Linux - NewbieThis Linux forum is for members that are new to Linux.
Just starting out and have a question?
If it is not in the man pages or the how-to's this is the place!
Notices
Welcome to LinuxQuestions.org, a friendly and active Linux Community.
You are currently viewing LQ as a guest. By joining our community you will have the ability to post topics, receive our newsletter, use the advanced search, subscribe to threads and access many other special features. Registration is quick, simple and absolutely free. Join our community today!
Note that registered members see fewer ads, and ContentLink is completely disabled once you log in.
If you have any problems with the registration process or your account login, please contact us. If you need to reset your password, click here.
Having a problem logging in? Please visit this page to clear all LQ-related cookies.
Get a virtual cloud desktop with the Linux distro that you want in less than five minutes with Shells! With over 10 pre-installed distros to choose from, the worry-free installation life is here! Whether you are a digital nomad or just looking for flexibility, Shells can put your Linux machine on the device that you want to use.
Exclusive for LQ members, get up to 45% off per month. Click here for more info.
I'm VERY new to this Linux game... in fact, i haven't really started yet. That is why i'm here.
I have an IBM Thinkpad 600X with an empty HDD and am wanting to install Linux and Windows onto it, but i am very unsure of how to go about this. I have searched the web for guides on what to do but have found very little that looks basic enough for me.
Could someone explain how i go about partitioning the HDD ready for a Linux/Windows dual boot and what order i should do things in (IE: partition, install Win, install Linux, etc).
I have a copy of Windows98 and Mandrake Linux (8.2) to use. I would get a newer version of Linux but i just don't have the means right now.
install windows 98 first. Don't worry about the partitioning at this stage. It will probably take up the whole drive but don't worry. Then start windows and do a defragment.
Then start the mandrake installer. I'm quite confident that the 8.2 installer is able to do the partitioning for you. You will have to tell it to resize the windows partition and install itself on the room made available that way.
I have partitioned the HDD into 4.5GB for W98, 3.5GB for Linux and 1Gb for Linux Swap.
W98 is installed OK.
And the Mandrake install went OK too... in fact, very simple, a lot easier than i had thought it would be... except that right at the very end i got stuck in a loop.
I got to "Configuring X Window System..." and then got:
An error occurred
XFree86 -rpm not found.
So i click OK and it asks if i want to do updates... I click no (i wasn't setup to go online) so it goes back up to "Configuring X Window System..." and i get the same error message.
and again. and again.
turned off the Thinkpad and when i booted i got the BootLoader thing, so i chose Linux and after a LONG wait got to a bash shell. I was able to log into that OK but didn't know how to get KDE or Gnome to run. Or did they not run because XWindows wasn't setup properly?
there's no way to get online? at this point mandrake has probably configured your modem/lan so if you could get upgrade online it should solve the problem...
If X was installed properly you'll be able to start KDE by
startx
at the command prompt. If this doesn't work become root (by su) and then do
urpmi XFree86
This should install it. If it still tells you that it cannot find the rpm, my guess is that your installation CDs are broken. But do tell us the error messages you get if any when trying to install X.
xauth: creating new authority file /home/mark/ .Xauthority
xauth: creating new authority file /home/mark/ .Xauthority
execue failed for /etc/X11/X (errno 2)
giving up.
xinit: No such file or directory (errno 2): unable to connect to X server
xinit: No such process (errno 3): Server error.
so i did superuser and urmpi XFree86 and got...
everything already installed
Could this be a problem with the videocard? or some other hardware? I understand X is something to do with graphics?
Also, how do i turn off my laptop from inside a shell? Last time i just logged out and turned it off but when i just booted it said there were errors on the drive which it fixed for me. Is there a command i need to use?
Do i need to install/setup drivers (?) for the video card, chipset, mobo, etc? Or does Mandrake cover this in the installation?
Oh, and i can't get online (to do update, or whatever) anyway because Mandrake told me i needed to goto linmodems.org because of some of my hardware - i guess the URL would suggest my modem?
you've got to the 'summary' screen, with all your hardware listed next to the 'configure' buttons, have you? did you check if everything was right? you should 'configure' your video options (there's also a 'test' option)
No, i have not seen this summary screen at all.
In fact, i am sure the installation process was "too" automated... i was told i would get the option to choose my BootLoader. I did not - it just chose one for me. I don't know which one.
Anyway, i think i have sorted the problem.
I found some info via Google about problems with the Thinkpad's graphics card being misconfigured by X... so i used "XFdrake --nonauto" and was able to manually select my card and i chose to use XFree86 v4.2 (not v3.2.2 which the auto config was using).
I rebooted and was able to do startx and got the Mandrake first-run wizard.
My only problem now is getting my head around all these Window Managers and themes...
How can i switch these btw? I am stuck with Gnome at the moment - how do i use KDE, for example?
you've probably selected the 'really easy install' or whatever it's called - i had options to choose bootloader, partitions (size, name position...), all of my drivers, all packages...
but you resolved the problem and that's what's improtant, no?
i use kde, even though lots of people say it's too 'fancy' - you just log off, returning to choose user (something like that) screen, in the bottom of the window there should be a list of WM - choose KDE and login
threre are options in mdk control center to automatically load a certain wm with certain user...
I was booting into a shell and having to run startx but i found the control panel in Mandrake to have the GUI login box.
Now, i'll probably get flamed for this... but i was under the impression that Linux was indestructable? it crashed on me last night when i tried to swap from KDE to one of the others. Go on, you'll tell me that that's actually X11's fault, yes?...
LinuxQuestions.org is looking for people interested in writing
Editorials, Articles, Reviews, and more. If you'd like to contribute
content, let us know.