencies If you have an install or upgrade that is stuck on one of these errors it is called a broken package To fix this click on the Broken packages entry in the left panel 99 Highlight the package and try first to fix the problem by clicking Edit gt Fix Broken Packages If that is not successful then right click the package to uninstall it e Should you uninstall Occasionally conflicts in package dependencies can cause the APT system to require the uninstallation of a large number of important packages in order to install some other package This is rare with the default configuration but becomes increasingly likely as you add unsupported repositories BE VERY ATTENTIVE whenever installing a package would require that others be removed If a large number of packages are going to be removed you may want to investigate another method of installing this application e Should you keep When upgrading you
38. Library glibc GNU Linux Kernel Space Figure 7 2 Diagram of the Linux kernel At the top is the user space or application space This is where the user applications are executed Below the user space is the kernel space Here the Linux kernel exists There is also the GNU C Library glibc This provides the system call interface that connects to the kernel and provides the mechanism to transition between the user space application and the kernel This is important because the kernel and user application occupy different protected address spaces And while each user space process occupies its own virtual address space the kernel occupies a single address space Upgrading Downgrading Basic Unlike other software on your system the kernel is not upgraded auto matically except below the minor revision level indicated by the third number in the kernel name Before you change your current kernel you would do well to ask yourself some questions Why do I want to upgrade the kernel Is there a driver need for new hardware for instance Am aware that might have problems of one kind or another MX Linux provides an easy method of upgrading downgrading the default kernel open MX Package Installer and click on the Kernel category There you will see two active entries surrounding the greyed out default kernel e A fallback kernel that represents a reasonable choice for dropping down a level e The latest availabl
39. MX Linux Users Manual v 20151124 HINTS Ctrl F search this Manual Ctrl End goto Glossary Ctrl Home return here FEEDBACK Email manual AT mxlinux DOT org Forum MX Documentation and Videos PDF Readers Keyboard Shortcuts QPDF MuPDF Adobel10 Okular Master View PDF Top of Document Home Enter Ctrl Ctrl Home Home Home End of Document End Ctril Ctril End End End Zoom In Ctrl T Ctrl Ctrl Viewcopy Menu Zoom Out C _Ctrl View Menu Page Down gt PeDn PeDn PeDn PeDn PageUp PeUp PeUp PeUp PeUp Links Left Click Left Click tet Click Left Click Line Down soole v iY SS neU Scrollwheel 1 1 oo Function Note There is unused white space on many pages in this PDF copy of the User Manual It has been edited 1 to keep Headings diagrams and related text on the same page whenever possible 2 to have page breaks in logical places for printed copies and 3 because this is a beta version it is liable to change The layout is for US Letter page size it will also print correctly on A4 paper Contents 1 Introduction 11 2 oye a A 0 er ee ee 1 2 About this Manual 0 0 0 0 0000000000 a 1 3 System requirements 1 6 4 4486s 58 eid ewe eee De wee Ree Ee we Se E PO ae ee he eee ee Oe eee ee a ee Se ee Se ee ee 1 5 Bugs issues and requests 1 Installation 2i Introduction s lt se sessarsee deri yds ieies anhe ee a ee 2 2 Cre
40. Open root Thunar here You can set up tabs with File gt New Tab or Ctrl T then move items from one location to another by dragging them to a tab and releasing it Actions listed in the context menu can be edited deleted and new ones added by clicking Edit gt Configure custom actions Various options and hidden commands are also visible see Links below Compressed files can be managed by a right click on the file The archiver working in the background is file roller Start menu gt Accessories gt Archive Manager To find files open Thunar and right click any folder gt Find files here A dialog box will pop up to give you options Running in the background is catfish Start menu gt Accessories gt Catfish To set up a soft link AKA symlink right click the target file or folder you want the link to point to gt Create symlink Then right click the new symlink cut it and paste it to where you want it Thunar custom actions 3 5 2 FTP The File Sharing Protocol FTP is used to transfer files from one host to another host over a network Open Thunar and click on the Browse Network icon in the left pane In the address field type the server name with the ftp prefix For example to reach the MX docu mentation if you have permission you would enter this address ftp mepiscommunity org Up pops an authorization dialog box Fill in username and password and let it save password if you are comfortable with
41. Savings Account 0 00 b Sm Equity Equity 0 00 b fm Expenses Expenses 0 00 gt fm Income Income 0 00 b Liabilities Liabilities 0 00 Grand Total Net Assets 0 00 Profits 0 00 Figure 4 6 New account in GnuCash 4 3 3 PDF e QPDFview A fast and lightweight viewer that includes a number of basic tools Installed by default QpdfView home page e Adobe Reader for Linux offers greater functionality such as commenting or form filling MX Package Installer under Office Adobe Reader home page e PDFShuffler makes simple the reordering deleting and adding of PDF pages Installed by default PDFShuffler home page e gscan2pdf is a handy method of scanning documents to PDF in addition to serving general scanning needs Installed by default gscan2pdf home page e For other functions e g creating a PDF form using LibreOffice see MX antiX Wiki PDF 4 3 4 Desktop publication e Scribus Professional page layout that produces press ready output Available via MX Package Installer Scribus home page 4 3 5 Video meeting e TeamViewer Cross platform application for Remote Support and Online Meetings Free for private use TeamViewer home page 4 4 Home 4 4 1 Finances e Grisbi is very useful for the home It can import QIF QFX files and has an intuitive interface Grisbi home page 4 4 2 Media Center e Kodi Entertainment Center formerly XBMC allows users to play and view most videos music podcasts and
42. ability by SMART If problems are detected you will see a warning screen You will need to decide whether to accept that risk and continue select another disk or terminate the installation For more information click Start menu gt System gt GSmartControl and Perform tests on the drive 25 minstall Smartmon tool output 196 Reallocated Event Count 1 The disk with the partition you selected for installation passes the S M A R T monitor test smartctl but the tests indicate it will have a higher than average failure rate in the upcoming year f unsure please exit the Installer and run GSmartControl for more information Do you want to continue Figure 2 14 SMART warning of risk of failure e Modify partitions Most users have concluded that it is better to carry out any such modifications before you start installation to avoid any problems for instance newly created partitions may not show up in the drop down menus See Section 2 3 2 e Auto install using entire disk Select this option if you plan to use the entire hard drive for MX Linux and you aren t particular about how the partitions are set up If you select this the installer will create a root and swap partition for you using the entire drive You can optionally specify an amount of space to leave unused if you plan to create more partitions afterward Make sure you understand that selecting this option will delete any existing partitions and data Only c
43. accessed by users but this is where files like modprobe and ifconfig are located tmp This is the location of temporary files produced by programs such as compilers as they run In general these are short term temporary files of use to a program only while it is running Example no file here is commonly accessed by users 121 e usr This directory contains many things for user applications and is analogous in some ways to the Windows directory Program Files Example many executables are located in usr bin Example documentation usr docs and configuration files graphics and icons are in usr share Example many files specific to MX Linux are located in usr local e var This directory contains files that are constantly changing while Linux is running e g logs system mail and queued processes Example you can look in var log when trying to determine what happened during a process The Disk Filesystem The disk file system is something about which the average user does not need to be much concerned The default disk file system used by MX Linux is called ext4 a version of the ext2 file system that is journaled i e it writes changes to a log before enacting them rendering it more robust The file system ext4 is set during installation when your hard drive is formatted By and large ext4 has more years on its track record than any of its rivals and combines stability and speed
44. ages installed through Synaptic and APT behind it are in a format called deb short for Debian the Linux distribution that devised APT You can manually install downloaded deb packages using the graphical tool Gdebi or the command line tool dpkg These are simple tools to install local deb packages NOTE if dependencies can not be satisfied you will receive a notice and the program will stop Package Installer mx installer File Edit Help Package mx installer Status All dependencies are satisfied Description Details Included files GUI installer for MX 14 Figure 5 6 Gdebi ready to install Installing deb files with Gdebi 1 Navigate to the deb package you want to install and click on it Gdebi will open the install dialog 2 Click Install 3 Enter your root password when prompted A Gdebi will attempt to install the package and report the results Installing deb files with dpkg 1 Navigate to the folder containing the deb package you want to install 2 Right click an empty space to open a terminal and become root 3 Install the package with the command substituting the real package name of course dpkg i packagename deb 4 If you are installing multiple packages in the same directory at the same time you can do it all at once using dpkg i deb NOTE In a shell command the asterisk is a wild card in the argument In this case it will cause the program to apply the command to any file wh
45. al Stereo HDMI Output unplugged Y Built in Audio Profile Analog Stereo Duplex v Figure 3 24 Using PulseAudio Mixer 60 3 6 5 Links e MX antiX Wiki Sound not working e ALSA SoundCard Matrix e ArchLinux Wiki PulseAudio Information e PulseAudio Documentation Free desktop 3 7 Localization MX Linux is maintained by an international Dev Team that constantly works to improve and expand the options for localization There are many languages into which our documents have not yet been translated and if you can help with this effort please post on the Translation Forum 3 7 1 Installation The primary act of localization occurs during the use of the LiveMedium e When the bootloader screen first comes up make sure to use the function keys to set your preferences F2 Select the language F3 Select the timezone you wish to use If you have a complicated or alternative setup you can use boot cheat codes Here is an example to set a Tartar keyboard for Russian Jang ru kbvar tt A full list of the boot parameters cheat codes can be found in the MX antiX Wiki e f you set the locale values at the boot screen then Screen 7 should show them during installation If not or if you want to change them select the language and timezone you want 3 7 2 Post installation Keyboard je Edit keyboard settings and application shortcuts Q Behavior Application Shortcuts Layout
46. am command you started in a terminal session e f the above solutions don t work try these more extreme methods listed in increasing severity Restart X Press Ctrl Alt Bksp to kill all session processes leaving you back at the login screen Any unsaved work will be lost Use magic SysRq key REISUB Hold down Ctrl and Alt keys sometimes only the left Alt key will work along with the Alt SysRq or Alt PrtScrn key with another hand then slowly press the keys R E I S U B your system should shut down correctly and reboot The purpose of this magic key is to go through several stages that nurse your system safely out of a failure of some sort and often only the first 2 letters are sufficient Example Ctrl Alt SysRq R then E then try what you were attempting to do before the failure if the system is still unresponsive continue with the I try again and if you still have no joy you may as well finish the sequence and the machine will usually reboot Wikipedia REISUB 82 If nothing else works hold down the power button of your computer for 10 seconds or so until it shuts down Le Task Manager Plo Bl ss Ure Q a l CPU 3 Processes 182 l Memory 6 Swap 0 Task PID RSS CPU applet py 3802 17 5 MiB 0 dbus daemon fork print pid 5 print address 7 session 3464 2 4MiB 0 dbus launch exit with session x session
47. anced use 6 1 Windows programs under MX Linux 1 a G2 Vitus Machines e ek cada he we Se Re ERE AREER EER HAR Bee Oe Se ES 6 3 Alternate Window Managers oaaao a ee Mie ea E E E a a a a a a E Oon xt f Ff re CON N 33 33 36 48 50 56 59 61 62 71 fl 12 16 ai 19 80 80 85 56 92 Be PO ek hoa ee oH eee eee eae A ee 113 6 6 Advanced MX Tools 0 0 0 ee ee 116 ae a na 118 7 Under the hood 119 A bk ee whee ee eS eee ee BABES H ee eee 119 7 2 The file system structure aoaaa a a 119 7 3 Permissions cn we et ee MR RE EE a EES 122 1A ee t s lt sis si hee eek RG ee PER RRR es 124 7 5 Runlevels ooa aaa ee 125 7 6 The kernel o oaa aaa ee ee 126 7 1 Kernel panic and recovery ooo a he ba a 128 8 Glossary 129 1 Introduction 1 1 About MX Linux MX Linux is a special version of antiX developed in full collaboration with the MEPIS Community using the best tools and talents from each distro and including work originally created by Warren Woodford for his MEPIS project It is a midweight OS designed to combine an elegant and efficient desktop with simple configuration high stability solid performance and medium sized footprint It deploys Xfce 4 12 as Desktop Environment on top of a Debian Stable base ongoing backports to the Community Repos keep it current and one click installation of many popular additional packages is available in the MX Package Installer Although antiX is its code parent
48. application renders the process much easier by detecting hardware and permitting Linux and Windows drivers to be added removed and blacklisted zZ MX Broadcom Manager x A Introduction Linux drivers Windows drivers Net diagnostics Introduction Broadcom wireless can sometimes be difficult to set up in Linux There are a number of different types of drivers that have different capabilities and features Hardware detected 06 00 0 Qualcomm Atheros AR8152 v2 0 Fast Ethernet 1969 2062 rev cl 07 00 0 Qualcomm Atheros AR9485 Wireless Network Adapter 1680 0032 rev 01 fey Re scan Hardware a Unblock WiFi Devices Z About Help EJ close Figure 3 6 MX Broadcom Manager detecting wireless and wired hardware HELP here 39 3 2 4 MX Check Apt GPG Apt Apt get includes package authentication in order to improve security You can still install non authenticated packages but you will run into an error The following signatures couldn t be verified because the public key is not available This helpful utility saves carrying out the many steps necessary to obtain that key r Terminal File Edit View Terminal Tabs Help Checking main mepis deb org mx repo dists mx15 InRelease Good GPG signature found Checking security debian org dists jessie updates InRelease Good GPG signature found Checking antix daveserver info jessie dists jessie InRelease Good GPG signature found Checking ftp
49. ata partition you may consider making the default folder there Go to File gt Preferences gt General tab and edit the folder location 105 W2K Running Oracle VM VirtualBox Machine View Devices Help GRE 12 01 Pm O28 Om O Right ctrl Figure 6 2 Windows 2000 running in VirtualBox 6 2 2 Use e Create a Virtual Machine To create a virtual machine start VirtualBox then click the New icon on the toolbar You will need a Windows CD or a Linux ISO Follow the wizard accepting all suggested settings unless you know better you can always change them later If your ISO has PAE click on System gt Options tab and enable it You may need to increase the memory allocated to the Guest above the minimum default figure still leaving sufficient memory for your Host OS For Windows Guests consider creating a larger virtual HD than the 10GB default while it is possible to increase the size later it is not a straightforward process Select a Host Drive or Virtual CD DVD Disk File e Select a mount point Once the machine is set up then you can select the mount point to be either the Host Drive or a Virtual CD DVD Disk File ISO Click Settings gt Storage and a dialog box will pop up where you will see in the middle a Storage Tree with an IDE Controller and a SATA Controller below it By clicking on the CD DVD Drive icon in the Storage Tree you will see the CD DVD Drive icon appear in the Attributes section in the right side of the win
50. ating a bootable medium oaoa aa 2 3 Pre dnstallation lt wwe ew eee RR hee a karida neidit rku 24 Firstlook oso os 6 hee wee ee ee ew ee ewe ow eh eee eara 2 5 The Installation process 2 a 20 SCR ee Eee we eG eee he ee eee ee GS ES Configuration Ok PONIES 4 66 GARG ROR RAGED OREO REED ER OEE EES OOH 32 basic MX Tools as ee eee ee we ene ee ee ew Ree ee ee ee OER Be APO eee Ae eee eee eee ee ee eee eG ee eee eRe ee oe 3 4 Network aoaaa aa a a a 35 Fiemongment ssas we ee is iisang heera he eee eR ee EEE ERE SMe o a ek oe ee ee eB ae ee eee eke ee oe bs eee eo eee mae Leiza 22 Beebe eK HEED REARS BAER eRe Hh 36 Cust mizati s eee ce BGR ee HEGRE REE EEL ORDER ERR EH SDE SD Ew SG Basic use Oo WPM wae ee ak eee eee eee eee eee eee ee ee ee ee eee bee eb eee ee eee ee PER EES Oe Te a ea oo PRG eae we Da eee wa ee eee Pa ae e TOs Sew ee hee ee eee eae ewe eRe eee eee Se eae eee eo Ee Oe Tn ee Ae PERE EEE EEE EERE ERODE EERE EKER EEE ai POCSSSIDINY nh cm Bea Re Re eee Ew ew ERR eR EHS a a a a E ce ae AG Backup ce wee RR KS eR ee CE eR EAE Re E A 49 Games cc ee ARBRE eee AGERE KERR ERED EERE EE 4 10 Google tools 2 1 ee Software Management Bd lntrod ction se saaara rdan base heh en ede hakade dae de 5 2 Re posit ri S 25 cc ka hee ee kee ROR eedt nanu hab edad HOS BOS Oe SE ee OC oe hee ee ew REA A eG 54 Troubleshooting s tee ewe dwe nee hGoebah se cebu dnadedakd dei 5 5 Other methods 2 0 000 0 a Adv
51. button to review your choices Launch Gparted for more details about a particular partition 2 Help Select Boot Method MX Linux uses the GRUB bootloader to 4 Select Boot Method boot MX Linux and MS Windows v Install GRUB for MX Linux and Windows By default GRUB2 is installed in the Master Boot Record of your boot drive and Install on MER root replaces the boot loader you were using before This is normal System boot disk sda 8G VBOX HARDDISK If you choose to install GRUB2 at root instead of MBR then GRUB2 will be installed at the beginning of the root partition This option is for experts only If you uncheck the Install GRUB box GRUB will not be installed at this time This option is for experts only Close Figure 2 17 Installer Screen 4 Comments e Most average users will accept the defaults here which will install the bootloader into the very beginning of the disk This is the usual location and will cause no harm e When you click Next a pop up message will check to see that you accept the location of the bootloader GRUB Installing GRUB can take a few minutes in some situations Me MX Linux Install t X Help Computer Identity The computer name is a common unique 3 Computer Network Names name which will identify your computer if it is on a network The computer domain is Computer name mxl unlikely to be used unless your ISP or local network requires it Computer domain example dom The
52. can temporarily become root by issuing the command su then entering the root password runlevel A runlevel is a preset operating state on a Unix like operating system A system can be booted into any of several runlevels each of which is represented by a single digit integer Each runlevel designates a different system configuration and allows access to a different combination of processes i e instances of executing programs See Section 7 5 script An executable text file containing commands in an interpreted language Usually refers to BASH scripts which are used extensively under the hood of the Linux operating system but other languages may be used as well session A login session is the period of activity between a user logging in and logging out of a system In MX Linux this typically indicates the lifetime of a particular user process the program code and its current activity that Xfce invokes source code The human readable code in which software is written prior to being assembled or compiled into machine language code switch A switch also flag option or parameter is a modifier appended to a command to change its behavior A common example is R recursive which tells the computer to carry out the command through all subdirectories symlink Also symbolic link and soft link A special type of file that points to another file or directory and not to data It allows the same file to have different name
53. ck also for other config uration file remnants in Synaptic category Not installed residual config e When you have other programs that depend on the package being removed those packages will have to be removed as well This usually happens when you remove software libraries services or command line applications that serve as back ends to other applications Make sure you read carefully the summary Synaptic gives you before clicking OK 97 e Removing large applications that are composed of many packages can bring complications Many times these packages are installed using a meta package which is an empty package that simply depends on all the packages you need for the application The best way to remove a complicated package like this is to inspect the dependency list for the meta package and remove the packages listed there Take care however that you don t uninstall a dependency of another application you want to keep You may find that the status category Autoremoveable begins to accumulate packages These were installed by other packages and are no longer needed so you can click on that status category highlight all the packages in the right pane and then right click them to remove Y Synaptic Package Manager o B File Edit Package Settings Help D e amp Li Q Reload Mark All Upgrades Apply Properties Search all g A s Package Installed Version Latest Version Size Description Installed The er been Re
