The instructions for this forum say to describe the problem as accurately as possible. The trouble is I have no problem. I tried Mandrake9 a few months ago and even with the best efforts of all you good people I had to give up: too many hardware issues on my computer to make this more than a novelty.
But I could not stay away, this Linux thing is addictive. Then I ran across an obscure mention of Knoppix so I Googled and thought that an OS on a cd was an intersting concept but too good to be true. Anyhow I downloaded and burned the iso and WOW! all of my hardware works (except the winmodem) including my canon camera and scanner and all of the settings for my hp printer, even both of my cd drives (one never did work in Md9). I am considering the parent OS Debian as a later project.
So far I have found two uses that make it a necessity. A friend gave me an old Dell computer that would not boot up so I tried Knoppix and that worked fine but no hd seen so now I am waiting for a bargain and will try a new hd. At work it seems some workers were abusing internet access so all browsers were removed. Working nights there are no bosses are around so I worked around that by using the browser in real player...well that disappeared too. Right now I am using Knoppix and Mozilla.
This is one neat program and free too.
Willie

My first run in with Linux (Linux for Windows / Mandrake 6.5, install to a Windows partition) provided me with a fuzzy cartoony oversized (4 times the size of my monitor) desktop. Upon finally identifying the problem as no support for my video chipset, my next distro included that support.
But then there was the Winmodem, and onboard sound..
Perhaps you will be able to identify your hardware issues and make your next Linux install more workable.
Good Luck.

Knoppix 3.2 is fabulous indeed. I downloaded the iso last week and burnt it because my girlfriend wanted a no-hassle Linux distro on her new laptop (Fujitsu-Siemens Amilo Athlon 2000+, latest ATI videocard). It booted and detected the hardware perfectly.

I tried it on my 2 year old desktop (Athlon 1200, Geforce MX460, etc...)and it worked perfectly. Moreover it detected my flashcard reader (Trust 6 in 1), something Mandrake 9.1 has refused despite my efforts.

This tiny 1 cd distro really has got the lot: Openoffice, Koffice, games, Mozilla, KDE 3.1. and nearly every other popular application. I think it's the ideal backup OS when things go wrong. I've been using it to demonstrate and promote Linux to my friends.

Many knoppix users have posted very good experiences. But just like any linux distro,a lot of detractors dismiss it as no good because it is "not real Debian".
I cannot understand why this so called "Linux Gurus" equate 'easy' with 'no good' or downright "idiocy".
This is why Linux is having a hard time penetrating the desktop OS domination of MS. They are making linux distros that are hard to install.
Long Live Knoppix!

Burn a bunch of them (and gnuwin2 CDs) and pass then out like candy.

Become a knoppix pusher like me.

More Live CDs to try

I installed knoppix on hdd on the same computer see url :

Hi Spica!

I'm from Belgium too, and I have also an Amilo 2000+ laptop (from Carrefour)
A friend of me inserted a Knoppix Cd (3.4, i think) in my laptop and he went totally crazy because there were no problems @ first sight!! I could even play mp3 and divx-files on my NTFS win-xp system!
My question: did you/ your girlfriend already had remarkable problems with Knoppix? And how did you guys solved them? (so I can learn from you, because I'm a total newbie with Linux)
And: Which Linux would you suggest to use with my Amilo 2000+ ? (Debian, KDG, Suse, Mandrake, etc, ... )?

Thanks for any help!

Jan

If knoppix work's on the system from the CD, and you're happy with it, then hell just follow the instructions or check this site for about as much knoppix info and instructions as you're ever likely to need.

I had 3.3 on hard drive and it worked a dream.

If you like the way knoppix then why bother the effort of downloading or buying anything else. The hardware detection is excellent, which is one of the reason's it's considered one of the best live distro's.

When you get used to it, then if you really wanted too, you can always change the apt-get sources list to proper debian sources (as different from the knoppix ones).

Personally, again why bother if it work's then use it!

It is fair to say, that mandrake is considered by a lot of people to be one of the best "starting" distro's. In general it's hardware detection is pretty good - but that's not to say it's perfect.

If you're prepared to try, and have lot's of perseverance, then you can get any distro running on just about any hardware (in general). But when starting out, the learning curve can be very very steep and hence distro's like mandrake etc which automate things a lot are very popular. Plus if you are a little conservative by nature and are concerned about how it may run on your hard drive then knoppix is definitely a good way to go.

regards

John

Thanks for the tips, Bigjohn!
well,

I'd like to change to linux ... already a few months now ... but there's a little problem:
I'm studying engineer architect and we need programs like AutoCAD, Vectorworks (and Sketchup). Those are programs (I think) that are only available for Windows ...

So if there's a very good equivalent for AutoCAD or Vectorworks available for Linux, I'll change in a week!
Now ... I just have to wait for the good news ;-)

I've heard there are Emulators for Windows-programs available, and I've also heard that you can install both Windows as Linux on your PC.
So ... what do you guys suggest?

Is it also possible to install Linux on a external hard drive? (for example connected via USB2.0 to my laptop?) (It's because I only have 20gB space on my machine.) Or do I just have to make a small partition for Linux? (I've just read Linux can only read NTFS-files, and I've to convert my filesystem to an alternate one (forgot the name, it was something like ETS...) that both Windows and Linux are able to use.

Man... so much questions
Right now I'm dl'ing the latest Mb's of Knoppix_V3.4-2004-05-17-EN.iso from Belnet.
After I've burned the iso, I'll get some sleep, 'cause the exam period is not yet over!
(Thuesday Philosophy, wish me good luck ;-)

Sleep tight!
Janneman

I was just checking out: http://linux-newbie.sunsite.dk/ what a mass of information!

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