Knoppix Documentation Wiki - User contributions [en]

Wireless Networking

2006-12-06T21:32:30Z

Joshwolf17: /* General Information On Wireless Card Setup Under Knoppix */

==== Wireless Networking Overview ====

Wireless networking (or Wi-Fi) allows you to network computers and related equipment (print servers, cameras, and other devices that connect by Ethernet) without the need to run wires between equipment.

Advantages:
* greater flexibility in equipment location
* no need to run network cable throughout your building
* ease of moving equipment
* easy and clean to add new users (such as at a Wi-Fi enabled "Hot Spot" coffee shop or airport terminal)

Disadvantages:
* extra cost
* slower speed than wired connections
* connections are usually not as reliable
* interference from other equipment including cordless phones and microwave ovens
* security issues
* extra complexity setting up the wireless network
* extra power usage in a notebook (usually significantly reducing battery life per charge)
* manufacturers usually not releasing open source drivers for Linux or even specs for the wireless chips that would allow developers to write free, high-quality drivers

There are many versions of Wi-Fi equipment available. Common versions are 802.11b, a standard that runs at 11 Mb/s and 802.11g, which runs at 54 Mb/s. 802.11g equipment can also work with 802.11b, although when you mix them the entire network often slows to the 802.11b speed. Both 802.11b and 802.11g equipment works on the unlicensed 2.4 GHz band, a band that is frequently used by cordless phones, and is close in frequency to the frequency of microwave ovens. There is another standard, 802.11a, that uses a different (higher) frequency band. 802.11a equipment is not usually found in the home consumer market. There are also many newer proposed standards, with many manufacturers offering faster next-generation equipment even before these standards are finalized. There are also other wireless technologies used for other things, such as Bluetooth and wireless mice and keyboards, which are beyond the scope of this Wiki article.

The range of Wi-Fi connections varies greatly with the equipment used and the location, but is typically 50 to 100 feet. It is greater outdoors, usually less in a building with many walls or transmitting through floors. Even minor changes in transmitter and/or receiver location can significantly affect reception. Frequently users in apartment complexes will find that they can receive signals from other Wi-Fi users, or that their own signals can be received by others. It may be necessary to try different channels with the Wi-Fi equipment to avoid interference.

Wi-Fi equipment uses the same band but not the exact same channels in different countries. If you travel with wireless equipment you may still be able to connect to Wi-Fi equipment when outside your country. You should check that your equipment is not operating on channels that are reserved or otherwise illegal to use in that country.

802.11b tends to be less expensive than 802.11g. It is slower, but at 11 Mb/s it is still faster than most users' Internet connection. If you plan on using wireless networking mainly for Internet access this may be a non-issue. Older 802.11b equipment is also usually much better supported in Linux than 802.11g, when it is supported at all.

To set up a wireless network you need a wireless network interface adapter (NIC) for each computer that will not have a wired Ethernet connection. You should expect to also need a wireless router that the wireless computers will all connect to and that will connect to your Internet modem. There are devices called "access points" that can be attached to an existing network that includes one or more routers, but an access point without a router is not enough. The Internet modem must support an Ethernet connection to attach to a router. You can not attach an Internet modem with a cheap USB-only connection to a router. Home routers, even wireless routers, have dropped in price recently and are now very affordable.

==== Linux Wireless Network Issues ====

Unfortunately, most Wireless card makers and even the chip makers who make many of the integrated circuits used in the wireless adapters are not releasing programming information for how their cards and chips work. Many manufacturers are also only releasing software drivers for their products for the Windows operating systems. That has caused problems and delays in Linux's support of wifi devices. If the software developers who do networking support for Linux had good programming spefications for these devices we would not only have good drivers for them, but would likely also have software that can use them for other interesting and unique applications, since there seems to be a lot of software control of these programable radio devices.

Some software drivers have been released for some devices. Occasionally a manufacturer may even claim the driver is "open source", but the source code is not available and the driver that is available is released only as a pre-compiled module. Often these drivers are unreasonably large and their size would prevent many of them from being incorporated into the Knoppix CD.

With the above said, Knoppix is improving in it's ability to detect and support wireless devices. If the device you own does not work with the ciurrent Knoppix release, be sure to check it as future releases come out.

For cards where there has only been a Windows driver released, another approach that has been tried is to use special translation software that will allow software drivers written for Windows to run in the Linux operating system. This translation software is named ndiswrapper. With ndiswrapper you can attempt to load a driver written for Windows and run your card under Linux. Recent versions of Knoppix do include ndiswrapper, but they do not include the Windows drivers, so you will need the Windows driver for your device to try to use this approach. Some users have had good results with ndiswrapper, other times the Windows driver will not work with it.
There is a list of cards and drivers that are reported to work with ndiswrapper at http://ndiswrapper.sourceforge.net/mediawiki/index.php/List

Linux support for wifi equipment at this time seems to be much better for PCMCIA (PC) cards and for PCI cards than for USB devices. USB adds an extra level of complexity, and USB isn't really well suited for networking, even though this equipment is widely available. Users would be well advised to select types of network interfaces other than USB. Also, the support there is tends to be better for older 802.11b equipment than 802.11g and newer equipment, but 802.11g support is reported to be improving.

==== Wireless Networking Security Issues ====

When running a wireless network, you should be aware that your system is more vulnerable to attack than with a wireless network, and that information that you send may be seen by others. Other computers on the wireless network, even computers on wired connections, may be attacked by someone coming in on the local wireless network, and these attacks are not prevented by incoming attack blocking in your router. Also users often have local firewall rules set up to treat attackers who show up as local addresses as "trusted". Attackers to your local network may send spam from your connection, may search your system for banking and other financial information, or may plant viruses and back doors to give them remote control of your system later.

This article is only an overview and readers are encouraged to read their equipment manuals, and use Google and other Internet resources to read further on the concepts mentioned here if they are not already well aquainted with them.

