Newbie needs help

saperlipopette · 02-24-2009, 05:07 PM

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!

stress_junkie · 02-24-2009, 05:21 PM

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

If you want to follow the tutorial on howto forge then install the Gnome desktop environment instead of KDE.

Code:

sudo apt-get install gnome

-Reboot your computer.

Code:

sudo reboot

When Linux restarts it should have a graphical desktop environment that shows a graphical login screen.

saperlipopette · 02-24-2009, 05:42 PM

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

Any other suggestions? Does that mean I don't have apt-get installed on the system?

stress_junkie · 02-24-2009, 06:00 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by saperlipopette

hmm...
That doesn't seem to want to work.
Does that mean I don't have apt-get installed on the system?

It means that the bash command interpreter cannot find the sudo executable. Try this to see if you have that file on your system.

Code:

find / -name sudo

If you get an access denied error message for /sbin and /usr/sbin or any other directories then try to log on as root using su.

Code:

su

Better yet use a Debian derivative that has a live CD such as Ubuntu.

DeSian · 02-24-2009, 07:15 PM

you must type su with root password, then install on of them ^^.

craigevil · 02-24-2009, 07:46 PM

su
aptitude install kde xorg
or aptitude install gnome-desktop-environment xorg
for Gnome.

saperlipopette · 02-24-2009, 09:45 PM

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!

jdkaye · 02-24-2009, 11:23 PM

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