Where to Get Help

Getting timely help can mean the difference between ending in tears and getting on with whats important in your world. This topic is broken down to give you a means of where and how to get the help that sidux provides as a distribution. Forums and Wiki IRC IRC and Web browsing in text mode and/or init 3 infobash

The sidux forums

The sidux forums offer a place to post questions, and receive answers to those questions, please do search the forums before you post, as others may have already asked the very same question.The forums are in German and English.

The sidux Wiki

The sidux Wiki is free to use and edit by and for all sidux users. We hope the sidux documentation will grow over time and develop along with this project.

We hope for contributions from Linux users of all knowledge levels, since this wiki is intended to help users of all levels. The few minutes you donate to our wiki can save other users (and maybe yourself) in need of solutions, hours of trouble and searching. The Wiki caters for German and English.

IRC interactive live help

Getting on to #sidux

There are 3 methods of getting live on line help
1) Using a chat client like konversation to access irc.oftc.net at port 6667
2) Clicking the irc.oftc.net in the menu of sidux
3) Clicking on Chat CGI:IRC Login in the menu of sidux

konversation

Fire up konversation and set the server to

oftc.net 
port 6667

sidux site activated irc

Go to sidux and click the irc.oftc.net in the menu item. This will bring up an irc chat client that may range from konversation/xchat/gaim (to name but a few irc clients, it depends your configuration), which will then launch you to #sidux.

CGI:IRC Login

Go to sidux and click Chat in the menu. This will bring up the CGI:IRC web based application.

Enter your chosen nick into the nickname box and #sidux into the channel box.

aynoS and the Factoids

aynoS is the #sidux bot, which accesses factoids to help provide short and sharp information and help for a wide range of system issues and also often required 'what to do now information'.

To get all factoids type in the chat box of your IRC client:

!factoids

and aynoS will return this:

yournick: "factoids" is all factoids are online at: 
http://aynos.esmartguy.com/ 
::updated every 24hrs:: 
wget -Nc http://aynos.esmartguy.com/factoids-alpha.html

Downloading the factoids places it in your $HOME, and will mean that even if you are off line for some reason, you will have, aside from this manual, another resource. To update the factoids, (which are updated daily), run: 

wget -Nc http://aynos.esmartguy.com/factoids-alpha.html

To access the factoids on your $HOME, simply open up your browser and use it to open to the location of factoids-alpha.html and then bookmark it for fast access.

!paste

!paste will be your friend in the channel, otherwise you will get booted for flooding. So if you are asked to use !paste, to provide the output of your konsole, type !paste into your chat box (or someone may have already provide the factoid for you to enable paste, and this is what will be returned:

"paste" is 
http://paste.debian.net/ :please choose no 
syntax highlighting;make your paste;
then give #sidux the link to your paste..
.

All you simply do is click the link, which will take you to the website, paste in the output that has been requested into the paste box, then scroll back to the top, and click send.

What then happens is the address bar changes from http://paste.debian.net/ to also include a nmmber like this http://paste.debian.net/19454 which is the address that the channel requires you to provide.

IRC Behaviour Protocols

Never IRC as 'root" .. you are welcome to IRC chat as user, never as root: if you are in trouble, say so immediately

Accessing irc #sidux support while in text mode and/or init 3

Usually you are in text mode/init 3 because you are going to do a dist-upgrade (or something terrible has gone wrong with your system)

A good tool to have whilst in text mode is gpm . This will allow you to use your mouse to copy and paste between terminals/konsoles.

To install gpm: 

gpm -t imps2 -m /dev/input/mice

Ensure that /etc/gpm.conf is present

/etc/init.d/gpm restart

Now that you are able to have a mouse in text mode (tty), next make sure that WeeChat is installed, by looking in Kmenu > Debian > Net. If it is not there:

#apt-get install weechat-curses

When in init 3, you can switch to another terminal/konsole by:

# CTRL-ALT-F2
$ siduxbox login:  <username> (not as root user)
then type
$ weechat-curses

Now connect to irc.oftc.net on port 6667. Once connected, change your nickname:

/nick username_of_choice

To join the sidux channel:

/join #sidux

If you wish to connect to another server:

/server server.name

In the bottom bar, you will see numbers appear if there is activity in the channels, to switch to that channel, ALT-1 ALT-2 ALT-3 ALT-4 etc....

To leave,

/exit

If you are doing a dist-upgrade, for example, to check on the progress

to return to the d-u for example
$ CTRL-ALT-F1 
then to return back to irc
# CTRL-ALT-F2

It is advisable to familiarise yourself with using weechat in a terminal/konsole before an emergency happens, if one should occur.

WeeChat documentation

Web browsing in text mode and/or init 3

wm3 will allow you to web browse in terminal/konsole or text mode and/or init 3

Check that w3m is installed, otherwise do:

apt-get update
apt-get install w3m

Then open a terminal/konsole:

$w3m $

Once you have a black looking screen with instructions at the bottom,, do not panic, use this key combination

SHIFT+U

You will then see that it opens to your local disk something like Goto URL: file:///home/username/$ , just backspace till at GOTO URL and type in 

http://sidux.com

You can now surf to sidux or any other site of your choosing

Or when in init 3:

# CTRL-ALT-F2
$ siduxbox login:  <username> (not as root user)
then type
$ w3m sidux.com
To go back to the d-u for example
$ CTRL-ALT-F1

To go straight to the manual

$w3m manual.sidux.com

It is advisable to familiarise yourself with using w3m in a terminal/konsole before an emergency happens, if one should occur.

w3m home page

Infobash

infobash is a system information script, that is independent of a particular IRC (Internet Relay Chat) client. The system information script can display all kinds of things about your hardware and software to people in the channel, so they can help you diagnose problems, ... or just marvel at your system specs and kernel version, in your own time via the konsole.

To use the infobash script on sidux live-cd type into the chat box:

/exec infobash -v3
or
/infobash -v3

In a konsole type:

infobash -v3

Read the full tutorial on everything infobash

Page last revised 15/01/2007 1400 UTC