Advice Needed - Preparing for Mandrake

Puck · 21-02-2003 2:18am #1

Hello,

I've decided to try Linux. To be more specific I plan to purchase Mandrake Linux 9.0 PowerPack Edition to get me started, I hear it's the best for newbies to Linux like me.

When I do get Mandrake I'll be installing it on a partition on my hard drive and using it on the same PC as Widows XP Home Edition.

Before I get this though I would like to prepare for it, i.e. get my PC ready for the installation.
I was thinking maybe I should just create an unformatted partition on my hard drive (I was thinking something like 10 GB).
All the formatting, etc. will be taken care of as part of the installation, right? (Sorry that might sound like a stupid question but I try not to make too many assumptions when approaching something new and I don't want to mess this up.)

Is there anything else you guys can recommend I do before I install? I'd like the installation to go as smoothly as possible

Thanks.

longword · 21-02-2003 3:36am

Don't bother creating the partition. Leave the space empty, the installer will prefer that. It can be helpful to make a note of all your hardware, maybe any relevant network addresses. Beyond that, just dive in. Don't be afraid to abandon an install and give it another go if you think you've screwed something up.

theciscokid · 21-02-2003 3:37am

Power pack? you mean all 7 cd's..

feck that, ver. 9 was on the last cover of linux format i think, check easons,

i'll give you red hat 8 if you want , 3 cd's out of the full 5

or ask one of the nice chaps here at www.linux.ie

i used patition magic 8 and left it for the install as you mentioned above

10 gb is sufficient i'd say, depends how much stuff you're going to download, but you can easily resize it later if you want

Puck · 21-02-2003 9:41pm

Thanks for the offer but I've decided to go with Mandrake. I will keep an eye out for the free copy you mentioned though.

Did you have any problems when you installed?

theciscokid · 22-02-2003 11:53am

there was one hiccup i encountered, so i reinstalled after re-formatting the partition..

i dare not say it for fear of severe verbal abuse

you should be okay

Puck · 22-02-2003 7:00pm

So if I just leave the partition unformatted and let the install program do the formatting I should be fine?

I'm also thinking about just buying a new hard drive and installing it on that (I need the space anyway). Can anyone see any potential problems if I do this?

Thanks.

longword · 22-02-2003 7:52pm

Originally posted by Puck
So if I just leave the partition unformatted and let the install program do the formatting I should be fine?

Yup. So long as you don't close your eyes and let the thing wipe out your other partitions. I'm not familiar with the Mandrake installer, but RedHat's gives you the option of autopartitioning free space, or autopartitioning the whole lot destroying what was there before.

I'm also thinking about just buying a new hard drive and installing it on that (I need the space anyway). Can anyone see any potential problems if I do this?

That's fine too, though it's usually a Good Idea to keep a small /boot partition on your primary hard disk. Makes life a bit easier for the boot loader.

Pimp Ninja · 25-02-2003 7:24pm

Originally posted by longword
I'm not familiar with the Mandrake installer, but RedHat's gives you the option of autopartitioning free space, or autopartitioning the whole lot destroying what was there before.

Did this meself today, just to confirm...

The autopartition option in the Mandrake installer will partition free (as in unallocated) space into a suitable setup for your install. It gives you 3 or 4 options as to what way to set it up:
/ ; /swap ; /home
/ ; /swap ; /usr
and two others that I cant quite remember. I went with the first one there myself.

And there is another option to remove existing partitions deleting whatever is already on them.

Puck · 26-02-2003 1:04pm

I'm getting the HDD today, installing it as

but leaving the whole thing unformatted so Mandrake can do the formatting and have the whole drive to itself. Mandrake's in the post so it should be here by the end of the week. I'll let ye know how I get on.

Questions:
Now forgive a newbie if I get some of the terminology wrong or say something completely stupid but... as mentioned above, instead of a new partition for Mandrake I'm getting another HDD.

Here's the questions:

Given the setup mentioned above (i.e. entire new hard-drive used for Mandrake instead of a partition) where should I install LILO to allow for dual booting, on C: or ?
What will be listed as under Mandrake, hda or hdb?

Dun · 26-02-2003 7:12pm

Originally posted by Puck

Given the setup mentioned above (i.e. entire new hard-drive used for Mandrake instead of a partition) where should I install LILO to allow for dual booting, on C: or ?

hda / C:

Originally posted by Puck

What will be listed as under Mandrake, hda or hdb?

