nice quote.... considering when running windoze with virus protection it detects linux as a virus...

I have used many Linux distros, plus DOS, Windows, Apple, and Vax VMS.

M$ is much like the old Apple OS "voodoo". No one anywhere really knows how it all works interactively, which is why you are often told to "just reinstall the OS and apps in a different order and see if that works". This is apart from the marketing nonsense told about the security integrity of XP over all other OS's.

Meanwhile they have made every possible effort to talk-down Linux, with the collateral effect of discouraging hardware vendors from writing Linux drivers (some have suggested that the anti-competitive efforts of M$ have gone far beyond mere bad talk). Since many hardware vendors refuse to make available the essential data for Linux folks to write their own drivers they cause conflicts -- Linux is not the cause.

Some Linux distros, like Debian, are for hard-core geeks. Others like Mandrake & SuSE tend to dance close to the edge of well-tested code, sometimes they load and run smoothly, sometimes not.

RedHat has been one of the more conservative distros, yet there still are hardware-created limitations.

M$ is not superior, they merely have an unfair advantage created by hardware vendors. Linux & Linux apps are superior in just about every measure. I am currently running the KRUD-RedHat 9 on a notebook and a desktop -- the only thing that doesn't work is the notebook modem (powernotebooks.com has it working under Mandrake with a third-party commercial driver set, so it is not Linux that is limited, it is the hardware vendor preventing Linux from writing a free driver).

Hope that helps with perspective ... doc

I have no problem installing Linux Mandrake 9.1 and also Red Hat 9.0, Using two 2.5 GB hddr (one each Linux OSes). Notice that Mandrake fills in with preselected setting while RH9 have problem installing due to disk space. I got it figured it out and got it installed correctly by removing some preselected items that I don't think I would use it. I like RH9 but problem is that I don't have enough diskspace while Mandrake have 800mb free space. I assumed that there are many options in RH9 like horde of screensaver and wallpaper ECT... while MDKE have few. this make sense. I am currently using Mandrake cuz it was convience for now.. I installed several plugins (shockwave, Realplayer, and Quicktime) and had no problem with it. I would like to see Linux to improve and play head butting with M$ Windows. My new system,
Gigabyte GA7VAX with all accessories, ATI Radeon 9000 Pro, Kingston DDR2100 256MB.

I kept swapping 2.5GB hard drives on Secondary Master IDE while leaving WD Cavair 8mb cache 40GB hddr on Primary Master IDE (that's reserved for Greedy M$ WIN ME and my wife's stuff in them too. If I screw it up, she'll get pan and whack on my head LOL). I always unplug the power to 40 GB HDDR when installing Linux to prevent it's bootloader skewing Windows bootloader LOL. Happen once but it's a minor but pain in the neck thing to re install Windows without losing files (took 27min). All hardwares are 100% Linux compatible except my new HP PSC 2175 (3 in one) printer/copier/scanner have no driver for Linux :-( I read the posting about NVidia problem. Want a trouble free driver installation, GET ATI !!! If you have problem with hardwares, swap it to diffrent hardware to see if it works or get the one that work well with Linux.

I downloaded Slackware 9 and burn to CDRW . I had problem installing due to 2.5 GB hddr space. Planning to get old hddr like 4 GB for Slakware and 10 GB ( would be best for installing 2 Linuxes with Boot Manager installed) I would like to use RH9 more often.

Postal Service are using RH for monitoring Bar Code Sorters health status. I heard they are planning to have Linux for workstation (to save $$'s on licensing fees that M$ charges on Windows) but it's unconfirmed. Currently using M$ XP Professional (these are oversecured OS that In-Plant Support don't like about. I tried to use network printer that I heretho before in diffrent workstation under my login name, It won't let me use it! I missed Win 2K already. Win XP logs off slowly (on a dang fast 2.4Ghz HP workstation!!!!) and had to watch until it completely log off or else it may get back to desktop cuz the program still running and not been closed or else it'll lock out on other user who tried to use my unused workstation. (It would be quick to solve lock out problem is to reboot it Hee Hee Hee) Windows sux!!

One last thing, Can Linux (RH9, Mandrake 9 ect) speed up startup to desktop instead of waiting for it to detect hardware individually especially Ethernet (Eth0) taking forever to detect IP address and "own it" then finally logged till starting up KDE desktop. Windows boots in fast with tweak (Win ME boots into desktop in about 35 sec). Is Linux treakable? Want to get into desktop in less than 30 sec!! I would be very happy to hear your suggestions.