===== WEP and WPA =====
A common and important security concern is to encrypt the network. With encryption enabled, others cannot connect to your network unless they have the same security key set in their equipment. And they can not look at packets that you transmit and easily see private information in them, such as passwords or bank information. The first standard for wireless encryption was called WEP, which stands for Wired Equivalent Privacy. WEP is still in wide use today and is the only encryption available on some 802.11b equipment. Unfortunately, due to some design flaws, WEP can be easily cracked. While some estimates claim that it my take capturing data for up to 24 hours before a hacker has enough data to crack WEP, there have been many demonstrations where it has been cracked in even far less time. WEP should be considered a "better than nothing" approach, but not much better. WPA (Wifi Protected Access) and WPA2 are now considered better encryption systems. They gain their improved security by automatically changing the keys used as wifi packets are exchanged. Still, no Wifi system should be considered completely secure and users should always pay extra attention to network security and take extra precautions when using wifi. Don't set your software firewalls to make all local IP addresses trusted, for example. And be alert to extra network activity. Some users even run an application on one computer on the local network that watches for new connections and alert the owner when any new network activity is seen.

===== MAC address control =====
Many wireless routers have a feature that limits wireless access (or all access) by the hardware MAC address built into the network cards. While this may help improve security to a small extent, be aware that any determined hacker can send you packets with a MAC address that you trust in them. And understand that if a hacker can watch your packets and pick out passwords, banking info or other private information from them, they do not even need to send anything into your network to compromise your wireless system.

===== SSID =====
Routers often have a feature that allows then to not broadcast the SSID or network ID that distinguished one network from another. This has led some poorly informed people to advise others to turn off SSID broadcasts to "make their networks more secure". This does not secure your network in any way, the SSID is still sent in all packets on the network and can be quickly determined. Turning off SSID broadcast can actually have a negative effect on your network.

===== Router passwords =====
Most or all routers have a web interface and software setup feature. Access to this feature is controlled by a password. The default values for these passwords are well known by hackers (they are sometimes even blank) and you should always change the password to some secure password (don't use common passwords such as a pet's name). It is easy for a hacker to see what type of router you have and try to gain access by default passwords and other known exploits. If a hacker can gain access to your router they can do a lot of additional damage, including deleting logs that show any trace of their activity, or even locking the owner out of their own network.

===== Additional information =====
Unfortunately, many wireless routers are run in default unsecure modes. Hackers known as "wardrivers" can often drive around neighborhoods and find more than half of the routers in a neighborhood are wide open. And there are many cases of people accidentally connecting to the wrong network because both neighbors used default settings on their equipment. It is a very good idea to secure your network, both to discourage the casual wardriver (who will likely just move to an unsecured system) and to prevent accidental use by a neighbor that might get you into trouble with the RIAA or MPAA or your own ISP.

When first setting up a wireless connection in Knoppix it can be handy to disable WEP or WPA encryption if this is reasonablly safe to do so at your location. After you get networking working without encryption then enable encryption on both ends and get that working. But never leave the network encryption disabled for extended periods of time. And for improved safely, it may be wise to shut down or disconnect from the network all other computers on the network, wireless and wired, until encryption is re-enabled.

It should aso be apparent from the above discussion that if you access your e-mail from a wireless "hot spot" such as at a coffe shop or an airport terminal, that hackers can be watching and learn your account name and password. Making on-line purchases, doing on-link banking or other activity that exposes private account information is also extremely dangerous when using any wireless network.

==== General Information On Wireless Card Setup Under Knoppix ====

This is a stub for this section, to be added shortly
NdisWrapper: This seems to be a way many people are useing windows drivers to run their wireless equipment. This is done to allow Linux to talk through a wrapper that emulates windows calls to the windows driver. It asks for the driver X.inf and maby X.sys Then 2 other things ...id and wep key.

If instructions of what to enter into these fileds and where to find it and what version of knoppix the GUI interface being used is found and maby a genaric BA shell interface for doing this.

'''The below sections are specific information on specific make and models of Wireless Networking Adapters and information we currently have on if they are supported in Knoppix or not. Please add your results with your card to the list, and please try to keep the list in alphabetical order. Please do not post questions about wireless adapters here, those should be submitted in the Networking Forum.'''

==== Belkin ====

===== Belkin 802.11b 11Mbps PCMCIA card F5D6020 =====

This 802.11b pcmcia card (pc card) was detected by Knoppix 3.7 (maybe by prior versions too), but I could not get it to operate properly. Starting with Knoppix 3.8.1 it was detected and worked perfectly. ndiswrapper is not needed. My card is marked ver. 2101 on the box. If your card is not ver. 2101 it may or may not use a different chip set.

==== D-Link ====

Here is a link to a D-link page that claims to tell you which D-link cards have "open source" drivers and which do not.

http://support.dlink.com/faq/view.asp?prod_id=357&question=General%20Wireless

However, it is worth mentioning that in most or all of these cases the drivers are not really "open source", they are precompiled modules that the source code is not available for. And in some cases they are insanely bloated, the "driver" for my card is about 2 megs in size just for a driver! Note that not all of these cards are supported by Knoppix and it is extremely unlikely that even if the license permits it that a sepcific card driver will ever be included in Knoppix if it is several megs in size.

===== D-Link DWL-650 =====

This is a very common and inexpensive 801.11b pcmcai card offered by D-link. Unfortunately, D-Link has actually released a number of different versions of this card that use completely different chipsets from different intigrated circuit manufacturers all under the same model number. The D-Link website can be used to identify which version you have, but the version number may not be marked on the outside of the box when you buy this card, so it may be a problem to find one that works under Knoppix.

There are reports that some versions of this card are detected and work under Knoppix. See this thread in the forums: http://www.knoppix.net/forum/viewtopic.php?t=19759&highlight=dwl650
However, I have two DWL-650 cards and so far they have not been detected by Knoppix.

===== D-Link DWL-G650 =====

This section detais how to get this card working with WPA-PSK enabled. All you need to do is follow three easy steps.

1. Configure wpa_supplicant by creating a configuration file. The configuration file should like something like this

network={
ssid="qshot"
scan_ssid=0
proto=WPA
key_mgmt=WPA-PSK
psk=20d57f08127c079f599df23a13513c8708028b73d49860c9b3b7d00b3a8c1a96
}

The psk variable value is obtained by running the command:

wpa_passphrase <ssid> <passphrase>

2. Next start wpa_supplicant by invoking the following command:

wpa_supplicant -D madwifi -c wpa_supplicant.conf -i ath0

By runnning this command you are able to authenticate with your wireless router.

