Advice on first time installation

[Prelude76]

I just checked and my SuSE 8.2 Pro came in today. gonna try to load it tonite. ok, first Hard Drive, 60GB, has Win98 on first partition, and Data on second (nearly full) second Hard Drive, 20GB, has WinXP on first partition, and have second free partition (about 12 GB)question 1: can linux load on something other than first partition? ( I want to load it on the 12GB of free partition on second drive)question 2: which is better? ext2 or ext3? i heard ext3 has journaling of files. would that be a performance hit?question 3: i heard people mention linux swap drive. do i need a seperate partition, and if so, how big? (i have 512 ram, FYI). question 4: Lilo or Grub?thanx, wish me luck

[GolfProRM]

question 1:  can linux load on something other than first partition? ( I want to load it on the 12GB of free partition on second drive)

Yes you can do that with no problem... You can install it on any partition on any drive

question 2:  which is better?  ext2 or ext3?  i heard ext3 has journaling of files.  would that be a performance hit?

I'm using ext3 on my install with no problems... don't know the exact performance issues, but haven't had any problems with mine.

question 3:  i heard people mention linux swap drive.  do i need a seperate partition, and if so, how big? (i have 512 ram, FYI). 

When you setup SuSE, it will allow you to split up your free partition into whatever chunks you want to. I'd recommend about a 500Mb swap partition... you've got plenty of space, so shouldn't be an issue... I'd also recommend looking at some of the other threads to see how the best way to setup your partitions would be... Setting up a /etc partition as well as your / and /home would be nice... you also may want a /backup one too... I'll see if I can find the exact thread here in a bit...

question 4:  Lilo or Grub?

I've used LILO with no problems... I'd say it's kind of like the desktop question... it's all a matter of personal preference.. :)Good luck!

[GolfProRM]

PARTITIONSThere have been several questions in other threads about partitions. LilBambi gave some good suggestions, let me try to make an overview:For the current situation on your HD:< df -h > ( partitions their sizes and space usage )Do note down on what hda? lives what partition, this might come in handy at re-install, repartition and crash recovery.Everything in one partition is not a good idea, at least you should have a separate /home partition and give it space enough to grow. The clever thing about a /home partition is that when you do a re-install or upgrade you can leave it as it is, saving all your personal settings, mail, addressbook etc.The minimum number of partitions and their size are ( if you have 5G to spare and full install of modern distro ) :2 G for /2+ G for the /home partition500 MB for the /swap ( more swap is waste )( Sure you can do with a lot less, some distro's are happy with -500MB and still have X )A more comfortable partition table is: ( 10G to spare )1 G for /3 G for /usr (most of the extra programs you install will live here )5+ G for /home500 MB for /swapA "deluxe" partition table is: ( 15+ to spare )500 MB for /3 G for /usr20 MB for /boot ( for a few extra kernels to boot from )500 MB for /var ( a lot of writing is done in the /var/log's )500 MB for /swap7+ G for /home7+ G for /backup ( storage )Any extra space could be added to /home and /backup.BrunoThanks to LilBambi

Thought it'd be easier to copy it here than link to it :DPrelude... make sure you read through the Linux Tips for Starters thread... this will give you a TON of help!

[Prelude76]

thanx, that patition size info was real handy. gonna go by them.already read most of the linux starter tips, they were good too.oh, one more question: when SuSE 8.3 comes out, does it upgrade thru internet or I have to reload CDs?

[Bruno]

Prelude76:Ryan gave you all the right answers, I have nothing to add !! Makes my job easy !Recap: second partition of second HD = YESext3 = bestLilo = YES in MBR !!! ( it will show your windows versions to boot in too ! )Swap is made automaticly, do not make more than 500MB !Thanks to Ryan for stepping in while I was preparing dinner ! Bruno

[GolfProRM]

I don't know about the SuSE upgrade from 8.2 - 8.3... Don't run SuSE myself (yet! )... Once I get my parents' old computer (PII 300Mhz), then I'll really have some Linux fun! Probably will give SuSE a try then... Will have to have one of our resident Linux "gurus" answer the upgrade question...

[Bruno]

oh, one more question:  when SuSE 8.3 comes out, does it upgrade thru internet or I have to reload CDs?

