Installing Linux On My Pc

So I'm planning to install a Linux on my Dell, and I feel I need a little help before doing so.

1) Do I need to delete everything I have when creating a partition for Linux?

2) Will the drive be unreadable by Windows once it is in the Linux format (donno what its called)?

3) Will my bootup be messed up?

4) Will there be problems when I un-partition my drive?

5) Will there be any problems with display and sound drivers?

6) how big should the partition be?

7) Anything else you think I am missing that could be of importance..

please help!

#24158

Wow, you asked a mouthful. Its great to hear your "switching".

1. It depends. If your using XP w/ NTFS, you CAN resize it non destructively with Mandrake, or Partition Magic. If your running a FAT32 file system, you can resize it with almost any distro. Just make sure you scan disk and defrag,and backup.

2. You can have many partitions. There are a lot of different File Systems for Linux (just like Windows). They 2 most popular are EXT3 and REISERFS. Unfortunatly, neither of these is readable by Windows. It will just show up as an unknown parition. On the other hand, Linux can read/write to FAT32 and read NTFS.

3. Maybe, maybe not. Your MBR (master boot record) CAN be written to, though its not necessary. Linux needs to use LILO (linux loader) to boot from. So you CAN install LILO to a floppy, but most likely, it wont work. You should install LILO to your MBR. Dont worry, LILO allows you to boot any of your Operating Systems,including Windows.

4. Un Parition? If you resize your windows partition, you CAN lose data. So backup is essential. But resizing is relativly safe, if you do it right.

5. Im not sure. I know the Linux Kernel has special modules for Dell Laptops, but I couldnt tell you exactly. Try searching your Laptop model and LINUX in Google and Google Groups.

6. You should make THEM as big as possible. You should definitly have multiple partitions (in ANY OS). You HAVE TO make at least 2 though. One Swap partition, and a "/" partition. You can also specify /usr , /etc, /lib, /tmp to different partitions. Unlike Windows, everything in Linux is a folder (no C:,D: drive,etc). I can explain what each of these folders do later.

7. You have to choose a distro. If this is your first Linux experience, try Mandrake or Red Hat. If you really want to learn UNIX, Slackware might be a better choice (its my favorite distro as well).

Be prepared to read Manuals and have problems, but thats the fun of UNIX.

Use this to motivate you: OS X is based off of UNIX (bsd in particular),and BSD and Linux share 90% of the same commands, and underpinnings are almost identical to Linux, (including those folders, /usr /var), so learning Linux will really help you control OS X much better.

Also, make sure your internet will be able to run in Linux (if you use broadband, or your Dialup uses PPP, you should be fine). Linux updates/dependancies can be completly automatic (much more than any OS), but only if you have internet.

You might also want to consider learning BSD instead than(or with) Linux. Since its the underpinnings of OS X, it would be nice to learn. BSD uses PORTS. Its a wonderful thing. Its a big repository of software (10,000), that will automatically download, download dependancies, and install, with only one command. But to run BSD well, an internet connection is an essential.

#24162

Well I'm not a Linux specialist but I can hel you out with some answers:

2. Yes, the linux partitions are unvisible to Windows. I think that there is a program to see Linux partitions under Windows, but I can't remember it.

3. You'll boot drive will be changed in order to boot linux properly. This doesn't mean that you will lost the ability to boot up other OS's. My brother has Windows 98, Windows XP and Linux installed in the same PC. He installed Win 98 first in the primary partiton, then Windows XP in D: and then Linux in another one. When he starts his PC, the linux loader boot up the PC, and you can choose among boot up with linux or DOS. If you choose to boot with DOS, the you see another screen asking you to choose among Win98 and XP.

5. That depends of the kind of hardware you own. Commonly the oldest and cheapest hardware doesn't offer Linux support, but it is variable. If your'e a Nvidia/ATI owner, then you won't have any kind of problem. If you're using a SoundBlaster sound card, you're lucky too because they performs very well.

6. It is depending of the kind of Linux installation you're planning to do (Server, Workstation, Customized, etc.) In a broad way, a partition with at least 4/5 GB should to be enough for any kind of installation.

7. Backup all your data before to start to install Linux!!!!

#24164

Actually, the older the hardware, the better the chance its supported. Remember, The newest Linux kernel can still run on 386s. Its the brand new hardware (9800Pro) thats having trouble.

#24166

Yes you're right contrasutra

#24168

Originally posted by Iceman@May 3 2003, 09:59 PM

Yes you're right contrasutra

GASP!! Iceman!!

#24171

Yeah, Iceman has joined us once again. Maybe an updated Visual Style is on the way.

I bet Iceman got a job. That seems to be people's big reason for abandoning us lazy saps.

#24172

How about if I install Linux on Virtual PC? Do I still have to create a partition etc..? FYI, I installed XP on VPC on my mac, and I didn't have to create a new partition. Thought that info might help...

#24174

Virtual PC does nothing to your real harddrive as it creates an Image file acting as a harddrive file.. when in the linux install say mandrake 9.1 for instance.. you can tell it to do it automatically.. meaning the image file gets set up right without having to do it your self

the image file only increases as the more you put in it. also Speed in virtual PC is slow.. i dont recomendd using an OS fully in virtual PC or any emulation

Constra basicaly answered everything so no need for me to repear what he said Im always happy to see new people trying to install Linux...