3. After you have authenticated the final step is to obtain an IP address via DHCP. The command to use is:

pump -i ath0

At this point you can type ''ifconfig'' to verify your IP address assignment.

==== Orinoco Gold ====

This was one of the first and best supported wireless 802.11b pcmcia cards under Linux.
It is still one of the best cards for compatability, not just with Linux, but with several networking programs that work under Linux like NETstumbler and airsnort. Unfortunately, it tends to be very overpriced and can usually not be found at major retailers, but must be obtained mail order, if available at all.

==== Linksys ====

===== Linksys WPC55AG =====

Here is a link to a forum discussion about this card:
http://www.knoppix.net/forum/viewtopic.php?t=12351

==== Netgear ====

===== Netgear WG111 =====

<b>Configuring the WG111 to use WPA-PSK on a wireless network</b>

This card works very well in Knoppix 3.9 using ndiswrapper, but is as of yet untested in other versions of Knoppix (to my knowledge).

*'''Commands:
Assuming that the drivers are on the cd in /dev/cdrom, then
mount /dev/cdrom/ /mnt/cdrom/

Find '''ndiswrapper configuration''' under Knoppix->Network/Internet and select '''netwg111.inf''' from '''/mnt/cdrom'''. After that finishes, create the configuration file that you will need shortly using the following command:
wpa_passphrase MySSIDHere MyPassphraseHere > /home/knoppix/wpa_supplicant.conf
Now, use your favorite text editor (if you don't have one, try Kate under the menu item '''Editors''') and edit the
'''/home/knoppix/wpa_supplicant.conf''' you just created (see sample below).

With that completed, run the following command. '''Warning:''' As it is, the command will monopolize your current command window with potentially useful debugging output, including your encryption key; add '''-B''' if you would rather run it in the background (useful when you know it works already), remove '''-K''' to hide your key.
sudo wpa_supplicant -ddKt -i wlan0 -c /home/knoppix/wpa_supplicant.conf -Dndiswrapper

The following grabs an IP address if you use DHCP from your router.
sudo pump -i wlan0

And finally, tell Knoppix where to go to find the internet.
sudo route add default gw ''<Gateway/Router IP address here>''

*'''wpa_supplicant.conf
Note: the bold lines were added in the editing steps for my Linksys WRT54G Router to accept the card. See the Useful Links at the end for a full explanation of all options that can be put in here.
'''ctrl_interface=/home/knoppix/wpa_supplicant
'''eapol_version=1
'''ap_scan=1
network={
ssid="MySSIDHere"
'''scan_ssid=1
#psk="MyPassphraseHere"
psk=''hex representation of the passphrase
'''proto=WPA
'''key_mgmt=WPA-PSK
'''pairwise=TKIP
'''group=TKIP
}

*'''Useful Links:

[http://www.knoppix.net/forum/viewtopic.php?t=12351 Wireless card success story (where I located the ''pump'' command)]

[http://hostap.epitest.fi/cgi-bin/viewcvs.cgi/*checkout*/hostap/wpa_supplicant/wpa_supplicant.conf?rev=HEAD&content-type=text/plain Example wpa_supplicant.conf with full explanations and various configurations]

-bobeltomate

===== Netgear WG311 v2 PCI =====
See this article in the forum:
http://www.knoppix.net/forum/viewtopic.php?p=90075#90075

[[Category: Networking]]

Using FAQ

2006-12-05T07:01:20Z

Joshwolf17: /* Q: How can I watch a DVD? */

-German Version: [[Deutsch Using Faq]]

-Versión española: [[Usando Faq]]

-Versi Bahasa Indonesia: [[Indonesian Using FAQ]]
----
==== Q: How do I get Knoppix to boot Knoppix when it tells me that it can't find the KNOPPIX filesystem and is dropping me to a shell? ====
A: The full error is:
Uncompressing Linux... Ok, booting the kernel.

Welcome to the KNOPPIX live Linux-on-CD!

Scanning for USB/Firewire devices... Done.
Enabling DMA acceleration for: hda [Maxtor 2B020H1]
Enabling DMA acceleration for: hda [LTN486S]
Can't find KNOPPIX filesystem, sorry.
Dropping you to a (very limited) shell.
Press reset button to quit.

Additional buitin commands available:
cat mount umount
inmod rmmod lsmod

knoppix# _

Knoppix does the very best it can to automatically figure out what hardware the PC has & it does this without human intervention. DMA is a feature that speeds up data tranfer on IDE devices such as CDROM drive& HD drives. Some chipsets and/or harddiscs are broken or buggy. Using DMA would cause problems on such systems and in many many cases, if the CDROM drive does not support DMA then it fails to fully boot Knoppix from the CDR. DMA was enabled by default in Knoppix 3.4 through 3.7 and has been disabled in 3.8.x and up. To boot Knoppix 3.4 through 3.7 and get around this DMA problem, I boot knoppix with the following [[Cheat Codes]]:
knoppix nodma

==== Q: Why is DMA disabled by default and how do I enable it? ====
A: Knoppix does the very best it can to automatically figure out what hardware the PC has & it does this without human intervention. DMA is a feature that speeds up data tranfer on IDE devices such as CDROM drive& HD drives. Some chipsets and/or harddiscs are broken or buggy. Using DMA would cause problems on such systems.

If your system works properly with DMA, and you are booting from HD, you can enable it by typing "/sbin/hdparm -c3 -d1 -m16 -k1 /dev/hda" or by editing the "/etc/init.d/bootmisc.sh" startup script and uncommenting the hdparm -qd1 /dev/hda line to have it permanently on at reboot, if the line is not there add it.

A cleaner way to do it requires installing the hdparm package (use the command "apt-get install hdparm" to do this) and edit
the file "/etc/hdparm.conf".

