Hi Friends. Today i'm going to try install mandrake 9.2 on my pc next to w2k pro.
I'm completely new to linux but got my mind open to learn, so i want you to help me with your advices before start the install.

¿Do i must to count on something for special, or just to insert the first cd and go straight ahead without fear?
i´m almost an expert in windows - even in blue screens!!!- So, will i found many problems during the process?

Thank you very much.

hey dude, weL to the community , though i am a newbie myself http://images.linuxquestions.org/que...ons/icon10.gif but i have installed mandrake 18 times in 3 days heheh so now i exactly know how to install it properly with windows 2000 pro or win xp, Here it goes:

First of all, your windows should be installed first ( if u plan to re-install it) , make room for One separte partition ( i think 6GB would be enough) for mandrake. Make sure you not to do anything with your Primary Dos Partition,leave it as it is and do not install mandrake on it.

Insert disk 1 , it will ask you to reboot ( the cd is bootable so you can boot from it ass well), After rebooting , a nice window will show up , press enter , the setup will then pre-configure your system ( probing devices and stuff , bit it will be quick) . Then u will be asked to choose the language, then keep on entering common stuff until you ARE ASKED FOR ONTO WHICH PARTITION U WANT TO INSTALL MANDRAKE.
CHOOSE CUSTOM PARTiON, There are other options given in i.e erasing the whole Hard disk or make a new partition from a current windows partition, but select custom partition.
On the following window, u will see all your drives on the top in blue rectangles, (showing u that they are FAT or NTFS format) . You should know which one to select as your mandrake partition ( or if u have any unpartioned space left it will be shown there as well ) . On the bottom u will see lots of command buttons, press the Toggle to expert button, After this u will get more options on the left side menu of your window, Press Type and select the partiton type (format) JFS ext 3, or any other JFS . It will ask for confirmation. After this , u will find a MOUNT button on the top of the left side menu, just type / and press ok. now Proceed forward by pressing next. It will confirm you for to format the Partiton.

After this installation is damn easy , it will ask you which packages you need , such as multimedia, configration, select all that u want. After installing it will ask u to set a root password, i would suggest not to set it now coz u can set it later , then it will ask you make a user, be sure to make one , then it will detect and install your hardware, a summary in the end will show you all the configured hardware, The one that is not configred can be manually configured there but u need to know the name and model of your hardware.

NOW is the most inportant part, to configure your boot loader.. In the summary find the
Boot device option and press configure... In a new window it will show the following

Boot Loader TO USE ---Select GRUB from the list

do nothing with BOOT DEVICE --- it will be set as /dev/hda by default

You can set the boot delay time --by default its 10


Enable ACPI , if your motherboard support it

Now press ok, A new window will pop up showing you the currently listed options in the boot loader.... Press ADD --- then press "other OS" , Put LABLE = windows 2000 pro (or whatever u want it to be) , From the Root select the hda ( hda1, hda2,hda3..) on which your windows is installed , If you see a Table option then Select /dev/hda
If u want it to be the default option on the boot u can seleect it and press OK

Now u are done , reboot and enjoy ...........
After gaining some linux experience you will be able to set grapical bootloader (LILO) but for the time being leave it to GRUB ( I think it gives less problems as well)


Oh yeah if you dont hear any sound which playing mp3s or anything , go to multimedia and open aumix + kmix , unmute the sound and vol up to full .... Its muted by default.

If still u get the problem as i did , i know how to solve it now :>

Hey man, are you really a newbie? ... i do'n think so.
Thank you very very much for your help

yeah i am kinda new on linux but an advance window's user :>

YOu be careful with the installation coz i messed up my first installtion

The installation was ok, but i cannot see the windows partitions, nor surf the net and mail.
I'm a little confused. linux was installed on a free partition in order to preserve my work files under windows (fat32- ..i do graphic and web design) so i don't know what must be my next step....

can u still boot windows on the start up ?

You can mount (In KDE) other drives by right clicking on the desktop, then go to
create new and then to Hard Disk. In the popup window, give a name to your drive(On General Tab), Then go to Device Tab, pick up a drive to mount and press ok. Do the same to mount all the partitions on your desktop.

As for your internet problem , tell me what sort of connection u use cable, modem, lan ?
As well what kinda network interface card u are using?

