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    I want to but.....

    I have been in computer support for years. I have tried linux in the past but never really really cared for it that much. Recently I have gotten so frustrated at MS I have swore them off unless I don't have a choice. Well I recently tried KDE Mint 7 and loved it, however it was not 64bit and seemed as if the video & audio drivers were not that good so I decided to try some others. After downloading and trying Open Suse, Kubuntu (9.04 and Karmic Alpha 5), Mandriva and Mint (Gnome) version, I have found the same thing, on two different systems. The audio and video SUCK on both. The audio is there but I have to turn it up almost all the way for it to be a decent volume and there is noise in it. In the video there is a lag time on some things and I am either not able to enable desktop effects or it will crash the system and I will have no video if I do. Right now I am using Karmic Alpha 5 and it is the best of them all so far and I really love the looks of KDE and the look forward to what it can do in the future but I also want to be able to use my system knowing that it not only works at full speed but that it is stable as well. I hate MS and can use Windows 7 till I have to pay for it but I don't want to. I just really wish I didn't have to learn how to program just to get this thing working. Anyway if you have any suggestions on how to select the correct driver and make it stable and fast I am open. Please note while I am not new to computers and troubleshooting etc.. I am new in how to do things in Linux, esp. Command line. Thanks for the great work so far.

    My current systems are:

    System A

    Processor: AMD Phenom X4 810 (AM3)
    RAM: 6GB of Kingston DDR3-1333 (3x2GB)
    Motherboard: ASUS - M4A78T-E
    Audio: Onboard - VIA VT1708S
    Video Card: HIS Radeon HD4350 512MV PCIE
    Hard Drive: 500GB Hitachi SATA
    CD/DVD: Samsung 22x DVD/RW SATA

    System B:

    Processor: AMD Athlon X2 5600 (AM2)
    RAM: 4GB OCZTech DDR PC2-6400
    Motherboard: MSI - K9N6PGM2
    Audio: Onboard - Realtek ALC888/883/861
    Video Card: Onboard - NVIDIA GeForce 6100
    Hard Drive: WD 160GB SATA
    CD/DVD: Samsung 22x DVD/RW SATA


    #2
    Re: I want to but.....

    First, let me welcome you to KFN. I think you will like it here. Second, as to video issues, that can almost certainly be resolved to your satisfaction. Audio as well.

    You should take a look through the Top 20 Kubuntu FAQs & Answers. After checking out the sections on video and sound, if you have questions, post back.
    Windows no longer obstructs my view.
    Using Kubuntu Linux since March 23, 2007.
    "It is a capital mistake to theorize before one has data." - Sherlock Holmes

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      #3
      Re: I want to but.....

      Thanks for the feedback, however none of the things listed addressed my situation. Do you have any other suggestions?

      Comment


        #4
        Re: I want to but.....

        With the machine that's got the nvidia card, have you looked at any of the options for running the nvidia provided drivers, instead of the open source drivers? I know I was able to download the nvidia drivers in the repos (there are a couple different versions, just read the descriptions in your favorite package manager program to grab the one right for your card), then you need to tell your xorg file to use nvidia instead of nv for your video card driver, and you should be shiny.

        They do offer a program that'll assist in configuring everything correctly if you want to get a little more fancy on your setup.

        It's been a little while since I did this with my desktop machine so I don't remember all the details. I do know that I learned how to do it on the forums, but my search fu has failed to find any of the posts I remember reading previously, otherwise I'd link you. dibl seems to be the nvidia master around here, maybe he'll pop in and help out?

        Comment


          #5
          Re: I want to but.....

          Death Kitten - thanks for the reply and suggestion. I must apologize as I must have forgot to add in that I did try the default open source drivers first and then the ATI and the NVidia drivers as well. It seemed that the system was more stable using the Open source but still there was no significant improvement. I think there was once combination I tried on one of the systems that did allow me to use desktop special effects but then when I would play a video I would have no video at all and some sound.

          To make it easier for those reading the post I will list my two issues below.

          Video: On both systems when trying to use desktop effects I either cannot enable them, or if I do it will not give me any video or the video will go start flashing and doing different things. I have tried various combinations of distros and open and closed source drivers with the same results.

          Audio: on both systems the audio volume is pretty low and needs to be turned up a good bit louder than if I am using Windows.

          Thanks

          Comment


            #6
            Re: I want to but.....

            On the one with the Nvidia card, first try having your card detected with KMenu>System>Hardware Drivers. Click very deliberately, and wait patiently - the driver downloads in the background, while you get no visual feedback.

            If that doesn't work, then you'll have to manually download and install the Nvidia driver. Here is guidance on that (disregard old version numbers, just follow the process):

            http://kubuntuforums.net/forums/inde...4892#msg164892

            ATI card -- I dunno, I've never been much of a fglrxer. Some use the fglrx driver, some use the radeon driver, and some just flat don't work. Maybe Fintan or someone else who knows ATI cards can help you with that.

            Audio -- of late, the ALSA setup seems to feature a default low volume, or no volume, on the PCM channel. So use your KMixer or alsamixergui and make sure you have a PCM channel and its volume is up.

            Hope this helps.

            Comment


              #7
              Re: I want to but.....

              Thanks for the suggestions, First I want to state I do appreciate the feedback, and second, I had tried those things, and they didnt work. But for whatever reason right now System A is working fine, I do not know exactly what changed but for some reason the video seems fine.

              However the audio I think may have been my fault, I was using some headphones and I do not think they were plugged in all the way, so right now I am blaming myself on that one.

              I am going to be reinstalling on system B this week and see what happens.

              Thanks again and Kudos to all the work you guys are doing on Kubuntu

              Comment


                #8
                Re: I want to but.....

                You're more than welcome. "But for whatever reason right now System A is working fine," Yet another testiment to Linux, the "self repairing" OS.
                Windows no longer obstructs my view.
                Using Kubuntu Linux since March 23, 2007.
                "It is a capital mistake to theorize before one has data." - Sherlock Holmes

                Comment


                  #9
                  Re: I want to but.....

                  I just installed Windows 7 after using Kubuntu for over a year. The experience so far has seen my games FPS double while taking the settings from minimum to maximum. Never had a problem with sound although Win7 seems to have output lower than I had in Linux but not by much.

                  I just really wish I didn't have to learn how to program just to get this thing working.
                  It's not even so much that you need to learn how to program. It seems to me that it's more that Linux is just massively unintuitive. It sometimes seems like such a fight to get things done. It doesn't help that there's so little support for Linux in the market.

                  I've been trying Linux every now and then since about 1997 and it gets a bit better every time but it's still not ready for the average non techie type person. I'll try again in a couple of years.

                  Comment

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