Read more at: http://linux.oreillynet.com/pub/a/linux/2000/06/29/hdparm.html

==== File transfer between Knoppix and Windows or other systems: ====
===== Q: I see the partitions from my hard disk on the desktop and can access their contents when I click on them, but if I try to write to them I always get the error message "access denied". How can I write to my existing partitions? =====

A: On Knoppix 5.0.1, other filesystems are mounted read-only by default. To enable writing on a filesystem, you can right-click the partition icon on the desktop, such as 'hda1' and select "Change read/write mode". The filesystem needs to be mounted before you can change the access mode. "Change read/write mode" menu selection does basically the same thing as the shell command 'mount -o remount,rw /dev/<device>' where <device> is your partition, such as 'hda1'. Also note that changing the permission bits (read/write/execute) of the device or the mounted directory won't enable writing access. Writing to NTFS is supported from Knoppix 5 up, though caution is advised since the support is still more or less experimental.

Since this is such a frequently asked question, here is a screenshot of where you need to click to enable writing
http://joga.daug.net/readwrite.png

** '''The answer below seems to be inaccurate for the 5.0.1 version.'''
''(old)A: The general philosophy of KNOPPIX is to allow as little write access as possible. For this reason, existing partitions are either not mounted or only mounted "read only". If you click with your right mouse button on an icon, the "read-only" attribute under item "device" can be un-checked. After this, the partition can be mounted "read-write" (for already mounted partitions, first click on "unmount"!). Alternatively, you can use the mount command to make the drive read/write, see '''man mount''' for details. '''CAUTION:''' writing to NTFS partitions can lead to data loss, since Linux does not really support this file system! However, DOS and FAT32 file systems are safe for write access. Tip: In the shell the command "mount -o remount,rw /mnt/" can allow already-mounted file systems to be "made writeable".''

=====Q: How can I write data on NTFS partitions?=====

A: Knoppix 5 supports write access for [http://www.wikipedia.org/wiki/NTFS NTFS] partitions using libntfs and fuse. While preliminary results show generally good stability and a low likelihood of data corruption on the NTFS partition, these libraries are still beta and ''there is risk of data loss and disk corruption'' (back up your data first). Knoppix (and the Linux kernel) can read NTFS partitions just fine, the danger is only present when attempting to write to it.

Older versions of Knoppix can be forced to write to NTFS partitions, but at great risk of scrambling the underlying NTFS filesystem ([http://www.jankratochvil.net/project/captive/ Captive NTFS] used the existing NTFS drivers from a Windows system to acesss the NTFS drive, but was slow and unstable.)

=====Q: How do I access files created in Knoppix with other operating systems? =====

A:
*'''Windows NT, XP (NTFS) and Windows 95, 98'''
*:* Use a [http://www.wikipedia.org/wiki/keydrive keydrive].
*::* Boot Knoppix with keydrive installed, Knoppix will add a keydrive icon to the desktop
*::* By default, the keydrive is read only. Change to r/w with right mouse button click -> Actions -> Change Read/Write mode -> click yes to make writable.
*::* the files you save on the key drive are then readable by windows.
*:* Use a floppy ?
*:* Use a CD writable ?
*:* Is a Knoppix partition readable by Windows XP (if I chose to install Knoppix on my hard drive)?

*'''Windows 95, 98'''
*:* Mount the file system in Knoppix and write to the hard drive, see above
*:* Is a Knoppix partition readable by Windows 95 or 98 ?

=====Q: I want to copy files to a windows box over the network=====
A:

* First method
I boot with Knoppix from the CD drive. Once it has fully loaded to the KDE desktop, I open a konsole command window. I assume the the hda1 (C: drive) is a FAT32 drive, so I mount it with the command:
sudo mount -t vfat -o ro,users /dev/hda1 /mnt/hda1

If instead the the hda1 (C: drive) is a NTFS drive, the I mount it with the command:
sudo mount -t ntfs -o ro,users /dev/hda1 /mnt/hda1

Next I open up the GUI file manager (called konqueror).
sudo konqueror
Once that comes up, in the location bar, I use the following to authenticate to a Windows domain & then access a windows networking share.In the location bar:
smb:/domain\username@IP.address.of.machine
If you do not need to authenticate to a domain, the form is:
smb:/hostname
or
smb:/IP.address.of.machine

This allows me to access windows shares. I navigate to where I want to save the data, then hit the keys CTRL-T to open a tnew tabbed window. Then in that location bar type:
/mnt/hda1/
Now I see the hda1 (C: drive) contents. Just like in windows explorer, select the file & folders you want to copy, CTRL-C or right-click & copy them. Use the mouse & move over to the other tab with the smb connection, then CTRL-V or right-click paste to initiate the transfer. When you are done copying files, close the konqueror window, click the KDE K menu and choose to reboot/shutdown the PC. TO shutdown the PC by command:
sudo init 0

* Other method, in which both directions are possible. Either start SAMBA or mount the remote share.
** "sudo /etc/init.d/samba start", add users with "smbpasswd -a knoppix". After this, the home directory of user knoppix will be shared as readonly. If you need other shares, edit /etc/samba/smb.conf and restart samba (replace "start" with "restart").
** "mkdir tmp/share; sudo mount -t smbfs -o username=Administrator //otherbox/share /tmp/share" (maybe start samba too to get rid of the warnings, especialy when using "nmblookup")
* Or you can obtain a lissetup.sh ("wget <nowiki>http://users.volja.net/zejnovi/lissetup.sh</nowiki>" in console). After doing that, in console, type: "chmod +x lissetup.sh", and then "./lissetup.sh". After doing this, you can use the LAN browser in Konqueror.

==== Q: Knoppix 3.2: Errormessage during booting, when HOME-Directory is saved on HD? ====
I've saved the date on a FAT-32Partition, as an image and without password. I can't format the partition in a LINUX-Format, since it's used by other data. When I boot KNOPPIX with "knoppix myconfig=... home=....", a short time later the message appears, that s.th. is not found and I'm asked for a password with at least 20 signs length (but such a password does not exist). It's no difference whether I type "home=scan" or s.th. like "home=/dev/hda5". Never the less it seems to work fine, when I ignore the password request and negate the further enquiry with "n" for "no". When I leave out "home=..." Knoppix has forgotton -as expected- the Home-Directory. The behavior is some how unbeautiful. Does anyone know how to avoid the request of that password?

