Having trouble downloading Debian
 

Dose anyone know an easy way to download Debian from the Internet

I went to Debian s website and choose the Sarge option,then downloaded the ISO image that said !386, I was told not to download the entire row because id be able to apt get what ever else was need once Debian was installed.

I burnt the ISO that said !386 to CD then inserted the CD into the drive then proceeded with the installation process, filled out all the info etc a message appeared welcoming me to my new desktop then asked me to enter the user name as password that I created during the install process, when I did nothing happened, all I got was a black screen

Should I have downloaded the entire row

Is there some type of file sharing program thats needed to download Debian from the Internet

I don't know what could have possibly went wrong

Would it be possible to download Debian from the section located at distrowatch

I have a feeling that the reason why Debian didn't install with sarge was because, maybe.. I needed some sort of FS type program to make it work I don't know what else to do

Any suggestions on how to download Debian off the Internet will be appreciated

Oh, I use DSL to connect to the internet





:newbie:

There are many sarge cd image by the way. Which one did you get? Is it the huge 650MB image (through jigdo or other mirror) or the small 110MB image (netinst)?

What do you mean blankscreen? You do get the chance to enter your username right?

Did you get something like this (aname is just your user_id and localhost can be anything that you've specified during install)?

user: aname
password:
Welcome .....

aname@localhost #

If you do get this, you've done the installation correctly. Just that you don't have the graphical interface yet. You can install that by:

# su
Password: root_password
# tasksel

Then choose the graphical environment and continue. It will then download a whole lot of things from internet.

Alternatively, you can install either gnome or kde or xfce or whatever GUI interface you want by:

# su
Password: root_password

# apt-get install kde
or
# apt-get install gnome
or
# apt-get install xfce4

Hope it helps =).

Cheers,
Chris

There are many sarge cd image by the way. Which one did you get? Is it the huge 650MB image (through jigdo or other mirror) or the small 110MB image (netinst)?

I downloaded the version thats listed below not all of the images just the image thats says [!386]

netinst CD image, with Debian base
[alpha] [arm] [hppa] [i386] [ia64] [m68k] [mips] [mipsel] [powerpc] [sparc]

Did you get something like this (aname is just your user_id and localhost can be anything that you've specified during install)?

user: aname
password:
Welcome .....

aname@localhost #

Yes

I didn't attempt to app get- anything though, that might be the reason why I had no desktop that plus I wasn't sure which option to chose when asked how I wanted to get updates> CD FTP http so I took a guess and choose CD.

Right now the only computer that I have is this one, its current OS is Ubuntu Linux, so If something gos wrong, I have to keep un installing then reinstalling Ubuntu to get back on line, odds are that the next install will be ok, but just in case it doesn't is there a way to download everything onto one CD or 6-7 if need be this way I wont have to app get anything

Should I download all these images to CD alpha] [arm] [hppa] [i386] [ia64] [m68k] [mips] [mipsel] [powerpc] [sparc] or would that be an over kill

Thanks for the reply, I really appreciate the assistance

No, don't do that. That is a list of Debian versions available for different types of machines. You most likely have a machine based on an Intel or AMD processor so the i386 package is what you need.
Why reinstall Ubuntu? Have you uninstalled it when you installed Debian? Or something messed up? At the moment, can't you boot into Ubuntu?
No problem, you must edit the /etc/apt/sources.list file and set the location from where Debian will get its packages.
Modify it by putting an '#' in front of the line containg 'cdrom' and add something like:'deb ftp://ftp.<country>.debian.org/debian/ testing main' and 'deb-src ftp://ftp.<country>.debian.org/debian/ testing main', where <country> is somethink like 'uk', 'es', 'de', etc., the closest mirror to you. The list of available mirrors is available here
Then, run 'apt-get update' and apt-get whatever you want.

Wow this is going to be complicated, I'm not partitioning the hard drive so if something gos wrong I have to un- installing, Debian, then re install Ubuntu to get back on the Internet as well as have an OS plus I'm not sure if Ubuntu and is erasing all the data on the hard drive or creating multiple partitions, for all I know the computer already has 5 partitions, I'm guessing as well a hopping that Ubuntu as well as Debian is erasing all the data on the hard drive and not making multiple partitions... this could be dangerous because I'm a total Noob

Do you happen to know a website that sells Debain

I'm looking for the best, most stable version that will work best with newer model computers money is no object

I just want to get this over with lol thanks for the reply

maybe you should just stick with ubuntu, it is quite debianish as fas as i know.

