Hi,

I built a computer this week -- something I have always wanted to do. It turned out to be much easier than I thought.

I am trying to install Red Hat 7.3 -- I bought it approx. 2 years ago.

The PC that I built has a Sony CD-R/RW (model CRX230AE). I have it setup as the MASTER on the SECONDARY IDE CONNECTOR.

Basically the problem goes like this:

I install the Red Hat CD
I click 'ENTER' to perform the graphical installation
I choose English (language)
I choose US (keyboard)

It then asks where the Linux software is and I choose 'Local CD'

It then asks "What type of CDROM do you have" and I say "other".

It then asks if I have a driver disk and I say 'No' (because the drive didn't come with one)

It then returns to "What type of CDROM do you have" and I feel like I am stuck in an endless loop! :-(

I tried Sony tech support and the answer was, "we don't support Linux" and "there's no driver because Windows has the driver that it needs".

I am 99.999% sure that the PC "sees" the CD drive, but it seems that Linux does not see or recognize it.

So...

WHAT ARE MY OPTIONS?

Should I download/purchase a newer version of Red Hat??

Should I download/purchase a different distribution of Linux (i.e. Xandros, Mandrake, SuSe)??

Should I replace the Sony drive with a different drive??

Any help would be GREATLY appreciated!!

Thanks and Happy Labor Day Weekend!!

That's a pretty goofy problem. if you've got the graphical boot screen from putting a cd in that drive, you're home free. the drive is recognized, and supported. Almost every drive now s ATAPI, which is a cross-platform standard. There are no longer specific drivers for each manufacturer. The only other possibility would be a SCSI cd-rom, which you know you don't have, because you plugged it into an ATA-IDE cable.

now for something that actually helps you. Redhat 7.3 is pretty old. your best bet, especially if you're building a new computer that can handle it, is Fedora core 4. (because that's what I run) there are hundreds of distros that hundreds of people will suggest, so just pick one. if you're on high speed, download the disk images and burn them, if not, there are organizations that will send you disks for the price of the cd media, and if you really think it should be free (lots of us do) you can try ubuntu linux (I haven't yet) but I believe they will actually mail you disk for free (!)

have to go now, I'm at a coffee shop and the girlfriend has to pee.

/g

First of all, try to use the latest version of Redhat, now known as Fedora Core. I personally prefer Slackware, but it is your choice. It depends on what you want to do with it. Back to your first question, the options are probably IDE, SCSI, and OTHER. The Sony drive is probably an IDE drive, so pick that.

This is the drive that I purchased and installed in my system -

http://www.bestbuy.com/site/olspage....=1112808825828

In the Product Details section it says -

Interface Slot/Connection Port: EIDE (ATAPI)

So I really don't know why the installation software (Red Hat 7.3) doesn't recognize it.

I am going to try downloading Fedora.

My motherboard is an Intel 865GVHZ and my processor is an Intel Pentium 4 3.0 GHz.

I assume I should download the i386 version of Fedora.

Is that correct?

Thanks everyone!!

yup, i386.