Hi I am very new to Linux and I would really like some help. How do I install the GUI for Debian 6.0.4 once I have installed it. After my installation I am looking at a prompt, for lack of a better word, msdos type screen. How do I get it with a GUI. I am totally lost. I installed in from VMware 7.0 and also installed it on a partition on an Aspire One D255E both with 14.0 GB free space. I have no prior knowledge of Linux and the language and terms are all very new to me so if you could please spell out what I am to do or what I probably did or did not do. Thank you for any help.

Ali B

We need a little more information. There are multiple ISO images that can be used to install Debian, could you tell us which one you used? There are also many graphical interfaces available for GNU/Linux systems. You should first login as root and update the package database with the command 'apt-get update' (no quotes). If you can't login as root, or if the installer did not prompt you to set a root password, then something went very wrong during the installation process.

For the graphical interface, there are a lot options available for GNU/Linux, so I can't tell you what a "standard" desktop looks like. However, all nearly all of them rely on Xorg, so you should get that setup first. Also, different desktop environments and window managers have different system requirements. It would help you told us what processor you are using and how much RAM you have.

To find out how much RAM you have, you can run 'cat /proc/meminfo | grep MemTotal' (without quotes). The output will be in Kilobytes, just divide by 1024 to get Megabytes. Anything for 128MB should support a basic window manager. To find information about your processor, your can run 'cat /proc/cpuinfo | grep "model name"'(without the outer quotes). If the clock speed is over 800MHz, your system should be able to support a window manager and a few other things (like a web browser). Most systems should be able to run LXDE, try running 'apt-get install lxde' (you know the drill, no quotes). Let us know what happens, and backup your data before doing anything risky!

I have an intel core i5, with 4GB RAM and using 15 GB free space on a Dell (64bit os). I installed it on VMware to see how it works before I put it on my harddrive laptop. I installed the version from the debian.org version that is in the upper right hand corner. It is called squeezy version or debian 6.0.4. That is all I know. It says it comes with gnome gui from what I have looked up but when I try what I have seen in linuxquestions.org for similar problems at the command prompt it just responds with same command prompt. How do I set up Xorg? I have figured out that to prompt from root I use the command "su" then my password for root (is this correct). From there I am lost again. Dang Linux is hard to learn!!

Thanx for the response. I really want to learn this stuff.

I tried all the commands I can find with apt-.... it just says Reading package lists...Done Building dependency tree Reading state information... Done and for all of them it says E: Unable to locate package ..... whatever it is I was trying to "get".

Okay, something went wrong with the install then. The "32/64-bit PC Network Installer" didn't work for me either. I kept getting a problem where I had no ethernet drivers Got to this part of their site to download one of the larger ISO images: http://www.debian.org/CD/http-ftp/

On that page, you can choose either "stable" or "testing". I recommend going with stable for now. Then you can choose between CD or DVD images. Make sure you match the processor type of the target machine! I am not sure whether the Core i5 is 64-bit. If it is, then amd64 may give you better performance. Otherwise, go with i386. The file you're looking for is CD or DVD #1, named debian-6.0.4-i386-CD(or DVD)-1.iso. That file will contain the installer and all of the standard packages for a typical installation, including the GNOME desktop environment (GUI) with related applications.

Keep in mind that when using GNU/Linux, most of the software you install will come from repositories on the Internet. Also, you will have to adopt a self-help paradigm, many companies still don't provide support for Linux, as it is not a commercial product (and Android doesn't really count).

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i5, and all the other iX chips are 64bit capable. BTW, debian x86 64bit versions use the 'AMD64' naming. It will working with intel CPUs, the AMD part of the name is because AMD got the 1st 64bit x86 extensions out.

With an i5 which is using 'sandy bridge' intergrated video you would probably be better off trying debian 'testing', the' stable' (squeeze) version will probably have bad support for the intergrated intel video chip.

If you do go with debian stable, dont get the gnome version. It uses gnome 2.X which has been discontinued. Learning the ins and outs of gnome 2.X will just make life more difficult if/when you get a newer version, or change distros.

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If you type:

as root then you can easily install the Desktkop Environment.

Start it with (as user, not as root):

I agree with the comments above that Debian Stable may not be the best choice if you have the latest & greatest hardware.

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Thank you everyone. I love the support of this site!! I will look at all the advises here. I think I know what the problem is. I tried to re install the 64bit version of Debian 6.0.4 squeeze again and the previous times I had loaded it I couldn't find a mirror that I could connect to finish the install properly but this time I did find a server that responded (which I had no idea it would) and it uploaded and is still uploading (my internet connection is really slow) the packages and one of them was the GUI interface gnome. So now I'm excited to see it all when it is done. Thanx a lot!! We re-post with my results when I have them. I"m really glad to be on board!! haha!!

Apparently the download of 400MB doesn't include the GUI interface from the Debian.org website and probably is include in the DVD iso files available. I just figured "core" would at least include the GUI, but that was just my own thinking. Thanx a lot everyone still.

I am presently updating or downloading packages on a virtual environment in Oracle Virtual Box. This question probably isn't a Linux question but how can I save the information that I am downloading to my virtual machine after it is done to my hard rive so that after I delete my virtual machine sometime in the future I don't loose the data packages that I uploaded?

'Core' is just the absolute minimal install. It doesnt include a DE/WM (desktop environment/window manager).

To get a desktop environment, you can wait until after install and use tasksel (as posed by snowpine), but that will mean that you have to do more setting up/config changes to go into a graphical desktop environment from boot. Or make sure that you select 'Graphical desktop environment' at the 'software selection' sceen during install, that way the system should boot to a graphical desktop without the user making changes and/or entering commands. You can see that screen here-

http://www.wingfoss.com/system/files...bian6-33_0.png

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