54. cord cursor Audio input Record audio Backend ALSA Source hw10 0 Webcam C170 USB Audio Back Continue Figure 4 4 Main screen of SimpleScreenRecorder e SimpleScreenRecorder A simple but powerful program to record programs and games MX Package Installer SimpleScreenRecorder home page e RecordMyDesktop Captures audio video data of a linux desktop session MX Package Installer RecordMyDesktop home page 4 2 5 Illustrations e Pinta This easy to use drawing editing program provides a simplified method to create and manipulate images Pinta home page e LibreOffice Draw Diagrams drawings and pictures can be created and modified with this application LO Draw home page e Inkscape This illustration editor has everything needed to create professional quality computer art MX Package Installer Inkscape home page 15 4 3 Office 4 3 1 Office suite MX Linux comes with a great free office suite called LibreOffice which is the Linux equivalent and near drop in replacement for Microsoft Office The suite is available under Start Menu gt Office gt LibreOffice LibreOffice supports the docx xlsx and pptx file formats of Microsoft Office 2007 and above v LibreOffice File Tools Help Open File iE Templates Create Writer Document Calc Spreadsheet Impress Presentation A Draw Drawing Math Formula B Base Database Welcome to LibreOffice Use the sidebar to open or c
55. d which has a terrific set of add ons to augment the user s experience Firefox home page Firefox add ons e Upgrades of Firefox come through the MX Linux repos and are usually available to users within 24 hours of release e Other browsers are available for easy download and installation via the MX Package Installer 4 1 2 Email e Thunderbird is installed by default in MX Linux This popular email client integrates well with Google Calendar and Google Contacts e Other lightweight email clients are available from the repos 4 1 3 Chat e HexChat This IRC chat program is installed by default in MX Linux and makes the exchange of text messages easier for the user HexChat home page e Pidgin This graphical modular instant messaging client is capable of using multiple networks at once MX Package Installer Pidgin home page Video Chat e Skype A popular proprietary program for instant messaging as well as voice and video chat It is cross platform and can be installed on MX Linux without problem using the MX Package Installer gt Network It integrates automatically with PulseAudio which is installed by default Installing Skype MX 14 4 e Troubleshooting occasionally Skype does not pick up a particular webcam That can often be solved by opening a terminal becoming root and issuing two commands one at a time that will first unload then reload the driver If that works then a script can be written to execute tho
56. d around 4GB It is possible to use a non PAE version on a PAE system but not vice versa MX Linux non PAE is exactly the same as MX Linux PAE except it uses the 486 kernel instead of the 686 one If unsure whether you need the PAE or non PAE version use the method below suitable for the OS you currently run e Linux Open a terminal and enter this command install inxi first if necessary inxi f If the CPU Flags entry does not include PAE in the list then you Il need the non PAE version e Mac Intel versions of OS X support PAE e Windows Windows2000 and earlier non PAE Windows XP and Vista Right click My Computer gt Properties General tab If it says Physical Address Extension PAE at the bottom then PAE is the correct version to install Windows 7 Open the Command Prompt window by clicking the Start button gt All Programs gt Accessories gt Command Prompt A terminal window will appear Enter this code at the command prompt where the cursor is positioned wmic os get PAEEnabled If PAE is enabled you will get a return like this PAEEnabled That return may or may not be followed by the word TRUE Windows 8 PAE enabled by default 2 2 Creating a bootable medium 2 2 1 Obtain the ISO MX Linux is distributed as an ISO a disk image file in the ISO 9660 file system format It is available in two formats off the Download page e The original release of a given version This is a static ver
57. d must be entered twice Confirm root password Show passwords Autologin Save live desktop changes lt Back Next gt Close Figure 2 21 Installer Screen 7 Comments e The level of security on the passwords you choose here will depend greatly on the setting of the actual computer A home desktop is generally less likely to be broken into than a laptop or a computer in a public space e f you check Autologin you will be able to bypass the login screen and speed up the boot process The downside of that choice is that anyone with some kind of access to your computer would be able to log directly into your account You can later change your autologin preferences on the Options tab of the MX User Manager e You can transfer any changes you make to your Live desktop to the HD installation by checking the last box A small amount of critical information e g the name of your wireless Access Point will be translated automatically 2 6 Troubleshooting 2 6 1 Post installation boot problems When rebooting after an installation it sometimes happens that your computer reports that no operating system or bootable disc was found It also may not show another installed OS such as Windows Usually these problems mean that GRUB did not install properly but that is easy to correct e f you can boot into at least one partition open there a root terminal and run this command update grub e Otherwise proceed with MX Boo
58. dards http www rastersoft com programas devede htmlDeVeDe home page DVDStyler Another good authoring utility MX Package Installer DVDStyler home page OpenShot A simple to use and feature rich video editor MX Package Installer OpenShot home page 13 4 2 3 Photos a Mirage 1 of 3 IMAGO138 jpg File Edit View Go Help Jo 8 0 amp Crop Image oT ee ees 3264 o l Height 1952 Cancel lt Crop lt Sr pup a A r gt j S bs o o nra MEE ra lt gt gt f s z J et r 3 b IMAG0138 jpg 3264x1952 2286KB 36 Figure 4 3 Using the crop tool in Mirage e Mirage Installed by default in MX Linux this speedy application is easy to use and allows you to view and edit digital photos Mirage project page e Fotoxx This fast application allows easy photo editing and collection management Fotoxx home page e GIMP The premier image manipulation package for Linux Help gimp help must be installed separately and is available in many languages Basic package installed by default full available from MX Package Installer GIMP home page 14 4 2 4 Screencasting Profile none Video input Record the entire screen Screen 1 1920x1080 at 0 0 O Record a fixed rectangle O Follow the cursor O Record OpenGL experimental 0 Top 0 Width 1920 Height 1080 Frame rate 3 C Scale video Scaled width 1920 Scaled height 1080 Re
59. data can be read from the file it also means the file can be copied If you don t have read permission for a directory you can t even see the names of files listed in it e Write permission means that the file or folder can be changed appended or deleted For directories it specities whether a user can write to files in the directory 122 e Execute permission means whether or not the user can run the file as a script or program For directories it determines whether or not the user can enter and make it the current working directory Every file and folder acquires a single user designated as its owner when it is created on the system Note that if you move a tile from another partition where it has a different owner it will keep the original owner but if you copy and paste it it will be assigned to you It also has a single group designated as its group by default the group to which the owner belongs The permissions you grant to others affect everyone who isn t the owner or in the owning group NOTE For advanced users there are additional special attributes beyond read write execute that can be set sticky bit SUID and SGID For more information see Links section Viewing setting and changing permissions There are many tools available in MX Linux to view and manage permissions e Thunar To view or change a file s permissions right click the file and select Properties Click the Permissions tab Here you can set the permissions g
60. defaults Users with low resource computers sometimes want to disable unneeded services in order to keep the RAM usage as low as possible Make sure k you know what you are doing View Close Figure 2 19 Installer Screen 6 Comments e The default settings will usually be correct here as long as you were careful to enter any exceptions at the LiveMedium boot screen e The settings can be changed again once you have booted into Xfce with TimeSet Keyboard etc 29 Help Common Services to Enable Select any of the these common services that you might need with your system configuration and the services will be started automatically when you start MX Linux MX Linux Install Common Services to Enable service Networking ssh spamassassin nfs openVPN bluetooth Hardware cpufrequtils anacron smartmontools acpid hddtemp acpi takekey dbus cron rsync gpm sudo 8 4 5 LL ss Close Figure 2 20 Installer Screen 6 extra Comments Description 4 network manager Network connection Secure Shell Mail filter Network File System VPN program that creates secl Bluetooth CPU frequency irgbalance Runs commands periodically SMART monitoring tools Advanced Configuration and Pc HDD temperature monitor Generates key events for ACPI Message bus daemon Time based job scheduler File copying tool Mouse event server Execute a command as anothe w a lt Back e This screen only shows
61. determine which application would launch the file A common example is when a user wants to open an mp3 file with a different music player than Clementine default A simple method exists to make that change e Right click any example of the file type you are interested in e Make one of the following selections 69 Open with lt listed application gt This will open the file with the selected application for this particular instance but will not affect the default application Open with Other Application Scroll down the list to highlight the one you want including Use a custom command then check Open The box at the bottom Use as default for this kind of file is unchecked by default so check it if you want your selection to become the new default application that is launched when you click on any file of that particular type Keep it unchecked for one time usage Open With a x Open 01 You Go Down Smooth m4a and other files of type MPEG 4 audio with gt Recommended Applications w Clementine A VLC media player B Other Applications Accessibility I Access Prompt Adobe Flash Player A Adobe Reader 9 fie Appearance Ci Application Finder P Use a custom command Ww Use as default for this kind of file Cancel Figure 3 32 Changing default application 10 4 Basic use 4 1 Internet 4 1 1 Web browser e MX Linux comes with the popular browser Firefox installe
62. device 53 3 No wireless interface is found e Open a terminal and type these commands one at a time lspci lsusb Alternatively this command may be used InxI n e Look for the network entry and note the detailed information on your specific hardware and look for more information about that from the LinuxWireless site listed below or ask on the Forum e If you have an external wifi device and no information on a network card is found unplug the device wait a few seconds then plug it back in Open a terminal and enter dmesg tail Examine the output for information about the device such as the mac address that you can use to pursue your issue on the web or the forum e Probably the most common example of this situation arising is with the Broadcom wireless chipsets see the Technical Documentation Wiki Firmware For some cards it is necessary to install firmware for example firmware ti connectivity for Texas Instruments WL1251 MX Linux comes with a good deal of firmware already available but you may have to track down your particular need again using the LinuxWireless website linked below Ndiswrapper Ndiswrapper is an open source software driver wrapper that enables the use of Windows drivers for wireless network devices in Linux It does not come pre installed in MX Linux but is in the repos NOTE the Windows driver you use must match the OS architecture e g Windows 32 bit driver for MX Linux 32 bit edi
63. ding Filesystem type ext4 x To upgrade from an existing Linux installation select the same home partition as before and check the preference to preserve data in home If you are preserving an existing home directory tree located on your root lt Back partition the installer will not reformat the root partition As a result the installation will take much longer than usual Close Preferred Filesvstem Type i In Figure 2 15 Installer Screen 2 Comments 26 If you chose Auto install using entire disk on Screen 1 you will not see this screen e Choose Partitions Specify the root and swap partitions you have set up previously if you set up a separate partition for your home directory specify it here otherwise leave home set to root Note that the home partition being root means here that the user s home folder will be inside the same root partition where MX is being installed Many users prefer to locate their home directory in a different partition that that of root so that any problem with or even total replacement of the installation partition will leave all the user s individual settings untouched e Preferences Check Preserve data in home if you are doing an upgrade and already have data in an existing home partition This option is not generally recommended because of the risk that old configurations will not match the new installation but can be useful in specific situations
64. dow Click on the CD DVD Drive icon in the Attributes section to open a drop down menu where you can assign the Host Drive or a Virtual CD DVD disc file ISO to be mounted on the CD DVD Drive You can select a different ISO file by clicking on Choose a Virtual CD DVD disk file and navigating to the file Run the machine The device you selected ISO or CD DVD will be mounted when you start the virtual machine and your OS can be installed e GuestAdditions Once your Guest OS is installed be sure to install VirtualBox GuestAdditions by booting into the Guest OS then clicking Devices gt Install Guest Additions and pointing toward the VBoxGuestAdditions iso that it will automatically locate This will allow you to enable sharing files between Guest and Host and to adjust your display in various ways so that it suits your environment and habits 106 e Moving The safest way to move or change the settings of an existing Virtual Machine is to clone it right click the name of an existing machine gt Clone and fill in the information To use the new clone create a new Virtual Machine and in the wizard when you select the Hard Disk choose Use existing hard disk and select the new clone s vdi file e Documentation Excellent documentation for VirtualBox is available through Help on the menu bar or as a PDF from the website p Oracle VM VirtualBox Manager Lad cas gt wv Snapshots New Settings Start Discard Some OS
65. e Manager fey Recently Used Browse the file system _ All a LibreOffice k The office productivity suite compatible EH Accessories Firefox Browse the World Wide Web Education Afce Terminal aes amp Terminal Emulator ti Games z MX Tools Graphics Configuration tools for MX Linux ee internet Multimedia Office dei Settings pA Syste Figure 2 10 Whisker menu e Right click the desktop gt Applications e If you know the name of the application you can use Application Finder started easily in one of two ways Right click the desktop gt Run command Alt F2 Application Finder xX Lo gparted pkexec a Close Launch Figure 2 11 Application Finder identifying application e Use a keystroke you have defined to open a favorite application Click Start menu gt Settings then Keyboard Application shortcuts tab System System information e Click Start menu gt System gt System Profiler and Benchmark hardinfo for a nice graphic display e Open a terminal and enter inxi F Video and audio e For basic monitor settings click Start menu gt Settings gt Display 23 e Sound adjustment is done through Start menu gt Multimedia gt PulseAudio Volume Control or right click Volume manager icon NOTE for troubleshooting areas such as display sound or internet consult Section 3 Configuration Links e Xfce documentation e Xfce FAQs 2 4
66. e Unix Filesystem Hierarchy Standard 119 Name i bin boot w dev E etc E home lib J lost found E media E mnt E opt E proc E root run sbin E sda2 selinux E sys tmp E usr E var v Size Type 4 1 kB folder 4 1 kB folder 3 3 kB folder 12 3 kB folder 4 1 kB folder 4 1 kB folder 16 4 kB folder 4 1 kB folder 4 1 kB folder 4 1 kB folder 0 bytes folder 4 1 kB folder 880 bytes folder 12 3 kB folder 4 1 kB folder 4 1 kB folder 0 bytes folder 4 1 kB link to var tmp 4 1 kB folder 4 1 kB folder Date Modified 12 23 2014 01 27 2015 Today Today 01 05 2015 Yesterday 12 11 2014 Today 12 11 2014 Yesterday 01 28 2015 01 08 2015 Yesterday 01 28 2015 12 11 2014 06 10 2012 01 28 2015 Today 01 06 2014 12 11 2014 Figure 7 1 The MX filesystem viewed in Thunar Here is a simple description of the major directories in MX Linux along with an example of when users commonly work with files in those directories bin This directory contains binary program files which are used by the system during startup but which also may be required by user actions once the system is fully up and running Example Many basic command line programs such as the Bash shell and utilities like dd grep s and mount are located here in addition to programs only used by the OS e boot As you might guess files that Linux needs to boot are located here The Linux kernel the core of
67. e and copy it to your backup Outlook mail should be imported first into Outlook Express before being exported for use in MX Linux e Calendar data export your calendar data to iCalendar or vCalendar format if you wish to use it in MX Linux e Contact data the most universal formats are CSV comma separated values or vCard Accounts and passwords Although not usually stored in readable files that can be backed up it s important to remember to make note of various account information you may have saved in your computer Your automatic log in data for websites or services like your ISP will have to be entered in all over again so make sure to store off disk the information you need to access these services again Examples include e ISP login information You will need at least your username and password for your internet service provider and the phone number to connect if you are on dial up or ISDN Other details might include a dial out number dialing type pulse or tone and authentication type for dialup IP address and subnet mask DNS server gateway IP address DHCP server VPI VCI MTU Encapsulation type or DHCP settings for various forms of broadband If you are not sure what you need consult your ISP e Wireless networking You will need your passkey or passphrase and network name e Web passwords You will need your passwords to various web forums online stores or other secured sites e Email account details You will n
68. e box Enable event sounds If you do not start hearing small sounds when you close a window or logout for instance try these steps e Log out and back in e Click Start menu gt Multimedia gt PulseAudio Volume Control Playback tab and adjust the level as needed start with 100 e Click the start menu type alsamixer don t forget the exclamation point A terminal window will appear with a single audio control Pulseaudio Master Use F6 to select your audio card and then adjust the channels that appear to higher volumes Look for channels like Surround PCM Speakers Master Surround Master Mono or Master The channels that are available depend on your particular hardware The sound file of reference is Borealis located in usr share Sounds A different one named sound theme freedesktop is in the repos and others can be found with a web search 3 8 11 Default applications General The default applications to be used for general operations are set by clicking Start menu gt Settings gt Settings manager gt Preferred Applications where you can set four preferences e Web browser e Mail reader e File manager e Terminal emulator Particular Many defaults for specific file types are set during an application s installation For instance docx and xlsx files are associated with LibreOffice when it is installed But often multiple options exist for a given file type and a user would like to
69. e current working directory path pwd Lists the contents of the current directory Use the a switch to show hidden files as well and the I switch to show details on all files Often combined with other terms lsusb lists all the usb devices Ismod all the modules etc 110 File management Table 7 File management commands Comment cp sourcefile destinationfile Copy a file to another filename or location Use the R switch recursive to copy entire directories mv sourcefile destinationfile Move a file or directory from one location to another Also used to rename files or directories and to make a backup for example before changing a critical file such as xorg conf you might use this command to move it to something like xorg conf BAK rm filename Delete a file Use the R switch to delete a directory and the f switch force if you don t want to be prompted to confirm each deletion cat file txt Prints the contents of a file on the screen Only use on text files grep Find a given string of characters in a given piece of text and print the entire line it was on Usually used with a pipe e g cat somefile txt grep somestring will display the line from somefile txt that contains somestring To find a network usb card for instance you could type Isusb grep Network The grep command is case sensitive by default use the i switch to make it case insensitive Copies anything bit by bit so can be used
70. e future 1 5 Bugs issues and requests Bugs are errors in a computer program or system that produce incorrect results or abnormal behavior MX Linux defines issues as upstream bugs about which the Dev Team can do nothing Finally requests are additions requested by users either as new applications or new features for existing applications MX Linux deals with these in the following manner e All three of these are managed by means of the Tracker Users should make a post in the Bugs and Request Forum being careful to provide information about o hardware system and error details e Devs as well as Community members will respond to those posts with questions suggestions etc e f Devs conclude that a legitimate bug issue request is involved they create a new entry in Tracker e Users can consult Tracker to monitor progress on their post mepis org antix mep a Home Mx Linux Support Bugs Features Community Repos About Us Bug Request and Issue List Click Column Headings to Sort Definitions of Tracker Terms Only members of the Development Team have permission to write in Tracker Users with a bug or request should report it the Bugs and Requests Forum for MX Tracker Bug 4 Apply Reason For yg Version Tracker Status Closing Priority Title Updated Provide warning when trying to use Save Tue 01 13 MX 14 157 Bu Open High P s system to ISO in live session 07 06 Figure 1 2 Tracker 2 I