Prelude76:You´ll have to reload the CD´s but leave your /home partition as it is, that way all your personal settings will be saved and transported to the new version. As time comes, do ask the question again and I´ll give you a more precise answer ! ( upgrading is no good idea, wiping all but one partitions completely and only leaving your /home as it is, is the best advice I can give ! )Don´t worry to much about that now, first get this version on your HD2 ! Good luck and have fun ! Bruno

[Prelude76]

ok, i'm all set... thanks ryan and brunonow i just have to wait til 4pm.. tick tock tick tocki guess since SuSE 8.2 just came out, i shouldnt worry about upgrades, but i heard Linux kernel 2.6 is nearing completion and it will rock

[Bruno]

Prelude76:Another good tip, just to be safe: be sure you have bootdisks for both your windows versions before you start !!!( I hear XP can´t make bootdisks, go to bootdisk.com, they have got a program that lets you make one ! ) Bruno

[Peachy]

( I hear XP can´t make bootdisks, go to bootdisk.com, they have got a program that lets you make one ! )   Bruno

Get your Windows XP Professional Bootdisk maker right here! You can use these disks to get into the Recovery Console to fix your XP partition if it gets trashed.

[Bruno]

I have to bookmark that one Peachy, loads of people run into trouble with XP. ( with or without installing Linux ) Bruno

[GolfProRM]

To go along with the bootdisks... If your computer can boot from a CD, you can use that too with the WinXP CD... I don't mess with floppies any more than I have to, so I prefer this method! :DOf course I still have a copy of the bootdisks... can never be too careful! I just don't use them.

[Guest LilBambi]

Also, don't be afraid to reinstall if you don't like how you initially decided to break it out, or for any other reason. Nothing is carved in stone.Lastly, have fun!

[Agent007]

question 4:  Lilo or Grub?

Grub is a better looking bootloader...Apart from that, it's more powerful and unlike LILO u don't have to reinstall GRUB everytime after making changes to the config file.happy computing!rgds,007

[Prelude76]

Mission was a Success! Suse Linux is now on my system. I was a bit scared, coz of some installations i heard of on the net about Linux in general, but it was so easy, it prevents you from touching your windows partitions so it was safe. and setting custom partition was easy, even for someone like me who didnt know anything about hda1, hdb5, etc... theres a panel on the left during all parts of install that give good help advice and explain it all, and now i know all about hda1, hdb5, and all. I had to do a custom partitioning because it didnt split the partition to how was recommend in this forum. but SuSE defaults to Reiser v3.6 instead of ext3, so i googled Reiser vs ext3, and its a toss up, so i went with the default of Reiser (is that ok?)then it found all my hardware properly, except for network card, but i just added it from list, then setup DSL connection and it connected to internet on first try and i downloaded all updates since v8.2. I used default GUI settings of install, and it took just 2 CDS ( i have 5 CDs in total plus a DVD with extras on it.. it will take me weeks to install all I want )the install was flawless, easy to follow, loaded Grub boot loader by default (i like it, it handles multi-boot to Windows perfectly), and while the CDs where copying, i thought it was nice how SuSE had screenshots of various applications and a bit of info what they are for.so everything is running perfect, multi-boot Grub works great, and im running the default KDE 3.1 interface. very slick design, well placed icons both on desktop and menu. it was late and didnt have too much time to fiddle around with it all, but theres 2 things i need help with:1. Nvidia driver: SuSE directs me to Nvdia website. latest Nvdidia Linux driver says if using SuSE 8.1 or less, to use Suse's driver. and if i'm going to use Nvidia's driver, i MUST have XFREE v4.0.1 at least. how do i find out which version of XFree i have on the default installation?2. SuSE mounted my Linux partitions (of course) as well as DVDR, CDRW and floppy disks. but its not mounting my Fat32 Windows partitions. How do i mount these so i can get to my data? Thanks Ryan, Bruno and 007 for all the help. It was a good smooth install, easier than Windows XP.

[Prelude76]

oh, one more thing. During install, it didnt find my modem. I went to add it from list, and then it asks me for provider ISP and number to dial and wont continue without those questions answered. I dont want to use Modem for ISP, just for faxing. How do i get around that?

