the_farmer Posted September 27, 2005 Share Posted September 27, 2005 (edited) Hi I am a linux newbie. I finally made up my mind to switch from ms to linux =)I have ordered the 3 cd mandriva 10.1 package Can you give me some step by step procedure on how to install the new mandriva 10.1? Im planning to run it on my laptop ibm thinkpad 380xd 233mz 96mb 10gb hdd(2 partition: 2.1-7.4gb). Will it run? Can you pls teach me what best linux distro to use?. I have learned that mandrake mandriva is the most userfreindly one. I also had searched learned that someone had sucessfully installed redhat 8.0 on the same laptop machine that i have nowPls. Advise . Thanks Edited September 28, 2005 by the_farmer Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
teacher Posted September 27, 2005 Share Posted September 27, 2005 Welcome aboard. Let's start a new thread so we can follow your progress. I will move your post and this over to a new one to make it easy to keep your journey separate. Mandriva is fairly easy to install. I don't know what luck you will have with wireless as I don't know what that particular laptop uses. You find out the best distro to use by following your nose. Try this one and that and see what you like. There are lots out there and you can pick and choose. If you want a quick look at them, I would go with a live CD first.Are you on dial-up or broadband? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
teacher Posted September 27, 2005 Share Posted September 27, 2005 You are in luck. Step by step install insructions are right here. You might want to study and print those in advance. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
réjean Posted September 27, 2005 Share Posted September 27, 2005 Hi the_farmer!I too would like to welcome you and I suggest you follow Julia's judicious advice and play for a week or so with the Live CD. This way you can at least see if it will work on your machine. Then if it does there are a lot of very knowledgeable people around here that will show you how to install it.In the meantime you could go here to learn more. You can skip the first 5 or 6 entries since you've got the Install CD. And now I see that our good Teacher has found you the instructions. How lucky you are. Good luck my friend!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
the_farmer Posted September 27, 2005 Author Share Posted September 27, 2005 (edited) Live Cd? does this mandriva 10.1 package contain one?what is a live cd?bootable?i read the step by step installation, currently i re-partitioned my hdd to (3.2-6.3gb) from (2.1-7.4gb). i am new to that partitioning of / and /home...( for i usually put my ms os at the 1st partition and the 2nd part mostly my files)is /home where the os is?and the / ??? my files?Thanks for the help- i will experiment and will keep you posted Edited September 28, 2005 by the_farmer Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
réjean Posted September 28, 2005 Share Posted September 28, 2005 Hi farmer! is /home where the os is?and the / ??? my files?No I would say it's the opposite. And yes a Live Cd is one that you put into your drive then boot from. I don't know if it came with your package. I doubt since the install takes place on 3 cds. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
the_farmer Posted September 28, 2005 Author Share Posted September 28, 2005 (edited) i'd like to make things clear ms system : linux system=======================c: os : / d: cd dr : same?? e: my files : /home Edited September 28, 2005 by the_farmer Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
the_farmer Posted September 28, 2005 Author Share Posted September 28, 2005 i had read that mandriva had some issues about wifi devices i have with me a redhat 8.0 and i had read that a fellow had sucessfully installed a wifi deviceplanning instead to use redhat 8.0 for nowanother thing,my hdd is using a dynamic drive overlay at (MBR) to correctly read my hdd as a 9.5gb hdd (LBA mode). The redhat 8.0 installation detects some inconsistency.Where should I write? at the 1st sector of drive MBR which the dynamic drive overlay resides or at the 1st root of the 1st sector of the root partitioni really dont want to cause trouble with my dynamic drive overlay in the MBRpls help Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
quint Posted September 28, 2005 Share Posted September 28, 2005 Hi farmer, Perhaps you can install "Grub" on a floppy. HTH. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bruno Posted September 28, 2005 Share Posted September 28, 2005 Hi FarmerWelcome to the forum . . . . :DLet me try to clear a few things up, basically you need 3 partitions: The / partition ( as we call it the root partition ) is where all the programs and config files are stored.The /home partition is where all your personal files are stored.The /swap ( about 500MB is enough ) is used for "swapping"Then RedHat 8.0 and Mandriva:Redhat 8.0 is at least 3 years old and Mandriva is from 2005 so more recent. If your WiFi card would work under RH 8.0 you can be sure it will work under Mandriva too. To my knowledge the IBM thinkpad should be supported.Like Quint already said, if you don't want to use the MBR, you can install the bootloader ( Grub or Lilo ) on floppy and boot from there.When in Windows your drives are named C:, D: and E: . . . in Linux they will be named hda1, hda2 and hda3.Mandriva 10.1 has no Live CD . . . . but with your specs ( 233mz 96mb ) finding a Live CD that is friendly to new users will be hard. So better stick to Mandriva 10.1 ;)I would say: just start the install and see how far you get . . . . . you might supprise yourself :DB) BrunoA little note about the N word: We try to avoid the word ¨newbie¨, it does no justice to the efforts we, also the beginners, put in to learn a new operating system. I think the wish to learn Linux shows a brave attitude and deserves a better qualification. --Bruno Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
