This troubleshooting guide is provided to help you solve problems you may encounter when using SimplyMEPIS with your computer.
Most of this information is also valid for earlier versions of MEPIS Linux.
Your SimplyMEPIS CD is bootable. It is not like most installation CDs. When you start your system from the CD, the system starts as if SimplyMEPIS were already installed.
At the login screen, the 'demo' user password is 'demo' and the 'root' user password is 'root' When you are ready to install, click on the 'INSTALL ME' icon on the desktop.
If your CD will not boot, check the following:
If the CD does not spinup (it makes no sound and the light does not come on), then your system does not try to boot from CD.
In this case, you will have to tell the computer how to boot from CD. This varies from computer to computer but your computer's initial boot screen should contain a message that tells you how to do this.
Forcing Boot from CD
To force your system to boot from CD, you may be required to press a special key, like F1 or F12 and then you will be presented with a list of boot options. Or you may be expected to press the right or left arrow key to select from icons that represent the options. Or you may have to press F1 or F2 or Del to enter your BIOS setup to change your boot options to enable an automatic boot from CD.
In some rare instances, you may be unable to tell the computer how to boot the CD. In this case, the system will ignore the CD or it will freeze before the Boot Screen appears.
If you have a computer with a floppy drive, read "Boot Floppies."
If you have a computer with a floppy drive, you can create a set of Boot Floppies and use them to boot the CD. The floppies can be made from Windows or Linux. The floppy images are on the SimplyMEPIS CD in the /floppies directory. You will need 3 floppy disks. In Windows, go to the /floppies folder on the CD and run mkflop.bat then insert the floppies when prompted. In Linux, as root, run mkflop.sh
To boot from floppy, insert both the Boot Floppy #1 and the CD, then reboot your system. From the floppy's menu, select to boot from CD for the version of MEPIS you are booting, and follow the instructions.
If you have an older copy of SImplyMEPIS that does not include the /floppies directory, you can download the files in this zip: floppies.zip Then unzip the zip and follow the instructions in README.txt
If a usb mouse is detected it will be used. Otherwise a PS/2 mouse will be assumed. With some multibutton mice, the extra buttons will not work unless you manually edit the /etc/X11/XF86COnfig-4 file. We hope to handle this automatically in a future release of SimplyMEPIS.
If you have a serial mouse, the 'smouse' boot argument will force the use of a serial mouse on ttyS1.
Overview
ALSA is the sound system used in Linux. Usually it works automatically in SimplyMEPIS.
If ALSA sound does not work in MEPIS, one should check the volume sliders in KStartMenu > Multimedia > Kmix and also check that channels are not muted. The mute buttons look like green leds. Kmix is the recommended way to adjust your sound.
If you still have trouble, it is recommended that you update the meauto and meauto-data packages.
PLEASE NOTE: If you choose to set or restore your sound values with the ALSA utilities while KDE is running, any changes will not be displayed immmediately in Kmix. This can be confusing. Beware, the ALSA controls are complicated and not recommendeed for the inexperienced.
Some possible sound problems:
If the correct driver is not loaded for your sound card, this error will be reported when the KDE desktop starts.
Often, this will be fixed if you update meauto and meauto-data
To report this problem, please submit the following form:
Most sound files are played with the KStartMenu > Multimedia > XMMS application. These files should play automatically when you click on a file or on a web link to such a file.
Real audio and video files and streams play using the KStartMenu > Multimedia > RealPlayer.
Most video files and streams can be played with the KStartMenu > Multimedia > xine application.
Windows Media Player 9 files can not be played by MEPIS because the Windows EULA prevents redistribution of the WMA 9 codecs. If you have MS-Windows you could copy the WMA 9 codecs from C:\windows\system32 to the /usr/lib/win32 directory, btu that would be wrong.
DVD movies can be played with xine. To play an encrypted DVD, you need the libdvdcss package. This package is not included with MEPIS because in some jurisdictions it may be illegal to watch DVDs on a computer running Linux. You can download this tiny package for yourself with Synaptic, KPackage or apt-get.
Most PCI and ISA sound cards and chips are supported.
A comprehensive database is at: www.alsa-project.org/alsa-doc/
If you card is not listed, it is not supported.
If your mixer settings are turned down, you will hear no sound.
MEPIS attempts to preset the mixer controls, but in some cases this does not work.
To correct your settings, open Kmix (the speaker icon in the tray at the bottom right of the desktop). Then click on the Mixer button.
In the Output tab, make sure the Master volume (on the far left) is turned up. Also, make sure PCM is turned up (the control with the blue squiggly line above it. Also if there are little round buttons (green lights) above these slider controls, make sure they are on (lighted).
Of course, you should also make sure your speakers are plugged in and powered on.
The KsCD application (in Kmenu > Multimedia) is provided for playing CDs. You can not play an audio CD by clicking on the CD-ROM icon on the desktop.
If the CD appears to be playing but you hear no sound, then you need to make sure the CD audio is turned up in the mixer.
If your system products no sound, read "No error message, yet no sound" in this Guide. If other sound plays ok, read on.
To correct your CD audio setting, open Kmix (the speaker icon in the tray at the bottom right of the desktop). Then click on the Mixer button.
Make sure the CD volume (the control with the CD icon) is turned up. Also if there is a little round button (green light) above the slider control, make sure it is on (lighted). The CD control is usually in the Input tab but in some cases it is in the Output tab.