I would not give up on Linux and plan to learn more about it. I find it very useful. I wanted to learn how to install Windows in Linux so I can have dual OS to play with.

<I>Been doing DOS and Windows for 13 years, not an expert per se, but I do know what I am doing... </I>

Exactly.

How much of what you just complained you couldn't do in Linux would you have been able to do in Windows in the first day?

There is a learning curve when learning a new OS. You can get it up and running pretty quickly but getting all the little nuances just right takes time. I highly doubt you'd have even known to look for graphics drivers in Windows had you only just started so in that respect you're ahead of the game where users are concerned.

To give you a little background, I'm a SysAdmin for a company that uses Windows exclusively. I was hired in as helpdesk because I had a clue where Windows was concernec (self taught, no formal instruction). It took me a long time after buying my first Windows box ('96) to even know or care what a "driver" was. When things didn't work I just assumed I was doing something wrong and so went back and reinstalled Windows (about once a week for the first few months) but gradually I learned what all the little files and apps were for (NEVER use DriveSpace to compress your whole hard drive). Back then Linux was little more than a whisper in the background where I was concerned.

Eventually the Linux whisper became a shout that I could no longer ignore and last December I took the plunge. It was... odd. Nothing was where it should have been, all the names were strange, and I couldn't tweak anything! Where the hell is the registry in this thing?! How do I install programs?! Dammit, where's my printer setup?!!! I was a stranger in a strange land. I was a brand new user again and it was irritating.

But then I saw a ray of light... the dawning of a bright new day after the monstrous night that Windows had become. I suddenly recognized the place I'd <I>returned</I> to... the beginning. I'd found myself at the beginning of what for me was a brand new Operating System just waiting to reveal its secrets to me. In that I found familiar ground and so I set about my task once again picking the bits and pieces apart in an attempt to make sense of the whole. This time, though, I had some things I didn't have before. The first was experience. I'd done this before and knew roughly what to look for if not where. The second and most important thing I had was what you are reading here. Support. Other people who have gone through the same trials and tribulations, the same frustrations and ordeals and are willing to impart their findings to others that they might find an easier path. That is why Linux is not only ready for primetime but why it will outlive Windows. Community.

Sidenote: You will never stop learning with Linux and it's users will never stop teaching you. Just this morning I learned how to use Swat just by looking around for an answer to a current Samba problem. That in turn brought to my attention the /etc/services file which I'd not known (or possibly forgot) existed. Brings to mind what one of my trainers in the Air Force (Aircraft ElectroEnvironmental tech) told me once: "If you learn something new, it's good troubleshooting."

hi

rpm -ivh packagename ---force would install it. install the packages needed. the site has detailed documentation on it. the tech support is also good. ask them. they know what they are dealing with

good luck
regards
rahul sundaram

uh...

what was the question again?

Oh ya, 3 hours. But, I thought it wasn't working correctly. Turns out I wasn't working correctly. Took 8 more months before I started working correctly. Then I saw the light. I've learned more about "computing" in the past year than in the 8 that I used windows.

Maybe that's not important to you. I'm better for having struggled and learned. Some people don't have the time or desire. I understand that point of view too. But that is what MS is counting on. People who don't read the fine print. People who don't understand the freedoms they give up by not educating themselves and clicking OK to whatever EULA comes their way, so long as they can download their porn and forward all those inspiring spam e-mails. Go watch reality TV and let the politicians take away your freedoms one by one in the name of protection. Out-source all your jobs to India or Pakistan or Taiwan to keep up that stock price while we all end up working at Wendy's and spending ever-increasing percentages of our pay on bombs dropped on the homes of terrorist-supporting families of 4.

MAWipf, syslinux (RH9 disrto disc 1, avalible elsewhere) ought to give u the console
1) if this works then just mount the hard drive (plenty of documentation on this) and make sure that you have the source code for the kernel installed, this will help the most for getting the NVIDIA drivers to work correctly with your box.
2) if its still flashy in that then try a different video card, if that doesn't work then get a different monitor, your problem is not linux or a P4 , some serious funk is happening at the standard console refresh ranges.
ALL vga video cards should work in console with linux, unless the drivers u installed are screwed up. I've had your problem all over the place (been working on ppl's comps since i was 12, now 19 yo) and this is accually a common indication of a bad monitor/lcd/video card.
2)a. if the card is built onboard you'll need to turn it off in bios to get it to work with a different card. I do not recommend running 2 video cards in a computer, its a pain in the butt, save that for ppl who really know what they are doing.