71. e kernel in the same series as the default kernel Once you check and install the new kernel reboot and make sure the new kernel is highlighted if not click on the options line and select what you want 126 Kernel DO Debian 64bit Fallback Debian 3 16 64bit linux kernel Bl o O Liquorix_64bit Latest Liquorix Kernel 64 bit latest 4 x from MX TEST repo Figure 7 3 Kernel options in MX Package Installer for 64bit architecture Upgrading Downgrading Advanced Here is a basic approach for manually upgrading the Linux kernel on your system e First find out what you currently have installed Open a terminal and enter inxi S For instance a user of MX 15 x86 would see something like this inxi S System Host UTRA Kernel 4 2 3 dmz 3 liquorix amd64 x86 64 64 bit Desktop Xfce 4 12 2 Distro MX 15_x64 mx Fusion Be sure to write down the name of the kernel bolded above from the output of that command e Second select and install a new kernel Open Synaptic search on linux image and look for a higher kernel number that matches the architecture e g 686 and processor e g PAE that you already have unless you have a good reason to change Install the one you want or need in the usual manner e Third install the linux headers package that match the new kernel you selected There are two methods of doing this 1 Look carefully at the Synaptic entries beginning linux headers and match the kernel Al
72. e software loosely refers to software that is more properly called open source software licensed under some type of open source license frontend Also front end The frontend is the part of a software system that interacts directly with the user See also backend GPL The GNU General Public License This is a license under which many open source applications are released It specifies that you may view modify and redistribute the source code of applications released under it within certain limits but that you may not distribute the executable code unless you also distribute the source code to anyone who asks for it Graphical User Interface GUI This refers to a program or operating system interface that uses pictures icons windows etc as opposed to text command line interfaces home directory One of the 17 top level directories branching from the root directory in MX Linux home contains a subdirectory for every registered user of the system Within each Users home directory s he has full read write privileges Further most of the user specific configuration files for various installed programs are stored in hidden subdirectories within the home username directory as is downloaded email Other downloaded files usually go by default into the home username Documents or home username Desktop subdirectories IMAP The Internet Message Access Protocol is a protocol that allows an e mail client to access a remote mail server It
73. e with the actual filename 2 2 3 Create the LiveMedium DVD Burning an ISO to a DVD is easy as long as you follow some important guidelines e Do not burn the ISO onto a blank CD DVD as if it were a data file An ISO is formatted and bootable image of an OS You need to choose Burn disk image or Burn ISO in the menu of your CD DVD burning program If you just drag and drop it into a file list and burn it as a regular file you will not get a bootable LiveMedium e Use a good quality writable DVD R with a 4 7 GB capacity USB You can easily create a bootable USB that works on most systems MX Linux includes the cross platform utility Unetbootin for this work e Plug in the USB stick you are going to use and reformat it to FAT32 using GParted if not already in that format On Windows use the My Computer screen right click your USB device in the menu and select Format then FAT 32 Start Unetbootin and either download the ISO using the top radio button or click on the button with the 3 dots to locate your ISO file Make sure the device that is identified in the bottom line is what you want to use and that there are no files on it that you do not want destroyed Click OK to create the files necessary it will take some time on the USB device Either click to restart the system or exit to reboot manually on a different machine or at another time 10 Distribution Select Distribution Select Version
74. eboot into it CLI tools See the discussion in the Arch Wiki Cloning e CLI commands for doing backups rsync rdiff cp dd tar etc Arch Wiki Backup See also Section 6 6 2 Save system to live ISO 85 4 8 1 Data Make sure you back up your data including documents graphics music and mail By default most of this is stored in your home directory unless you have a separate data partition or external data location 4 8 2 Configuration files Here is a list of items to consider for backup e home Holds most of the personal configuration files e root Holds the changes you have made as root e etc X11 xorg conf X configuration file if there is one e The GRUB2 files etc grub d and etc default grub 4 8 3 List of installed program packages It s also a good idea to save in your home directory a file that contains the list of programs that you have installed with Synaptic apt get or Gdebi If in the future you need to reinstall you can recover the names of the files for reinstallation GUI A handy tool to list packages installed since the system was initially installed can be found by right clicking on the apt notifier icon in the Notification Area gt Apt History A list of programs you installed via the apt system will appear that you can copy and paste into a document for storage and reference CLI You can create an inventory of all packages on your system installed since installation by copying thi
75. eePassX A password manager or safe that helps you to manage your passwords in a secure way KeePassX home page 4 5 5 Web access e Dansguardian Provides a flexible method of filtering web access for kids according to your needs Dansguardian home page X cual 20PICS 2 labeling 20level 20e xceeded 200n 20the 20above 20site gt 7 A K P R E DansGuardian Access Denied E Ge ACCESS HAS BEEN DENIED Access to the page http www playboy com zmega html has been denied for the following reason ICRA languagesexual PICS labeling level exceeded on the above site Powered by DansGuardian Figure 4 8 Web filter in action on Dansguardian 19 4 6 Accessibility Various open source utilities exist for MX Linux users with disabilities by virtue of Xfce4 tools e Install at spi from the repos and reboot e Click Start menu gt Settings gt Accessibility and tick Enable Assistive Technologies e Change the available options to suit your liking MORE Xfce4 documentation 4 7 System 4 7 1 Get root privileges There are two ways to obtain root AKA adminstrator superuser privileges that you need to make system changes e g installing software using a terminal e su requires the root password and grants privileges for entire terminal session e sudo requires your user password and grants privileges for a single command In other words su lets you switch user so that you re actually logged in as root while
76. eed your username and password and the addresses or URLs of the mail servers You may also need the authentication type This information should be retrievable from the Account settings dialog of your email client e Instant messaging Your username and password for your IM account s your buddy list and the server connection information if necessary e Other If you have a VPN connection such as to your office a proxy server or other configured network service make sure you find out what information is necessary to reconfigure it in the event that you need to Browser favorites Web browser favorites bookmarks are often overlooked during a backup and they are not usually stored in a conspicuous place Most browsers contain a utility to export your bookmarks to a file which can then be imported into the web browser of your choice in MX Linux Here are some export methods for common web browsers e Internet Explorer click File gt import and export select export favorites select the favorites folder to export all favorites select export to file or address and enter a filename for the favorites e Firefox 3 and above click Bookmarks gt Organize Bookmarks or Show All Bookmarks highlight the bookmark folder to backup click Import and Backup Export HTML enter a filename for the bookmarks 12 Software licenses Many proprietary programs for Windows are not installable without a license key or CD key Unless you are se
77. een displays a number of vertical entries below which is a row of horizontal options press F1 when looking at that screen for details Options F1 Help Help system in English only Contains much of the same information that is given here F2 Language Set the language for the bootloader and the MX system This will automatically transfer to the hard drive when you install F3 Time Zone Set the timezone for the system This will automatically transfer to the hard drive when you install F4 Options Options for checking and booting the Live system Most of these options do not transfer to the hard drive when you install F5 Persist Options for retaining changes to the LiveUSB when the machine shuts down F6 Failsafe Safe Video forces the use of the generic video driver useful to try if your first boot left you with a blank screen Failsafe Loads all drivers early in the boot process a good choice if the first boot does not work at all F7 Console Set resolution of virtual consoles May conflict with Kernel Mode Setting Can be useful if you are booting into Command Line Install or if you are trying to debug the early boot process This option will transfer when you install MORE Linux startup process 18 2 4 3 Login screen ee ans a a ee W gS a S n a ies es a J lt s z wa gt Ne gh SA w pe pyes D ai J al io mdi T O a a es a SM c c Figure 2 6 Login screen with
78. elp icon NOTE users often find that the configuration tool must be augmented with the manual method below 58 Manual method Create a share manually If for some reason you need or want to create shares manually follow these steps e Use an existing home foldername or create a folder and make it Read amp Write for Owner Group users and Others In other words make it open to the world Starting with a simple Public Share is a good place to learn NOTE If you are concerned about network security do not use this approach Instead study the references above to learn how to create secure shares e To establish the Samba Share you must edit the configuration file as root It can be found at etc samba smb conf Edit the line workgroup xxxxx to match whatever Windows Workgroup name you are using default is WORKGROUP e At the very end of the file add the following lines to establish your Share SHARENAME path home username foldername guest ok yes read only no browseable yes force create mode 777 force directory mode 777 e Save the file When adding a share the Samba daemon should read it and implement the changes immediately If you make changes to an existing share you will need to restart Samba to make sure your changes take effect by going to the terminal and becoming root and entering service samba restart e You can also check for mistakes in smb conf by running testparm from the terminal e Go to an
79. epos e Click Start menu gt Accessories to tind Conky Manager 65 e In Conky Manager you can highlight each conky and hit Preview to see what it looks like Be sure to close each preview before going to another e f it seems that Conky Manager has frozen check for a window with the preview hiding behind it e Check the box to select any conky you want to use It will be auto installed e The configuration files are stored in the folder conky manager MORE Conky home page Conky Manager v2 3 3 t tt i j i a 7 a s a i gt 4 WN OOo 8 9 Browse Widgets Themes Filter Preview List conky Conky Seamod conky_seamod conky Gotham Gotham conky Green Apple Desktop conky_seamod conky TeejeeTech CPU Panel 2 core conky Teejeetech CPU Panel 4 core conky TeejeeTech CPU Panel 6 core conky TeejeeTech CPU Panel 8 core conky TeejeeTech NVIDIA Panel conky TeejeetTech Network Panel wf conky TeejeeTech Process Panel m November 2014 40 Saturday 6 31GiB 15 0GiB 1 84GiB 7 70GiB 2 Source httos plus qgoogle com 1009248740374303275534 posts WfVEoyrzhm Figure 3 29 One of many conky configurations available in Conky Manager 2 66 3 8 5 HotCorner Opening programs or activating certain actions effects can be facilitated by installing the Panel plugin Hot Corner Details on installation and use can be found in the Wiki HotCorner
80. eps just follow the prompts as you receive them until the installation completes Synaptic Package Manager File Edit Package Settings Help SF E Q Reload Mark All Upgrades Apply Properties Search All is Package Installed Version Latest Version Size Description E E acl 2 2 51 8 2 2 51 8 257 kB Access control list utilities Installed auto removable H acpi 1 6 1 1 6 1 68 6 kB displays information on ACPI devices Installed local or obsolete M acpi fakekey 0 140 5 deb7u3 0 140 5 deb7u3 78 8kB tool to generate fake key events Installed manual M acpi support base 0 140 5 deb7u3 0 140 5 deb7u3 67 6kB scripts for handling base ACPI events such as the power button Not installed acpid 1 2 0 16 1 deb7t 1 2 0 16 1 deb7t 181kB Advanced Configuration and Power Interface event daemon Not installed residual config i adduser 3 113 nmu3 3 113 nmu3 1092 kB add and remove users and groups Pinned i alsa base 1 0 25 3 deb7u 1 0 25 3 deb7u 134kB ALSA driver configuration files W alsa utils 1 0 25 4 1 0 25 4 2011 kB Utilities for configuring and using ALSA 76 9 1 hna7 1 9 6 0 1 bpo70 1 27 5 MB easy to use media player based on the KDE Platform E 6 0 1 bpo70 1 14 2 MB architecture independent files for Amarok o almak for Relnetallation 6 0 1 bpo70 1 544kB utilities for Amarok media player BC 3 19 167 kB cron like program that doesn t go by time E ari far erneinl 77 8kB GnuPG archi
81. er Audacious home page DeaDBeeF A lightweight player with a small memory footprint robust set of basic features and a focus on music playback MX Package Installer DeaDBeeF home page e Rippers and editors Asunder A graphical Audio CD ripper and encoder that can be used to save tracks from Audio CDs Installed by default Asunder home page e EasyTAG A simple application for viewing and editing tags in audio files Easy TAG home page 4 2 2 Video e Players 2 VLC Plays a large range of video and audio formats DVDs VCDs podcasts and multimedia streams from various network sources Installed by default VLC home page SM Player A mediaplayer that can play virtually all video and audio formats MX Package Installer The related YouTube Browser for SM Player is installed by default SMplayer home page Netflix Desktop capability of streaming Netflix movies can be acquired by installing Google Chrome from MX Package Installer and simply navigate to the site Netflix home page Netflix x D oo www netflix com CO PRODUCER MICAH SCHRAFT B Marvel s Jessica Jones Season 1 Ep 1 AKA Ladies Night Figure 4 2 Running desktop Netflix in Google Chrome e Rippers and editors HandBrake A video ripper that is easy to use fast and simple HandBrake home page DeVeDe This utility automatically converts material to formats compatible with audio CD and video DVD stan
82. er help What are those other partitions on my Windows installation Recent home computers with Windows are sold with a diagnostic partition and restore partition in addition to the one that contains the OS installation If you see multiple partitions showing up in GParted that you were not aware of they are probably those and should be left alone Should create a separate Home You do not have to create a separate home since the Installer will creat a home partition within root But having it separate makes upgrades easier and protects against problems caused by users filling up the drive with a lot of pictures music or video data How big should root be e The installed base size is a little under 2 5GB so we recommend a minimum of 5GB to allow for basic functions e This minimum size will not allow you to install many programs and may cause difficulty doing upgrades running VirtualBox etc Recommended size for normal use is therefore 10 GB e If you have home located within and store a lot of big files then you will need a larger root partition 14 e Gamers playing big games e g Wesnoth should note that they will need a bigger partition than usual for data images sound files an alternative is to use a separate Data drive Do need to create a SWAP file The Installer will create a SWAP file for you see Section 2 5 1 If you intend to hibernate and not just suspend the system swap may need to be someth
83. f the line that starts with linux located one above the lowest line the actual boot command Press F 10 to boot Once the cursor is at a prompt login with your normal username and password If necessary you can also login as root and provide the administrative password Useful commands when you are looking at the prompt on runlevel 3 include Table 11 Common runlevel 3 commands Command Comment runlevel Returns the number of the runlevel you are on halt Run as root Shuts the machine down If that does not work on your system try poweroff reboot Run as root Reboots the machine lt application gt Runs the application as long as it is not graphical For instance you can use the command nano to edit text files but not leafpad Ctrl Alt F7 If you used Ctrl Alt F1 to drop out from a running desktop but did not continue down to runlevel 3 this command brings you back to your desktop telinit 5 Run as root If you are on runlevel 3 enter this command to get to the login manager lightdm NOTE these commands may change in the future if MX Linux switches to a new system manager 125 Links e Wikiipedia Runlevel e The Linux Information Project Runlevel Definition 7 6 The kernel Introduction To provide a background here is a simplified diagram and description of the kernel s position in a Linux OS borrowed from Anatomy of the Linux kernel User Applications User D Space GNU C
84. following packages will be upgraded libvdpaul 0 8 3 deb8ul gt 0 8 3 deb8u 1 upgraded 0 newly installed to remove and 0 not upgraded Need to get 32 3 kB of archives After this operation 0 B of additional disk space will be used x use apt get s yes option for dist upgrade v automatically close terminal window when apt get dist upgrade complete switch to apt get upgrade wf OK Cancel Figure 3 4 View and upgrade screen from MX Apt notifier HELP here 37 3 2 2 MX Boot repair The bootloader is the first software program to run and is responsible for loading and transferring control to the kernel It sometimes happens that the bootloader on an installation GRUB2 becomes dysfunctional usually because the user has made changes of some kind This tool allows you to restore the bootloader to a functional state hai MX Boot Repair X MX Boot Repair is a utility that can be used to reinstall GRUB bootloader on the MBR Master Boot Record or root partition It provides the option to reconstruct the GRUB configuration file and to back up and restore MBR or PBR What would you like to do L Repair GRUB configuration file O Backup MBR or PBR legacy boot only C Restore MBR or PBR from backup legacy boot only Figure 3 5 MX Boot Repair main screen HELP here 38 3 2 3 MX Broadcom Manager LY MX Broadcom Manager Broadcom chipsets are often difficult to set up and this
85. for these reasons we do not recommend installing MX Linux onto a different disk file system unless you are well educated in the differences However MX Linux can read and write to many other formatted disk filesystems and may even be installed on some of them if for some reason one of them is preferred over ext4 Links e Wikipedia Filesystem e Wikipedia Comparison of filesystems e Wikipedia Ext4 e Log files in the var log directory 7 3 Permissions MX Linux is an account based operating system This means that no program can run without a user account to run under and any running program is thereby limited by the permissions granted to the user who started it NOTE Much of the security and stability that Linux is known for hinges on the proper use of limited user accounts and the protection provided by default file and directory permissions For this reason you should operate as root only for a procedure that requires it Never log into MX Linux as root to run the computer for normal activities running a web browser as root user for instance is one of a few ways you could get a virus on a Linux system Basic information The default file permissions structure in Linux is fairly simple but more than adequate for most situations For each file or folder there are three permissions that can be granted and three entities owner creator group others world to which they are granted The permissions are e Read permission means that
86. g to install MX Linux as a replacement for Microsoft Windows it is a good idea to consolidate and back up your files and other data currently stored in Windows Even if you are planning to dual boot you should make a backup of this data in case of unforeseen problems during the install Backing up files Locate all of your files such as office documents pictures video or music e Typically most of these are located in My Documents folder e Search from the Windows start menu for various types of files to make sure you have found and saved them all 11 e Once you have located all such files burn them to a CD or DVD or copy them to an external device such as a USB thumb drive Backing up email calendar and contact data Depending on the email or calendar program you use your email and calendar data may not be saved in an obvious location or under an obvious file name Most email or scheduling applications such as Microsoft Outlook are able to export this data in one or more file formats Consult your application s help documentation to find out how to export the data e Email data The safest format for email is plain text since most mail programs support this feature be sure to zip the file to ensure that its contents are included If you are using Outlook Express your mail is stored in a dbx or mbx file either of which can be imported into Thunderbird if installed on MX Linux Use the Windows search feature to locate this fil
87. ge scanner hardware flatbed scanner hand held scanner video and still cameras frame grabbers etc Basic steps You can manage your scanner in MX Linux with the default gscan2pdf In addition to being a good general scanner manager it can export directly to a PDF among other formats A very helpful tip on how to save startup time by pre identifying the device can be found in the Wiki Troubleshooting e Make sure your scanner is listed as supported by SANE on this list 3 1 4 Webcam Most likely your webcam will work in MX Linux If not there is a recent detailed discussion of setup in the Arch Wiki 35 3 2 Basic MX Tools AAS T M X 4 si A li NA A number of applications have been developed specifically for MX Linux to save the user effort with important repetitious tasks often involving unintuitive steps Advanced tools are treated in Section 6 6 36 3 2 1 MX Apt notifier Not shown on the MX Tools dashboard this extremely handy and versatile applet sits in the Notification Area where it monitors package updates and notifies you when they are available with a green arrow above the yellow box It is much quicker than going through Synaptic Section 5 3 Be sure to check the important options available through the context right click menu Apt Notifier View and Upgrade previewing apt get dist upgrade apt get dist upgrade Reading package lists Building dependency tree Reading state information he