[Bruno]

Prelude76:Congrats with the successful install ! :)Really great that everything went so smooth.About your questions:1.) ReiserFS is 100% O.K. !2.) Two CD´s is the install the rest is extra software ( sometimes commercial, but you´ve paid for the lot when you bought the pack. )3.) For the version of your XFree: type in a console < XFree --version >4.) Mounting your windows partitions, see what hdaX or hdbX ( X for the number ) they are on, and do as root ( < su > : mount < /dev/hdaX > and then < mount /mnt/hdaX >5.) As for your modem: I think you will have a problem getting ADSL and your modem working at the same time ! Is there no fax program integrated in your SuSe ? Otherwise try setting up your modem with kppp ( in the menu under networking )Glad you like SuSe, you must be a happy man now ! ;) Bruno

[Bruno]

Prelude76:UPDATE: I see that XFree --version won´t work ! ( works for other installed programs though ) But reading your post again, your talking about the Nvidia drivers . . . that can be a real pain installing if you´re new to Linux ! Better use the generic drivers you´ve got installed right now till you know your way around. Only if your´re a heavy gamer the Nvidia drivers become interesting ! Bruno

[Prelude76]

bruno:thanks for the help. now about the mounting, will it always mount on startup (i guess auto-mount?)and i'm gonna cross my fingers and try to load NVidia drivers. the default drivers in SuSE dont have 3D acceleration, and its very noticeable moving around the desktop

[Bruno]

bruno:thanks for the help.  now about the mounting, will it always mount on startup (i guess auto-mount?)and i'm gonna cross my fingers and try to load NVidia drivers.  the default drivers in SuSE dont have 3D acceleration, and its very noticeable moving around the desktop

Prelude76:Glad to help, you´re welcome !Usualy once mounted to /mnt/hdaX it will stay that way. If not come back to me.The Nvidia drivers: do read the doc´s and README´s twice or three times BEFORE installing ! The dificult part is in the adaptation of the ¨/etc/X11/XF86Config-4¨ config file ! You have to do that with the ¨Vi-editor¨ first try to get acustomed with ¨Vi¨ before attacking that config file !To get an idea how it is done in Mandrake there is a good tutorial at : http://icculus.org/~dolson/mdkxp/?c=ttrls/nvidianew , the handling of the config would be about the same !Well, you can always just re-install SuSe if things go really wrong Bruno

[Bruno]

Prelude76: aren´t the Nvidia drivers on the extra CD´s you´ve got ? Installing them with a native package manager might save you a lot of troubles. Bruno

[Prelude76]

ok, i'll look on the CDs for the Nvidia driver first.apart from that, its all good. gonna try out tonite to see how SuSE handles my Nikon Digital Camera via USB plug, and my Epson printer.

[Bruno]

HAVE FUN ! ! Bruno

[Peachy]

and i'm gonna cross my fingers and try to load NVidia drivers.  the default drivers in SuSE dont have 3D acceleration, and its very noticeable moving around the desktop

Prelude,Try this install from NVIDIA for the driver scriptI had no trouble installing the accelerated X drivers for Red Hat 9 using this script.

[zox]

he he, I am glad we have another Suse user.Congrats on your install!I, myself installed Suse 8.2 Pro and still am learning how stuff works.I might be able to help you with couple of things, but I am not very experienced and as I said, still am in learning phase.For your question about Reiser, that was one of the stronger points of Linux world. RaiserFS is cool and it can handle much better piles of files then other FS.Try putting 100.000 files in Windows folder or any other file system folder, good luck.RaiserFS have been designed from ground up to handle huge amount of data and very fast, thanks to completly new algorithms.New version 4 is coming out in on June 30, another reason to upgrade :DFor your first question about Nvidia driver, you can just go into your YASt2 "Add/remove software" and pick your driver, it will prompt you for CD and off you go, full 3D support.I have ATI Radeon 8500 and I found "experimental" 3D drivers on Suse installation, but they work fine so far.I wouldn't know if Nvidia driver is any good but it should be since it is fully supported, not like ATI one.For your second question about mounted disks, I did not have any problems wit my windows mounts, and they are all NTFS.I did couple of installations of Suse 8.2 on different PC's and always by default Suse recognized and mounted my windows disks on desktop for easy access.If for some unknown reason didn't do it on desktop, there is still chance they are mounted.Check your folder called Windows, that's where my windows disks got mounted by default, and not in /mnt as with other distros.I guess it's a Suse thing.Your XFREE is version 4.3.0 for sure as that is the one of the main reasons for me to upgrade to this version.RH9, Mandrake 9.1 and Suse 8.2 comes with XFREE 4.3.0 and KDE 3.1 (two big reasons to upgrade) as XFREE 4.3.0 has drivers and 3D drivers for my Radeon 8500, native font antialiasing, etc...Good luck and have fun, I'll be here if you need something and I know response, but don't expect from me as much as from Bruno or Peachy as I am still newbie in Linux world

