big time noob here so i appoligise right up front for my linux ignorace.
im a windoze geek always have and always wil be . but i wanna learn linux.

ok im grabbing mandrake 9.2 i586 and i want to know exactly how to partition out a 30 gig hard drive.

i think ill probably do it manually but when i last time i tried linux i dont think i liked the partitioning and tried it on my own and had it all screwed up .

soo... what is the BEST partitioning method and BEST format type ext3 fat so on and so on.
or should i just go ahead and let mandrake partition and format it on its own ?

well if you need to resize your existing windows partition to make room for your linux install, i'd still recommend something like partition magic. although the linux installer should come with something like disk druid which should be able to handle resizing windows parititions, i myself am not comfortable with using a linux tool for resizing windows parititons. you could also use fdisk to resize a partition though. it does take some reading on how to use fdisk. if you're a gui person though, i'd say go for the partition magic program since fdisk is command line.

also if you're set on using mandy 9.2 make sure you get the version that fixes their lg cd drive problem. you could break your cd drive if you don't.

when in the installer and trying to choose a filesystem type, use ext3 over ext2. ext3 is more robust than the old ext2 filesystem. when partitioning for a linux swap, it's recommended that you go about 2 times the amount of ram you have.

break my LG drive wtf kinda crap is that holy crap!!!!!!!!!


and i should know what LG is but right now im drawing a blank.
i have 2 lite on drives one liteon DVDRW LDW 451-S (dvd-+R -+r/w and cd-r cd-rw burner) and a liteon cd-r rw.

the other hard drives are the ones i listed above.

i dont insist on going with mandrake its just what im choosing right now.

what i really want is THE MOST noob friendly version of linux out there. and i mean user friendly all the the past versions ive tried have not been noob friendly, and to this day i cant believe that no one has made one, to my knowledge, i dont see how the linux community expects to get linux into the mainstream home and corporate world when it take classes or reading a novel to understand how to use it.

so can you advise me on a different version that could be more to my skill level which is rock bottom,, i have tried other versions but all i could do was surf the net,, LAN networking was impossible as setting up samba was just too much for me, hell i had to contact a buddy just to get know how to mount my extra hard drive.

and the 30 gig drive is just for linux..
once i get comfortable with linux i will make the switch to having linux AND XP both on the same hard drive.
i have 2 SATA 160 drives set as RAID with most of that being storage so i am not going to take a chance on trying to install linux on it and loose all my storage partition.

kill my LG drive damn are you serious thats just crazy.

the iso im downloading is dated 11/03 can youtell me if the LG fix is in that version ? there is also an iso i grabbed labeled MandrakeMove,, dated 01/04 so it seems to be the most recent.
which after booting to it, it appears to be some sort of update cd to update to the latest drivers and modules. is this correct.
the FTP just didnt have any info on what that image was.

http://www.mandrakelinux.com/en/lgerrata.php3

that link is a list of drives that are affected or unaffected. as far as mandrake move is concerned, it's a live cd like knoppix. but so far the most common response about user friendliness is either mandrake or suse. but suse doesn't offer up isos for you to burn. they use install via ftp. i've never tried it so i don't know how easy suse is to install via ftp.

i'm not a mandy user so i don't know if they've fixed this or not. i think on passing the site once, that they had a patch for this. maybe they've incorporated the patch. i don't know.

as far as linux going mainstream for joe user, i don't really care either. linux has been friendly for me and that's all i care about. you get out what you put in.

Ah you see a flaw, Now you can be a "hacker" and make your own distro that is SUPER easy. Congrats, and good luck :P

btw: windows does everything for you, therefore makes it easier and gives you less control (dont forget the fact that it doesn't do these things very well either)

well im willing to learn and i have many frequent flyer miles in other software and hardware forums so ialways give back what i get,, its just that linux as im sure you can agree is a pain in the butt to learn and even harder to get into. i just truly wish somewhere there was a more user friendly version one that didnt involve all the mounting stuff, i mean hell i found quake 3 linux and looking at the read me its a pain in the arse just to mount the cd and run the installer, i mean comeone doesnt any version of linux allow you to load a cd up and say hey look there is a cd gimmie a minute let me read it,, hey i found and installer for quake 3 would you like to install quake 3 now ? yes? ok where do you want to install it.