88. handling can occur Force version 2 6 0 1 bpo70 1 wheezy backports k 2 6 betal1 75 g47e75df 1 stable Cancel Force Version Figure 5 4 Using Force version to downgrade a package Pinning Sometimes you may want to pin an application to a specific version to keep it from being upgraded in order to avoid problems with more recent ones This is easy to do 1 2 Open Synaptic supply the root password and click Reload Click on Installed in the panel on the left then find and highlight the package you want to pin in the panel on the right On the menu bar click Package gt Lock version 4 Synaptic will highlight the package in red and add a lock icon to the first column To unlock highlight the package again and click Package gt Lock version which will have a check mark 5 4 Troubleshooting Synaptic is very reliable but sometimes you may get an error message A full discussion of such messages may be found in the MX antiX Wiki so here we will only mention a couple of the most common e You get a message that some repos failed to download repository information this is usually a transient event and you simply need to wait and reload If the installation of a package shows that software you have already installed and still want will be removed click Cancel to back out of the operation lt may happen with a new repository that you see an error message after reloading that says something like W GP
89. hanges e Add or delete a panel in Panel Preferences by clicking on the plus or minus button to the right of the top panel pull down menu e One click horizontal panel installation is available from MX Panel Orientation Section 3 2 10 MORE Xfce4 docs Panel MX 15 b1 Running Oracle VM VirtualBox F Installer ELL E ETU T TET i le E pal m D lt n Fal i T Figure 3 27 Default horizontal panel using MX Panel Orientation 3 8 4 Desktop LY Customizing the desktop The default desktop AKA wallpaper background can be changed in various ways e Right click any image gt Set as wallpaper e If you want the wallpapers available to all users become root and put them in the usr share xfce4 backdrops folder you will probably have to create this folder either in a root Thunar or in a root terminal using the command mkdir e If you want to restore the default wallpaper it is in usr local share backgrounds 64 Many other customizations are available in Settings Manager e Change the default theme greybird thick grip in Appearance The default theme is a version of greybird that has larger borders and specifies the appearance of Whisker menu e Add standard icons such as Trash or Home to the desktop in Desktop icons tab e Window behavior such as switching tiling and zooming can be customized in Window Manager Tweaks Window switching via Alt Tab can be customi
90. hard drive or DVD See also ISO Distribution A Linux Distribution or distro is a particular packaging of the Linux kernel with various GNU software packages and different desktops or window managers Since unlike the proprietary code used in the Microsoft and Apple OS s GNU Linux is Free Open Source Software literally anyone in the world who has the ability can freely build on what has been done and innovate a new vision of a GNU Linux operating system MX Linux is a distro based on the Debian Linux family 129 file system Also file system This refers to the way that files and folders are logically arranged on a computer s storage devices so they may be found by the operating system It can also refer to the type of formatting on a storage device such as the common Windows formats NTFS and FAT32 or the Linux formats ext3 ext4 or ReiserFS and in this sense refers to the method actually used to encode binary data on the Hard Disk Drive floppy flash drive etc firmware The small programs and data structures that internally control the electronic components free as in speech The English word free has two possible meanings 1 without cost and 2 without restrictions In part of the open source software community an analogy used to explain the difference is 1 free as in beer vs 2 free as in speech The word freeware is used universally to refer to software that is simply without cost whereas the phrase fre
91. he icon to open Synaptic Click the Mark All Upgrades icon below the menu bar to select all available packages for upgrade or click on the Installed upgradable link in the left panel to review the packages or to select upgrades individually Click Apply to begin the upgrade ignoring the warning message As the installation process begins you have the option of watching the details in a terminal within Synaptic e With some package upgrades you may be asked to confirm a dialog enter configuration information or decide whether or not to overwrite a configuration file you have altered Pay attention here and follow the prompts until the upgrade completes 98 Downgrading Sometimes you may want to downgrade an application to an older version for instance because of problems that arose with the new one This is easy to do in Synaptic 1 2 Open Synaptic supply the root password and click Reload Click on Installed in the panel on the left then find and highlight the package you want to downgrade in the panel on the right On the menu bar click Package gt Force version 4 Select from the available versions on the pull down list 5 Click Force Version then install in the usual manner Select the version of amarok that should be forced for installation The package manager always selects the most applicable version available If you force a different version from the default one errors in the dependency
92. he machine and hopefully your sound should be working You could also try more precision by using model nvidia mcp61 instead if the first did not work Links e Understanding Linux Configuration Files 7 5 Runlevels MX Linux boots up by executing the program init After completing the boot process init executes all startup scripts in a directory specified by the default runlevel this runlevel is given by the entry for id in etc inittab Like most other Linux versions MX Linux has 7 runlevels Table 10 Runlevels in MX Linux Halt the system Single user mode provides a root console without logon Useful if you lose your root password Multiuser with no network Default GUI logon Reboot the system MX Linux defaults to runlevel 5 therefore any init scripts set up in the level 5 config file will run at boot Console logon no X i e no GUI Use Understanding runlevels can be handy When users have a problem with X Window Manager for instance they can not correct it on the default runlevel 5 because X is running on that level But they can get to runlevel 3 to work on the problem in one of two ways e From the Desktop press Ctrl Alt F1 to get out of X To actually drop to runlevel 3 become root and type telinit 3 this will stop all the other services still operating on runlevel 5 e From the GRUB menu press e for edit when you see the GRUB screen On the subsequent screen add a space and the number 3 at the end o
93. heck validity of downloaded ISOs After you have downloaded an ISO the next step is to check its md5sum against the official one It will be identical to the official md5sum if your copy is authentic The following steps will let you verify the integrity of the downloaded ISO on any OS platform Windows Users can check with a tool called WinMD5FREE Download and unzip it then put the exe file in any folder on your hard drive It is ready to use no installation required Linux In MX Linux navigate to the folder where you have downloaded the ISO and the md5sum file Right click the md5sum file gt Check data integrity A dialog box will pop up saying lt name of ISO gt OK if the numbers are identical You can also right click the ISO gt Compute md5sum and compare it with another source For situations where that option is not available open a terminal in the location where you downloaded the ISO then type md5sum filename iso Be sure to replace filename with the actual filename type in the first couple of letters then hit Tab and it will be filled in automatically Compare the number obtained by this calculation with the md5sum file downloaded from official site If they are identical your copy is identical to the official release Mac Mac users need to open up a console terminal and change into the directory with the ISO and md5sum files Then issue this command md5 c filename md5sum Be sure to replace filenam
94. hoose this if you are not going to keep anything on the selected hard drive e Custom install on existing partitions If you are installing MX Linux to a dual boot with another Operating system or you wish to define the sizes of your partitions manually you need to select this option If you have not previously set up your partitions see Section 2 3 you may click the button to run GParted at this point and create them You must have your partitions created before moving on if you want to select this option T MX Linux Install x Help Limitations S Remember this software is provided AS IS 2a Choose partitions with no warranty what so ever It s solely your responsibility to backup your data i root partition sdal 7138MB Linux rootMxX 15 before proceeding swap partition none or existing T Choose Partitions MX Linux requires a root partition The ihome partition root swap partition is optional but highly recommended If you want to use the Suspend to Disk feature of MX Linux you will need a swap partition that is larger 2b Preferences than your physical memory size If you choose a separate home partition Preserve data in home if upgrading it will be easier for you to Upgrade in the future but this will not be possible if you WES EN kekki Bakde Hem at are upgrading from an installation that Ch default t rtition label does not have a separate home partition ange default root partition labe Upgra
95. ht by default but can be made visible via the menu View gt Show Hidden Files or by pressing Ctrl H e The Side Pane can be hidden and directory folder shortcuts can be placed there by right clicking gt Send To e The context menu has been populated with common actions that vary by what is present or under focus e Root action is available via the context menu to open a terminal edit as root or open an instance of Thunar with root privileges e Thunar easily handles FTP transfers see below Z Custom Actions t You can configure custom actions that will appear in the file managers context menus for certain kinds of files Run command Launch a program A Open Terminal Here Example for a custom action Open root Thunar here Open this folder with administrative rights Ownership to Root Change to administrative permissions Ownership to user Removes use restrictions Edit as Root Make administrative changes to text files Find files here Search current folder Create symlink Softlink bewteen two files or directories Share a folder on your network utes Configure file sharing Compute md5sum Display checksum of ISO Check data integrity Compare ISO and md5sum files E Help Figure 3 22 Custom actions set up in Thunar 56 3 5 1 Tips and Tricks Enable thumbnail images in Thunar When working in a directory that requires superuser privileges you can right click gt
96. i Isusb e Become root in that open terminal and enter The output from the first commands example below will give you the exact name iwconfig a model and version if any of your wireless chipset as well as the associated driver and the mac address from the second the name of the access point AP you are linked to and other connection information Network Card 2 Intel Ultimate N WiFi Link 5300 driver iwlwifi IF wlan0 state up mac 00 21 6a 81 8c 5a e Use the information you have gathered in one of the following ways Do a web search using that information Some examples using the above Ispci output 1 linux Intel Ultimate N WiFi Link 5300 rev 03 2 debian stable 00 21 6a 81 8c 5a Consult the Linux Wireless site below to find out which driver your chipset needs what conflicts might exist and whether it needs firmware installed separately Post your information on the Forum and ask for help e Sometimes using the terminal application Cent in the repos can reveal hidden access points and other difficult factors NOTE using Ceni to configure your network interface in MX Linux will interfere and or disable management of that interface by the default Network Manager Ceni stores its configuration info in etc network interfaces Any interface defined in etc network interfaces will be ignored by Network Manager as Network Manager assumes that if a definition exists you want some other application managing the
97. icon haf Edit Launcher t X Pi Edit Launcher Name Comment Scrolling space shooter Command chromium bsu D Working Directory Icon gt Options Use startup notification Run in terminal Ba Help amp Cancel Figure 3 31 Menu entry edit screen 3 8 8 Login greeter The user has a number of tools to customize the login greeter 68 e Click Start menu gt Settings gt Settings Manager gt LightDM GTK Greeter settings to adjust position background font etc e Autologin can be in activated from MX User Manager gt Options tab e Some properties of the default login box are set in the code for the default theme greybird thick grip and a few related themes Change theme using Settings Manager gt Appearance for greater choice 3 8 9 Bootloader The bootloader GRUB menu of an installed MX Linux can be modified by clicking Start menu gt System gt Grub customizer This tool allows users to configure some important Grub settings such as the boot entry list configuration names of partitions etc 3 8 10 System and Event sounds Computer beeps are silenced by default in the blacklist lines in the file etc modprobe d pc speaker conf Comment out at the beginning those lines as root if you wish to restore them Event sounds can be enabled by clicking Settings Manager gt Appearance Settings tab and checking th
98. if View was clicked at Screen 6 item d e Services are applications and functions associated with the kernel that provide capabilities for upper level processes e These applications and functions require time and memory so if you are concerned about the capacity of your computer you can look at this list for items that you are sure you do not need For instance a user who has no need for Bluetooth for a mouse or keyboard for example can comfortably uncheck that service e f you do not understand what a service is and does you do best to leave it alone e f you later want to change or adjust the startup services you have two choices a command line tool called sysv rc conf is installed by default and must be run as root a graphical tool called Boot Up Manager BUM can be installed from the repos 30 ka MX Linux Install P Help Default User Login The root user is similar to the 7a Default User Account Administrator user in some other operating systems You should not use Default user login name username the root user as your daily user account Please enter the name for a new default Default user password user account that you will use on a daily basis If needed you can add other user Confirm user password accounts later with MX User Manager Passwords 7b Root administrator Account Enter a new password for your default user account and for the root account Root password Each passwor
99. ight desktop environ ment Gnome Ultra GOULD an ultra light desktop environment e IceVWM a window manager for the X Window System whose goal is speed and simplicity IceWM Home Page IceWM FAQ and Howto e K Desktop Environment or KDE for short a very large and powerful environment Two versions available Lite and Standard Lite offers more application choices For installation and configuration when used over MX Linux see the MX antixX Wiki KDE Home Page KDE Forum LXDE is a fast and light desktop environment whose components can be installed separately LXDE home page LXDE Wiki e MATE is the continuation of GNOME 2 providing an intuitive and attractive desktop environment MATE home page MATE Documentation Once installed you can choose the window manager you want from the Session Button on the default login screen and log in to as you normally would If you replace the login manager with another from the repos make sure you always have at least one available upon reboot Wikipedia X Window Managers 6 4 Command Line Although MX offers a complete set of graphical tools for installing configuring and using your system the command line also called the console terminal BASH or shell is still a useful and at times indispensable tool Here are some common uses 108 Launch a GUI application to see its error output e Speed up system administration tasks e Configure or install ad
100. in root window Xpenguins home page Oneko A cat neko follows your cursor the mouse around the screen Can be customized with a dog or other animal How to use Oneko PhunLand Phun is a free game like 2D physics sandbox where you can play with physics like never before The playful synergy of science and art is novel and makes Phun as educational as it is entertaining How to use Phun Xteddy Puts a cute teddy on your desktop Alternatively you can add your own image Xteddy homepage Tuxpaint A drawing program for kids of all ages Tuxpaint home page 89 a Tux Paint o fl gt TOIS Ya n rushes s A a Stamp m eA ap Lines Shapes p Text Magic 4 Undo Redo Eraser New A Open Save mm am Print Quit O oOo YV _OIOr J Purple Figure 4 16 Budding genius at work in Tuxpaint 4 9 6 Children e Three age appropriate packages of games and educational applications are available from MX Package Installer e In addition Scratch is a free programming language and online community where you can create your own interactive stories games and animations MX Package Installer Home page Scratch 90 z Dance Party on Scratch Iceweasel Fi le Edit View History Bookmarks Tools Help or Dance Party on x vy gt scratch mit edu projects 10128067 editor v C v scratch code for Q w amp 150 SCRATCH Mw Aaa aL ht MOK Sign i
101. ines 12 14 the three devices to be used for the backup have to first be mounted so they are available to the system Lines 18 21 here bash is told to use the system script rdiff backup to compare the original directories sources with the backup directories targets copy over the differences it finds and keep a record of the changes e Lines 25 27 once the backup work is done the external drives are unmounted from the system Anyone who wanted to use such a script would have to carry out a few execution steps 1 2 3 Copy the whole script Right click the desktop and select Create New gt Text file Give the file a name that makes sense no spaces though and add the sh extension so you will recognize it is a script For this example you might select Backup DocsMusicMailPictures sh Open the new text file and paste in the script 114 5 Change any names locations etc to what they are on your particular system In the example above you may well have different names and or locations for the directories to be backed up and different devices where they are supposed to go 6 Save that script in a place you can easily find it when you need it let s say you make a new directory home scripts for it 7 Right click the script select Properties click on the Permissions tab and check the Is executable box and click OK 8 When you are ready to backup open a terminal and type sh home scripts Backup DocsMu
102. ing on the order of 2GB or else the hibernation will fail when the current memory use is more than 1GB What do names like sda mean Before you begin installation it is critical that you understand how Linux operating systems treat hard drives and their partitions e Drive names Unlike Windows which assigns a drive letter to each of your hard drive partitions Linux assigns a short device name to each hard drive or other storage device on a system The device names always start with sd plus a single letter For instance the first drive on your system will be sda the second sdb etc There are also more advanced means of naming drives the most common of which is the UUID Universally Unique IDentifier used to assign a permanent name that will not be changed by the addition or removal of equipment e Partition names Within each drive every partition is referred to as a number appended to the device name Thus for instance sdal would be the first partition on the first hard drive while sdb3 would be the third partition on the second drive e Extended partitions PC hard disks were originally permitted only four partitions These are called primary partitions in Linux and are numbered 1 to 4 You can increase the number by making one of the primary partitions into an extended partition then dividing that into logical partitions limit 15 that are numbered from 5 onward Linux can be installed into a primary or logical partition 2 4
103. its entire storage device Older Android devices used USB mass storage for transferring files back and forth with a computer NTFS R Microsoft s New Technology File System debuted in 1993 on the Windows NT Operating System geared to business networks and with revisions entered the mainstream Windows user s desktop computers in later versions of Windows 2000 It has been the standard file system since Windows XP was introduced in late 2001 Unix Linux oriented folk say it stands for Nice Try File System open source Software whose source code has been made available to the public under a license that allows individuals to modify and redistribute the source code In some cases open source licenses restrict the distribution of binary executable code package A package is a discrete non executable bundle of data that includes instructions for your package manager about installation A package doesn t always contain a single application it might contain only part of a large application several small utilities font data graphics or help files package manager A package manager such as Synaptic or Gdebi is a collection of tools to automate the process of installing upgrading configuring and removing software packages Panel The highly configurable panel in Xfce4 appears by default at the left side of the screen and contains navigation icons open programs and system notifications Partition Table A partition table is a hard disk a
104. kB folder e Trash Videos 4 1 kB folder NETWORK ee Browse Network 8 items Free space 142 5 GB Figure 3 1 Thunar connected to an Android phone 33 iPhone Through the iPhone 4 series MX Linux is able to mount an iPhone in Thunar and reveal its contents for manipulation Since iOS 5 0 iPhones will not allow a Linux installation to be recognized as a trusted connection and users usually turn to a cloud storage service to carry out transfers See also Section 4 2 Blackberry Open Synaptic and search on blackberry to find the files that need to be installed 3 1 2 Printer Attached MX Linux offers two utilities for configuring and managing printers e Print Settings application Click Start menu gt System gt Print Settings e CUPS in a browser Click Start menu gt System gt Printers CUPS w Home CUPS 1 7 5 Mozilla Firefox t X A MX amp MEPIS Commu x G Home CUPS 1 7 5 x localhost v zA A G Home Administration Classes Online Help Jobs Printers CUPS 1 7 5 UNIX ie PRINTING SYSTEM CUPS is the standards based open source printing system developed by Apple Inc for OS X and other UNIX like operating systems CUPS for Users CUPS for Administrators CUPS for Developers Overview of CUPS Adding Printers and Classes Introduction to CUPS Programming Command Line Printing and Options Managing Operation Policies CUPS API What s New in CUPS 1 7 Printer Accounting Basics Filter and
