setclock
dateconfig&
(in X-terminal, as root else you will be asked for the root password). An excellent GUI utility to set my operating system and hardware clock and timezone, and tell my BIOS to keep time in UTC. I don't need the previous two commands.
xvidtune
(in X-terminal). Adjust the settings for your monitor display for all resolutions so as to eliminate black bands, shift the display right/left/up/down, etc. (First use the knobs on your monitor to fit your text mode correctly on the screen). Then use xvidtune to adjust the monitor frequencies for each resolution so it fits well in your screen. To make the changes permanent, display the frequencies on the screen and then transfer them to the setup file /etc/X11/XF86Config. On newer monitors, you may really prefer to adjust your monitor using the built-in monitor settings--xvidtune is for older monitors which do not have the capability to remember their settings.
kvideogen
(in X-terminal). Generate "modelines" for customized resolutions of your screen. After you generated the setup text (the "modelines"), you can copy-paste it to the X-windows setup file /etc/X11/XF86Config (or /etc/X11/XF86Config-4 if you use X-server version 4.xx). See also the keyboard shortcut <Ctrl><Alt><+>
SVGATextMode 80x25x9
SVGATextMode 80x29x9
(as root) Change the text resolution in the text terminal. In the above example (second line) I changed the text screen to 80 columns x 29 lines with characters 9 pixels high. The first line defines a resolution that always works, so that if the second command did not work on my system, I can press <ArrowUP> twice and <Enter> to regain control over my screen. The possible modes depend on your video card and your monitor synchronization frequencies--I needed to edit (as root) the file /etc/TextConfig and (un)comment the proper lines to let SVGATextMode know what my system supports.
SuperProbe
(as root). A utility to determine the type of the video card and the amount of its memory.
cat /var/log/XFree86.0.log
A log file for X that can be useful to determine what is wrong with your X setup. The "0" in the filename stands for "display 0"--modify the filename accordingly if you need log for displays "1", "2", etc.
lspci
Show info on your motherboard and what cards are inserted into the pci extension slots. My older computer has ISA slots (or EISA) slots, no pci.
lsdev
Display info about your hardware (DMA, IRQ, IO ports).
lsof|more
List files opened on your system.
kernelcfg
(as root in X terminal). GUI to to add/remove kernel modules. Module is like a device driver--a piece of Linux kernel that provides support for a particular piece of hardware or functionality. You can do the same from the command line using the command insmod.
lsmod
(= list modules). List currently loaded kernel modules. A module is like a device driver--it provides operating system kernel support for a particular piece of hardware or feature.
modprobe -l |more
List all the modules available for your kernel. The available modules are determined by how your Linux kernel was compiled. Almost every possible module/feature can be compiled on Linux as either "hard wired" (perhaps a bit faster, but non-removable), "module" (maybe a bit slower, but loaded/removable on demand), or "no" (no support for this feature at all). The modules which your kernel supports (with which it was compiled) are all as files under the directory /lib/modules (and the subdirectories) so browsing it may give you a clue if you are lost. If your kernel does not support a module you require, you may need to re-compile your kernel with this module enabled (this is rare because the "stock" RedHat or Mandrake Linux kernels come with almost all common and non-experimental modules pre-compiled. Still, if you have a bleeding edge hardware ... ).
modprobe sb
Load the soundblaster (sb) module. Use the previous command to find other kernel modules there are to load.
insmod parport
insmod ppa
(as root) Insert modules into the kernel (a module is roughly an equivalent of a DOS device driver). Normally, I use "modprobe"
