(Modified 2010 Jun 05)
Zenwalk tricks
For version 6.2
Intro
Zenwalk is one of the distributions that is close to, in my opinion, "just works." (My favorite three are (X)ubuntu, Zenwalk, and AntiX, followed by PCLinuxOS and Fedora.) The selection of programs is not huge, but I could use Slackware repositories if I wanted. The package manager, netpkg, is not as nice as Synaptic, but it's adequate. What I especially like is that it runs nicely on old hardware, like my 850MHz Pentium III.
Hint: When using, you have to hit the 'Refresh' icon in the upper right, or else the software database isn't updated.
Installation/partitioning issues
My installation kept dying during the software-installation step. I had burned three CDs before I accidentally stumbled on the solution. For the first couple of installs, I had partitioned the disk using Parted Magic, so that I had easy and precise control over the partition sizes. (If Parted Magic was a full distribution, I'm sure it would rank among my favorite.) I had formatted the Linux partitions as ext4, same as Zenwalk would have used. However, the installation kept dying. When I inadvertently used Zenwalk's own partitioning tool, it worked. I don't know what was different about it.
Slow shutdown problem
Shutdown was taking several minutes. I found people having the same problem on a Zenwalk Support forum. It turns out it was due to the Iceweasel web browser recaching fonts. The solution was, in the file /etc/rc.d/rc.6, to look for the commands regarding font caching, and as root, substitute in the following:
# Font caching RECACHE=0 [ -e /etc/fonts.list ] && ( du /usr/share/fonts > /tmp/fonts.list ) && (cmp -s /etc/fonts.list /tmp/fonts.list ) && RECACHE=1 if [ ${RECACHE} -eq 0 ]; then echo "Recaching fonts..." du /usr/share/fonts > /etc/fonts.list for fontdir in cyrillic OTF TTF 100dpi 75dpi misc Type1 Speedo util encodings; do [ -d /usr/share/fonts/${fontdir} ] && \ ( [ -x /usr/bin/mkfontscale ] && ( chroot . /usr/bin/mkfontscale /usr/share/fonts/${fontdir} > /dev/null 2>&1 ) [ -x /usr/bin/mkfontdir ] && ( chroot . /usr/bin/mkfontdir /usr/share/fonts/${fontdir} > /dev/null 2>&1 ) ) done fi
I uploaded a version of my /etc/rc.d/rc.6
file, but I don't recommend copying it as is. I caused a problem by using an rc.6 file from one installation to another. Instead, paste the code above into the appropriate place.
Infinite rebooting issues
After conscientiously updating the kernal and headers, the next time I fired up the computer, it'd get to the bootloader and reboot ad infinitum. It turns out that the bootloader, LILO, was corrupted. I'm not going to regurgitate the commands. Rather, follow the instructions at the Zenwalk Wiki under the section "Repair LILO, the boot loader."
netdev error
After upgrading to Zenwalk 6.4, I got an error, "Unable to contact the Wicd daemon due to an access denied error from DBus. Please check that your user is in the netdev group." I found the fix at the Zenwalk support site. The fix was to edit /etc/group as root, and add:
netdev:x:86:root,(and_your_user)
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