105. l firewalls In addition routers use NAT Network Address Translation to translate from big Internet addresses to local IP addresses This affords another layer of protection Connect to the router directly or through a hub or switch and your machine should autoconfigure via DHCP ADSL or PPPoE If you use ADSL or PPPoE connecting to the internet is easy in MX Linux Right click the Network Manager icon then the DSL tab Click the Add button and fill in the required information checking to connect automatically if you want 51 NOTE if you encounter problems when using a USB device to connect plug the unit into the computer open a terminal and type Post a message on Forum with the output to get some help in finding the driver you need Y Editing DSL connection 1 t X Connection name Ds conection General DSL Ethernet PPP Settings IPv4 Settings Username Service Password Show password Cancel Save Figure 3 20 Setting up DSL service Dial Up On the Device tab you will need to set up the serial information Accepting the default dev modem may work but you might need to try another interface These are the Linux equivalents of the COM ports under MS DOS and MS Windows Table 3 Linux equivalents for COM ports COM 3 dev ttyS2 dev ttyS3 3 4 2 Wireless access MX Linux comes preconfigured to autodetect a WiFi card and in most cases your card will be found and set up automatically There are two sta
106. lable from MX Linux to convert RPM packages to debs called alien It does not come installed with MX Linux but is available from the default repositories After you have installed it on your system you can use it to install an rpm package with this command as root alien i packagename rpm That will place a deb file with the same name in the location of the rpm file that you can then install as described above For more detailed information on alien see the internet version of its man page in the Links section at the bottom of this page e Source code Any open source program can be compiled from the programmer s original source code if there is no other option In ideal circumstances this is actually a pretty simple operation but sometimes you can run into errors that require more skill to sort through Source is usually distributed as a tarball tar gz or tar bz2 file See the Links for a tutorial on compiling programs e Miscellaneous Many software developers package software in their own custom ways usually distributed as tarballs or zip files They may contain setup scripts ready to run binaries or binary installer programs similar to Windows setup exe programs In Linux such programs often end in bin Google Earth for example is often distributed this way When in doubt consult the installation instructions provided with the software 102 5 5 5 Links MX antiX Wiki Synaptic errors MX antix Wiki Installing Software MX antix
107. language install the aspell or myspell package for your language e g myspell es e Get local weather info right click the Panel gt Panel gt Add New Items gt Weather Update Right click gt Properties and set the locale you want to see it will guess by your IP address e For Firefox localization install the appropriate firefox l10n package for your language of interest e g for Spanish Spain install firefox l10n es 3 7 3 Further notes e It may happen that an individual application may not have a translation in your language unless it is an MX application we can do nothing about that so you should send a message to the developer e Some desktop files that are used to create the Start menu may be missing a comment in your language even though the application itself does have a translation in that language please let us know with a post in the Translation Forum 3 8 Customization Xfce4 makes it very easy to change basic function and look of a user s configuration and the integration of Xfce 4 12 has now provided additional features e Most importantly remember Right click is your friend e Great control is available through the Settings Manager Panel icon e User changes are stored in Xfce4 config files in the directory config e Most system wide Xfce4 config files are in etc skel or etc xdg MORE Xfce Tips and tricks 3 8 1 Default Theming Default theming is controlled by a number of customized ele
108. lation but the third requires the creation of a new partition You can do this during installation but it is recommended that you do that before you start the installation In Linux you will usually be using GParted a useful and very powerful tool MORE GParted Manual 13 t X dev sda GParted GParted Edit View Device Partition Help lw dev sda 8 00 GiB Sa dev sdal dev sda 2 6 97 GiB 1 03 GiB Partition File System Label Size Used Unused Flags dev sdal H exta rootMx 15 6 97 GiB 255 78 MiB 6 72 GIB boot idev sda2 a B linux swap MXswap 1 03 GiB 80 06 MiB 971 07 MiB k ie 0 operations pending Figure 2 4 Gparted showing a single partition sda1 and swap sda2 How can edit partitions A very handy tool for such actions is Start menu gt System gt Disk manager This utility provides a graphical presentation of all the partitions on the machine excluding swap with a simple interface for quickly and easily mounting unmounting and editing some properties of disk partitions Changes are automatically and immediately written to etc fstab and are thus preserved for the next boot Disk Manager automatically allocates mount points in media using media LABEL e g media HomeData if the partition is labeled or media DEVICE e g media cdrom if not These mount points are created by DM when a partition is mounted and removed immediately when a partition is unmounted HELP Disk Manag
109. le and typically have been backported from Debian versions in development testing or even experimental The Community Repos are critical to MX Linux since they permit an OS based on Debian Stable to stay abreast of important software developments NOTE The two testing repos should only be enabled to download packages for testing and immediately disabled afterward They should not be used on main production machines or mission critical set ups as there is by definition a risk that they will break your system 95 To find out more about what is available who the packagers are and even how to get involved see MX Community Packaging Project 5 2 3 Dedicated repos In addition to the general repositories such as Debian MX and Community there also exist a certain number of dedicated repositories associated with a single application When you add one of them either directly or through Synaptic then you will receive updates Some are preloaded but not enabled others you will add yourself Here is a common example VirtualBox deb http download virtualbox org virtualbox debian stable contrib 5 2 4 Development repos One final category of repository exists for acquiring the most recent and thus least stable build of an application This is done through a version control system such as Git that can be used by the end user to stay current with development The user can check out a copy of the application source code into a directory
110. manager 3463 1 7 MiB 0 dropbox dist dropbox Inx x86 3 6 7 dropbox session 21121b24f db89 4a0 3494 82 6 MiB 0 Stop Terminate 3555 4 2MiB 0 gconi i 3834 3 7MiB 0 gnor alain Sbn start foreground components secrets 3921 7 9MiB 0 gpg agent sh daemon write env file home jb cache gpg agent info 3480 176 0 KiB 0 gvfs afc volume monitor 3559 3 0MiB 0 gvfsd 3500 4 1MiB 0 gvfsd trash spawner 1 11 org gtk gvfs exec_spaw 0 4351 5 5 MiB 0 gvfs fuse daemon f home jb gvfs 3503 4 3 MiB 0 gvfs gdu volume monitor 3545 6 5 MiB 0 avfs aphoto2 volume monitor 3557 _4 7 MiB 0 Figure 4 10 Task Manager main screen ready to kill a process 4 7 6 Track performance General e GUI e CLI Xfce plugins Xfce 4 12 brings a number of plugins for monitoring the system that can be placed in the Panel including Battery Monitor CPU Frequency Monitor CPU Graph Disk Performance Monitor Free Space Checker Network Monitor Sensor plugin System Load Monitor and Wavelan They can all be installed with the metapackage xfce4 goodies Xfce4 Goodies home page Conky See Section 3 8 3 Im sensors This hardware health monitoring package is installed by default in MX Linux Open a terminal become root and enter sensors detect Click Return to answer yes to all questions When it has finished you will be able to get detailed information about the readings of the sensors that are available on your system b
111. ments e Login screen modify with Settings manager gt LightDM GTK Greeter Settings Theme Mediterranean Darkest Login box modified in default theme via usr sbin lightdm gtk greeter e Desktop Wallpaper Settings manager gt Desktop Squam Lake png Settings manager gt Appearance Theme greybird thick grip Icons Faenza Cupertino Font Droid Sans 10 62 Whisker menu setings 1 config xfce4 xfcont xfce perchannel xml xfce4 panel xml 2 usr share themes Greybird thick grip gtk 2 0 apps whisker rc covers all greybird and blue bird themes 3 8 2 General look The overall appearance can be customized in Start menu gt Settings gt Settings Manager e Click on Appearance to change style icons fonts and some settings e Click on Window Manager to select the window treatment e Click on Desktop also by right clicking desktop to change background menus and some icon settings Manage default desktop icons such as Removable Devices by right clicking desktop gt Desktop Settings gt Icons tab MORE Xfce4 docs Appearance 3 8 3 Panel 7 Panel n N R Panel a Panel 1 4 Y Display Appearance Items General Mode Deskbar wf Lock panel Automatically hide the panel Never C Don t reserve space on borders Measurements Row Size pixels _ gt 36 Numberofrows 1 Length a gt vf Automatically inc
112. mmary of detected internal hardware devices If a device shows as unknown you usually have a driver issue The v switch causes more detailed information to be displayed tsusb Lists attached usb devices dmesg Shows the system log for the current session i e since you last booted The output is quite long and usually this is piped through grep less similar to most or tail to see what happened most recently For example to find potential errors related to your network hardware try dmesg grep i net Provides a real time list of running processes and various statistics about them Also available from the Start menu as Htop Accessing documentation for commands e Many commands will print out a simple usage information message when you use the help or h switch This can be helpful for quickly recalling the syntax of a command For example cp help e For more detailed information on how to use a command consult the command s man page e Manual pages are conveniently accessed through the Start menu by placing a hash mark and the command name into the search box at the top For example you can view the man page for the copy command with this entry in the search box cp e The man page may also be read at the console with the command man lt commandname gt By default man pages are displayed in the terminal s most pager meaning that only one screenful of the file is displayed at a time Keep the
113. n a two pane format installation steps to take in the right pane Help in the left The installer is very easy to use with its detailed instructions and a step by step video is linked above We restrict ourselves here to a sequence of images with clarifying comments MX Linux Install t Help General Instructions l l BEFORE PROCEEDING CLOSE ALL OTHER la Choose disk for installation APPLICATIONS Use disk sda 8GWBOXHARDDISK On each page please read the instructions make your selections and then click on Next when you are ready to 1b Rearrange disk partitions optional proceed You will be prompted for confirmation before any destructive Modify partitions Run partition tool actions are performed MX Linux requires about 3 5 GB of space lc Select type of installation 5 GB or more is preferred You can use the entire disk or you can put MX Linux on Auto install using entire disk existing partitions If you are running Mac OS or Windows OS from Vista onwards you may have to Custom install on existing partitions use that system s software to set up partitions and boot manager before installing MX Linux The ext2 ext3 ext4 jfs xfs btrfs and reiserts Linux filesystems are supported and ext4 is recommended Close Figure 2 13 Installer Screen 1 Comments e Use disk If unsure which is the partition you want use the names you see in GParted The disk you select will be examined cursorily for reli
114. n have man pages detailing available command line options 130 MBR Master Boot Record the first 512 byte sector of a bootable hard disk drive Special data written to the MBR enables the computer s BIOS to pass the boot process off to a partition with an installed operating system md5sum A program that calculates and verifies a file s data integrity The MD5 hash or checksum functions as a compact digital fingerprint of a file It is extremely unlikely that any two non identical files will have the same MD5 hash Because almost any change to a file will cause its MD5 hash to also change the MD5 hash is commonly used to verify the integrity of files mirror Also mirror site An exact copy of another Internet site commonly used to provide multiple sources of the same information to supply reliable access to large downloads module Modules are pieces of code that can be loaded and unloaded into the kernel upon demand They extend the functionality of the kernel without the need to reboot the system mountpoint The place on the root file system where a fixed or removable device is attached mounted and accessible as a subdirectory All computer hardware needs to have a mountpoint in the file system to be usable Most standard devices such as keyboard monitor and your primary hard disk drive are mounted automatically at boot mtp MTP stands for Media Transfer Protocol and operates at the file level so that your device doesn t expose
115. n v LE Dance Party a B Scripts Costumes Sounds Remix cE v43 la by Scratchteam a s Looks f Contro O i ae when clicked w Pen i perators forever i Data I move 10 steps tum Ga ED degrees f Sound More Blocks next costume b glide secs to x y gt next costume glide 0 5 secs to x y tum F ED degrees point in direction point towards TEE 152 PE 40 X 240 Yi 180 go to mouse pointer Sprites new sprte Ao CATR N change x by set x to o New backdrop change y by 10 ca ol G set y to Stage 6 backdrops lt o if on edge bounce set rotation style left right a i 2 4 7 A 3 y position a amp 8 g Figure 4 17 Coding screen for Dance Party using Scratch 4 9 7 Tactics amp Strategy Games e Freeciv A clone of Sid Meyer s Civilization version I a turn based multiplayer strategy game in which each player becomes the leader of a stone age civilization trying to gain ascendency as the ages progress Freeciv home page e Lbreakout2 LBreakout2 is a breakout style arcade game where you use your paddle to aim a ball at bricks until all bricks are destroyed Many levels and surprises Installed by default Lgames home page e Lincity A clone of the original Simcity You must build and maintain a city and keep its people satisfied so that your population grows Lincity home page
116. nager Clipboard manager Keyboard manager Network manager Volume manager Power manager Other applications e g Bluetooth may insert icons here when running e Pager displays available workspaces by default 2 right click to change e Start Whisker menu To change the position of the Panel see Section 3 2 10 to change its properties Section 3 8 20 Welcome screen et MX Welcome t x MX 15 Fusion Welcome to MX Linux a fast friendly and stable OS loaded with amazing tools and supported by a great community Users Manual IB wiki Forums Videos Contribute Login Info 2 About close Figure 2 8 The Welcome screen in Live mode When the user boots up for the first time a Welcome screen appears in the center of the screen that offers quick orientation and help links When running Live shown here a small link to the Login info appears that provides the passwords for demo and root Tips amp Tricks v Settings ae Settings eT Customize your desktop Personal ee Desktop File Manager bg Panel Orientation r f Xhi Tools a o Notifications 01 Orage preferences lt Panel ane Screensaver a Window Buttons Window Manager Window Manager Workspaces Tweaks ts ne Hardware AMD Catalyst Control z E ATi oe Control ATi Center Bluetooth Manager EJ Display Keyboard Administrative u p i 0 Mouse and Touchpad Netwo
117. ndard ways wireless can be supported in MX Linux e With a native driver that comes as part of the Linux kernel example ipw3945 for Intel e With a Windows driver using the application Ndiswrapper available from the repos which wraps your Windows driver so that it can be used in a Linux system example bcmwl5 for some Broadcom chipsets See below for more 52 Sometimes there is both a native Linux driver and a Windows driver available You may want to compare them for speed and connectivity and you may have to remove the one you are not using to prevent a conflict Wireless cards can be either internal or external USB modems wireless dongles usually show up on the wlan interface but if not then check others on the list NOTE The successful method varies for users because of the complicated interactions among the Linux kernel wireless tools and the local wireless card chipset and router Basic Wireless Steps Click Start menu gt Settings gt Network Connections or just click on the Network Manager icon in the Notification Area and then the Wireless tab One of 3 situations will arise 1 A wireless network has been found e Click on the line that gives the name of the network e Click Edit in the right panel and enter your information e When done click OK 2 The found network does not function after the completion of Step 1 e Find out basic information by opening a terminal and entering one at a time lspc
118. newbie asoundrc For details on using chown as well as the more detailed chmod see Links section Links e MX antixX Wiki Permissions e File Permissions 123 7 4 Configuration files With only rare exceptions program and system settings on MX Linux are stored in discrete plain text configu ration files there is no Registry which requires special tools to edit Most configuration files are just simple lists of parameters and values which are read by programs when they launch to determine their behavior 7 4 1 User config files Files that hold individual user settings such as high scores for your games or the layout of your desktop are stored within a Users home directory typically as a hidden file or directory and can only be edited by that user or by root These personal configuration files are actually less often edited directly than system files because most of the user configuration is done graphically through the applications themselves When you open an application and click Edit gt Preferences for example your selections are written to a usually hidden configuration file in your user directory Likewise in Firefox when you type about config in the address bar you are editing the hidden configuration files 7 4 2 System config files Files that hold system wide configurations or defaults such as the file that determines which services automat ically launch during boot up are largely stored in the etc direc
119. ns and press the Start button Options cccceeccoccceocccseeccscecesosceessocccessseceosos D Show only Windows Samba shares Show only NFS shares 2 About Help v Start cancel Figure 3 9 Search screen of MX Find Shares HELP here 41 3 2 7 MX Flash Manager This application facilitates the installation removal and especially the updating of Flash players MX Flash Manager Figure 3 10 MX Flash Manager main screen HELP here 42 3 2 8 MX Menu Editor JJ MX Menu Editor This simple menu editor makes it easy to edit add or delete menu items Any edits are saved to the user s directory local shared applications which takes precedence over the usr share application when the Xfce menu gets built during startup Also available by right clicking the Start menu icon gt Edit Applications v MX Menu Editor t X Categories and applications Quick Editor Accessories Nama Development Education Caa Games Graphics Command Internet Multimedia Categories Icon Office Screensavers Settings System Options Advanced Editor ap Add custom application About Help close Figure 3 11 MX Menu Editor with the category Multimedia expanded Note the MX Menu Editor can be easily accessed through the context menu of the Whisker icon in the lower left corner HELP here 43 3 2 9 MX Package Installer H Package Installer With this application originally called meta
120. nstallation 2 1 Introduction An MX Linux LiveMedium USB or CD boots your computer without accessing the hard disk It copies a virtual file system into RAM that acts as the center of a temporary operating system for the computer When you end your Live session everything about your computer is back to the way it was unchanged contrast Section 6 6 1 This provides a number of benefits e It enables you to run MX Linux on your computer without installing it e t allows you to determine whether MX Linux is compatible with your hardware e It helps you to get a feel for how MX Linux works and to explore some of its features e You can decide whether MX Linux is what you want without permanently affecting your current system Running from the LiveMedium also has some disadvantages if using a Live CD e Because the entire system is operating from a combination of RAM and the medium MX Linux will require more RAM and run more slowly than if it were installed on the hard drive e Some unusual hardware that requires specialized drivers or custom configuration may not work in a LiveMedium session where permanent files can t be installed Installing and removing software is also not possible because the CD is a read only medium 2 1 1 PAE or non PAE MX Linux is available for two architectures 32bit PAE and non PAE and 64bit PAE only PAE stands for Physical Address Extension a way of allowing 32 bit operating systems to access ram beyon
121. o that only entries that contained say the word fire would be listed We can do this by piping the output of the Is command into another command grep The pipe or character is used to send the output of one command to the input of another The command grep searches for the pattern you give it and returns all matches so piping the output of the previous command to it filters the output Is I usr bin grep fire e Finally suppose we want these results saved in a text file for use at a later time When we issue commands the output is usually directed to the console display but we can redirect this output somewhere else such as to a file using the gt redirect symbol to instruct your computer to make a detailed list of all the files that contain the word fire in a particular directory by default your Home directory and to create a text file containing that list in this case named FilesOfFire Is l usr bin grep fire gt FilesOfFire txt e As you can see the command line can be used to perform complex tasks very easily by combining simple commands in different ways 6 4 2 Common commands Here is a list of rudimentary terminal commands For a complete reference see the Links section below Filesystem navigation Table 6 Filesystem navigation commands Comment cd usr share Changes current directory to the given path usr share With no argument cd takes you to your home directory Prints th
