Hello, I used to know alot about Linux and installed Slackware on sevral machines but I have lost my skillz and need some help. I currently have 4 HD's(the largest being the last) and I am running WinXP Pro, I ran into Knoppix and tryed it and thought Linux had come a long way w/ automating installs so I tryed installing Debian 3.0 R1 I belive(the newest ver). And now I have the following problems: Lilo(I installed it to /hda mbr) just spits out 01 01 01 01 infinitly when I boot. the only way I was able to boot at all was to boot w/ the Debian CD and do lilo -u. Also when I try to startx it gives me the error "Sceen(s) found but none have a usable configuration" I am using a Nvidia GeForce 2 TI card w/ a Princeton monitor. I chose the NV drivers in the X config. Knoppix had no proble detecting my setup(I only had to change the monitor settings to lower the Frequency) . Also I have a Logitich Optical mouse(USB) and I can't seem to get it working which can be a pain. I am guesing it's because of the USB because I didn't notice a way to choose a USB mouse in the setup.

ANY help on these problems will be greatly appriciated.

hi - this seems like a lot of problems
1. iss your lilo.conf configured ? its the first time i hear that the debian installer does make trouble with lilo (for more information search for a lilo howto) - /dev/hda iss the right device to install lilo
2. the best drivers for your nvidia hardware are avaible at www.nvidia.com - but this is not the problem - sounds like you don't have configured any resolutions which you want to use - try to run xf86config

for the first steps with debian it would be more easier you install knoppix on your harddisk (with sudo knx-hdinstall or knx-hdinstall from knoppix console...) - and learn more about the configuration ... - and THEN try to run a debian installation.

hope you get it going

I can help with one of your problems regarding XF86Config-4. That's the file you should be using under the Debian Woody distro (which i assume your using). I got my NVidia card to go my changing the line that says "UseFBDev" "true" and change the true to false... it should all be fine after that. I'd start with your lowest res and colour depth just incase... but i've done 3 Debian installs with NVidia cards and these needs doing every time.

As for your mouse problem... I'd just buy a PS/2 USB adaptor for now. I'm still only new to Debian and Linux, so i cant help with USB (yet) though i use USB logitech mouses on all my PC's throught the PS/2 port. If you do get X going without having your mouse plugged into the PS/2 port, you'll probably find (as i did) that X will lock up your machine and all bash interfaces. If you've got a scrolling mouse, just do a google search for debian scrolling mouse and you'll find heaps of posts/sites on how to get it working.

The Lilo thing is beyond me. I don't know anyone thats had Lilo do this to them... my standard install with Windoz 2000Amatuer worked like a charm... sorry i cant help with that.

Viva La Penguin

hi,

some explanation: as far as i know, debian woody uses a ~very old X System - this means your card is probably not supported by your X System (woody uses xfree 4.1.0 - http://www.xfree86.org/4.1.0/Status22.html#22 - )
knoppix is based on debian, but on sid (unstable) , not on woody (stable). this means it has a newer xserver included (my knoppix has 4.3.0).

knoppix also uses - as far as i know - an own hardware detection which has nothing to do with debian.
but you can start your knoppix - see whats different between your XF86Config and Knoppix XF86Config and so on ...
about your lilo - sounds like a wrong configured lilo.conf

bye

X problem:

- use Knoppix to do it for you. Load knoppix, mount /dev/fd0 /mnt/floppy && cp /etc/X11/XF86Config /mnt/floppy if that's where it's kept

lilo problem:

- correct /etc/lilo.conf using knoppix and install with lilo -C /foo/lilo.conf . Make sure it installs ok. Write down on a piece of paper where the / root partition is and where swap is.

here's my /etc/fstab as example, you probably only need a few lines - >
# <fs> <mountpoint> <type> <opts> <dump/pa
ss>

# NOTE: If your BOOT partition is ReiserFS, add the notail option to opts.
/dev/hda4 /boot ext3 noauto,noatime 1 1
/dev/hda6 / ext3 noatime 0 0
/dev/hda5 none swap sw 0 0
/dev/cdroms/cdrom0 /mnt/cdrom iso9660 noauto,ro,user 0 0
/dev/cdroms/cdrom1 /mnt/cdrom1 iso9660 noauto,ro,user 0 0
#proc /proc proc defaults 0 0
#devpts /dev/pts devpts defaults 0 0
/dev/hda3 /mnt/fat32 vfat user,noatime,uid=1000,gid=100 0 0
/dev/hda1 /mnt/ntfs ntfs user,noatime,uid=1000,gid=100 0 0
/dev/fd0 /mnt/floppy auto noauto,user 0 0
/dev/sda1 /mnt/sd auto noauto,user,uid=j,gid=users 0 0