As long as it's the slave device to hda, it will be hdb.

Puck · 26-02-2003 7:27pm

Originally posted by dun_do_bheal
hda / C:

Will I have to partition C: to do this?

parasite · 26-02-2003 7:28pm

xp doesn't seem to like dual booting, i had two disks c=Xp and f=redhat, put the boot loader on the c mbr thang, and on bootup it showed the grub osloader 'page' and only redhat was there

parasite · 26-02-2003 7:29pm

Originally posted by Puck
Will I have to partition C: to do this?

no

i know that for sure, but google first for issues dualbooting xp and mandrake

Puck · 26-02-2003 7:55pm

Ah feel much better about it now. Talked to my local Linux expert and I think everything's going to be grand.

Basically what I gathered from talking to him was that the new drive should pose no problems, let Mandrake format it and install LILO on the old XP drive as long as XP isn't using NTFS, if it is reinstall XP using FAT and not NTFS.

One (potential) problem is that my PC coughed, spluttered and died recently so I had to reinstall XP and I can't remember if I used NTFS or FAT.:o

parasite · 26-02-2003 8:01pm

yeah mine was ntfs
ntfs is evil

Dun · 26-02-2003 8:16pm

LILO's installed in the MBR so it shouldn't matter what the disk's format type is, and it doesn't matter what way it's partitioned or not. I don't see why you'd have to reinstall XP - I had Windows 2000 setup with NTFS partitions and had no problems installing LILO on the MBR and dual-booting. Even if it doesn't recognise the version of Windows, it will recognise there is an NT OS installed. For security reasons I far rather NTFS - it's nice knowing someone with a Win9X boot disk can't get in, and also I like to keep other people outta my stuff

Unlike Mandrake 8, version 9 recognises ntfs partitions on setup as Windows partitions, so you can set them to mount automatically.

I'm not sure if you are able to write to ntfs partitions yet though.

Puck · 26-02-2003 10:22pm

Originally posted by dun_do_bheal
Unlike Mandrake 8, version 9 recognises ntfs partitions on setup as Windows partitions, so you can set them to mount automatically.

Really? Good job I checked in here so, I was just about to reinstall.
What Linux are you using?

---- EDIT ----

It seems Mandrake 9.1 is the only version that can work with NTFS and that's still a beta.

Dun · 27-02-2003 9:58am

I'm about to upgrade from Mandrake 8.2 to 9.1, when I can be bothered

NTFS support has been round for ages in read-only form, but it was never implemented automatically in Mandrake until 9.1.

Puck · 03-03-2003 9:34pm

Well it arrived in the post today. It installed pretty easy but at times I felt it was going a bit "WinXp" i.e. trying to make things a little too easy by doing stuff without asking or skipping parts (like making a boot disk for example, I had to go back and make it go through that stage of the install again). And I never heard mention of swap space or a lot of other things I was advised on. It was almost too easy, but then I'm naturally suspicious of most things.

Anyway I'm pretty satisfied with it. Of course I still don't have a clue but that'll sort itself out soon enough. One minor niggle though is that it didn't install my modem although of all the things it would have problems with I'd say the modem was most likely, XP even had problems with it.

So I'm off now to find out how to install my modem and connect to the internet... well maybe a little later... I'm pretty tired.

Thanks for all the advice guys. Ye've been really helpful and not once was I made fun of or flamed for worrying over nothing.:D

Dun · 04-03-2003 7:54pm

If you have a Conexant HCF modem, there are drivers available, and I can give you a run through on installing them. If you have a Dell computer, then there is a good chance you have one of those modems.

Have a look at the modem properties in the device manager under Windows and if you see the term HCF then there you go.

There is an unfortunate case of made-for-windows modems that have become popular. These use processor power to perform certain modem functions to save on additional hardware. This means that they are not 'true' modems, and so are designated winmodems.

Have a look at http://www.linmodems.org/ for more information.

Puck · 04-03-2003 9:41pm

Yeah it appears to be a winmodem. It's a Motorola SM56 PCI to be specific. Looked it up on www.linmodems.org, it says it has a winmodem chipset a linmodem driver is available.

Advice Needed - Preparing for Mandrake

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