122. ose name ends with deb 5 If required dependencies are not installed on your system already you will get unmet dependencies errors as dpkg does not automatically take care of them To correct these errors and finish the installation run this code 101 apt get f install 6 Apt get will attempt to rectify the situation by either installing the needed dependencies if they are available from the repositories or removing your deb files if the dependencies can not be installed 5 5 3 CLI methods It is equally possible to use the command line to install remove update switch repositories and generally to manage packages Instead of launching Synaptic to carry out common tasks for instance many users will just open a terminal become root and use one of these commands Table 5 Common commands to manage packages apt get update Refresh the package list from the repos apt get upgrade Install all available upgrades apt get dist upgrade Intelligently handles changing dependencies with new versions of packages For more information consult the man page for apt get 5 5 4 More install methods Sooner or later some software that you want to install will not be available in the repositories and you may need to use other installation methods These methods include e RPM packages Some distributions of Linux use the RPM packaging system RPM packages are similar to deb packages in many ways and there is a command line program avai
123. other computer and test your ability to see your Samba Share by browsing the network and testing read amp write to the Share MORE Xfce Docs Thunar 3 6 Sound MX Linux sound depends at the kernel level on Advanced Linux Sound Architecture ALSA and at the user level on PulseAudio In most cases sound will work out of the box though it may need some minor adjustment Click on the speaker icon to mute all audio then again to restore Place cursor over speaker icon in the Notification Area and use scroll wheel to adjust volume See also Section 3 8 9 3 6 1 Sound Card Set up If you have more than one sound card be sure to select the one you want to adjust using the tool MX Select Sound The sound card is configured and volume of selected tracks adjusted by right clicking the speaker icon in the Notification Area gt Open Mixer If problems persist after logging out and back in see Troubleshooting below For details about PulseAudio see below 3 6 2 Simultaneous card use There may be times when you would like to use more than one card simultaneously for instance you may want to hear music both through headphones and through speakers in another location This is not easy to do in Linux but check the PulseAudio FAQ Also the solutions on this MX antiX Wiki page may work if you are careful to adjust the card references to your own situation 59 3 6 3 Troubleshooting e No sound though speaker icon is in the Notification Area
124. ox in its name or its path This command is similar to find and is best used when the exact file name is known Locate examples e whereis Another command line tool installed by default For each given pattern whereis searches one or more databases of file names and displays the file names that contain the pattern but it ignores paths so the return list is much shorter For example typing whereis firefox will return a much shorter list something like this firefox usr bin firefox etc firefox usr lib firefox usr bin X11 firefox usr share firefox usr share man man1 firefox 1 gz Whereis examples e which Arguably the most convenient tool of all for a given pattern which attempts to identify the executable For example typing which firefox returns a single item usr bin firefox Which examples 4 7 5 Kill runaway programs e Desktop 1 Press Ctrl Alt Esc to change the cursor into an x Click on any open screen to kill it right click to cancel Be careful not to click on the desktop or your session will end abruptly 2 Task Manager click Start menu gt System gt Task Manager select process and right click to stop terminate or kill 3 A traditional tool is also available click Start menu gt System gt Htop which brings up a terminal showing all running processes Locate the program you want to stop highlight it press F9 then Return e Terminal Press Ctrl C which will usually stop a progr
125. package installer you can install popular packages in a simplified manner This ability is particularly useful for installations that are not intuitive or require multiple packages It is also very handy for installing language packs which can be troublesome to chase down with other methods MX Package Installer x Install additional packages To use this feature make sure you are connected to the internet Greyed out items have already been installed Package Info Description Audio D gt 5 Browser gt Children gt Fa Email gt FileManagers gt F Games D gt je Graphics gt amy Kernel gt 5 Language gt Messaging gt e Misc D gt Network D gt B Newsreader gt a Office e Printing gt A Screencast gt F Server gt A Torrent Ww Use option yes for apt get install Ha About Help Install E cancel Figure 3 12 MX Package Installer main screen If you would like to suggest changes in the package list please post on the MX Forum HELP here 44 3 2 10 MX Panel Orientation MX Linux ships with the Panel in vertical orientation Some users prefer a horizontal orientation but it takes a lot of fiddling around to set it up so it looks good and is useable This nifty application provides a one click switch to a standard horizontal panel v MX Panel Orientation a Select Panel Options Display default panel horizontally Restore default configuration A About
126. ranted to the owner group and others using the pull down menus For some files like scripts for instance you need to check the box to make them executable and for folders you can check a box to limit the deletion of files inside it to the owners NOTE you must be operating as root to change the permission of a file or directory whose owner is root e MX User Manager is an easy way to change permissions by associating a user with specific groups e CLI commands Although MX User Manager covers most daily situations sometimes it can be preferable to deal with the command line Basic permissions are represented by r read w write and x execute To view permissions of a file on the command line type this s NameofFile The I switch will cause the file to be listed in long format displaying its permissions among other information rw r r newbie users 277 Jan 7 14 42 asoundrc The bolded rw r r bit right after the opening dash indicating it is a regular file contains read write execute permissions for owner group and others 9 characters total Here it shows that the owner has read and write but not execute rw but the group and others can only read r The owner in this case is specified to be newbie who belongs to the group users If for some reason it was necessary to change the ownership of this file to root using the command line you would use the chown command like this chown root home
127. rchitecture that expands on the older Master Boot Record MBR partitioning scheme using globally unique identifiers GUID to enable the existence of more than the original four partitions port A virtual data connection that can be used by programs to exchange data directly instead of going through a file or other temporary storage location Ports have numbers assigned for specific protocols and applications such as 80 for HTTP 5190 for AIM etc repo A shortened form of repository repository A software repository is an internet storage location from which software packages may be retrieved and installed via a package manager root Root has two common meanings in a UNIX Linux OS they are intimately connected but the distinction is important to understand The root file system is the basic logical structure of all the files the operating system can access whether programs processes pipes or data It should follow the Unix Filesystem Hierarchy Standard which specifies where in the hierarchy to locate all types of files 131 The root user who owns the root file system and so has all permissions necessary to do anything to any file While it is sometimes necessary to temporarily assume the powers of the root user to install or configure programs it is dangerous and violates the basic security structure of Unix Linux to log in and operate as root unless absolutely necessary In a command line interface a regular user
128. re operating correctly Using the Printers CUPS Utility to Set Up Printers e Click Start menu gt Printers CUPS Manage Printers in a Browser utility e Select Adding Printers and Classes gt Add Printer e In the dialog window enter root s password e In Add Printer gt select appropriate choice e g Windows Printer via SAMBA gt Continue e In the Connection window enter smb servername printername using same method of finding these names as in Printing utility instructions above gt Continue e Enter printer name and descriptions as you would like Do not tick Share This Printer gt Continue e Select the printer Make gt Continue gt Add Printer gt choose various options gt Set Default Options e Go to Maintenance gt Print Test Page to make sure the connection and driver are operating correctly Troubleshooting e There is a troubleshooting utility integrated into the Print Settings application Click Help gt Troubleshoot e For HP printers the extra package hplip gut will install a useful applet into the Notification Area which provides troubleshooting tools e f your printer suddenly stops printing check that is still enabled by clicking Start menu gt System gt Print settings then right click your printer and enable it again 3 1 3 Scanner Scanners are supported in Linux by SANE Scanner Access Now Easy which is an application programming interface API that provides standardized access to any raster ima
129. rease the length Ba Help gq Close Figure 3 26 Preferences screen for customization of panels e To move the panel unlock it by right clicking a panel gt Panel gt Panel Preferences To change display mode inside the Panel select from the pull down menu Horizontal Vertical or Deskbar To automatically hide the panel choose from pull down menu Never Always or Intelligently hides the panel when a window overlaps with it e Install new panel items by right clicking an empty space gt Panel gt Add New Items You then have 3 choices 63 Select one of the items on the main list that pops up If what you want is not there select Launcher Once it is in place right click gt Properties click the plus sign and select an item off the list that pops up If you want to add an item not on either list then select the empty item icon below the plus sign and fill in the dialog box that pops up e New icons show up at the bottom of the vertical Panel to move them right click gt Move e Change the look orientation etc by right clicking the panel gt Panel gt Panel Preferences e The Orage clock default as well as the Xfce plugin Clock use strftime codes To change consult this page or open a terminal and type man strftime e Create a double row of icons in the Notification Area by right clicking it gt Properties and decreasing Maximum icon size until it c
130. reate a file Figure 4 5 Main dashboard in LibreOffice e Installed by default Word Processor LibreOffice Writer An advanced word processor compatible with doc and docx files Spreadsheet LibreOffice Calc An advanced spreadsheet compatible with xls and xlsx files Presentation LibreOffice Impress Used for presentations etc compatible with ppt and pptx files Draw LibreOffice Draw Used to create graphics and diagrams Math LibreOffice Math Used for for mathematical equations Base LibreOffice Base Used to create and manipulate databases If using this application to create or use databases in the native LibreOffice format you must also install libreoffice base drivers and libreoffice sdbc hsqldb matched to your LO version 4 3 2 Office finances e GnuCash Financial software for office use It is easy to learn and allows you to track bank accounts stocks income and expenses Can import data in QIF QFX and other formats and supports double entry accounting MX Package Installer The Help package gnucash docs needs to be installed separately GnuCash home page 16 mikesMoney gnucash Accounts GnuCash File Edit View Actions Business Reports Tools Windows Help fm Accounts Account Name v Description Total Sa 7 im Assets Assets 0 00 v Current Assets Current Assets 0 00 Cash in Wallet Cash in Wallet 0 00 fm Checking Account Checking Account 0 00 Savings Account
131. reen about dependency problems Correct that by entering this last command still as root Now finally Google Earth will appear in Start menu gt Internet An alternative procedure is to download the appropriate deb directly from the Google repo 4 10 6 Google Talk There is a browser plugin called google talkplugin available from the Google repos that allows you to make a voice or video call to someone from your Gmail account 93 5 Software Management 5 1 Introduction 5 1 1 Methods Synaptic is the recommended method for beginners to manage software packages although other methods are also available and may be required for certain situations 5 1 2 Packages Software operations in MX are accomplished through the Advanced Package Tool APT system Software is provided in the form of a package a discrete non executable bundle of data that includes instructions for your package manager about installation They are stored on servers called repositories and can be browsed downloaded and installed through special client software called a package manager The recommended package manager for MX is Synaptic though the command line utility apt get is also included for those who prefer it The graphical utility Gdebi is launched for downloaded deb files with a single click on the file name an alternative is to open a terminal and use the command dpkg i packagename deb The majority of packages have one or more dependencies meaning
132. ript to get the basic idea 1 Open the text editor Leafpad Start Menu gt Accessories and type bin bash clear echo Good morning world 2 Save that file in your home directory with the name SimpleScript sh 3 Right click the file name select Properties and check Allow this file to run as a program on the Permissions tab 4 Open a terminal and type sh home UserName SimpleScript sh 5 The line Good morning world will appear on your screen This simple script doesn t do very much but it does establish the principle that a simple text file can be used to send commands to control your system s behavior NOTE All scripts open with a shebang as in the the beginning of the first line it is a combination of a hash sign 4 an exclamation point and the path to the command interpreter Here Bash is the interpreter and it is found in the standard location for user applications 6 5 2 A useful script Let s look at a useful script for the ordinary user that reduces all the moves involved in backing up multiple sets of tiles into a single keystroke The script below relies itself on a system script called Rdiff backup that would need to be installed from the repos for the script to work It copies one directory to another keeping a record of the differences in a special subdirectory so you can still recover files lost some time ago Incidentally Rdiff backup relies in turn on a script called Diff In this e
133. rk Connections I Power Manager B Print Settings iE Bu an System K Accessibility Disk Manager Firewall Configuration GParted Grub Customizer ce csse LightDM GTK pa l l g Greeter settings gt MIME Type Editor E Samba sy Session and Startup oO ww bud Other IcedTea Web Control amp OpenJDK Java 7 amp i Fid Panel Policy Tool ve SEINES ECKOT amp Help Figure 2 9 Settings Manager is your one stop location to make changes Some handy things to know at the beginning e If you are having problems with sound network etc see Configuration Section 3 e Adjust sound general loudness by scrolling with the cursor over the speaker icon or by right clicking speaker icon gt Open Mixer e Set the system to your particular keyboard layout by clicking Start menu gt Settings gt Keyboard Layout tab and selecting the model with the pull down menu This is also where you can add other language keyboards e Adjust preferences for mouse or touchpad by clicking Start menu gt Settings gt Mouse and Touchpad 21 e Trash can be easily managed in the File Manager Thunar where you will see its icon in the left pane Right click to empty It can also be added to the Desktop or Panel It is important to realize that using delete whether by highlighting and hitting the delete button or via a context menu entry removes the item for ever and it will not be recoverable e Keep your system current b
134. rror from which it can not safely recover It can be caused by a number of different factors that range from hardware problems to a bug in the system itself When you get a kernel panic try rebooting with the MX Linux LiveMedium which will overcome temporarily any software problems and hopefully allow you to see and offload your data If that doesn t work then unplug all unnecessary hardware and try again Your first concern is to access and secure your data Hopefully you have it backed up somewhere If not you can use one of the data recovery programs such ddrescue that is supplied with MX Linux Your last resort is to take your hard drive to a professional recovery business There are a number of steps you might have to take to recover a functional MX Linux system once you have your data safe although ultimately you may have to reinstall using the LiveMedium Depending on the type of failure the following steps may be undertaken 1 Remove packages that broke the system 2 Reinstall the graphic driver 3 Reinstall GRUB using MX Boot Repair 4 Reset the root password 5 Reinstall MX Linux selecting the check box on Screen 2 to keep home so that your personal configurations will not be lost Be sure to ask on the Forum if you have any questions about these procedures Links e GNU C Library Home Page e Ddrescue 128 8 Glossary Introduction Linux terms can be confusing and offputting at first so this Glossary pro
135. s excluding video if you do not have onboard video SCSI devices unless you are installing to or from one IDE or SATA devices that you are not installing to or from joysticks MIDI cables audio cables and any other external multimedia devices 32 3 Configuration This section covers configuration instructions in order to get your system running correctly from a fresh instal lation of MX Linux and a short guide to personal customization 3 1 Peripherals 3 1 1 Smartphone Android Sharing files with an Android device e Many phones running Android 4 xx include mtp capability and you can use the following procedure Connect phone Open Thunar When the upper left pane Devices shows your phone s name or Storage click on it Navigate to the location you are looking for e Phones lacking mtp capability can be accessed via a web browser by installing an app from Google s Play Store such as AirDroid Music files can be viewed and managed using Clementine Click on Device in the left pane then double click CD Drive if necessary jb File Manager a X File Edit View Goa Help ge a ry E home jb F DEVICES grafix x jb x ere Name Size Type File System nsa B Desktop 4 1 kB folder rootMx 15 day Documents 4 1 kB folder OJ XT1454 ej Ca ude Downloads 4 1 kB folder 4 a etch Music 4 1 kB folder PLACES 2 Pictures 4 1 kB folder EE Public 4 1 kB folder B Desktop we Templates 4 1
136. s and or locations tarball An archiving format like zip popular on the Linux platform Unlike zip files though tarballs may use one of a number of different compression formats such as gzip or bzip2 They usually end in file extensions like tgz tar gz or tar bz2 Many archive formats are supported in MX with a graphical application called Archive Manager Usually an archive can be extracted simply by right clicking on it in Thunar Unix Also UNIX The operating system which Linux is modeled after developed in the late 1960 s at Bell Labs and used primarily for servers and mainframes Like Linux Unix has many variations UUID Universally Unique IDentifier A universally unique identifier UUID is a 128 bit number that identifies unique Internet objects or data window manager A component of a desktop environment that provides the basic maximize minimize close move functions for windows in the GUI environment Sometimes it can be used as an alternative to a full desktop environment In MX Linux the default window manager is Xfce4 X Also X11 xorg The X Window System is a networking and display protocol which provides windowing on bitmap displays It provides the standard toolkit and protocol to build graphical user interfaces GUIs on Unix like operating systems and OpenVMS and is supported by almost all other modern operating systems 132
137. s long com mand and running it in a terminal That will create a text file in your home directory called apps _installed txt that contains all the package names To reinstall ALL those packages at once make sure that all needed repositories are enabled then issue these commands one at a time dpkg set selections lt apps_ installed txt SU apt get update apt get dselect upgrade 4 9 Games MX Linux comes with only a few simple games but many more are available Browsing the extensive list of games available through Synaptic click Sections gt Games at the bottom of the left panel or following the links below will bring up many other titles for your enjoyment The following list contains some examples to whet your appetite 4 9 1 Adventure and Shooter Games e Chromium B S U A fast paced arcade style top scrolling space shooter Installed by default Chromium B S U home page e Beneath A Steel Sky A science fiction thriller set in a bleak post apocalyptic vision of the future Beneath a Steel Sky home page 86 e Kq A console style role playing game similar to Final Fantasy Kq home page e Mars A ridiculous shooter Protect your planet from the oncoming doom of your jealous neighbours Mars home page Chromium B S U Figure 4 13 Enemy warships on the attack in Chromium B S U 4 9 2 Arcade Games e Defendguin A clone of Defender where your mission is to defend little penguins Defendguin home
138. s will be found here under lib modules Example no file here is commonly accessed by users media Files for removable media such as CDroms floppy drives and USB memory sticks are installed here when the media are automounted Example After dynamically mounting a peripheral device like a flash drive you may access it here mnt Physical storage devices must be mounted here before they can be accessed After drives or partitions are defined in the file etc fstab then their file system is mounted here Example Users can access drives and partitions mounted here opt This is the intended location of major third party application subsystems installed by the user Example if you install Google Earth this is where it will be installed Some distros also place user installed programs in usr subdirectories proc The location for process and system information Example no file here is commonly accessed by users root This is the home directory for the root user administrator Note that this is not the same as the file system root Example no file here is commonly accessed by users but files saved while logged in as the root user may be saved here sbin Programs are installed here if they are required by the system startup scripts but will not normally be run by users other than root in other words system administration utilities Example no file here is commonly
