Hi, new to the site and new to Linux as a whole. I've got An ancient Compaq Presario that was given to me in parts. I always wanted a Linux Box to tinker with so I thought this would be a prime Candidate. Here's what we've got:

*98 megs of RAM
*233 mhz CPU
*6.5 HDD (Quantam)
*Mitsunami (sp) Slot loading 24x CD-Rom
*Sony 3.5 Floppy

Ok here's the problem:

Downlaoded MAndrake 9.0 a while back and burned it to 3 CDs. Well labeled and well stored. (clean Maxell CD-Rs So Scratches) O.K. I already HATE the Compaq BIOS but aside from that this machine seems like a pretty goo candidate but once I go to install Mandrake on her she freezes during the format phase and I've got no choice but to force a reboot and try and start over. The only known problem I can decipher is that a /root doesn't exist. I don't know how to set this /root directory up so maybe some help there would be cool too but no matter what I do in the Partition Editor I still get the same thing. I already had the machine booting to a fresh copy of Windows 98 SE before I jumped into this and it was flawless. Also use Spin Rite 5 on the hard drive to check for erros and it's among the cleanest I've ever seen. Any help for a Linux Newbie would sooooo Awesome and I must say this site rocks for the newbie! Maybe a dual boot machine with XP Pro is in order? I've got a good IBM 3.2 gb drive and a Maxtor 2.5 gb drive I couls slave to it if I do need to or want to go to the dual boot option .... so thanks for any and all help in advance!

thanks guys!

Bug

IT shouldn't hang on format, and all the stuff about /root is irrelevant when you are still formatting the drive.

Get a DOS boot floppy and boot the machine to it. Then start with fdisk. Do an fdisk /mbr to rewrite the master boot record, then partition the drive however you want it.

Then try installing linux.

I'll try that today and see where it gets me. I didn't think the /root had anything to do with it but that's the only feedback it came back with after I forced a reboot. I do know that it at least gets the file system to ext3 but still hangs ... I'll try the suggestion and get back to y'all as far as if it worked or not.

Thanks many times over... I so look forward to using Linux!

Is it a commong thing for it to "freeze" but still being doing the format? I thought of that but if so it must take an extremly long time to complete. I've done a file system format with various Windows machines and seemingly for a drive as small as this it shouldn't take that long. So, I guess I'm asking how long it should take to reformat a 6.5gb drive est.?

Thanks again!

Bug

No matter what I do it won't work! Thanks for the help ... I've got Mandrake 9.1 going to a new set of CDs ... I think maybe the instalation CD is currupt in some way ... any ideas on that being a possibility?

Thanks a million ... love the site and looking forward to playing with Linux!