Mandrake - good to begin with???
 

:newbie:
well im totally newb at linux... after reading dome stuff, and listening to people i decided to start with Mandrake... it ought to be easy to handle...
so i dl mandrake 10 and install....

then on 1st boot after install it ends up in a console....
I was expecting some sort of graphical user interface of some sort....
but instead there's a black screen waiting for you to log in??

have i done some thing wrong during install or what??
?? i must confess, if thats supposed to be the, most beginner friendly distrobution.... im getting a little discurraged!!

JNaas d-_-b.:confused: :newbie:

I started with Mandrake and am currently using M 10 which is really pretty Windows-User Friendly.
I found I could right click and install things. Takes a pile of time to get comfortable with.

I am just repeating what I have learned here but at the command line you can type:

start x (or startx)

Someone please confirm.

If logging in and typing "startx" does not work, it could be that Mandrake is not configuring your video correctly. Posting your video card make and model, or video chipset can help people make further suggestions for you. Just choosing the correct one may be all you need to do.
Not that this will help a lot now, but it you want to feel like there really are programs behind that black screen, log in, then type "mc" (without the quotes). That will open the Midnight Commander console filebrowser. You can browse directories, view and edit text file now. The menu with numbers beside the items is telling you which function key (F1, F2, etc.) to press to choose that item.

startx didn't work
it comes with an error: no screens found??

????
My video card is a "Club3D GerforceFX 5900XT"
if that does any good... i recall during install when configuring display
the preview didn't work no matter what i tried...
what to do next??

i ended up using the nv driver... should i change that, and would that be done??

thx for the help so far.... JNaas

Does this help?

Also, here is a post on a Mandrake board that describes how to install the NVidia drivers if you need to.

as root??

Yes, configuration changes usually require you to be root.
Be careful.

oki ive dl the driver onto a cd?? how do i access it ??
and also how do i go root??

root=superuser (or administration user)
You should have been asked to create a root password during install. To log in as root just type "root" as the user, then enter your password when asked. You are then the superuser with the right to change anything.
To access your CD you mount the device, and change directory to your file.
I am not sure of Mandrakes CD mount point. I think "/mnt/cdrom"?
If you type "ls /mnt" you should see the correct name for the CD mount point.
The just type "mount /mnt/cdrom" (or the correct name you found with "ls") to mount the CD.
Then type "cd /mnt/cdrom" (or etc..)
The "ls" (list) command should now show the files on your CD.
You can then follow the instructions.

Hope you are up an running, but in case not here is one last link I found.
I am off for the evening.
Good Luck.