A: I encountered this problem when I placed both the config files and the persistent home on the same partition.If you do not have separate partitons then the config can be located on a floppy( I have not tried this.)

====Q: What is the root password?====

A: There is none; all passwords are locked/scrambled by default; you set one yourself for those situations which call for it. You can set the root password by going to Knoppix Menu->Root Shell and typing "passwd", then entering a root password. In Version 5.0.1 you can also go to Knoppix Menu -> Configure -> Set password for root. There are several sections you can read dealing with this subject in KNOPPIX/README_Security.txt.
You can also type "sudo su" or "sudo -s" in any console window, or use <ctr>-<alt>-F2 to get at the text console with already opened root shell.

However, in some older versions of Knoppix, if you type 'sudo -s', it will ask for a password. If you simply press return without entering anything, it will tell you 'Authentication Failed."

See also the forum thread titled [http://www.knoppix.net/forum/viewtopic.php?t=11500 "Root Password (what is it?)"]

====Q: How can I watch a DVD?====

A: First of all, you have to have Knoppix installed on your hard drive. You won't be able to execute the following proceedure if you are running it from the CD.

I beleve if you used a USB to hold the changes you make on a system couldnt you use that to watch a dvd?
I imagine that would be more useable.

* Become root

* Add the following lines to your /etc/apt/sources.list:

deb <nowiki>http://www.videolan.org/pub/videolan/debian</nowiki> $(ARCH)/
deb-src <nowiki>http://www.videolan.org/pub/videolan/debian</nowiki> sources/

* Then do:

apt-get update
apt-get install libdvdcss2

* Play the DVD (e.g. with Xine, Ogle, Videolan, Mplayer etc).
* If your DVD plays but skips and jumps, then you probably need to enable Direct Memory Access (DMA) for the drive.
* To see if DMA is enabled, log in as root and type: "/sbin/hdparm -d <device name>" For example: "/sbin/hdparm -d /dev/hdc" It it says "using_dma = 1 (on)" it is already turned on.
* Otherwise, to enable DMA type: "/sbin/hdparm -d 1 /dev/hdc"
*If you want DMA to be enabled automatically then add the line "/sbin/hdparm -d 1 /dev/hdc" to any startup script (/etc/init.d/bootmisc.sh for example).
*Enjoy watching DVDs in Linux :-)

--
The links for /etc/apt/sources.list appear to be incorrect.

The right links are:
deb <nowiki>http://download.videolan.org/pub/videolan/debian</nowiki> $(ARCH)/
deb-src <nowiki>http://download.videolan.org/pub/videolan/debian</nowiki> sources/

====Q: I've installed Knoppix to my HD and default language and keyboard setting is German. How do I change to US English? I've changed KDE by fumbling through what I remembered of KDE Control Center. The keyboard is still in German with some of the keys in different places.====

A: Right click on the German flag in the system tray of the taskbar, and choose configure from the menu and set the keyboard to the layout you want to use.

Alternatively, you can use KMenu > Settings > Control Panel > Regional & Accessibility > Country/ Region & Language > Locale > Country: "C - Default", Keyboard: English: US That does it for KDE.

For the rest of the system, as root, type '''dpkg-reconfigure locales'''. The first page is a list of fonts(?), press Tab then Enter to skip it. The second page asks "Which locale should be the default in the system environment?" -- choose one of the en_US options. ISO-8859-15 is nice
(it includes the Euro), although there is nothing wrong
with ISO-8859-1 (aka Latin1).

====Q: I've set the default language and keyboard in KDE, but some pages in Mozilla still come up in German instead of English. How do I fix this?====

A1: In Mozilla, under Edit > Preferences... and check on Language. On the right-hand side of the page you'll see that German is preferred over English in multi-lingual pages. Move English up and it will be the preferred language.

A2: In Firefox, select Edit > Preferences. Click the Advanced button, the General tab, then the Edit Languages button. As above, move a line marked "English" to the top.

====Q: I think about using Knoppix to make Partition-Images with [http://www.partimage.org partimage] - Did anybody try this out? Thanks in advance! -- http://linuxwiki.de/Brüßler====

A: Yes, it works. -- [http://linuxwiki.de/PartImage LinuxWiki PartImage (in German)]

====Q: How do I save my preferences (language, UI...) at the end of my session, when booting from CD? How do I restore them?====

Go to the K-menu > KNOPPIX > Configuration and choose "save config", you can save to floppy or to an already existing partition on the harddrive. (on a windows partition is fine)

To restore it, at the "boot:" prompt type in "knoppix myconfig=scan", and it should find and restore your saved settings at boot time.

====Q: After Installed knoopix in HD with lang=es, if I remove all the user configuration files in the /home/knoppix directory, the keys "< >" of my spanish keyboard are no longer recognized in the new kde session. What is the configuration file resposible of this behaviour?====

A: Check the small flag in the bottom right corner of the screen, and you have to boot up with lang=es as a kernel parameter for it to work. (check /etc/lilo.conf)

====Q:From where does KNOPPIX start all the scripts at the bootprocess?====

A:The init scripts are located in /etc/init.d and are [[symlink]]ed to
in the /etc/rcX.d directorys in a sysV like fashion.

====Q: Where can I find where all the boot-time parameters are interpreted???====

A:You can see them in /etc/init.d/knoppix-autoconfig script

====Q: How do I use an USB memory stick to save myconfiguration?====

A: First boot KNOPPIX with the [http://www.wikipedia.org/wiki/keydrive memory stick] inserted. Got to the KNOPPIX menu, Configuration, Save Configuration. When asked, choose /dev/sda1. When booting type '''knoppix myconf=scan home=scan''' at the boot prompt.

====Q: After using KNOPPIX, my Dell computer does not start!====

A: This is an issue with the Dell BIOS. Simply pull out the power cord from your computer for a few seconds, and your computer should start again. You can also try passing "apm=off" or "apm=real-mode-poweroff" to the kernel during startup. apm=real-mode-poweroff is better because it keeps other apm-features (advanced power managment) turned on.

