Hi, I've been trying to update my synaptic repositories, but first I got a message saying something like, the URL wasn't recognised. Then I tried to put in a new repository, now when I click Settins> Repositories I get an error message which says: The following problems were found on your system: E: Vendor block FingerPrint is invalid E: Vendor block Name is invalid E: Cannot read vendors.list file What does this mean, and how can I fix it? Thanks, Sam Biscuits are good, but keep the crumbs off your keyboard!

Although I really like the look of SAM 2007, I had problems with it. If you haven't tried SimplyMEPIS 6.5, I suggest you give it a look.

Hi Jam, I've been really surprised by SAM07, everything has worked straight away, this problem is something I caused (due to my ineptitude) I think I tried to add a Debian repo to Synaptic, which is what caused this problem, but I still have no idea how to get passed that error message. I haven't looked at SimplyMepis, I'll download the LiveCD and give it a look, but it would have to be really good to get me away from SAM07. I had a look at DreamLinux 2.2 too, it looks good but I get the feeling it isn't quite complete, have you dropped that distro now? Sam Biscuits are good, but keep the crumbs off your keyboard!

I'm pretty much a newb to Linux too. I haven't mastered the art of the tarball yet so when I install a distro, everything needs to work (especially wireless) without too much input. I've got a lot to learn when it comes to command line stuff. I've run across several distros that I've liked the looks of (SAM, Dream, Vector) but I couldn't get the wireless to go, so I dumped them. I play with the LiveCDs, but I'm looking for something a little more permanent. Right now, I have a test system that I'm using...it's basically an open case & I just switch out the HDDs. Ubuntu 6.10 is on one HDD & I have two others that I swap in & out when I wanna try an actual installation. SimplyMEPIS 6.5 installed easily & is very "windows-like". I'd been using it for several days (possibly a week?) without any probs. But I ran into a snag today after updating some files & have encountered the "black screen of death". I've been reading up on it & it appears fairly common with nVidia cards. I even wiped the drive & reinstalled SM 6.5...it worked fine, rebooted a couple of times to make sure there was no black screen, then ran the same update again. The black screen returned. Now I have to try one of the fixes I've been reading about.

Yeah, that sounds familiar. I have almost no clue when it comes to command line, and installing software still seems like a dark-art. I don't use wireless, so I don't have that problem, but all the hardware I do use has worked out-of-the-box with Sam07. Except that I can't get the 3D desktop running. Something about installing the graphics card drivers, I'll leave that until I know a bit more. Also, I think I need to use synaptic to do that, and at the moment, I can't even run Synaptic. I have Linux on a Compaq notebook, when I install XP on it, I have loads of drivers to install, SAM only needs to have the TouchPad configured, but I still haven't quite got that either. This has turned into my life story, sorry. Oh, I tried reinstalling SAM07, to just reset everything, but I can't run the LiveCD anymore, it says something like not able to run the loop filesystem? I checked the disc but it is OK. Sam Biscuits are good, but keep the crumbs off your keyboard!

I can't offer any help with SAM because I'm not currently using it. I'm gonna try to repair SimplyMEPIS 6.5 tonite. Apparently if I boot off the LiveCD & try to reinstall it, there's a repair option that should allow me to fix the nVidia driver issue. My other alternative may be to switch to an ATI card & see if that boots me thru to the desktop.

I've solved that Synaptic problem, I reinstalled SAM by using the Copy2RAM option on the LiveCD, I think there is an issue with my optical drive when booting from the LiveCD. Weird about your nVidia driver problem, I've been hearing all sorts of horror stories about ATi cards, but rarely nVidia ones. Good luck fixing it. I've been hearing about other people having issues getting wireless connections working in SAM too. So maybe SAM has a bit of a blind spot there. Sam Biscuits are good, but keep the crumbs off your keyboard!