Index:FAQ

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1 Documentation
- 1.1 Where can I find useful documentation for Zenwalk ?
2 General
- 2.1 I am a registered forum user, do I need to register here again ?
3 Packages
4 Zenwalk
5 Other languages

[edit] Documentation

[edit] Where can I find useful documentation for Zenwalk ?

In this Wiki, look at the left, you've got a search box ;) Check HOWTO for general howtos and Hardware for more specific hardware related information. You can also check out what is going on in general under Community Portal, and zenwalk NEWSLETTERS. For more, information about EXTRA packages in the zenwalk repositories and for their screenshots, Zenwalk Companion is the place to look. :)
By reading the manual (you should read it before installing Zenwalk)
In the forum, you need to register before posting your question, you've got a search button too ;)
On IRC: irc.freenode.net channel #zenwalk (you can use Gaim/Pidgin or Xchat)

[edit] General

[edit] I am a registered forum user, do I need to register here again ?

Yes, you need to register on each zenwalk websites, those websites don't use the same database, server, software engine.

[edit] Packages

[edit] How can I manage my packages ?

All the tips are here.

[edit] How can I watch a DVD ?

Follow this HowTo

[edit] How can I install libdvdcss/read, lame ... ?

These ones are not on the Zenwalk repository for patent reasons. To install them, you need to change the Netpkg mirror to this one : http://restricted.meticul.eu/current/ or this one (if you usually use the Zenwalk snapshot tree) : http://restricted.meticul.eu/snapshot/

1- Open Netpkg
2- Mirrors > Browse
3- Choose or add the desired mirror
4- Load mirror
5- Install what you need
6- Go back to your main Zenwalk mirror (choose mirror, load, ...)

Enjoy :)

[edit] How can I upgrade my kernel with netpkg ?

Just follow this HowTo:

[edit] How can I install the kernel source ?

You can easily do it with netpkg in your preferred Terminal:

# netpkg kernelsource

Or, by using netpkg with its graphical interface. You can follow this HowTo to edit the netpkg black list.

[edit] Where can I find more zenwalk packages ?

First, you can search packages with Netpkg.
Take a look at the Contributed packages and games forum section
Take a look at Additional packages development forum (those approved packages are available via netpkg)
As Zenwalk is based upon Slackware Linux, most of the packages are compatibles, try searching here.
You can also search at Slacky.it and of course at LinuxPackages.

[edit] If I don't find my lovely package, what can I do ?

If you think that your package should be on the ISO, you can do a "feature Request" at the main forum, if it is useful, a team member packager could build it.
You can ask for it at the Additional packages development forum section.
You can build it yourself, it's not as hard as you think, take a look at this HowTo.

[edit] Zenwalk

[edit] Where can I find the sources ?

You can browse the source repository.

[edit] Is there a dedicated Zenwalk chatroom (IRC, Jabber, ...) ?

Zenwalk is on IRC: irc.freenode.net channel #zenwalk (you can use Pidgin or Xchat).

[edit] How can I test the development zenwalk version ?

If you want to help and report bugs in the dedicated forum section, you can choose any snapshot mirror in netpkg. A little warning: Only do it if you know what you are doing !!

[edit] Can I find a zenwalk LiveCD ?

Of course, you can test Zenwalk without installing it with ZenLive.

[edit] Where can I download Zenwalk ?

Just go here and choose the nearest mirror from your location.

[edit] Why does <command/program e.g. Terminal> make my window manager crash and return to the login screen? What can I do?

This happened to me (with the Terminal program) on VectorLinux and Zenwalk, so it can't be uncommon. Switching to a different window manager usually works, but I discovered that there is often more than one Terminal emulator in the distro, and switching the default emulator to a smaller one (xterm) sorted it out with no problems! This should work for most program types of which there is more than one, like web browser or text editor. In Xfce, either open the Desktop Panel (one of the buttons on the toolbar at the bottom of the screen) and then open the preferred applications window or just open the preferrd applications window directly from the XFCE menu: Settings->Preferred Applications. Then select the utilities tab. In the drop down menu, select "X Terminal" instead of "XFCE Terminal".

[edit] How can I help Zenwalk ?

All helps are welcome :

You can write some documentation on this wiki.
If you are a packager or a developer, you can ask to help to the Zenwalk Mailing list:

To subscribe: zenwalk-main+subscribe ~AT~ lists(dot)zenwalk(dot)org

You can test the snapshot version and report bugs in the dedicated forum section.
If you want to make a donation, go here

[edit] Is there a Zenwalk 64bit Release ?

This question has come up several times in the forum, so you may find some dicussions about it there as well. Short answer is NO! The lead developers do not feel a 64bit release of Zenwalk would improve it at the moment. There are several reasons not to bother with it yet, plus it would really stretch the devs to try to keep up both a 32bit and 64bit. Normally, you won't notice a big difference between the two and most often the 32bit is overall faster. Until everything, especially the multimedia codecs are converted to 64bit, a user has to juggle both 32 & 64 in order to have an operational system. There are only a few things that might benefit having 64bit, but for 99.5% of the users, 32bit is going to give you the cleanest and fastest system.