Things that don't work in Linux - RedHat 9

[RCS]

Thank you so much for all of the details for Linux and audio/video!!!
:-)

It is sad that Linux seems 'barely' supported by MetaCard/RunRev
lately...maybe they are waiting for the final outcome of the lawsuit?

JR

> [snip]
>
> And, I would add to them:
>
> -The xanim file bundled never worked for me. I always have to use the one
> bundled with the distro (I use SuSE)
>
> -There is a conflict in KDE which don't let you to use the demo or
anything
> that have a backdrop window. There is a workaround:
>
> The workaround is going to be not have it show the backdrop window on
Linux
> systems.  If you want to see the demo, you can do this yourself with "edit
> script of stack mcdemo2.mc" in the MB and just comment out the section at
the
> bottom of the preOpenStack handler where it sets the backdrop.  Then "save
> stack mcdemo2.mc" and then "go mcdemo2.mc" to run it. (Scott Raney)
>
> -There is a conflict between KDE clipboard manager and MetaCard. When
active,
> it renders the script editor useless. There is a workaround:
>
> Did you desactive the KDE's clipboard (visible in the KDE's toolbar as a
> red and white icon) ? Else, i don't have this kind of problem in using
> Suse 8.2 Pro (KDE 3.1.1). [Pierre Sahores]
>
> -and, the worst to me is spotty sound support, particularly in the area of
> simultaneous sounds. I had to write the following lengthy troubleshooting
> file in Spanish and English, to help my users!
>
> ----------------------------------
>
> TROUBLESHOOTING
>
> AUDIO PROBLEMS
> Q: I can't hear any sound!
> A: You need to have xanim installed, otherwise, no sound is going to be
> played.
> Open a terminal, and type "xanim". If you receive a message like "command
not
> found", you don't have xanim in your system. Please download a version of
> xanim appropiate for your distro.
>
> Q: I hear music, but no sound effects! or
> Q: I hear sound effects, but no music!
> A: I was afraid you reach this point, but, well...
>
> CircusTux requires you have a soundcard capable of playing different audio
> files simultaneously (like mine, a SoundBlaster Live! card).
> If you don't have such card, is still possible to hear music AND audio
effects
> if you use a sound server, such as aRts or Enlightenment Sound Daemon
(esd).
>
> If you want to use aRts on KDE, do the following:
> 1. Open Control Center, Sound & Multimedia, Sound System.
> 2. Select "start aRts soundserver on KDE startup".
> 3. Make sure that "enable full duplex operation" in the "Sound I/O" tab is
> unchecked, because it messes the operation of the program in some sound
> cards.
> 4. In a Konsole, go to the directory where CircusTux is located, and type
> "artsdsp ./circus" (Of course, you can also create a KDE Menu or Desktop
> Entry to ease access)
>
> If you use GNOME or Enlightenment with a sound card or driver not capable
of
> handling simultaneous sounds, there are a few issues...
>
> The esd daemon likes to startup with the following parameters:
>
> esd -terminate -nobeeps -as 2 -spawnfd [some number]
>
> Unfortunately, CircusTux does not like the "-terminate" and "-as 2"
> parameters.
>
> So, if you have a GNOME desktop, you would need to do the following:
>
> 1. Deactivate "Enable sound server startup" in Sound Preferences, close
and
> restart the session
> 2. Open a terminal, type "esd" (you can still use the "-nobeeps" and
"-spawnfd
> [some number]" parameters if you like)
> 3. In a gnome terminal, go to the CircusTux directory, and type "esddsp ./
> circus" (Of course, you can also create a GNOME Menu or Desktop Entry to
ease
> access, or recompile your GNOME environment without the offending
> parameters ;P)
>
> If you have an Enlightenment desktop:
>
> 1. Right click on the desktop, Audio Setting, deselect "Enable Sounds"
> 2. Open a terminal, type "esd" (you can still use the "-nobeeps" and
"-spawnfd
> [some number]" parameters if you like)
> 3. In a Enlightenment terminal, go to the CircusTux directory, and type
> "esddsp ./circus" (Of course, you can also create a Menu Entry to ease
> access, or recompile your Enlightenment environment without the offending
> parameters ;P)
>
>
> Q: I did all the above, but the sound is all choppy/incomplete/delayed/
> randomly appearing!
> A: CircusTux requires a Pentium III equivalent or better to work properly.
> However, it is possible to run the program in older computers, with
partial
> sound support, or even without sounds :(
> To run CircusTux without sound support, click the "Sound" button, and
deselect
> "Ambient music" and "Sound Effects". You could also try only one sound
option
> (music OR effects) to see if that fits in your configuration.
>
> If you use aRTs Sound Server and KDE, you can try to augment the audio
> response time by going to Control Center, Sounds & Multimedia, Sound
System,
> Sound I/O. There you can experiment with some value in the Audio Buffer
Size
> bar.
>
> VIDEO PROBLEMS
> Q: The images in CircusTux look awful!
> A: The program works better in 24 bpp. If you have your display in 16bpp
is
> fine, too. However, less than that would cause the images to display very
> poorly.
> You can check which mode is working CircusTux by clicking on its "Info"
> button. If the section "Screen Depth" shows something less than 16bpp, you
> should upgrade the video mode to more colors... or replace your old video
> card :)
>
> OTHER PROBLEMS
> Q: Found a bug in CircusTux!
> A: Let us know! write us to linux at enmac.net
>
> ----------------------