Older machine vs two hard drives & OSs
 

Yep, I'm a newbie who wants to install Linux. I've decided on Mandrake, the PowerPack release. Whether it's 8.2 or 9.0 has yet to be decided:

I have more than one machine I could attempt this with. I can't say I have two because the older one was cannibalized/upgraded into the newer one. ;)

Older machine: aka Reject
AMD 450MHZ (Either a K6-2 or 3)
192Mb RAM
VooDoo3 3000 graphics card 16Mb RAM iirc

Newer Machine: aka Sweet
AMD Athlon 1.4Ghz 1600+ XP
256Mb DDR RAM
GF3 Ti200 128Mb DDR RAM graphics
~40Gig hard drive in 3:3:31gig partitions. First is Win98SE, second is currently home to my win swap file and temp internet files, and 3rd is all my vital data, games, main proportion of programs etc.
Sweet also has Reject's old 10gig hdd, with a Win98SE install that was for Reject, but has been booted into while in Sweet. This has been achieved by switching boot options in the BIOS. All vital data has been copied to the 31gig partition.

Sweet also has Reject's speakers, mouse, monitor, modem , cd and floppy disk drives!
The modem might be a 'winmodem', not sure. It's only 56k, v90 so the burner and Power Pack cds may come in useful. ;)

Both have their own keyboards and sound cards, due to a change in connector size, and driver problems iirc.

I've just brought, and have yet to have had installed in Sweet, a new CD-RW (48x16x48 2mb buffer underrun protection).

I have brought a new 25gig hdd to install mandrake on. I will either:

Remove Reject's hdd from Sweet, put in the new one, and then have to dual disk boot between linux and windows. I'll need to be sure I can do this and any problems won't wreck my only working system. Also security of my current data is vital.

Or;

Put the new hdd in Reject and just have it running linux. This may also involve buying more hardware.

I'm unsure about using my old pc as there are problems mentioned with the K6 series of processors. That and the fact it's lacking many pieces. Advantages would include getting a non-win modem, not being able to fuxxor Sweet, and having 2 pcs.

Major fear of using Sweet is that if I just slap in the first install cd, it'll write over my current hdd, which I think I want/need as master, instead of only mess with the new secondary hdd.

Both methods might require me to format the new hdd to have a ext2 file system, via Partition Magic/other program I'll have to download. :confused:

Also, apparently Mandrake 8.2 has more support for the newer hardware of Sweet, while 9.0 is slightly buggy and may lack vital drivers etc. If so I'd need to have an intact win98SE boot to go online and get drivers etc.

This seems like a good point to wait for feedback. FYI I've also read about a bit, so I think I'll know what you mean when you remind me to: get monitor specs for X; fuxxor with LILO; or remember to type startx after the install ;)

:newbie:

If your worried about damaging Sweet's harddisk, just disconnect it while installing Linux on the other hard disk. Or temporally disable it in bios. Or you could install linux on the new hard disk in Reject and, when your done installing, move it to Sweet. hth

edit
You can also format the hard disk with ext2 from the install program. At least in RedHat, you can.
/edit

A non-newbie to the stand please
 

Well won't that affect how it deals with booting, as it'll suddenly not be the master drive, and have a win98SE partition to deal with? :confused:

Also installation is for all the hardware, not just onto the hdd, so it'll need to be done on Sweet right? Plus Reject/K6 CPU may have problems as stated.
You're getting rather annoying and sound stupid. I'm gunna use Mandrake, so couldn't you say if Mandy has that feature instead of pimping another distro? :rolleyes:

Thanks for the rather useless help there :( :tisk:

If you are planning to install Mandrake on your new hd/Sweet, dual booting shouldn't be a problem. I am dual booting between WinME and Mandrake 9. If you defrag Windows (with the setting to make files be defragged to enable them to run faster) and then install Mdk, there is an option to use the free space on the Windows partition.

Startx is only needed if you instruct the install to boot to command prompt - there is an option on the Mdk 9 install to boot through to X.

It may be worth your while to get the drivers for your hardware first - at least that way you will know if Linux drivers exist before you need them. It would put a real downer on your day to find that after spending the 20 minutes plus on installing that you then have to go get new hardware because no one has yet written drivers for the old ones.

But do I need to defrag the windows+data hdd if I'm installing MdK on the new second hdd? :confused:

Many seemed to bring up that startx thing, so I read up a bit to be prepared ;)

What exactly do I need drivers for, out of: sound card; graphics card; internal usb hub; joystick; mouse; 109-keyboard; monitor; printer; cd drive; floppy disk drive; cd-rw drive? All of them? :rolleyes:

My mouse is odd, it needs a program to be running to enable it's rocker and side button scroll effects. I suspect this program only switches a driver as my old win98SE install didn't need that running. Maybe I should get a mouse with a common center clickwheel?

It is worth getting the details of all the hardware. I have an NVidia card - Mdk detected it and installed generic drivers for it, to use it fully I had to download the 3D drivers. Most of your hardware - keyboard, cd-rw,etc - should be detected and installed without any problems, but get the details of the hardware anyway (through Win98 system control panel), make a note of the settings, IRQs, etc because it may come in handy for troubleshooting.

As to your mouse, Mdk9 has several mouse drivers to choose from on install - I have a USB MS Intellimouse Explorer (no ball, middle button and back and forward buttons on the side), Mdk loaded drivers for it on startup.

Yeah, you're right, you shouldn't need to defrag the Win 98 disk if you're installing to a seperate HD.

Just put your new drive into Sweet as a slave on the primary IDE connector and load mandrake -- using the "Expert" install mode. This is one case where 'hand-holding" is a good thing :) . Just pay attention to what the Mandrake installer is showing you, asking you, offering you. Make sure that everything it does is done on "hdb<some number>" (partitions on primary slave), except for loading a boot manager (Grub or Lilo) which should be done so that the boot code is on your primary master drive MBR ("hda"). Make sure the both OSes are properly identified as to partition and named within the boot manager that you select.

After that, enjoy Linux sweetness on Sweet :D !!

Ok, sounds good. Anything you might warn me about 9.0 PowerPack before I get it? No unique arrangement here which would make 8.2 better? Is the PowerPack option worth it for a 56Ker?

Only problem might now be this MBR thing. A similar thread (nice forum feature) also mentions it in the same situation.
How would I get the MdK+win98SE MBR on both harddrives, and will it affect the current hdd with just win98SE? Remember I want to keep that intact so I can simply remove the MdK hdd and return to my current status, just incase. ;)
Do I actaully want it on both, as the second hdd is likely to only be in when connected in the mentioned arrangement, but the primary could be in with or without the second OS which it's MBR links to?
Can I actually have my primary unchanged, as it'll need the MBR updated to be able to pick MdK, but what'll happen if MdK isn't there?

I think I just confused myself :o :rolleyes:

well... my advice runs somewhat contrary to the rest of the posts here - i'd say toss mandrake 9 in reject, and play around with it for a day or two to get the feel for any problems you might have the second time around. partitioning the hd seems to be the scariest part for newbies, and testing it out on a hd you can lose allows you to get some experience before you chop up your main hd.

But I'm not doing anything to my main hdd. By using a new second hdd I only have to tweak that MBR, and then I can mess with MdK on my good working machine. :)

Chatted with a more experienced mate. Probably gunna have 9.0PP on a second hdd in Sweet by monday. Thanks for the help so far. :)
Feel free to give more help. ;)