139. se commands automatically modprobe r uvcvideo modprobe uvcvideo Skype home page See also Section 4 10 6 Google Talk fl 4 2 Multimedia Listed here are some of the many multimedia applications available in MX Linux Advanced professional applications also exist and can be found through targeted searches in Synaptic 4 2 1 Music Styx Mr Roboto t X Music Playlist Tools Extras Help gt DI Digitally Imported Shy fe gt Icecast Search Track Title Artist Album Length File name without path Source gt Jamendo 2 gt Last fm A 717 panama lt 9 TI gt Google Drive gt A Grooveshark gt WG JAZZRADIO com gt Magnatune gt Podcasts Playlists gt Radio GFM aS gt RR ROCKRADIO com gt A Your radio streams v skyfm p 00 s Hits a 00 s R amp B 60 s Rock 80 s Alt amp New Wave 80 s Dance H 80 s Rock Hits Song info 90 s Hits 90 s R amp B Alternative Rock Ambient 7 American Songbook F Baroque Period Bebop Jazz _ Best of the 60 s Blues Rock Bossa Nova Caf de Paris Chillout Classic Hip Hop Mr Roboto Styx Figure 4 1 Playing an internet song with Clementine e Players Clementine A modern music player and library organizer that can play every source from a CD to a Cloud Service Installed by default Clementine home page Audacious A full featured music player and manager MX Package Install
140. se tricks in mind to navigate the resulting screen The space bar or PageDown key advances the screen The letter b or PageUp key moves the screen backward The letter q exits the help document Alias You can create an alias personal command name for any command short or long that you want Details in the MX antiX Wiki 6 4 3 Links e BASH Beginners Guide e Command Line Basics 112 6 5 Scripts A script is a simple text file that can be written directly from a keyboard and consists of a logically sequenced series of operating system commands The commands are handled one at a time by a command interpreter which in turn requests services from the operating system The default command interpreter in MX is Bash The commands must be understandable to Bash and command lists have been established for programming use A shell script is the Linux counterpart of batch programs in the Windows world Scripts are used throughout the Linux OS and applications that run on it as an economical method of executing multiple commands in an easily created and modified manner During boot for instance many scripts are invoked to start up specific processes such as printing networking etc Scripts are also used for automated processes system administration application extensions user controls etc Finally users of all kinds can employ scripts for their own purposes 6 5 1 A simple script Let s do a very simple and famous sc
141. sicMailPictures sh HINT use the tab key to autocomplete the tile name after you type the first few letters Links e Linux Shell Scripting Tutorial e Directory of Linux Commands 6 5 3 Pre installed user scripts The following scripts allow users to help keep their MX Linux installation up to date and running as a rolling release smxi When run smxi allows users to install a new kernel install ATI and NVIDIA graphics drivers run apt get upgrade or apt get dist upgrade safely and lots more Written by a programmer named h2 the script is pretty much self explanatory but for usage options execute smxi h smxi must be run outside of the X window system i e not from the desktop for most functions e From your desktop Press Ctrl Alt F1 to get to a terminal prompt Log in as root su and password Type smxi e At boot Type e when on the GRUB menu to be able to edit it Add 3 to the end of the kernel line in GRUB s menu entry for MX Linux The system will boot directly to the console Log in as root without quotation marks and supply the appropriate password Type smxi smxi will ask a series of questions the first time it is run including which system options you want to run The following options are recommended e continue no changes e apt get e apt get dist upgrade After smxi has completed its operations it will ask if you want to restart the desktop NOTE Running smxi
142. sion that once released remains unaltered The longer the time since release the less current it Is e A monthly update of a given version This monthly ISO is created from the original release using MX Snapshot see Section 6 6 2 It includes all upgrades since the original release and thus removes the necessity of downloading a large number of tiles after installation t also enables users to run Live with the most recent version of the programs Only available as direct download Purchase It is possible to purchase a CD or USB original release only from OSDisk with the ISO already loaded and ready to use use the links on the Download page MX Linux receives a small amount back from each purchase that it uses to cover costs Download MX Linux can be downloaded in two ways from the Download page e Direct Click on the correct link for your architecture and mode and save the ISO to your Hard Disk If one source seems slow try the other one Available for both original release and monthly update e Torrent BitTorrent file sharing provides an internet protocol for efficient mass transfer of data It decentralizes the transfer in such a way as to utilize good bandwidth connections and to minimize strain on low bandwidth connections An added benefit is all BitTorrent clients perform error checking during the download process so there is no need to do a separate md5sum check after your download is complete It has
143. sionally SSH does not work in passive mode sending a message of denied connection Then you can try the following e Edit as root the file etc ssh sshd config About line 16 you will find the parameter UsePrivilegeSepa ration yes Change that to UsePrivilegeSeparation no e Add yourself or the intended users to the group ssh using MX User Manager or editing as root the file etc group e Sometimes the certificates can be missing or outdated an easy way to rebuild them is to run as root the command ssh keygen A e Check if sshd is running by typing etc init d ssh status The system should answer ok sshd is running e If you are using a firewall check that port 22 is not blocked It must allow IN and OUT traffic MORE Openssh manual 118 Under the hood 7 1 Introduction MX Linux ultimately inherits its fundamental design from Unix an operating system that has been around in various forms since 1970 much earlier than MS Windows From that Linux was developed from which Debian develops its distribution The base operating system is the topic of this section Users coming from Microsoft Windows typically find a lot of unfamiliar concepts and get frustrated trying to do things the way they are accustomed to doing them This section will give you a conceptual overview of some basic aspects of MX Linux and how they differ from other systems to help ease your transition Links e Wikipedia Unix
144. ssary x Display t X Display Configure screen settings and layout 2 Dell 23 iw Use this display Primary display Laptop 2 Dell 23 Resolution 2048x1152 7 Refresh rate 59 9 Hz 7 Rotation None T Reflection None 7 Wwf Configure new displays when connected Identify Displays lt Apply Brel se Close Figure 3 18 Selecting display values in Settings Manager 3 3 5 Power management Click the Power Manager plugins icon in the Panel Here you can easily switch to Presentation mode or go to the Settings to set when a display shuts down when the computer goes into suspension the action initiated by closing the lid of a laptop brightness etc On a laptop battery status and information is displayed and a brightness slider is available 3 4 Network Internet connections are handled by Network Manager click the applet in the Notification Area to see status connect and explore options Right click the applet gt Edit Connections to open up a Settings box with five tabs e Wired In most situations this requires no attention highlight and click the Edit button for special setups e Wireless Network Manager will usually automatically detect your network card and use it to find available access points In some situations the command line tool Ceni in the repos may be helpful 50 For details see Section 3 4 2 below e Mobile Broadband This tab allows you to use a 3
145. start or Shut Down Self explanatory options that alter the system state itself Also available using the icon in the upper right corner of the top bar on the login screen Temporary You can temporarily leave your session in one of the following ways e Lock screen This option is easily available from an icon in the top right corner of the Start menu It protects your Desktop from unauthorized access while you are away by requiring your user password to return to the session e Start a parallel session as a different user This is available from an icon in the top right corner of the Start menu You choose this to leave your current session where it is and allows a session for a different user to be started e Suspend This option is available from the Log Out dialog box and places your system into a low power state Information on system configuration open applications and active files is stored in main memory RAM while most of the system s other components are turned off It is very handy and generally works very well in MX Linux If you run into problems consider changing graphical driver e g from radeon to fglrx 24 There is no hibernation option readily available because it has proven highly unreliable during testing 2 5 The Installation process 2 5 1 Detailed installation steps DY installing MX Linux To begin boot to the LiveMedium and click on the Installer icon in the upper left corner The installer will open i
146. stems modem connections fail due to an upgrade of the packages udev and libudevl To solve this open Synaptic highlight the packages and then click Package gt Force version Use the pull down menu to drop to a lower version and click the Apply icon In some cases this solution has not worked consistently for users but they have found that the complete removal of Network Manager solved the problems MORE Debian Wiki 3G modem 3 4 4 Command line utilities Command line utilities are useful for seeing detailed information and are also commonly used in troubleshooting Detailed documentation available in the man pages The most common ones below must be run as root 55 Table 4 Wireless utilities Main configuration utility for network interfaces ifup lt interface gt Brings up the specified interface For example ifup ethO will bring up the ethernet port eth0 ifdown lt interface gt The opposite of ifup iwconfig Wireless network connection utility Used by itself displays wireless status Can be applied to a specific interface e g to select a particular access point rfkill Disable softblock for wireless network interfaces e g wlan Probes all modules and if they have changed enables new configuration 3 5 File management File management in MX Linux is carried out through Thunar a fast and powerful tool Much of its basic use is self evident but here are good things to know e Hidden files are out of sig
147. sudo lets you run commands in your own user account with root privileges Also su uses the environment user specific configuration of the user root while sudo allows root level changes but keeps the environment of the user issuing the command In general MX Linux uses a true root meaning that this Manual and the Forum will generally instruct the use of su MORE click Start menu gt enter su or sudo without the quotes in the search space and return to see the detailed man pages 4 7 2 Get hardware specs e Click Start menu gt System gt System Profiler and Benchmark for a nice graphic display that includes the results of various tests e Open a terminal and enter this command Inx F See Section 6 5 for the many other features of inxi 4 7 3 Create symbolic links A symbolic link also soft link or symlink is a special kind of file that points to another file or folder much like a shortcut in Windows or an alias in Macintosh A symbolic link does not contain any actual data as a hard link does it just points to another location somewhere in the system There are two ways to create a symlink Thunar or the command line e Thunar Navigate to the file or folder target of the link that you want to point to from another location or under another name Right click what you want to link gt Create Symlink and a symlink is created where you currently are Right click the new symlink gt Cut
148. supports both on line and off line modes of operation interface A point of interaction between computer components often referring to the link between a computer and a network Examples of interface names in MX Linux include WLAN wireless and eth0O basic wired IRC Internet Relay Chat an older protocol to render the exchange of text messages easier ISO A disc image following an international standard that contains data files and file system metadata including boot code structures and attributes This is the normal method for delivering Linux versions such as MX Linux over the Internet See also disk image kernel The layer of software in an operating system that interacts directly with the hardware LiveCD DVD A bootable compact disc from which one can run an operating system usually with a complete desktop environment applications and essential hardware functionality LiveMedium a general term that includes both LiweCD DVD and LiveUSB LiveUSB A USB flash drive on which an operating system has been loaded in such a way that it can be booted and run See LiveDVD mac address a hardware address that uniquely identifies each node connection point of a network It is formed of a string of usually six sets of two digits or characters separated by colons man page Short for manual man pages typically contain detailed information about switches argu ments and sometimes the inner workings of a command Even GUI programs ofte
149. t can create users give them specific passwords restrict what they can do etc Moreover each user belongs to one or more groups New users are automatically added to these groups Ip dialout cdrom floppy sudo audio dip video scanner plugdev users fuse lpadmin and netdev In addition some applications when installed VirtualBox for example will create a new usergroup but may or may not add users to It This application aids in adding editing removing users and groups in your system g MX User Manager Add Remove User Options Copy Sync Free Up Space Add Remove Groups 2 Group Membe 4h r Add User Account User login name User password Confirm user password Delete User Account User to delete none v Delete user home directory a About Help E Close Figure 3 16 MX User Manager repair screen HELP here 4 3 3 Display 3 3 1 Resolution Resolution refers to the physical number of columns and rows of pixels creating the display e g 1920x1200 In most cases the resolution is correctly set by the kernel during installation or when a new monitor is connected If not you can change it in the following ways e Click Start Menu gt Settings gt Display Use the pull down menus to set the correct values for the monitor you want to adjust e For Nvidia cards you can install the package nvidia settings that will give you a graphic tool that you can use to alter settings as root
150. t x Appearance Customize the look of your desktop a Style Icons Fonts Settings Default Font Sans 10 Rendering Enable anti aliasing Hinting None Sub pixel order None DPI wf Custom DPI setting 96 la Ga Help All Settings a Close Figure 3 17 Changing font details in Settings Manager Advanced adjustments 1 Some applications may not heed the system wide font choices 2 Firefox click Edit gt Preferences gt Content and make any desired changes Adding fonts 1 Click Start Menu gt System gt Synaptic Package Manager 2 Use the search function for fonts 3 Select and download the ones you want The Microsoft core fonts package ttf mscorefonts installer provides easy installation of the Microsoft True Type Core Fonts for use with websites and MS applications that run under Wine 4 Extract if necessary then copy as root easiest in a root Thunar the font folder to usr share fonts 5 Your new fonts should be available in the pull down menu in Settings manager gt Appearance Fonts tab 49 3 3 4 Dual monitors Multiple monitors are managed in MX Linux with Start menu gt Settings gt Display You can use it to adjust resolution select whether one clones the other which ones will be turned on etc It is often necessary to log out and back in to see the display you select Finer control of some features is sometimes available with Ixrandr install if nece
151. t Repair Boot to the LiveMedium Launch MX Tools gt Boot Repair 31 Make sure that Reinstall GRUB Bootloader is selected then click OK If this still does not fix it you may have a faulty hard drive Usually you will have seen a SMART warning screen about it when you began your installation 2 6 2 Locking up If MX Linux is locking up during installation it is usually due to a problem with faulty computer hardware or a bad DVD If you have determined that the DVD is not the problem it may be due to faulty RAM a faulty hard drive or some other piece of faulty or incompatible hardware e Add one of the Boot Options using F4 at boot or consulting the MX antiX Wiki The most common problem arises from the graphic driver e Your DVD drive may be having problems If your system supports it create an MX Linux bootable USB flash drive and install from that e Systems often lock up due to overheating Open the computer s case and ensure that all the system s fans are running when it is turned on If your BIOS supports it check the CPU and Motherboard temperatures enter sensors in a root terminal if possible and compare them to the temperature specifications for your system e Shut down your computer and remove any non essential hardware then attempt the installation again Non essential hardware may include USB serial and parallel port devices removable PCI AGP PCIE modem slot or ISA expansion card
152. t on doing away with Windows permanently make sure you have a license key for any program that requires it If you do decide to reinstall Windows or if dual boot setup goes awry you will be unable to reinstall these programs without the key If you can not find the paper license that came with your product you may be able to locate it in the Windows registry or use a keytinder such as ProduKey If all else fails try contacting the computer s manufacture for help Running Windows programs Windows programs will not run inside a Linux OS and MX Linux users are encouraged to look for native equivalents see Section 4 Applications that are critical for a user may run under Wine see Section 6 1 though it varies somewhat 2 3 2 Apple Intel computers Installing MX Linux on Apple computers with Intel chips is generally problematic though the situation varies to a certain degree with the exact hardware involved Users interested in the question are advised to consult the Debian materials and forums for recent developments Links Installing Debian on Apple Computers Debian forums 2 3 3 Harddrive FAQs VY Create a new partition with GParted Partition a Multi boot system Where should install MX Linux Before starting the install you need to decide where you are going to install MX Linux e Entire harddrive e Existing partition on a harddrive e New partition on a harddrive You can simply select one of the first two during instal
153. ternatively you can install the headers more easily after rebooting into the new kernel by typing the following code in a root terminal apt get install linux headers uname r Headers will also be installed if you use a command such as m a prepare e When you reboot you will automatically boot into the highest available kernel If it doesn t work you have the option to return to what you were using reboot and when you see the GRUB screen highlight Advanced Options for whatever partition you want to boot into then select the kernel and press enter More options Other considerations and choices exist with respect to kernels e Other pre rolled kernels exist such as the Liquorix kernel which is a version of the Zen kernel and is intended to provide a better desktop use experience in terms of responsiveness even under heavy loads such as during gaming plus low latency important for audio work That is most easily installed through Synaptic enable the Community Repository testing repos Synaptic to see and select it e Distros e g MX s code parent antiX often roll their own e Knowledgeable individuals may compile a specific kernel for a particular reason Links e Wikipedia Linux kernel e Anatomy of the Linux kernel e Linux kernel archives e Interactive map of Linux kernel 127 7 7 Kernel panic and recovery A kernel panic is a relatively rare action taken by the MX Linux system when it detects an internal fatal e
154. that That s it Once you have navigated to the folder you are always going to use you can right click the folder gt Send to gt Side Pane to create a very simple way to connect For a discussion of how FTP works see this page 3 5 3 File sharing There are various possibilities to share files between computers or between a computer and a device Samba SAMBA is the most complete solution to share files with Windows machines on your network without making changes to the Windows machines SAMBA can also be used by many network media players and Network attached storage NAS devices SAMBA offers some other services for interfacing with Windows networks such as domain authentication messaging services and netbios name resolution For details see below NFS This is the standard Unix protocol for sharing files Many feel it is better than Samba for sharing files and it can be used with Windows 2000 amp XP machines if you install Services for Unix or a third party NFS client on them Details see MX antiX Wiki Bluetooth For file exchange install blueman from the repos reboot pair with the device then right click the bluetooth icon in the Notification Area gt Send Files to Device 5 3 5 4 Shares Samba v Network File Manager File Edit View Go Help a rY Be network da DEVICES Name v Size Type Date Modified B MX1 0 bytes unknown Unknown ssten ae Windows Network 0 bytes unknown Unknown X 15 PLACES
155. that they have one or more packages that must also be installed in order for them to work The APT system is designed to automatically handle dependencies for you in other words when you try to install a package whose dependencies are not already installed your APT package manager will automatically mark those dependencies for installation as well It can happen that these dependencies can not be met preventing the installation of a package 5 2 Repositories APT repositories repos are much more than just web sites with downloadable software The packages on repository sites are specially organized and indexed to be accessed through a package manager rather than browsed directly 5 2 1 Standard repos MX Linux comes with a set of enabled repositories that offer you both security and choice If you are new to MX Linux and especially if you are new to Linux it is recommended that in general you stick with the default repositories at first For security reasons these repositories are digitally signed meaning that packages are authenticated with an encryption key to make sure they are authentic If you install packages from non Debian repos without the key you will get a warning that they could not be authenticated To get rid of this warning and make sure your installations are secure you need to install missing keys using Check Apt GPG MX Tools Repositories are most easily added removed or edited through Synaptic though they can also
