How to enable DMA, add kernel module, change to xfe, etc...?

[Black Hawk]

Hi.

I'm running puppy 2.15CE on an IBM Thinkpad R52

DVD playback is poor in puppy. Probably because DMA is disabled for my cd/dvd drive. I tried to enable it and got this error:

sh-3.00# hdparm -d1 /dev/hdc

/dev/hdc:
setting using_dma to 1 (on)
HDIO_SET_DMA failed: Operation not permitted
using_dma = 0 (off)

From what I've read I gather that I need to enable support for somthing (chipset?) in the kernel for this to work.

This is what hdparm -i /dev/hdc gives me

/dev/hdc:

Model=HL-DT-STCD-RW/DVD DRIVE GCC-4241N, FwRev=1.04, SerialNo=
Config={ Fixed Removeable DTR<=5Mbs DTR>10Mbs nonMagnetic }
RawCHS=0/0/0, TrkSize=0, SectSize=0, ECCbytes=0
BuffType=unknown, BuffSize=0kB, MaxMultSect=0
(maybe): CurCHS=0/0/0, CurSects=0, LBA=yes, LBAsects=0
IORDY=on/off, tPIO={min:120,w/IORDY:120}, tDMA={min:120,rec:120}
PIO modes: pio0 pio1 pio2 pio3 pio4
DMA modes: sdma0 sdma1 sdma2 mdma0 mdma1 mdma2
UDMA modes: udma0 udma1 *udma2
AdvancedPM=no
Drive conforms to: ATA/ATAPI-5 T13 1321D revision 3: ATA/ATAPI-2 ATA/ATAPI-3 ATA/ATAPI-4 ATA/ATAPI-5

* signifies the current active mode

Can I use a kernel module to add support for whatever I need or do I need to recompile the kernel?

I want to use xfe file manager as my default file manager. How do I change that?

I also want to change the shell prompt in rxvt from
sh-3.00# to somthing which tells me which directory I'm working in. I've tried puttung export PS1="\u@\h:\w\# " in /root/.bashrc, but I coun't get it to work.

Thanks

[Flash]

Black Hawk, the forum works best if you don't ask multiple questions in one thread. Now this thread will contain many topics all mixed up. That makes it hard for the people trying to answer you, not to mention anyone who is hoping for enlightenment by reading the thread.

[purple_ghost]

I have a computer which required that DMA be enabled in BIOS.

Which makes no sense to me. However. You might have a look at the BIOS options of the computer before trying to recompile the kernel.

In my case: DVD play is enhanced by:

Using Xorg. Xorg uses the Video chip or card instead the main processor for Video display. Okay, you probably knew that. If you have an odd Video board, You may to poke about a bit to find a Dot Pup that will fit it.

Then one must enable Xorg in Gxine Media Player by:
Opening Gxine: File/Configure/Preferences.

Change your experience level to Master of the Known Universe.
Set the Video setting to xv.

There may a reboot or two while doing this.

Personally I got a little improvement by changing the Video resolution in Xorg.

Some of the Gurus around here prefer Mplayer. Which someone must have a note on how to install and get running.

Used to be that Puppy would enable DMA if possible as it installed. I do not know anything about Think Pads. So I know nothing about the DMA message you have.

Another edit: You might look at:

http://www.murga-linux.com/puppy/viewtopic.php?t=19542

http://www.mplayerhq.hu/DOCS/HTML/en/dvd.html