I do graphics too on photoshop,freehand and flash but i dont get much time now coz of the studies

Check this site out : http://www.zeetechdesign.com/

...finally i can see my windows partitions. All of them are on /mnt. I still don't know the files tree on Linux... Now i can open my files but new problems appear: I can not hear music cds on the cdrom drivers or mp3 from my hdisk. My sound card is a Creative Soundblaster live 5.1. It seems like there is no problem with the module but...maybe i must to try another one?
I still got no internet connection. linux tell me that my USB Motorola Surfboard 4200 Cable modem have an unknow module. I ask myself, are modules the same as drivers on windows?

yes modules are somewhat called drivers in linux, Did u check your Aumix and kmix vol level , i think i told you before that sound is muted by default when u install a fresh copy of mandrake. So check that. If u still didnt hear anything then check whether artswrapper suid is set as root.



Humm usb modem is going to give you problems if u dont have its linux drivers, try out by using some different driver available in the drivers database , u can do that by going to mandrake control center and then cofigure network.

I had the same problem so i solved it by using a supported lan card, instead of using usb cable.

Hi again friend. Finally all that problems are resolved.
The sound was set to mute, as you said. And cable modem start to run when i change his module to another called something like CDCEther (the guys on Motorola told me "We don't support Linux based Pc's"... f*ck off)
Maybe that solutions works for you if some day your lan card crashes, or a friend found this problem.
Now i'm fighting against my scanner... And by the way, how can i put some icons as apps launchers on my desktop?

HI ! good to hear about your problems solved, I hope you liked the sound quality of linux coz i think its better than windows. (Do check by going to the KDE Control Center, then to sound and to sound system---- Sound I/O here enable Full Duplex operation and set sound quality to 16bits, reboot)


As for your scanner, power it off and unplug the usb cable before booting the system. After the os has started, plugin your scanner then run Scanner Drake from Mandrake Control Center. It will first search automatically for any new scanner, if its unable to find one on its own then configure it manually.


The easiest way to get application icons on desktop is to drag & drop them
from the menu to desktop, when u do that it will ask u whether to copy here, move here or link here, Select link here and u will see it on the desktop . If u have downloaded some software later then u can link it by right clicking on the desktop go to creat new ----- Link to application. In the general tab you can give it a name and select a icon for your new application ....In the execute tab. browse to the application to be linked in the command. Thats it your are done.

Hey u should download these two for sure

http://prdownloads.sourceforge.net/a...ar.gz?download (Its a linux based msn

and netscape:
http://channels.netscape.com/ns/browsers/download.jsp

You can also install hundreds of software packages inculed in the 3 mandrake cd's by running software managment in the mandrake control center.

Hi,

I just recently installed Mandrake linux and I'm wrestling with this sound issue too. I have a Sound Blaster 128 and an on-board VIA thing that I only use for the extra joystick port. Every thing seems to be fine with them when I go to configure hardware.
I have unmuted the volume in Kmix but I still have no sound (not even the start up sounds). I know I'm supposed to unmute the volume in Aumix but I have no idea where to find that app its not in the KDE menu and nothing happened when I typed aumix in the terminal. Any ideas what to do?

chokecherry thnx for the mandrake installation instructions n other tips, just wat i needed! u seem v knowledgeable for a newbie...

btw i wanted to dual boot windoze xp n mandrake...

mindatwork: i do graphics too...hey our cases are kinda similiar...quite gd with windoze but v fed up with it, n trying out linux.

ok a difference, perhaps - i m still studying, lol. once sch reopens i wun get time to play wif linux anymore

n its back to getting stuck wif windoze, might steal time off for linux though

hmm..wat about linux and centrino wi fi(802.11b)?

Hi Metabo. I'm starting to feel good with linux, but i need to resolve some questions still, like learn Quanta to do websites and the Gimp to do the same as i do with phostoshop... and of course, there is a lot of things to learn on linux itself. But time is not so important when we havilost so much time learning and suffering on windows
Always ahead is what i think!!
And centrino + wi-fi + linux sounds so good...
good luck
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mindatwork: i do graphics too...hey our cases are kinda similiar...quite gd with windoze but v fed up with it, n trying out linux.

ok a difference, perhaps - i m still studying, lol. once sch reopens i wun get time to play wif linux anymore

n its back to getting stuck wif windoze, might steal time off for linux though

hmm..wat about linux and centrino wi fi(802.11b)?
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mindatwork, I've heard of a good book on Gimp called "Artist's Guide to the GIMP" by Michael J. Hammel. I haven't seen it yet, but it was well recommended.

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