====Q: How can I see a film with subtitles that of course I have, I think Xine is useful but I can't do it?====

A: in a console "xine name_movie.ext#subtitle:name_subtitle.ext" you have to replace .ext with the real extension

====Q: Which program do I use for word processing, spreadcheat calculations, image processing, burning, scanning, surfing, chatting...====

A: Take a look at the [http://www.eleli.de/knoppix/docs/tutorial/english Knoppix Tutorial.]

See also : * [http://www.linuxdevcenter.com/pub/a/linux/2003/11/20/knoppix.html?page=2 Using and Customizing Knoppix]

====Q: How do I stop the KNOPPIX web page from appearing every time I start KNOPPIX? ====

A: here is a 4 step process to edit your start up scrips so you get a clean desktop when you start your machine.

1.Become root: in konsole, type:
sudo -s

2. Delete link to read-only x-init file on cd. type:
rm /etc/X11/Xsession.d/45xsession

3. Open the /KNOPPIX/etc/X11/Xsession.d/45xsession file in kwrite. type:
kwrite /KNOPPIX/etc/X11/Xsession.d/45xsession

3.1 In kwrite, search for:
ln $HOME/Desktop/KNOPPIX.desktop $HOME/.kde/Autostart/showindex.desktop
by clicking on the magnifying icon below the main menubar.

3.2 below the line that reads:
ln $HOME/Desktop/KNOPPIX.desktop $HOME/.kde/Autostart/showindex.desktop

and above the line that reads:
fi
, insert:
#added by gh78 --this next line removes the autostart link
rm -f $HOME/.kde/Autostart/showindex.desktop
#added by gh78 --this next line removes the knoppix intro web page from your desktop as well
rm -f $HOME/Desktop/KNOPPIX.desktop

4. Save the x-init file as /etc/X11/Xsession.d/45xsession

done.

Now when you save your configuration, the /etc folder is saved as well--and your new startup script will now start without creating those files.

[[Category : FAQ Page]]

Using FAQ

2006-12-05T07:00:36Z

Joshwolf17: /* Q: How can I watch a DVD? */

-German Version: [[Deutsch Using Faq]]

-Versión española: [[Usando Faq]]

-Versi Bahasa Indonesia: [[Indonesian Using FAQ]]
----
==== Q: How do I get Knoppix to boot Knoppix when it tells me that it can't find the KNOPPIX filesystem and is dropping me to a shell? ====
A: The full error is:
Uncompressing Linux... Ok, booting the kernel.

Welcome to the KNOPPIX live Linux-on-CD!

Scanning for USB/Firewire devices... Done.
Enabling DMA acceleration for: hda [Maxtor 2B020H1]
Enabling DMA acceleration for: hda [LTN486S]
Can't find KNOPPIX filesystem, sorry.
Dropping you to a (very limited) shell.
Press reset button to quit.

Additional buitin commands available:
cat mount umount
inmod rmmod lsmod

knoppix# _

Knoppix does the very best it can to automatically figure out what hardware the PC has & it does this without human intervention. DMA is a feature that speeds up data tranfer on IDE devices such as CDROM drive& HD drives. Some chipsets and/or harddiscs are broken or buggy. Using DMA would cause problems on such systems and in many many cases, if the CDROM drive does not support DMA then it fails to fully boot Knoppix from the CDR. DMA was enabled by default in Knoppix 3.4 through 3.7 and has been disabled in 3.8.x and up. To boot Knoppix 3.4 through 3.7 and get around this DMA problem, I boot knoppix with the following [[Cheat Codes]]:
knoppix nodma

==== Q: Why is DMA disabled by default and how do I enable it? ====
A: Knoppix does the very best it can to automatically figure out what hardware the PC has & it does this without human intervention. DMA is a feature that speeds up data tranfer on IDE devices such as CDROM drive& HD drives. Some chipsets and/or harddiscs are broken or buggy. Using DMA would cause problems on such systems.

If your system works properly with DMA, and you are booting from HD, you can enable it by typing "/sbin/hdparm -c3 -d1 -m16 -k1 /dev/hda" or by editing the "/etc/init.d/bootmisc.sh" startup script and uncommenting the hdparm -qd1 /dev/hda line to have it permanently on at reboot, if the line is not there add it.

A cleaner way to do it requires installing the hdparm package (use the command "apt-get install hdparm" to do this) and edit
the file "/etc/hdparm.conf".

Read more at: http://linux.oreillynet.com/pub/a/linux/2000/06/29/hdparm.html

==== File transfer between Knoppix and Windows or other systems: ====
===== Q: I see the partitions from my hard disk on the desktop and can access their contents when I click on them, but if I try to write to them I always get the error message "access denied". How can I write to my existing partitions? =====

A: On Knoppix 5.0.1, other filesystems are mounted read-only by default. To enable writing on a filesystem, you can right-click the partition icon on the desktop, such as 'hda1' and select "Change read/write mode". The filesystem needs to be mounted before you can change the access mode. "Change read/write mode" menu selection does basically the same thing as the shell command 'mount -o remount,rw /dev/<device>' where <device> is your partition, such as 'hda1'. Also note that changing the permission bits (read/write/execute) of the device or the mounted directory won't enable writing access. Writing to NTFS is supported from Knoppix 5 up, though caution is advised since the support is still more or less experimental.

Since this is such a frequently asked question, here is a screenshot of where you need to click to enable writing
http://joga.daug.net/readwrite.png

** '''The answer below seems to be inaccurate for the 5.0.1 version.'''
''(old)A: The general philosophy of KNOPPIX is to allow as little write access as possible. For this reason, existing partitions are either not mounted or only mounted "read only". If you click with your right mouse button on an icon, the "read-only" attribute under item "device" can be un-checked. After this, the partition can be mounted "read-write" (for already mounted partitions, first click on "unmount"!). Alternatively, you can use the mount command to make the drive read/write, see '''man mount''' for details. '''CAUTION:''' writing to NTFS partitions can lead to data loss, since Linux does not really support this file system! However, DOS and FAT32 file systems are safe for write access. Tip: In the shell the command "mount -o remount,rw /mnt/" can allow already-mounted file systems to be "made writeable".''