you see what i mean more user friendly less scripting and command line using.

and mandrake move a live cd you mean like knoppix ? hhmm i like that ill give it a try before i do a full install.

just tried ManMove on my ol ladies system and it works pretty nice.. i think ill mess around with that for a while before i do the install.

oh btw -
NOTE: Based on information we have received from LG Electronics' technicians, only CD-ROM models are affected by this bug. DVD-ROM/R/RW and CD-RW devices are not affected

i still dont like the idea my lite on drives being trashed,, damn it,, i suppose i better use my other dvd burner for my main drive.

ok so slack is the way to go then for simplicity,, hhmm

so im on an ftp right now you fellas care to be o kind as to tell me what i should download im looking at the slackware-current folder.
also since they are not iso's ill assume data mode 1 2048 is the burn type of choice, and the bootimage will need to be loaded also. meaning create a new isocdrom(bootable) with nero.

again i appoligise for the onslaught of questions, i just wanna get the version thats best for me and the procedure correctly,,
i havent check but is there a sticky somewhere here for slackware installs ? or mandrake installs ?

download the latest 9.1 (i think) ISO file. it should like like

Slackware91_cd1.iso or something like that

Make sure you get the iso file.. Getting just the data adds another step to make the iso file. Go to bed and burn it in nero while eating breakfast =D

Make sure in nero tho, goto open -> slackware91.iso
and burn it. If you take the files out of the iso, IT WILL NOT WORK

oh yeah i know all about burning iso's i go thru more dvd's and cd-rs than i can afford lol.

many thanks

oknow from what ive read there is no gui for the install or is that just the partitioning.

can you give me a quick low down for a 30 gig drive what i should have ?
hda - ?
hdb ?
hdc?
hdd swap ??
see what i mean ?

god i feel like such a retard i havent asked this many questions about pc stuff for a long time.

hhmm its not letting me download the iso's says permission denied. hhmmm

k getting cd1 from another mirror,, now for cd2 guess ill have to find another mirror for cd2 this one dont have it.

omg. thats exactly how i felt the first week i had with linux. I felt like a total dumbass and the last 5 years on the computer were a waste. lol. The hda stuff is like the bios almost.

hda - Master 1
hdb - Slave 1
hdc - Master 2
hdd - Slave 2

However, when you create more than one partition on one device (device - hda, hdb, etc) it would be labeled hda1, hda2, hda3, etc

Swap is virtual memeory, when your Physical ram is completely full, your computer will start using virtual memory called swap used on your hard drive. Not as fast, but prevents crashes. I would reccomend making it about 3x the size of your Physical ram just in case.

btw - the install actually has a bunch of documentation along with it, which you SHOULD read. Get used to reading manuals, youll better start enjoying reading manuals cuz thats the only way you can do cool stuff in linux.

ok i understand all that lol i guess i didnt clarify i mean during the slack install , from what i understand its not auto partition and format its manual, i need to set the partitions myself,.
how should i do it.
one big partition with logical dirves inside it or how.
like
hda1 - what do i install here what is its use
hda2 - what here
hda3 - what here
hda4 - if needed

like if you were at my machine how would you set up my hard drive partitioning ?

if i was using mandrake i would say heck with it and let mandrake do it automatically but everything im reading is pointing to slackware for the easiest to use, except the installation part of it.

I would setup your comptuer like this:
device - location - percentage - purpose
-----------------------------------------------------------------
hda1 - / - 70% - This is your root dir. Its kind of like C:/
hda2 - /home - 25% - For extra security, i would make another partition to put things like your user accounts and their files.
hda3 - /swap - 5% - the virtual memory thing which i explained earlier

Linux file system kind of works differently than windows. In windows, you would have a C:/ or D:/
in Linux, you have one big directory under / Then you mount other devices in /mnt/cdrom or /mnt/floppy

I'm thinking if you want, we can talk on IRC, or AIM so i can step you through.
Let me know if you want to.