You shouldn't worry that much about partitioning and loosing data. The Debian installer does the work pretty well. And after all, it would be a Linux-to-Linux agreement about your HD :D Check www.debian.org. They have a list of official Debian vendors. Ok, I've done this part of the work for you: http://www.debian.org/CD/vendors/#us, as your location appears to be in the US.
Yet I'd suggest not to avoid a netinstall, after all it'll get you a starting point in Linux.

Try running apt-setup:

# apt-setup

and accept all the default values for http updates. Then you can start apt-get install all the programs that you need. Like my previous posts. You're doing fine. That (name@localhost #) means that debian is installed correctly.

ps. before doing any apt, do this:
# su
Password: root-password

don't forget to type exit to get out from root account after you finish. There'll be some configuration things that you need to do. You might need to know your make of graphic card and monitor and certain other things. You can accept default for most questions though.

Cheers,
Chris

Wow......

I've been at it for 10 hours ... nothing worked

I didn't have a desktop so I typed apt-get install gnome into the command line the computer began to install gnome the process took around 20 minutes to complete at that point I was thinking that the computer would at least boot to the desktop but it didn't the screen just had gnome64 displayed on a black screen, no desktop not nothing just a black screen.... I was about to bust a 40 caliber cap and blow up the fregin computer, I tried everything, nothing worked.

I'm new with using Linux but not that new I've installed Mandrake SUSE Ubuntu as well as a couple other distros, none of them gave me a hard time, well maybe a little bit but not much, I mean somethings gotta give for some reason or another Debian refuses to boot to desktop all I get is a black screen with a command prompt.

Debian was most likely installed right, because a message came up on the black screen telling me that I have mail... just refuses to give me some sort of desktop to access the mail...

Is it possible that I downloaded the wrong ISO

Is the Debian CD they sell at that website the same as the one that I'm using now it would be cool if Debian had a CD that's similar to Ubuntus where you just simply pop in the CD follow the directions without having to app-get everything from the command prompt.



I had to install Ubuntu again, because I wouldn't have a OS if I didn't all I get with Debian is a Black screen with a command prompt..... 10 hours.... somethings gottta give....

Ok, you have Gnome but it must have an infrastructure to run on. That is the X-Window System. Therefore you must apt-get the following:xbase-clients, xserver-common, xserver-xfree86, x-window-system and x-window-system-core. Try to fetch them and see if it works.

I'm not so sure about that. I think installing Gnome will mean all the dependency is installed, including XFree86. I think what went wrong is the configuration of XFree86.

Try this:

# apt-get install xserver-xfree86

Then configure X server with your graphic cards and monitor and mouse. Then do:

# apt-get install gdm (or kdm if you want to)

Then on the configuration screen choose gdm (or kdm). Then do:

# apt-get install gnome (or kde if you want to)

You can test whether they work by typing startx. It should. Don't shred your desktop yet ;) I have a lot of problems the first time I installed Debian (around a year ago) and I gave up. I just officially use Debian about a month ago, and I realised I missed a lot of good things.

Cheers,
Chris

Might be. I said that because I had the same problem when I installed Debian. I fetched KDM and KDE and nothing happened until I didn't get the packages mentioned above. However, maybe something went wrong with my install.

@1702fp: try first the way ch_music said and if it doesn't work post back.

Actually, now that I think about it, one way to be sure that it works is to use tasksel. If that method I told you don't work, you can try this alternative method:

# su
# tasksel

Then choose the topmost choice I think (the one saying Desktop Environment) and as many things as you wish to have. (However, 1 tick in tasksel means a lot of programs downloads, some of them you might never use.)

What do you think harken? I've never used tasksel unfortunately.

I've had attempts to use it in the past yet I kind of gave up. Even if it's supposed to give you some sort of an UI I prefer apt-get (not to mention Syanptic).
It's quite fuzzy with all that '*'s,'+'s and '-'s next to the package's name. And I must agree withThe reverse seems to be also true: if you uninstall something and you're not paying enough attention you might end up with some sort of a mess on your computer.

However, if you're determined you can use it.

wow thanks for the replies

I already tried the taskel bit last night, a menu appeared listing 4 maybe 5 options cant remember all of them but it went something like Desktop environment < I choose that before installing Gnome, DNS- web server cant remember the rest of them but I'm willing to bet that the problem has something to do with having to enter some type of command prompt to make the settings apply.

Dose the install disk they sell the official Debian cd-s and dvd-s website come with a complete desktop or is it pretty much the same like the install disk that I'm using now where I'd have to apt-get everything from the command prompt.... I'm dying to see what this all so famous Debian is like if worst comes to worst I could always buy the Debian OS from the website listed above and have them send it via fed x but I don't want to do that if I'm going to have to apt-get everything from the command prompt.