planning to install Mandrake 9.2
 

as you can see im planning to install MDK 9.2. ive been reading all kinds of linux docs and im planning on printing out the mandrake documentation to keep in a binder just in case. i wanna explore linux (i used red hat a loooooooong time ago) so im gonna install it in a separate HD on my pc. i just read that the kernel that comes with MDK 9.2 cant read NTFS partitions properly and can screw them up in the process....is this true or will i be able to read my mp3's right after installing?

as u can see from my sig im running a Dell Dimension 8250 (i know, i know :rolleyes: ) which has had everything Dell related wiped out (except for the crappy BIOS). i read in another forum that the Mandrake installation freezes at the hardware detection stage, and that i should disable usb before going along with it. is this actually necessary? it'd be nice to be able to configure my webcam, scanner and wireless adapter right away instead of doin it separately afterwards.

thanks in advance!
Apu

First, why not use Mandrake 10? I've got it on two machines and one is a Dell Inspiron 2650 laptop. No problems with it thus far, and MDK 10 automatically detected my external USB2.0 hard drive during install and mounted it with no config from me. Also, MDK 10 will natively read NTFS and FAT32 (possibly more). It will probably put your Windows partition in the /mnt folder, most likely mounted into a folder name win_c. It's a new release, but is an absolutely ace OS in my opinion.

yeah, i thought about MDK 10 too, but since im new to this, id rather have something that has the last number of bugs, and then ill upgrade to version 10 in june (or whenever its released)

Mandrake 10 is officially out. It's no longer in CE (beta) releases. I'm running the 10.0 final release. It's got bugs, yes, but I haven't seen anything major. Only problems have been with minor apps that I don't even really need. (Kopete and Kontact have had some crashes)

ill give it a shot after i get used to 9.2...
so are the issues i asked about true? the first one freaks me out...id hate to try to read my mp3's only to screw them up instead

oh, something else that came to mind, i have an Audigy 2 installed. will MDK 9.2 support this natively or will i have to install other drivers (i read that i should install ALSA and the upgrade the kernel to 2.6 so it'll work better)

As for corrupting mp3s, it shouldn't be able to. Mandrake 10 mounts all your windows materials as read-only. I don't know about 9.2 but I'd assume that it acts in the same way. I don't personally know about support for an Audigy 2, but found this thread dealing with a problem using an Audigy 2 ZS with 10.0 when it didn't cause issue with 9.2.