-bolero

#24180

If is laptops that ur trying to get linux into Try these two groups Linux on Laptops and Yahoo linux-dell-laptops

about 4 years ago when I had my first laptop I use to go to these 2 groups and found them very helpful.

to see ur partition or get some files from Ur linux in ext 2 to Winblows XP try explore2fs

#24189

ok, now I am pissed.

I can't find a single host to download from. I tried mandrake and slackware. I kept the download actuve all night long, and in the morning it just cancelled. <_<..

Also, can you tell me whats the easist Linux for beginners? And where can I get it?

#24239

taha, i have something for you:

www.linuxiso.org

just incase you havent already heard of it

#24242

Damn... do I have to download all three cd's...?

#24243

You dont have to, but you'll want to. Try Red Hat and Mandrake if you want to put your foot in gently.

Try using DOWNLOAD ACCELERATOR PLUS. It allows you to have multiple connections, and it allows you to resume broken downloads. Thats very useful for Dialup people like me. Just make sure you hit RESUME when trying the resume downloads, and dont just double click. I had to learn that the hard way.

The reason there are so many discs, is because most Linux software is freely distributable. So you get LOADS of extra programs to install. Office Suites, Games, Media. Everything. In Windows, you get MS PAINT!

#24251

Taha,

if you are new to linux go for RedHat 9 or the latest version of SuSe, as contrasura said if you want a more real UNIX feeling once you get used to linux go for slackware.

There are no problems with booting linux from a floppy, I've done it many times your MBR doesn't change the only inconveninece is that if you want to boot to linux you need to put the boot floppy there... and don't lose it

#24253

Originally posted by contrasutra@May 4 2003, 10:36 AM

You dont have to, but you'll want to.  Try Red Hat and Mandrake if you want to put your foot in gently.

Try using DOWNLOAD ACCELERATOR PLUS. It allows you to have multiple connections, and it allows you to resume broken downloads. Thats very useful for Dialup people like me. Just make sure you hit RESUME when trying the resume downloads, and dont just double click. I had to learn that the hard way. 

The reason there are so many discs, is because most Linux software is freely distributable. So you get LOADS of extra programs to install. Office Suites, Games, Media. Everything. In Windows, you get MS PAINT!

wha..? then what are the two other cd's for? Is the actual OS installer only on cd1? Then I dont NEED cd2 and cd3 ... damn, I've downloaded about 5-7GB worth of incomplete Linuxes..

So, final word: I dont need to download cd2 and cd3?

#24254

Final word: If you don't mind compiling 50 or 60 programs by hand,not being able to get your kernel source (very important) and are comfortable with a system w/o programs, by all means, dont download cd2 and 3.

try cheapbytes.com They sell all the distros for like $5.00. If you don't want to spend the time downloading.

Oh and about booting from a floppy. You have to have the whole kernel on the floppy. And when I recompile my kernel, I like to leave the generic kernel there for backup, and 2 kernels wont fit on a floppy. Plus, I don't know how big the RH/Mandrake/Suse kernels are. Its a tight squeeze. What you can do is just make the LILO image, and then burn it to a CD,and make it bootable, that would be a little harder though.

#24255

well I guess its good bye Linux for me

Damn... I really wanted to give it a try, but it just doesn't work for me. I have tried at least 5-6 times to download it. It just gets to the very end and then restarts. Yes, I am using DAP.

Oh well.. I still have OS X

#24257

why not use Getright or somthing to download the ISO's... if it keeps restarting on you.. you can pause continue the download when ever.. so if it does cut out get right will get the connection and continue on where it cut out...

-bolero

#24262

Taha, where are you trying to download the iso's?

When I downloaded Red Hat 8, I got it from the red hat ftp, so, surf to the distro site (i.e. www.redhat.com) and get the iso's there. Some sites like www.linux-iso.org and similar doesn't work always.

About which cd's to download: get the installation ones, with Red Hat 8 I downloaded cds 1, 2 and 3, the rest of them where documentation, sources codes, etc, I think that is the same with Mandrake.

hope it helped.

see ya

#24264

C'mon lazy man. I download all the new distros, and on dialup, and I never have problems. It must be you.

Try this: almostfreelinux.com They sell RH9 for like $6 + $2 shipping. And it ships in like 2-5 days. Sounds like a good deal to me.

#24267

Originally posted by contrasutra@May 4 2003, 05:26 PM

C'mon lazy man. I download all the new distros, and on dialup, and I never have problems. It must be you. 

Try this: almostfreelinux.com They sell RH9 for like $6 + $2 shipping. And it ships in like 2-5 days. Sounds like a good deal to me.

I think that I wouldn't pay for linux, I mean, it's a great OS, but it's free!!

see ya

#24268

Well, your paying for the time, not for the product. I mean, Linux is obviously worth more than $2. If you have dialup, its a nice alternative. I, on the other hand, am a loser, so I dont mind tying up my internet for a week downloadig.

#24274

yes, what i do , is i have my linux set to boot from a floppy disk.

to do this, make sure when you are installing your linux (i used RH9) to uncheck the box saying install a bootloader. and when the install is done, it will ask to make a boot floppy, once you make it, try not to lose it

woah, didnt see a whole other page here. lol. this is in reply to how you dont overwrite your mbr lol

#24282

Originally posted by contrasutra@May 4 2003, 05:43 PM

Well, your paying for the time, not for the product. I mean, Linux is obviously worth more than $2. If you have dialup, its a nice alternative. I, on the other hand, am a loser, so I dont mind tying up my internet for a week downloadig.

right, you convince me, it's an option

see ya

#24289