Hi,

Guys I'm totally new with Linux, pl. help.

I installed Debian 3.1 Sarge on one of my old computer Acer Aspire, 128 MBram, 12 GB HD, with Windows 98.

I used Debian-31r8-i386-netinst.iso CD about 108 MB.
Installation was alright. I can login through Grub in both systems.

My problem is, when I login to Debian it stays in the command mode screen, I can't get to the desktop, KDE or Gnome (I think). Did I made any mistake during installation or I'm suppose to install KDE separately? if so, how and where can I get it?

I barely know any linux commands and want to use KDE.

Thank you.

Sam

You may have neglected to select the "Desktop" setup when installing. FYI, sarge is a few versions old, and so you'll have to fiddle around to get any packages for it.

You're probably better off installing this version. It's the current stable version, Lenny 5.0, for older hardware. The default is an XFCE desktop system. If you would rather have LXDE as the desktop, type desktop=lxde at the "boot:" prompt.

KDE or gnome are probably going to be too heavy to function nicely on this old laptop.

I have to agree with pljvaldez the newer version will have better hardware detection, with the amount of ram that you have you will NOT want to try the Graphic installer. Use the text installer and as pljvaldez suggested install XFCE for the window manager. With Sarge you would also have a lot of tweaking to do.

Thanks pljvaldez.

I will try that tonight and let you know how it goes.

Thanks mrrangerman for your response. I will do that.

Sam

Hi Pljvaldez,

I tried the new distro you suggested but the same problem.

Finally I tried new Puppy Linux retro and it's working fine.

Again thank you very much for your help.

Sam