=====Q: How can I write data on NTFS partitions?=====

A: Knoppix 5 supports write access for [http://www.wikipedia.org/wiki/NTFS NTFS] partitions using libntfs and fuse. While preliminary results show generally good stability and a low likelihood of data corruption on the NTFS partition, these libraries are still beta and ''there is risk of data loss and disk corruption'' (back up your data first). Knoppix (and the Linux kernel) can read NTFS partitions just fine, the danger is only present when attempting to write to it.

Older versions of Knoppix can be forced to write to NTFS partitions, but at great risk of scrambling the underlying NTFS filesystem ([http://www.jankratochvil.net/project/captive/ Captive NTFS] used the existing NTFS drivers from a Windows system to acesss the NTFS drive, but was slow and unstable.)

=====Q: How do I access files created in Knoppix with other operating systems? =====

A:
*'''Windows NT, XP (NTFS) and Windows 95, 98'''
*:* Use a [http://www.wikipedia.org/wiki/keydrive keydrive].
*::* Boot Knoppix with keydrive installed, Knoppix will add a keydrive icon to the desktop
*::* By default, the keydrive is read only. Change to r/w with right mouse button click -> Actions -> Change Read/Write mode -> click yes to make writable.
*::* the files you save on the key drive are then readable by windows.
*:* Use a floppy ?
*:* Use a CD writable ?
*:* Is a Knoppix partition readable by Windows XP (if I chose to install Knoppix on my hard drive)?

*'''Windows 95, 98'''
*:* Mount the file system in Knoppix and write to the hard drive, see above
*:* Is a Knoppix partition readable by Windows 95 or 98 ?

=====Q: I want to copy files to a windows box over the network=====
A:

* First method
I boot with Knoppix from the CD drive. Once it has fully loaded to the KDE desktop, I open a konsole command window. I assume the the hda1 (C: drive) is a FAT32 drive, so I mount it with the command:
sudo mount -t vfat -o ro,users /dev/hda1 /mnt/hda1

If instead the the hda1 (C: drive) is a NTFS drive, the I mount it with the command:
sudo mount -t ntfs -o ro,users /dev/hda1 /mnt/hda1

Next I open up the GUI file manager (called konqueror).
sudo konqueror
Once that comes up, in the location bar, I use the following to authenticate to a Windows domain & then access a windows networking share.In the location bar:
smb:/domain\username@IP.address.of.machine
If you do not need to authenticate to a domain, the form is:
smb:/hostname
or
smb:/IP.address.of.machine

This allows me to access windows shares. I navigate to where I want to save the data, then hit the keys CTRL-T to open a tnew tabbed window. Then in that location bar type:
/mnt/hda1/
Now I see the hda1 (C: drive) contents. Just like in windows explorer, select the file & folders you want to copy, CTRL-C or right-click & copy them. Use the mouse & move over to the other tab with the smb connection, then CTRL-V or right-click paste to initiate the transfer. When you are done copying files, close the konqueror window, click the KDE K menu and choose to reboot/shutdown the PC. TO shutdown the PC by command:
sudo init 0

* Other method, in which both directions are possible. Either start SAMBA or mount the remote share.
** "sudo /etc/init.d/samba start", add users with "smbpasswd -a knoppix". After this, the home directory of user knoppix will be shared as readonly. If you need other shares, edit /etc/samba/smb.conf and restart samba (replace "start" with "restart").
** "mkdir tmp/share; sudo mount -t smbfs -o username=Administrator //otherbox/share /tmp/share" (maybe start samba too to get rid of the warnings, especialy when using "nmblookup")
* Or you can obtain a lissetup.sh ("wget <nowiki>http://users.volja.net/zejnovi/lissetup.sh</nowiki>" in console). After doing that, in console, type: "chmod +x lissetup.sh", and then "./lissetup.sh". After doing this, you can use the LAN browser in Konqueror.

==== Q: Knoppix 3.2: Errormessage during booting, when HOME-Directory is saved on HD? ====
I've saved the date on a FAT-32Partition, as an image and without password. I can't format the partition in a LINUX-Format, since it's used by other data. When I boot KNOPPIX with "knoppix myconfig=... home=....", a short time later the message appears, that s.th. is not found and I'm asked for a password with at least 20 signs length (but such a password does not exist). It's no difference whether I type "home=scan" or s.th. like "home=/dev/hda5". Never the less it seems to work fine, when I ignore the password request and negate the further enquiry with "n" for "no". When I leave out "home=..." Knoppix has forgotton -as expected- the Home-Directory. The behavior is some how unbeautiful. Does anyone know how to avoid the request of that password?

A: I encountered this problem when I placed both the config files and the persistent home on the same partition.If you do not have separate partitons then the config can be located on a floppy( I have not tried this.)

====Q: What is the root password?====

A: There is none; all passwords are locked/scrambled by default; you set one yourself for those situations which call for it. You can set the root password by going to Knoppix Menu->Root Shell and typing "passwd", then entering a root password. In Version 5.0.1 you can also go to Knoppix Menu -> Configure -> Set password for root. There are several sections you can read dealing with this subject in KNOPPIX/README_Security.txt.
You can also type "sudo su" or "sudo -s" in any console window, or use <ctr>-<alt>-F2 to get at the text console with already opened root shell.

However, in some older versions of Knoppix, if you type 'sudo -s', it will ask for a password. If you simply press return without entering anything, it will tell you 'Authentication Failed."

See also the forum thread titled [http://www.knoppix.net/forum/viewtopic.php?t=11500 "Root Password (what is it?)"]

====Q: How can I watch a DVD?====

A: First of all, you have to have Knoppix installed on your hard drive. You won't be able to execute the following proceedure if you are running it from the CD.

I beleve if you used a USB to hold the changes you make on a system couldnt you use that to watch a dvd? I imagine that would be more useable.

* Become root

* Add the following lines to your /etc/apt/sources.list:

deb <nowiki>http://www.videolan.org/pub/videolan/debian</nowiki> $(ARCH)/
deb-src <nowiki>http://www.videolan.org/pub/videolan/debian</nowiki> sources/

* Then do:

apt-get update
apt-get install libdvdcss2

* Play the DVD (e.g. with Xine, Ogle, Videolan, Mplayer etc).
* If your DVD plays but skips and jumps, then you probably need to enable Direct Memory Access (DMA) for the drive.
* To see if DMA is enabled, log in as root and type: "/sbin/hdparm -d <device name>" For example: "/sbin/hdparm -d /dev/hdc" It it says "using_dma = 1 (on)" it is already turned on.
* Otherwise, to enable DMA type: "/sbin/hdparm -d 1 /dev/hdc"
*If you want DMA to be enabled automatically then add the line "/sbin/hdparm -d 1 /dev/hdc" to any startup script (/etc/init.d/bootmisc.sh for example).
*Enjoy watching DVDs in Linux :-)

--
The links for /etc/apt/sources.list appear to be incorrect.