[Guest LilBambi]

Prelude76:UPDATE: I see that XFree --version won´t work ! ( works for other installed programs though ) But reading your post again, your talking about the Nvidia drivers . . . that can be a real pain installing if you´re new to Linux ! Better use the generic drivers you´ve got installed right now till you know your way around. Only if your´re a heavy gamer the Nvidia drivers become interesting !   Bruno

Prelude76 --Congrats! You done great!Bruno --Great advice!For XFree version, you might want to try:XFree86 --versionThat works in RedHat 7.2

[Prelude76]

For your first question about Nvidia driver, you can just go into your YASt2 "Add/remove software" and pick your driver, it will prompt you for CD and off you go, full 3D support.Check your folder called Windows, that's where my windows disks got mounted by default, and not in /mnt as with other distros.I guess it's a Suse thing.

that YaST2 is really something, eh? add/remove programs, then automatically check all dependencies. see, we need more distros like SuSE to get all XP people converted to Linux. I'm gonna see how far I can go just by sticking to the GUI interface, and not command line codes (though I have all of Bruno's tips saved, just in case )and i'll check to see if there is a windows folder with my drives in there. it found the partition during setup, so it mustve known they exist I just didnt see them on the desktop and didnt see a Windows Explorere icon so i got lost for a sec. then again it was quite late, and i was half-watching temptation island australia on tv. (those chickees on that show are so hot that even SuSE couldnt drive me away )but for anyone scared to try out linux, follow my lead. short of tinkering with partitions during setup, it was "Next", "Next", "Next", "FINISH" and insert CD1, CD2, DONE. and now its all there, my Windows is still active and healthy, and i have a full linux with a bazillions applications on 5 CDs for me to tinker with.

[Bruno]

but for anyone scared to try out linux, follow my lead.  short of tinkering with partitions during setup, it was "Next", "Next", "Next", "FINISH" and insert CD1, CD2, DONE.  and now its all there, my Windows is still active and healthy, and i have a full linux with a bazillions applications on 5 CDs for me to tinker with.

Welcome to the real world Prelude76 !For your win partitions check ( with your GUI à la windows ) /mnt/win_c, the directory ¨/mnt¨ is in your ¨/ ¨ tree, in the /mnt directory you´ll find /cdrom, /cdrom2, /floppy and your /win_c !It´s a real joy to see a happy new Linux ( GNU/Linux ) geek ! BrunoPS: Peachy nice new avatar !

[bjf123]

but for anyone scared to try out linux, follow my lead.  short of tinkering with partitions during setup, it was "Next", "Next", "Next", "FINISH" and insert CD1, CD2, DONE.  and now its all there, my Windows is still active and healthy, and i have a full linux with a bazillions applications on 5 CDs for me to tinker with.

Glad to hear it. I'm stopping at CompUSA on the way home tonight to pick up SuSE 8.2. My wife's out of town, so I figure I've got a few days to dedicate to the project. I hope my install goes as smoothly as yours!

[zox]

that YaST2 is really something, eh? add/remove programs, then automatically check all dependencies. see, we need more distros like SuSE to get all XP people converted to Linux. I'm gonna see how far I can go just by sticking to the GUI interface, and not command line codes (though I have all of Bruno's tips saved, just in case  )

Well, command line is powerfull way and "right" way to do things in Linus, however, my goal is similar to yours, to run Linux with GUI as far as I can go. I think it is getting there, bunch of stuff to learn and KDE seems pretty poerfull. I am after all Windows user and am trying to find easy way around always :)I found great site for learning KDE and visual stuff on Linux:http://www.trylinuxsd.com/I found that site through Bruno's signature and Yolinux portal.