156. the Linux operating system is kept here as are bootloaders such as GRUB Example no file here is commonly accessed by users e dev In this directory are special files that link to the various input output devices on the system Example no file here is commonly accessed directly by users except in CLI mounting commands e etc This directory contains configuration files for the system such as well as application configuration files Example The file etc fstab specifies mount points for additional filesystems on devices parti tions etc that can be configured for your optimal use Example display problems sometimes involve editing the file etc X11 xorg conf 120 home Here the user s personal directories data and settings reside If there is more than one user a separate subdirectory is set up for each No user except root can read another user s home directory The user s directory contains both hidden where the filename is preceded by a dot and visible files hidden files can be revealed by clicking View gt Show Hidden Files in Thunar Example users typically organize their own files at first by using default directories such as Docu ments Music etc Example your Firefox profile is located in the hidden directory mozilla firefox This directory contains shared object libraries analogous to Windows DLL s that are required at boot time In particular kernel module
157. ther methods e Alternatively use one of the filter buttons in the bottom left corner Sections provides subareas such as Editors Games and Amusement Utilities etc You will see a description of each package in the bottom pane and can use the tabs to discover more information about it Status groups packages by their installation situation Origin will show packages from a specific repository 96 Custom Filters provides various filter options Search Results will show a list of previous searches for the Synaptic session you are in e Click the empty box next to the package you want and select Mark for Installation If the package has dependencies you will be notified and they will automatically be marked for installation as well You can also just double click the package if it is the only one you are installing e Right click the package name again and check carefully the packages listed under Mark Recommended for Installation Mark Suggested for Installation is worth looking at as well e Some packages also have Recommended and Suggested packages that can be viewed via right clicking the package name These are additional packages that add functionality to the selected package and it is a good idea to look them over e Click Apply to begin the installation You can safely ignore any warning message You are about to install software that can t be authenticated e There may be additional st
158. tion In general Windows XP drivers are required The easiest method of managing Ndiswrapper is to use MX Broadcom Manager Section 3 2 3 Security Wireless security is handled by Network Manager Here are the basic steps you need to follow e Right click the Network Manager icon in the Notification Area gt Edit connections e Click on the Wireless tab e Highlight the name of the access point you want to connect to for example linksys or starbucks 2345 e Click the Edit button and then the Wireless Security tab e Use the pull down menu to select the security you want for example WPA and WPA2 Personal e Enter the password and click Save 54 Editing Wi Fi connection 1 Connection name Wi Fi connection 1 General Wi Fi Wi Fi Security IPv4 Settings IPv6 Settings Security WEP 128 bit Passphrase v Key 0 Show key WEP index 1 Default T Authentication Open System v Cancel Save Figure 3 21 Wireless security in Network Manager It is equally possible to use Ceni to handle wireless security as long as subsequently you will not be using Network Manager with which it interferes Links e Linux Wireless e Debian Wiki Witt e Arch Wiki Wireless 3 4 3 Mobile Broadband For wireless internet access using a 3G 4G modem please refer to the Debian Wiki s 3G pages linked below for compatibility information Many 3G 4G modems will be recognized on MX Linux by Network Manager Troubleshooting On some sy
159. tion library data Python bindings for the WNCK library Return the canonicalized absolute pathname Cisco compatible VPN client Network configuration scripts for VPNC and OpenConnect G Sections Origin Network configuration scripts for VPNC and OpenConnect Get Screenshot Get Changelog This package contains scripts required to configure routing and name services when invoked by the VPNC or OpenConnect Cisco VPN clients Custom Filters s s The primary script automatically configures network routes and name Search Results servers for the active VPN connection It also provides hooks for a acta executing custom actions at various stages of the connection and 21 packages listed 1584 installed 0 broken 0 to install upgrade 0 to remove Figure 5 3 Getting ready to clear out the autoremovable packages 5 3 2 Upgrading and downgrading Synaptic enables you to quickly and conveniently keep your system up to date Upgrading Unless you are using a manual method in a terminal upgrading is typically triggered by the appearance of a green arrow on the Apt notitier in the Notification Area There are two ways to proceed when this arrow appears e Right click the Apt notifier icon gt Upgrade all packages This is the faster method because there is no wait for software to load run etc Examine the packages that are available for upgrade then hit Return to complete the process e Left click t
160. tory and are only editable by root Most of these files are never touched directly by regular users such as these for instance e etc rc d rc5 d Contains files to control runlevel 5 into which MX Linux boots after login e etc sysconfig keyboard Used to configure the keyboard e etc network interfaces Defines internet interfaces on the system Some configuration files can contain just a few lines or even be empty while others may be quite long The important point is that if you are looking for a configuration file for an application or process head for the etc directory and look around 7 4 3 Example Sound problems can be solved with a number of graphical and command line tools but once in a while a user needs to edit directly the system wide configuration file For many systems this will be etc modprobe d snd hda intel conf It is a simple file whose top paragraph looks like this options snd hda intel model auto To try to get sound you might decide to substitute the exact information about the sound model in place of the word auto To find out your sound model you could open a terminal and type spci grep Audio The output will depend on the system but it will take the following form Now you can plug that information back into the configuration file FF SOME CNIPS require that the Mogae De set manually I i i r options snd hda intel model nvidia 124 You would save the file reboot t
161. us debian org debian dists jessie Release Good GPG signature found Checking main mepis deb org mx testrepo dists mx15 InRelease Good GPG signature found Press H for online help press any other key to close this window Figure 3 7 Results of checking repo public keys with MX Check Apt GPG HELP here 40 3 2 5 MX Codecs Downloader A codec is a piece of software that enables encoding decoding a digital data stream or signal Most codecs will be installed in MX Linux by multimedia applications such as VLC but some are restricted This tool allows easy installation of certain restricted codecs while transferring the responsibility to the user MX Codecs Installer X This application allows you to install restricted codecs that permit advanced video and audio functions In some juridictions their distribution may be limited so the user must meet local regulations Do you assume legal responsibility for downloading these codecs a About Help OK cance Figure 3 8 MX Codecs installer main screen HELP here 3 2 6 MX Find Network Shares This simple but handy utility shows all shares i e computer resources available to a user s machine v MX Find Shares t X This program lists all the shares available on the network When you press Start the program will display a list with machines and shares ordered by network groups both local and remote Please choose one of the available optio
162. vanced software applications e Execute multiple tasks quickly and easily e Troubleshoot hardware devices The default program to run a terminal in an MX desktop window is XFCE Terminal which can be found at Start Menu gt System gt Xfce Terminal Terminal Emulator Some commands are only recognized for super user root while others may vary the output depending on user To obtain temporary root permissions 1 open Xfce Terminal 2 type su 3 enter root s password nothing will show on the screen You will recognize when Xfce Terminal is running with root privileges by looking at the prompt line right before the space where you type Instead of a you will see a in addition the user name changes to root written in red If you try to run as a regular user a command that requires root privileges such as iwconfig you may receive an error message that the command was not found see a message box that the program must be run as root or simply find yourself at the prompt again with no message at all eg Terminal File Edit View Terminal Tabs Help su Password Figure 6 5 User now has temporary administrative root privileges 6 4 1 First steps e For more information on running Xfce Terminal for solving system problems please refer to the topic Troubleshooting at the end of this section Also it is advisable to make backups of the files you are working on as a root user with the commands cp and mv see below
163. ve keys of the aptosid archive Bi 3 Mark for Complete Removal 4 7 5692 kB Various useful scripts for antix o 259 kB libs for running antix BC epee 3288 kB commandline package manager Mark Recommended foi Installation gt e aaee eao T ER faults for antix Mark Suggested for Installation Sections easy to use media player based on the KDE Platform Status Get Screenshot Get Changelog Origin Amarok is a powerful music player with an intuitive interface It makes playing the music you love and discovering new music easier than ever before E Custom Filters 3 ee and it looks good doing it Amarok is based on the powerful Qt4 KDE4 Search Results Platform and nicely integrates with KDE desktop Architecture 1584 packages listed 1584 installed 0 broken 0 to install upgrade 0 to remove Figure 5 2 Checking recommended packages during package installation Removing Removing software from your system with Synaptic seems as straightforward as installing but there is more to it than meets the eye e To remove a package simply right click it and select Mark for Removal or Mark for Complete Removal Removal uninstalls the software but leaves system configuration files in case you want to keep your settings Complete Removal removes the software and the system configuration files as well purging Your personal configuration files related to the package will not be removed Che
164. vers if necessary once you have reached the desktop using sgfxi Section 6 5 3 16 2 4 2 The opening screen MX 15 b2 386 24 November 2015 MX 15 b2 386 non pae Boot from Hard Disk Memory Test Boot Options quiet nosysv xX Fl Help F2 Language F3 Timezone F4 Options F5 Persist F6 Safeboot F7 Console English US auto none off default default When the LiveMedium boots up you will be presented with a screen similar to the Figure above the installed screen looks quite different Note that the 386 ISO offers both the pae and non pae versions Custom entries may also appear in the main menu 17 Main Menu entries Table 1 Menu entries in Live boot MX 15 This entry is selected by default and is the standard lt way that most users will boot the Live system sim lt RELEASE y th ill b he Live sy Simply DATE gt press Return to boot the system Safe Video Mode Forces the use of the generic video driver useful to try if your first boot left you with a blank screen Failsafe Boot Loads all drivers early in the boot process a good choice if the first boot does not work at all Boot from Hard Boots from the first internal hard drive on a legacy Disk system BIOS Will not work with Windows 8 and above Memory Test Runs a test to check RAM If this test passes then there may still be a hardware problem or even a problem with RAM but if the test fails then you know something is wrong In the bottom row the scr
165. vides a list of the ones used in this Manual to get you started applet A program designed to be executed from within another application Unlike an application applets can not be executed directly from the operating system backend Also back end The backend includes the various components of a program that process the user input entered through the frontend See also frontend backport Backports are new packages that have been recompiled to run on a released distribution in order to keep it up to date BASH The default shell command line interpreter on most Linux systems as well as on Mac OS X BASH is an acronym for Bourne again shell BitTorrent Also bit torrent or torrent A method invented by Bram Cohen to distribute large files without the need for a single individual to provide the hardware hosting and bandwidth resources required boot block An area of a disk outside the MBR having information for loading the operating system that is needed to start a computer bootloader Program that initially chooses an operating system to load after the BIOS has finished initializing the hardware Extremely small in size the bootloader s only job is to hand control of the computer over to the Operating System s kernel Advanced bootloaders offer a menu to choose between several installed operating systems chainloading Also chain loading Instead of directly loading an operating system a boot manager like GRUB can use chain
166. we Be Desktop NETWORK ae Browse Network 2 items Figure 3 23 Using Thunar to browse network shares Thunar can connect to shared folders AKA Samba Shares on Windows Mac Linux computers and NAS Network Attached Storage devices For printing with Samba see Section 3 1 2 e Select Browse Network in the left pane to show various networks including Windows Network e Click the Network you want to see available Workgroups often called WORKGROUP by default Now drill down to find what you are looking for Select a Workgroup for available Samba Servers Select a Server for available Samba Shares Select a Samba Share to see all the available folders A shortcut for the selected Share will be created in the Network sidebar section 3 5 5 Creating shares On MX Samba can also be used to create Shares for other computers Windows Mac Linux to access Creating Public Shares is fairly straightforward but keep in mind that creating Samba Shares is a complex area from a configuration perspective For example the task creating Shares that are specific to individual users and are authenticated properly is beyond the scope of this help Comprehensive reference guides can be found at Using Samba and Samba org Basic method Create a share with the Samba configuration tool Click Start menu gt System gt Samba to bring up the Samba Server Configuration tool Click on the plus sign icon to add a share details available by clicking on the H
167. with the command nvidia settings e In difficult situations it is possible to manually alter the configuration file etc X11 xorg conf Always back up the tile before you change it and check the Forum for help about the use of that file 3 3 2 Graphic driver If you are not satisfied with your display s performance you may need to upgrade your graphic driver make sure to first back up the file etc X11 xorg conf if used most easily done using sgfxi Section 6 5 2 It is also possible but more complicated to download directly from the manufacturer This method will require you to select and download the correct driver for your system for system info open a terminal and enter Ispci grep VGA Here are driver websites for the three most popular brands do a web search on lt brandname gt linux driver for others e Nvidia o ATI e Intel Intel drivers must be compiled Section 4 5 2 but Nvidia and ATI drivers are easily installed e Navigate in Thunar to the folder where they were downloaded Right click the file select the Permissions tab check Is executable Right click an empty space gt Open Terminal here and type substitute the real name of the file sh tilename run 48 3 3 3 Fonts Basic adjustment 1 Click Start Menu gt Settings Manager gt Appearance Fonts tab 2 Click on the pull down menu to see the list of fonts and point sizes 3 Select the one you want and click OK Ne Appearance
168. written for Windows on their desktop It is also used for testing to avoid installation 6 2 1 Setup Virtual Box install and configure 14 4 Virtual Box set up a shared folder 14 4 A number of virtual machine software applications for Linux exist both open source and proprietary MX makes it particularly easy to use VirtualBox so we will focus on that here For details and the most recent developments see the Links section below Here is an overview of the basic steps to set up and run VirtualBox e Installation This is most easily done via the MX Package Installer in MX Tools on the Menu Virtual Box appears in the Misc section This will enable the VirtualBox repository download and install the latest version of VirtualBox The repository will be left enabled allowing automatic updates via apt notifier e Post installation Check that your user belongs to the vboxusers group Open MX User Manager gt Group Membership tab Select your username and make sure that vboxusers in the Groups list is ticked Confirm and exit e Extension Pack You should download and install the Oracle VM VirtualBox Extension Pack from the Oracle web site see Links After the file is downloaded navigate to it with Thunar and click on the file s icon The Extension Pack will open VirtualBox and install automatically e Location Virtual machine files are stored by default in your home folder They can be fairly large and if you have a separate d
169. xample a user named newbie wants to set up a script to back up documents music mail and pictures from the home directory to an external drive 113 1 bin bash 2 H 3 This Rditf Backup script backs up to a second hard drive 4 It must be run as root in order to mount the second hard drive 5 6 To restore files issue the command cp a mnt sdal username home 7 To restore but not overwrite 8 cp a i reply no mnt sdal username home 9 10 Mount the external devices 11 12 mount dev sdbl 13 mount dev sdb2 14 mount dev sdb3 15 16 Execute the backup 17 18 rdiff backup home newbie Documents mnt sdb2 Documents 19 rdiff backup home newbie Music mnt sdb1 Music 20 rdiff backup home newbie Mail mnt sdb2 Mail 21 rdiff backup home newbie Pictures mnt sdb3 Pictures 22 23 4 Unmount the external devices 24 25 umount dev sdb1 26 umount dev sdb2 27 umount dev sdb3 Now let s look at this script s components e Lines 2 8 a number sign has been placed in front of these lines called commenting them out to indicate to Bash that they are not part of the sequence of commands to be executed Their purpose here is to provide anyone who looks at this script with information about such things as the script s origin creator purpose and license metadata Line 10 good scripts separate the commands into clearly labeled procedural sections also in lines 16 and 22 L
170. y opening a terminal and entering sensors Lm sensors home page Battery Battery level is monitored by the Power Manager plugin on the Panel A dedicated Panel plugin is also available 83 4 7 7 Schedule tasks e GUI Scheduled tasks gnome schedule A very handy way to schedule system tasks without having to directly edit system files Installed by default Gnome schedule home page e CLI You can manually edit crontab a simple text file that holds a list of commands that are to be run at specified times Crontab overview Easy crontab generator 4 7 8 Correct time If your clock time is always wrong there are 4 possible issues e wrong timezone e wrong selection of UTC versus local time e BIOS clock set wrong e time drift These issues are usually addressed by using TimeSet Start menu gt System for command line techniques see the MX antiX Wiki To Terminlss s S s eT File Edit View Terminal Tabs Help Show Current Date and Time Configuration Show Known Timezones press q to return to menu Set System Timezone Synchronize Time from the Network NTP Control whether NTP is used or not Control whether hardware clock is in UTC or local time Show the time and settings for the hardware clock Synchronize Hardware Clock to System Time Synchronize system time to hardware clock time Set System Time manually Figure 4 11 Screen of TimeSet showing various options 4 7 9 Show Key
171. y watching for the green indicator of available updates on the Update Manager Apt Notifier icon See Section 3 2 1 for details e Handy key combinations managed in Settings Manager gt Keyboard gt Application Shortcuts Table 2 Handy key combinations Keystrokes Action Drops a terminal down from top of screen Windows key Brings up the Whisker Menu Ctrl Alt Esc Changes the cursor into a white x to kill any program Ctrl Alt Bksp Closes the session without saving and returns you to the login screen Ctrl Alt F1 Drops you out of your X session to a command line use Ctrl Alt F7 to return aS Alt F1 Opens this MX Linux Users Manual Alt F2 Brings up a dialog box to run an application Alt F3 Opens the Application Finder which also allows editing menu entries Alt F4 Closes an application that is in focus PrtScr Opens the Screenshooter for screen captures Applications Applications can be started in various ways e Click the Start menu Whisker icon in lower left corner t opens to Favorites category and you can hover mouse over other categories on right side to see contents in the left pane You can switch the contents and categories columns by right clicking the menu icon MX logo gt Properties At the top is a powerful incremental search box just type in a few letters to find any application without needing to know its category 22 g Run Program Favorites Runa program Fil
172. zed to use a compact list instead of traditional icons Window switching via Alt Tab can also be set to show thumbnails instead of icons or a list but it requires turning on compositing which some older computers may have difficulty supporting To enable first deselect Cycle on a list list on the Cycling tab then click on the Compositor tab and check Show windows preview in place of icons when cycling Window tiling can be accomplished by dragging a window to a corner and releasing it there Window zooming is available by using the Alt Mouse Wheel combination e To select a different wallpaper for each Workspace got to Background and uncheck the option Apply to all workspaces Then select a wallpaper and repeat the process for each workspace by dragging the dialog box to the next workspace and selecting another wallpaper Desktop t x Desktop Set desktop background and menu and icon behavior Background Menus Icons Move this dialog to the workspace you want to edit the settings for Wallpaper for Workspace 4 Folder xfce 7 Style Stretched Color Solid color _ Apply to all workspaces C Change the background 1 minutes ia Random Ord EJ Help a Close Figure 3 28 Setting different backgrounds for each workspace Conky You can display almost any kind of information on the desktop by using Conky e Install conky manager2 from the r

MX Linux Users Manual - MX & Mepis Community

Contents

Download Pdf Manuals

Related Search

Related Contents

MX Linux Users Manual - MX &amp; Mepis Community

Contents

Download Pdf Manuals

Related Search

Related Contents

MX Linux Users Manual - MX & Mepis Community