3) POST HERE

4) have a second computer with a browser open, incase u are unable to browse on the linux box

4) need any help i'll try im me @ ICQ# 16886761 learning iptables (linux firewalling) right now, slow and arduous been working on it for 6 days now, but slowly understanding what they are doing

5) its a b*tch i know, some of the documentation is, well, down right shit for new users, my dog's is worth more. but its all there, though, i wish i had a decrypting algorithim for it.

SuSE 8.2 installed on my Desktop (home built) AMD 800 MhZ and on a HP Omnibook without a problem. In fact it took less time than XP on the Omnibook, and I have since plunged and deleted XP completely. Not regretted that yet. On the Desktop I have W98 and SuSE 8.2, no problems. I kept them completely seperate (by mistake! I chose something wronlgy on installation, and couldn't be bothered to change it by NOT installing Samba), so I cannot access w98 files from Linux and vice-versa, this has been a bit inconvenient at times, but as I spend most time in Linux, I ain't shed no tears.

I also experimented with Knoppix 3.1 on both desktop and laptop. No problems. In fact up and running in Linux in 3 minutes complete with working email!

Nothing but impressed with Linux. Just sorry that some people do not have the same experience! I was careful with my choice of hardware years ago, when I chose SCSI, so that helped. There are some things that do not work on the laptop, but as they are not so important to me, I can wait with patience to sort them........

Slackware - 30 minutes or less.

J.A.M.D less then 10 minutes install, including formating and creating partitions in an Intel P4 - 2GhZ. Add more 10 minutes to apt-get all a I needed, including security updates and Nvidia drivers. Add 5 minutes to copy and paste my backup-ed text files as my old XF86Config (with all Nvidia config), update fstab and XClients, so I did not even need to read it.(I had RH 9.0 before in this machine). Surely, it was not the first time I've installed Linux, but still, not bad... :=)

Try a different distro, do a fresh format/install..something. But don't give up.

i'm in/have been in similar shoes as you. Unfortunately, i haven't run into the nVidia troubles you descibe, but i still say don't give up. i tried dual booting Mdk about two years ago. Nothing made sense, the HowTos, Docs, Helps, Mans, and ReadMes were worthless to my eyes.

Then i came across a pair of deals that for some reason got some gears turning. Friend offered me a 6.8gb HDD and a PII 450 Slot 1, and meanwhile another offered a Supermicro P6DBE (dual Slot 1). Combined with the old PII450 i had in a drawer collecting dust, i figured i'd have myself a nice SMP box for less than $75. But what could i do with it? i could run Linux! So with the goal of using Samba (whatever the hell THAT was) to run an MP3 file server, i installed RH8 and shortly after, upgraded to RH9. One day, something just clicked. i mean literally, clicked. i learned how to bring up a folder list with ls and from there, it all started making sense.

Don't give up!

Home again )

Finished the third eksam yesterday and got one left.
Make one 2gig partition (fat32), install win2K, make one 100 meg partition (ntfs), install Norton antivirus and firewall, convert c to ntfs and d(100meg) to fat32 without loosing data, install office 2000, reboot and upgrade to XP.

This was the eksam we had, anyone see any flaws?
P.S. We could only use the programs that comes with windows.

Just to make it clear. When i "bash" out after M$ i'm trying to do it with some humour. As i do with Linux. *uses bash so it's a lot of bashing there*

I'm still pondering with Samba, reason? It's hard to check if you got it working when the other pc is occupied all the time.
With my GF and her daughter sitting on the other pc, all i can do is sit and wait. But i'm not giving up, yet.

Doing to learn is the best way
If you don't sucseed at first, you must be using windows or was it mac? J/K

Allthough yes linux has a steep llearning curve (2 yrs in and got it doing everything i need), i totally disagree with your documentation rant. LOL,

And as for your sig "break the hell out of it" , do you really have to contradict yourself so much???

Bye bye, change sig, stop making me laugh so much , my sides hurt

Hmm, no way to convert back to FAT32?


haha @ Franklin
Also very good posts from Fusioncases, Kroppus, Megaman X and others.
Nice thread. It took me a few hours to read it. haha. But I think I'll save my thoughts for that other topic. =)

@ insanitee
Right ten points on As long as you can't use any third-party programs. Partition Magic 8 handles it without problems though.

And another thing. How are you supposed to install XP that takes 1,5 gig of space into a partition with only 1 gig free, before you start copying the files over to the disk?