the_farmer Posted September 28, 2005 Author Share Posted September 28, 2005 (edited) I have sucessfully installed redhat 8.0 instead! boots ok! its now working!but i want to learn how to make my pcmcia 56k laptop modem work, i can't make it to dial like the dial-up in ms. i tried to update my apps but the whole system crashed! now its back to square onei will quit redhat 8.0 il try madriva 10.1 insteadwill keep you posted Edited September 28, 2005 by the_farmer Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bruno Posted September 28, 2005 Share Posted September 28, 2005 Mandriva 10.1 is a good start . . . . there is a version 10.2 too but the 10.1 is fine. Next month there will be a brand new version called "2006" Bruno Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
the_farmer Posted September 29, 2005 Author Share Posted September 29, 2005 (edited) I run the laptop in ms os again(since redhat crashed down on me) this time i followed the partitioning scheme of linuxc:\3gbe:\6gbf:\300mb (for swap file)if I were to install mandriva 10.1 soon , Will I be able to leave the current partition as is and my files ? I remember redhat 8.0 wiped my hdd clean! Edited September 29, 2005 by the_farmer Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
réjean Posted September 29, 2005 Share Posted September 29, 2005 Hi farmer!I don't know what others do but when I do an install I make sure near the beginning that I choose Custom. Then I just check to make sure the partitions are what I want them to be and then I ok the process ( often without doing any change ). I don't really trust the installers when they ask you if you want to keep the actual partitions. I'm not saying they are not trusthworty just that I want to make sure it is the way I want it to be. I'm not sure what you mean by "my files". Are we to assume that your C drive is where you have some windows installed? Here is what I suggest you do and others will probably back me up on that. There will not be any harm done if you boot in your Mandriva Install CD1 then follow the motion as far as the partitioning step; write down what it says about your actual partitions and report back to us. Once you've got the info you can get out by pressing the reset button.If you had a live CD you could also fetch that info. Remember what Bruno said about partitions in Linux being hda1, hda2, hda3 etc. P.S. Oh! And pay attention to the partition type like someone else spoke about either here or under another topic. Find out if they are FAT or Ext2, Ext3 or Reiserf. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
the_farmer Posted September 29, 2005 Author Share Posted September 29, 2005 mandriva package just arrived!tried to boot from disc 1 ok! installation is like dos mode...is this normal?current partition is different fr what ms winxp had done. Do i need to wipe clean again my hddas much as possible i want to keep it this way Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bruno Posted September 29, 2005 Share Posted September 29, 2005 Hi FarmerI think you get the dos-like installer because you only have 233Mhz 96MB and that is not really much . . . . . therefore I would advice to install and use another desktop manager then KDE or Gnome ( IceWM is a good one ).I would let Mandrake take care of the partitioning, it will probably make use of the same partition scheme as RH did. Bruno Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
the_farmer Posted September 29, 2005 Author Share Posted September 29, 2005 i did complete the installationas i boot it prompt me to enter a localhost login.....then it terminate for 5minis there something ive done wrong? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zlim Posted September 29, 2005 Share Posted September 29, 2005 I have no idea if this is accurate for Mandriva but I was trying to installing PCLos (Mandrake based) and the localhost login was guest with password guest. Try guest and see if it allows you to move on instead of terminate. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bruno Posted September 29, 2005 Share Posted September 29, 2005 Hi FarmerWhat happens if you log in as "root" and then type XFdrake ( case sensitive ) ?? Do you get a tool/wizard to configure the X-server ?? Bruno Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
