Hello,
i've just installed Zenwalk and it's a really complete, fast and userfriendly distro and runs well on my old Pentium III 192 mb RAM.
I have some problems/questions for you:

1) i frequently use(d) Hibernation on windows. Here when i select the button it becomes black, seems to shutdown but instead returns to the desktop. What's wrong?

2) If i try to open some applications like Firestarter or Netpkg the cursor loads but then nothing happens. I suppose it has to do with the privileges. --> SOLVED

3) is it possible to enlarge icons? i cannot find this option --> SOLVED

4) the netpkg manager don't start, why? --> SOLVED

5) Is there the possibility to see windows network shares and also become part of the workgroup? (windows sees zen and zen sees windows)

6) my wired LAN doesn't work and cannot find the configuration panel for wired connections, where's it?

7) Is there the possibility to keep the second panel (NOT the taskbar) in the background so it doesn't go over other windows?

8 ) Do i need to install specific (for ex. video card) drivers for my machine to make it run at the maximal possibilities?

9) is it possible to autologin as root (knowing it's a BAD idea,dangerous,ecc... i'm asking How not if it's a good idea)? how?

i'm quite new to Linux world, as you might have understood
I want to send my windows 2000 to the graveyard as on this machine it is really slow.
I have already tried Puppy linux (not very supported/difficult ) and Lubuntu (slow as windows 2000). I can find performance and support in Zenwalk (many things configurable,ecc...) and the first impression is OK

Any help is appreciated

Welcome to Zenwalk forum. It is good to have nice first impression.
Yes, too many questions,, I am also new so i am crawling therefore i cannot answer most of your question, sorry. so i try a few to get you started.

first, which version and desktop you installed? like ZenLive 6.4, Zenwalk 6.4 Gnome?, each of them have different style and set of modules that are different, so it is better to let people know which one you installed so help is more precise.

Is it possible to login as root or have root privileges always? how?
on terminal, type su and key in your password
below is example from my computer, you can see that i am using Zenwalk-gnome 6.4 version and my kernel is 2.6.33.4

compaq[~]$ su
Password:
root[compaq]# version
Zenwalk-gnome 6.4
root[compaq]# uname -r
2.6.33.4
root[compaq]#


4) the netpkg manager don't start, why?
i do not have this problem, when i open the Netpkg a windows popup asking for password, once pw entered, the Netpkg will run.

5) Is there the possibility to see windows network shares and also become part of the workgroup? (windows sees zen and zen sees windows)

yes, there are two things on Network, Client ( which can Browse and get files from network) and Server ( which can Share and send files to Client)
one is Browsing like you mention Zen see windows, for this your Zen is a client.
So it must have client program running to browse network. Depending on your desktop environment ( xfce, Gnome, openbox, zenlive etc) each of this had different client program, for example Gnome had Nautilus file manage that can also Browse network, ZenLive has gigolo that can browse network.

another one is file server, like you mentioned windows see Zen. for this, Zen needs to be a Server. a common server program is Samba, it is capable of supporting many type of OSes and allow Windows OS and Linux OS to share files over network.
By default i think Zenwalk and ZenLive do not have Samba installed, so if you want Windows OS to see Zen, you must install Samba and confugure properly. Google Samba for details, or search in forum on Samba.

8 ) Do i need to install specific (for ex. video card) drivers for my machine to make it run at the maximal possibilities?
i cannot answer this since i do not know what video card , but other experienced people might help you if you provide more system information to the forum, in order that you provide these information, you can open your terminal, type su, key in password and type lspci, it will list all the hardware,, then you can copy and paste in the forum for some experience people to help with your question on video card.
for example, my compaq computer here.. i list all just to show you, you can see yourself my VGA is ATI Technologies Inc RV280 [Radeon 9200

