Hi I'm an extreme noob at this whole Linux installation.
I have been baffled many times trying to install this.
Please I need your help!!


Here's my problem:

I have two UMBC Linux .iso that I burned on to CDs.
I have made a boot disk that takes me into the first steps of installation. However, the CD will not read in the cd drive.
The disks do work though. I have tried it on two PCs and it also works when I use an external cd-rom with the laptop in windows.
What is the directory that I have to place the files on the CDs in order to install Linux? When I boot up to install, it gives me two choices and no drive data (ex. it does not say c:\....., it has something weird hda/.../....)

PLEASE HELP ME!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I have exhausted all possible means of installing this software!

Welcome to LQ!

It strikes me that you have not burned the CDs correctly. You need to use Nero (or similar) to burn, and make sure that you "Burn CD image". When you view the contents of the CD, you should see a set of directories rather than a single file.

C:\ is DOS terminology - you will not see this at the start of a Linux command prompt. Linux uses a directory structure with a single root, /. /dev/hda is the 1st IDE drive - C: in Windows terms. Type "ls" at the command prompt, and see what you get.

I hope this helps
--Ian

I did burn them as iso and so i have a working disk.
I currently do not have linux, so I would not be able to check the directory.
so, hda is the first harddrive, hda/directory/temp
is that in windows language c:\directory\temp?

Hi and welcome to Linux Questions. I hope that we will be able to help you get started. I'm going to quote parts of your first post and ask for clarification or make a comment. I don't intend to be critial. I am either asking for information or providing information.

Is UMBC the Linux distribution? I've never heard of it. Could you write the full name of the Linux distribution? That would be a big help.

Why do you have two iso files?
Do you mean that the other computers will boot from the installation CD?
If any computer will boot from the installation CD then it must be okay.
What are the two choices?

As IBall said, your disk drives will be listed as /dev/hda or /dev/sda. If the drive already has a partition then it will be either /dev/hda1 or /dev/sda1. Parallel IDE drives are /dev/hd? while SCSI and SATA drives are /dev/sd?.

Please provide as much information as possible when describing what you are doing or what you are seeing.

What an annoying thread title. Ho hum.

What make and model of CDROM drive is it?

Help Me is not a good thread title and it was changed to help you get better responses.

What type of laptop are you trying to install linux on? What are its hardware specifications?

I am unfamilar with UMBC and it is not listed with distrowatch. Can you post a link to the website where you downloaded the ISO files.

linux does not use drive designations like c:, d: etc. Instead all devices are beneath the / (root) directory.

linux IDE devices are:
hda - 1st controller master
hdb - 1st controller slave
hdc - 2nd controller master
hdd - 2nd controller slave
and so on.

Something to get you started:
http://rute.2038bug.com/index.html.gz