the_farmer Posted September 29, 2005 Author Share Posted September 29, 2005 (edited) to summarize what happened:during the installation there were errors like linscrub etc. but I skiped some of it and the installation was completed.as I turned on the laptop I can see some BIOS error (was the hdd dynamic drive overlay MBR erased?)before mandriva prompt to start, then the localhost login...i tried root, my log-in name, startx and still cannot proceed.I think i really can't trust putting the bootloader in MBR for thats where the hdd drive overlay resides( drive overlay" laptop to see the full capacity of my hdd" ...e.g my laptop is a Non LBA system and my hdd is a LBA) or to install mandriva directly to boot from the cd-rom, for the drive overlay must be the 1st one to execute its MBR state.this is my observation... correct me if im wrong Edited September 29, 2005 by the_farmer Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bruno Posted September 29, 2005 Share Posted September 29, 2005 Errors during the install are a big big problem ! . . . . . And regarding the bootloader: put it on floppy instead of the MBR then you can use the floppy to boot.Maybe try installing again and if errors keep occurring we will have to look for another mandrake version or even another distro.The problem with the 96 MB RAM you have is that we can not try much "Live"-CDs because they simply will not boot on 96 MB. ( Usually running a few Live CDs will show you what distro is most compatible with your hardware )The only Live Distro you should be able to run is D*** Small Linux ( only 50 MB download ) . . . . it uses fluxbox as desktop manager ( a bit harder then KDE ) but it might be worth to try ( seeing that you can download it yourself )Here is the ISO: ftp://ftp.nluug.nl/pub/os/Linux/distr/dam...ent/dsl-1.5.isoD*** Small Linux should be running pretty fast on that laptop Bruno Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
the_farmer Posted September 30, 2005 Author Share Posted September 30, 2005 (edited) thanks bruno i will try that D*** small one ! at least with it i can try to run it inside windows but i think i will re install redhat again- i can see that the problem arise during installation errors due to my old laptop cdromcan i run linux installation from my hdd instead of the cddrive? Edited September 30, 2005 by the_farmer Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
the_farmer Posted September 30, 2005 Author Share Posted September 30, 2005 bruno, i need you comment on this, the dynamic drive overlay utility for my hdd is the 1st on the MBR.Afterwhich it loads, it will prompt if I want to boot from the diskette (I really don't want to boot directly from the cd-drive, for it will definitely bypass the overlay, and linux will wipe clean even my MBR)my question:is it ok to boot load the overlay 1st, then boot to the diskette using win98se bootdisk, to have the mscdex(cd rom) accessible for me to use linux cd drive installation?correct me if im wrong Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bruno Posted September 30, 2005 Share Posted September 30, 2005 can i run linux installation from my hdd instead of the cddrive? You can with some distros . . . but not with all of them. In the case of D Small this is not possible.is it ok to boot load the overlay 1st, then boot to the diskette using win98se bootdisk, to have the mscdex(cd rom) accessible for me to use linux cd drive installation?Looks a complicated way to boot a CD to me . . . but DDO is new to me . . . I did find some info for you:http://www.linux.com/howtos/Large-Disk-HOWTO-7.shtmlhttp://wdc.custhelp.com/cgi-bin/wdc.cfg/ph...type=search_fnlhttp://www.justlinux.com/forum/showthread....threadid=130628 Bruno Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
the_farmer Posted September 30, 2005 Author Share Posted September 30, 2005 GUESS WHAT!I HAVE MADE IT A SUCCESS!!!!I have done installing a dual boot ! I'm running windows and linux redhat 8.0!(may be mandriva will be next)i did a proper mounting and patitioning and now it work!never did I find any error in my installationTHANKS!though maybe you can help me make the soundcard works hehehe Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bruno Posted September 30, 2005 Share Posted September 30, 2005 Hi FarmerCongrats !!! I am happy you made some progress !The tool to configure sound in RedHat is "redhat-config-soundcard" ( type that in a terminal ) . . . maybe you better check that tool first. Bruno Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
the_farmer Posted September 30, 2005 Author Share Posted September 30, 2005 ok bruno i will try this redhat config souncard thanks!i really dont want to mess the kernel by using ALSA drivers for I read in some system it worked ... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bruno Posted September 30, 2005 Share Posted September 30, 2005 Alsa will already be in the kernel . . . . . but try the "redhat-config-soundcard" ( case sensitive ) first ;) Bruno Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
the_farmer Posted September 30, 2005 Author Share Posted September 30, 2005 that command is similar to : gnome> system setting>soundcard detectionbut still no luck: no soundcard detected Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bruno Posted September 30, 2005 Share Posted September 30, 2005 Hi FarmerTry the command "alsaconf" in a terminal as root . . . so: $ su< password ># alsaconf Please show me the output ( copy and paste from the terminal ) Bruno Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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