compaq[~]$ su
Password:
root[compaq]# lspci
00:00.0 Host bridge: Silicon Integrated Systems [SiS] 651 Host (rev 02)
00:01.0 PCI bridge: Silicon Integrated Systems [SiS] Virtual PCI-to-PCI bridge (AGP)
00:02.0 ISA bridge: Silicon Integrated Systems [SiS] SiS962 [MuTIOL Media IO] (rev 14)
00:02.1 SMBus: Silicon Integrated Systems [SiS] SiS961/2 SMBus Controller
00:02.3 FireWire (IEEE 1394): Silicon Integrated Systems [SiS] FireWire Controller
00:02.5 IDE interface: Silicon Integrated Systems [SiS] 5513 [IDE]
00:02.7 Multimedia audio controller: Silicon Integrated Systems [SiS] AC'97 Sound Controller (rev a0)
00:03.0 USB Controller: Silicon Integrated Systems [SiS] USB 1.1 Controller (rev 0f)
00:03.1 USB Controller: Silicon Integrated Systems [SiS] USB 1.1 Controller (rev 0f)
00:03.2 USB Controller: Silicon Integrated Systems [SiS] USB 1.1 Controller (rev 0f)
00:03.3 USB Controller: Silicon Integrated Systems [SiS] USB 2.0 Controller
00:04.0 Ethernet controller: Silicon Integrated Systems [SiS] SiS900 PCI Fast Ethernet (rev 91)
00:08.0 Communication controller: Conexant Systems, Inc. HSF 56k HSFi Modem (rev 01)
01:00.0 VGA compatible controller: ATI Technologies Inc RV280 [Radeon 9200] (rev 01)
01:00.1 Display controller: ATI Technologies Inc RV280 [Radeon 9200] (Secondary) (rev 01)
root[compaq]#

i think you might want to just get your installation work with network first, because you need to get package using Netpkg and once you are on the network, it is easier for you to copy and paste in the forum.

Good Luck, have fun,,,with Zenwalk

Thanks a lot for the reply, i'm surprised noone more expert has answered. i think i will not find solution for most of the problems so maybe i'll have to switch to another distro. it's really sad

I have the standard Zen desktop. would you recommend the GNOME one? maybe it's easier or faster, i know it's based on gnome desktop but what changes?

ROOT LOGIN: i do as you said but i think this is only related to terminal commands. infact if i try to access the root folder in the file manager it still says "access denied". the same happens when opening firestarter and other programs

NETWORK SHARES: at this moment i can't test because my wired LAN is not recognized and i can't find any network panel to adjust

Hi,
I am no expert, far from it, but I know the network manager is under applications-system, same place as netpkg is. Don't know why it doesn't start, normally it asks for password and opens.
If you really want to, you can login as root, at startup, or also under applications-system-new login. Just login as root with the pw you entered at installation.
I am using the standard 6.4 XFCE version, and apart from some minor hiccups it works like a charm. I like Zenwalk very much!
Hope you find some more answers,

Blackbird

When you run xnetpkg or firestarter should come out a notification prompting you for your root password. If does not there must be something wrong.
Firewall start at boot. So you if you don't know what are you doing leave as it is.
Networkmanager is wicd the same who managed wireless. In preferences check
"Always show wired interface"
Anyway, normally automatically is detected the connection, so something wrong also there.
Run /system/LSHW to find out what is your Ethernet interface. And post here.
Panel: go to settings/panel choose the panel that you want to autohide and check the box.

i think i'm gonna reinstall it and see if this particular problem can be solved.
Moreover i'd like also to have full root priviledges (at least for now, i need to learn a bit without restraints) as soon as i login, how can i do this?

However, can someone please answer the other questions? see above, i can't believe that noone has ever tried to do the things i have asked

It seems your system has a lot of problems, I hope a new install will turn out better. I haven't encountered the problems you have, when I choose 'hybernate' the system hibernates, netpkg, network etc., it just worked. So no answers there....
As I mentioned before, if you want to login as root, during installation you are asked for a root password. So after startup, just use 'root' as username and give the root-password, then you are logged in as root.
Franco mentioned how to autohide the panel.
In the Wiki you can find how to install Graphic-cards-drivers for Ati or nVidia. (if needed)
I found a lot of information reading the manual , the wiki and the forum, and just trial and error.
Btw. did you try using the live-cd, does that work?

Good luck,
Blackbird

Hi, reinstalled ZEnwalk latest version standard

I went to WICD netowrk manager but it doesn't list any wired network interface, it is not recognized. The problem remains, now?

I'm starting to think i'll have to switch back to my "dear" windows, ugly,slow, virus attractive, but working.

post here the output of command "lspci -v | grep net", do it as root

it has found my davicom semiconductor adaptor!

Hey! Congratulations! Are some of the other problems being solved also?

Blackbird

ethernet controller: davicom semiconductor, inc. 21x4x dec-tulip compatible 10/100 ethernet (rev 31)

It seems it's recognized!!

Does this mean you have an internet connection??

Blackbird

it would be nice... But it's only the log of the command i prompted...at least is something

Perhaps you can find some answers in the network-section, I saw a discussion about wired networking. Or maybe someone with more knowledge than me will answer...

Blackbird