mandriva vs fedora
 

i tried fedora and even with kde i couldnt get on internet..is mandriva easier?

i have mandriva one disc from last may06
192ram 12.8gig drive which ill upgrade maybe 266mhz

it went on as sample but how do i put it on drive so it stays?

You won't solve internet connection problems by changing distributions. Pick any of the top distros and stay with it until you get it working.
to 266MHz from what??

What does this mean? Perhaps you were running from a live CD? If so, there is an install command either on the desktop or in one of the menus.

to 266MHz from what??

i mean its a cpu thats 266 mhz ,an old computer pentium 2,
i really should get a new one i suppose

thanks pixellany

i wonder if i can find this menu you mean

live cd i guess -it just shows what its like without the real install

Several problems I see here.
1- RAM - 192 is an oddball. System can only use power of 2, that is - 2, 4, 8, 16, 32, 64,128, 256, etc. You appear to have 2 different size RAM sticks, the system will ignore one of those chips.
2- Internet access depends on the correct settings in your networking system, Linux will not hold your hand and find the world automatically.
3- 12.8 Gb drive you will upgrade to 266Mhz? WHAT?

You appear very confused about the mechanics inside your computer, don't fret, you are not an orphan there. You would be amazed at the number of people I see, who mistakenly call the computer case the hard drive.

Tell us exactly what CPU you have, Intel?, AMD? CPU speed? in Mhz.

As Pixellany said in her? post. It seems as if your are running from the "live" CD. Put the disk in your machine as it starts, let it boot to the graphical desktop, somewhere down the left side of the desktop, you will find an icon named "install to hard disk" or similar.
Double click this icon. BE AWARE. This will overwrite anything else on the disk.
If you still want MS Windows, then I suggest you purchase another hard disk and cable, install it in your machine, the install Linux to this drive, Remember to install the "boot loader (grub or lilo) to the MBR of HDA.
The first hard drive is hda, the second is hdb, the third is hdc, and so on. Under Linux, floppy drives are numbered, ie, fd0, fd1,fd2. SCSI disks are, sda,sdb,sdc, etc.
Please do not hesitate to ask for more help, that is why we are here. We like to at least try to help people out of confusion. As for the best distro? That is purely your choice.

Good luck.

Shorty943.

thanks shorty -im not a novice on computer stuff i just dont type well

i know the cpu, harddrive, and ram ,are 3 diferent things

i think possibly i cant get the install option becuse i have a weird video card

it seems anyway the cpu mhz has nothing to do with linux 2006/2007

192 RAM makes perfect sense, it is a 128 Mhz chip and a 64 Mhz chip. I don't know why shorty943 thinks that doesn't work, I had a computer with 192 Mhz RAM for years, and it was fine.

To Craise, the processor is important to linux, but as you have seen, linux can function (and even function well) with a system that doesn't have high enough specs to run windows XP. What I would suggest if you install linux (as opposed to running a live CD) is that you install a light weight graphical enviornment. XFCE is probably the most popular of the "light" enviornments, although IceWM and windowmaker are also fine choices. You would want to stay away from KDE and Gnome, as those require more RAM and processor power.

A strange video card will not prevent you from installing. It may take a bit of work to get it configured, but it certainly can function. Why do you say it is strange, is it just that it is as old as the rest of the machine? If so that's no problem, linux still supports old hardware, and if it ever was supported, it still is supported!

We're still very unclear as to what type of linux you are running. You mention Fedora and Mandriva in your initial post. Is it that you have installed Fedora and are asking if changing to Mandriva will help? Please open a terminal and type "uname -r" without the quotes. That will give us the kernel name and hopefully enough info so we can help you. Please post the output of that command here.

Peace,
JimBass

i said i nave mandriva one

i got in magazine in may2006

all other versions are deleted

Try this to install then -

Click on the home icon. In your home, there will be a directory either called desktop or Desktop. Click on that (linux is case sensitive, so they are not the same). Within that folder there should be an icon to install mandriva to the hard drive. That is how most of the live distros install to hard disk, although I have no first hand experience with mandriva.

