Newbie needs help
Last night I tried to make the change from Windows XP to Debian Lenny, using the step-by-step instructions detailed on this page:
http://www.howtoforge.com/the-perfec...p-debian-lenny I thought that I'd followed the instructions thoroughly and that everything had gone well, however, upon reboot, I found myself at an unfamiliar DOS-like prompt -- no desktop! I think I will be able to figure things out once I can get on the desktop environment, but as I am a newbie, I have no idea what commands to enter or even what I need to download to get things working again. Thanks to anyone who can help! |
I believe that I had the same experience the last time that I installed Debian. Try this.
- Log on as your normal user when you see the MS-DOS like screen. - Use apt-get to install a desktop environment. You can select one of many possibilities but if you are just coming from Windows then the KDE system has the most familiar look-and-feel. Code:
sudo apt-get install kde Code:
sudo apt-get install gnome Code:
sudo reboot |
hmm...
That doesn't seem to want to work. After I try any of those commands, I get the following: Code:
-bash: sudo: command not found |
Quote:
Code:
find / -name sudo Code:
su |
you must type su with root password, then install on of them ^^.
|
su
aptitude install kde xorg or aptitude install gnome-desktop-environment xorg for Gnome. |
eureka
Thanks everyone for your suggestions and help.
I actually went into the BIOS at startup to try reinstalling from the boot-disc, but this time I used my ethernet cable (instead of using wireless). I guess the problem was a lot simpler than I thought. I ran the graphic installer and everything went well. I did have a slight hitch, however, when I reached package 809 of 809 during the auto installation. Turns out it was a problem with the mirror though. So I've successfully installed Linux! I'm using the GNOME desktop with Debian Lenny. This will be my first experience with a Linux OS, so I'm sure I'll be on these forums a lot. Thanks again for your help! |
Now that the worst is over (and it wasn't that bad ;)), you might want to switch from Lenny (stable) to Squeeze (testing). If this is your personal machine and not a mission-critical server you'll find that testing is a much better bet than stable. It will be a fairly easy upgrade since Lenny has only just been released and is not that far behind Squeeze at the moment.
Cheers, jdk |
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