The right links are:
deb <nowiki>http://download.videolan.org/pub/videolan/debian</nowiki> $(ARCH)/
deb-src <nowiki>http://download.videolan.org/pub/videolan/debian</nowiki> sources/

====Q: I've installed Knoppix to my HD and default language and keyboard setting is German. How do I change to US English? I've changed KDE by fumbling through what I remembered of KDE Control Center. The keyboard is still in German with some of the keys in different places.====

A: Right click on the German flag in the system tray of the taskbar, and choose configure from the menu and set the keyboard to the layout you want to use.

Alternatively, you can use KMenu > Settings > Control Panel > Regional & Accessibility > Country/ Region & Language > Locale > Country: "C - Default", Keyboard: English: US That does it for KDE.

For the rest of the system, as root, type '''dpkg-reconfigure locales'''. The first page is a list of fonts(?), press Tab then Enter to skip it. The second page asks "Which locale should be the default in the system environment?" -- choose one of the en_US options. ISO-8859-15 is nice
(it includes the Euro), although there is nothing wrong
with ISO-8859-1 (aka Latin1).

====Q: I've set the default language and keyboard in KDE, but some pages in Mozilla still come up in German instead of English. How do I fix this?====

A1: In Mozilla, under Edit > Preferences... and check on Language. On the right-hand side of the page you'll see that German is preferred over English in multi-lingual pages. Move English up and it will be the preferred language.

A2: In Firefox, select Edit > Preferences. Click the Advanced button, the General tab, then the Edit Languages button. As above, move a line marked "English" to the top.

====Q: I think about using Knoppix to make Partition-Images with [http://www.partimage.org partimage] - Did anybody try this out? Thanks in advance! -- http://linuxwiki.de/Brüßler====

A: Yes, it works. -- [http://linuxwiki.de/PartImage LinuxWiki PartImage (in German)]

====Q: How do I save my preferences (language, UI...) at the end of my session, when booting from CD? How do I restore them?====

Go to the K-menu > KNOPPIX > Configuration and choose "save config", you can save to floppy or to an already existing partition on the harddrive. (on a windows partition is fine)

To restore it, at the "boot:" prompt type in "knoppix myconfig=scan", and it should find and restore your saved settings at boot time.

====Q: After Installed knoopix in HD with lang=es, if I remove all the user configuration files in the /home/knoppix directory, the keys "< >" of my spanish keyboard are no longer recognized in the new kde session. What is the configuration file resposible of this behaviour?====

A: Check the small flag in the bottom right corner of the screen, and you have to boot up with lang=es as a kernel parameter for it to work. (check /etc/lilo.conf)

====Q:From where does KNOPPIX start all the scripts at the bootprocess?====

A:The init scripts are located in /etc/init.d and are [[symlink]]ed to
in the /etc/rcX.d directorys in a sysV like fashion.

====Q: Where can I find where all the boot-time parameters are interpreted???====

A:You can see them in /etc/init.d/knoppix-autoconfig script

====Q: How do I use an USB memory stick to save myconfiguration?====

A: First boot KNOPPIX with the [http://www.wikipedia.org/wiki/keydrive memory stick] inserted. Got to the KNOPPIX menu, Configuration, Save Configuration. When asked, choose /dev/sda1. When booting type '''knoppix myconf=scan home=scan''' at the boot prompt.

====Q: After using KNOPPIX, my Dell computer does not start!====

A: This is an issue with the Dell BIOS. Simply pull out the power cord from your computer for a few seconds, and your computer should start again. You can also try passing "apm=off" or "apm=real-mode-poweroff" to the kernel during startup. apm=real-mode-poweroff is better because it keeps other apm-features (advanced power managment) turned on.

====Q: How can I see a film with subtitles that of course I have, I think Xine is useful but I can't do it?====

A: in a console "xine name_movie.ext#subtitle:name_subtitle.ext" you have to replace .ext with the real extension

====Q: Which program do I use for word processing, spreadcheat calculations, image processing, burning, scanning, surfing, chatting...====

A: Take a look at the [http://www.eleli.de/knoppix/docs/tutorial/english Knoppix Tutorial.]

See also : * [http://www.linuxdevcenter.com/pub/a/linux/2003/11/20/knoppix.html?page=2 Using and Customizing Knoppix]

====Q: How do I stop the KNOPPIX web page from appearing every time I start KNOPPIX? ====

A: here is a 4 step process to edit your start up scrips so you get a clean desktop when you start your machine.

1.Become root: in konsole, type:
sudo -s

2. Delete link to read-only x-init file on cd. type:
rm /etc/X11/Xsession.d/45xsession

3. Open the /KNOPPIX/etc/X11/Xsession.d/45xsession file in kwrite. type:
kwrite /KNOPPIX/etc/X11/Xsession.d/45xsession

3.1 In kwrite, search for:
ln $HOME/Desktop/KNOPPIX.desktop $HOME/.kde/Autostart/showindex.desktop
by clicking on the magnifying icon below the main menubar.

3.2 below the line that reads:
ln $HOME/Desktop/KNOPPIX.desktop $HOME/.kde/Autostart/showindex.desktop

and above the line that reads:
fi
, insert:
#added by gh78 --this next line removes the autostart link
rm -f $HOME/.kde/Autostart/showindex.desktop
#added by gh78 --this next line removes the knoppix intro web page from your desktop as well
rm -f $HOME/Desktop/KNOPPIX.desktop

4. Save the x-init file as /etc/X11/Xsession.d/45xsession

done.

Now when you save your configuration, the /etc folder is saved as well--and your new startup script will now start without creating those files.

[[Category : FAQ Page]]