Peace,
JimBass

Mandriva is gonna be slower than christmas on that machine. It just doesn't seem to work well with old machines. I tried to run it on my 2.4ghz machine, and it was so slow it drove me nuts. Hopefully you have better luck.

I'd probably recommend Xubuntu on a machine that old, but thats just me.

http://www.xubuntu.com

IGF

What IndyGunFreak said is true. With mandriva defaulting to KDE, you'll be hard pressed. I suggested XFCE back in my initial post in this thread, and Xubuntu does use XFCE. Just something to consider.

Peace,
JimBass

maybe on another ill do that

i gave up and put on fedora 3 from a 2005 "linux for dummies" book

it seems to work ok on it but it wont play a music cd and i know the sound card works

Well, Fedora 3 is now 3 versions old, as Fedora 6 is now out. Changing distros is not a smal step. I suggest you pick one distro, ande stick with it for a few months to learn how it operates, tehn trying others. Bouncing around like a super ball is tough.

If the cd is mp3, Fedora needs an install to play mp3s. If it is a true audio CD, then you have another issue. You should at least upgrade to Fedora 6 if you are going to use Fedora.

You'll still have to install the graphics drivers in fedora, so that didn't help in that regard any.

Peace,
JimBass

i did have core 5

how is 3 so diferent from 5 and 6?

The higher number, the newer it is. Your book will still be 98% or more true, but you can't get the latest software on old OSes. You always want to stick with the newest version, as it is the most supported. In particular, you want a fresh modern kernel, for hardware support and security, and the newest kernels come with and are updated by the newest version of the OS.

Peace,
JimBass

It would be like going out today, and getting Windows 3.x and expecting to be able to find compatible drivers, etc. for it, probably worse given the constant updating of Linux OS's. I was just looking at a Fedora Mirror, and assuming its accurate, FC3 was posted June 05.

You might manage to get it to work, how well is the question. Its cool breathing new life into old machines, but when you pick a distro *that old*, its gonna be tough to get it working 100%, even on old hardware. Getting any software thats not pre-installed will be difficult, updated software may not run on it, finding software repositories will be next to impossible, you get the idea I imagine. I still think Xubuntu 6.10 would be better on that machine, given the reasons mentioned by JimBass. Gnome, and especially KDE, will just make a bad situation worse on that machine.

As for your audio problem, is it just playing music CD's, are you getting *any* audio, can you play MP3s, or any other audio format?

IGF

that's Okay Craise, my fingers have "lysdexia" as well.
As for your "weird" video card, the standard frame buffer driver will at least get your desktop up, just no 3d.

To Jim Bass, maybe my ram knowledge needs updating. Any fauxpah's in the rest?

Running Mandriva and KDE on older machines? My server is an older Athlon 1.6Gb\ 256Mb mem\ onboard s3 graphics. runs sweet as candy.

keep on at it.

Shorty.

i have some faster computers i could use i guess

i may go buy a new harddrive and try it out if i get the new magazine with fedora or something in few months

id like to know if i put on linux and change my mind is it a big thing to earse it and put on windows? i did do that-i put on xp and xp worked and then got jammed and i wondered if its all screwy from a linux file

i just dont see why with helix player and all the players on 2 or three linux computers the cd wont play or on other one played half the time

i sort of think microsoft is sort of greedy other than that is linux any big deal?

i sort of wish i had a mac

Yes, Linux is a big deal--It runs the majority of the servers in the world, including a few obscure sites such as Google. It also runs a fair percentage of the Supercomputers, the TIVO, and a few cell phones. According so some stats from W3C, its % usage <<edit: desktop usage>> is about the same at for the Mac.
So, what exactly was your question????....;)
Then get one!!