i haven't used linux before, but i installed slackware on one of my pcs today with help from a long-time user... and it screws up upon startup. not a good first impression if ya ask me. i still don't know how to fix it...

Darkstar: you were right: Mandrake 9 worked like a charm! And to make sure, I used all default values! This made me uneasy, as I like to get under the hood and see what's going on, but I had a feeling I might screw something up that way. I would attribute the problems I had on the first go-around to the fact that I had downloaded Disc 1 of the "CLIC" version, instead of th epure Mandrake distribution. So I would recommend not using CLIC!
The adventure continues...[list=1][*]I believe the Mandy install used LILO to boot. What files should I back up in order to be able to restore the boot loader, should any additional OS installs screw it up later?[*]Assuming LILO, what file do I edit in order to clean up the boot menu? /etc/lilo.conf ?[*]Speaking of OSes, I still have another 9GB on the primary drive to play with. Any suggestions for a good desktop-based distro?[*]The sole problem I found with Mandy while playing for a few minutes was the printer setup dialog. Initially, it asked me for the other CDs so it could install some additional programs, then it just kind of hung and I was left with a blank, grey dialog box. If I want to use CUPS, or otherwise connect a Windows-based network printer, what do I need to do?[/list=1]

deesto ..I think you made the right choice. I'm not sure what the CLIC version is. I used the straight downloaded versions without a hitch. I NEVER do a default install, so get in there and modify away. As far as your questions:
1) I would just make a lilo boot disk and keep that on the side somewhere.

2)That's the file you want to change. Just don't forget to run /sbin/lilo after you make any changes.

3) I don't think you'll need any other OS, but XP and Mandy will play nice.

4) Make sure your printer is connected when you install. After the installation is done, you have a chance to modify the settings. Also, by doing a custom install, you can load cups if you want.

HTH

Rio Nishida


I have been using Slackware for years, I never had one problem. What issues are you having ?

You can e-mail me at michael@bluesuperman.com if you need help, anyone can. Make the subject line slackware help or it will most likely get deleted.

i posted my problem here: http://www.linuxquestions.org/questi...452#post175452

OK Darkstar, CUPS is loaded, I've "installed" my Windows printer as a new network shared printer, when I refresh Printdrake it shows that printer's info, but when I do a test page print, nothing happens.
When using RH8, I remember the only way that printing seemed to work was to use Webmin to "install" the network printer, but I have no idea what it did differently from installing the printer manually.
I guess I could go back and install Webmin if nothing works, but I'd like to know what's going on "under the hood" to make it work.
My current machine IP is 192.168.1.102, and the printer is on 192.168.1.100. The printer share name is EPSON880 .
BTW: I tried playing with lilo.conf, but running /sbin/lilo spat back an error thatg I'd screwed something up ("image doesn't exist"?) so it reverted to the original configuration.

image doesn't exist - check you didn't typo the kernel name...

this probably doesnt help you guys too much, but CLIC is for clusters

Thanks mdh. If I were to show you my current lilo.conf contents, could you (or another member) please help me to hack it up? I would post it here... but is that a waste of board space?

Try SuSE

I'd love to... got any ISOs I can try?

Questions:

Check this out...I'm curious to find out what hardware you have installed in your computer. I also would like to know how you have your hard-drives installed in your system. What type of mother-board do you have? Is your hard-drive an ultra-dma type? Is it setup as a slave, master, cable-select? Do you have any other device attached to the hard-drive, ie: tape drive (onstream), cdrom, zip-drive?

Explanation:

I've had a similar problem installing 3 different distro's and I was able to fix the problem by moving around the internal hardware. Ultimately I was able to get my system to work by connecting the hard-drive to the primary-ide-controller and setting it as the master drive. My drive is an ultra-dma.

Give that a shot and see if it helps.