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Old 06-18-2005, 08:45 PM   #1
ImNeat
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Red Hat 7.3 Help Needed Pls


Hey all -
I'm a complete linux newbie and I have a few questions. I just downloaded and formated Linux Red Hat 7.3 and I'm havinga little bit of trouble. I'm going for the whole XP Pro/Linux Redhat dual boot thing. I have both operating systems installed and, i think, running... but I'm a little confused. The post-installation portion of the directions I followed for Red Hat 7.3 instructed me to "open the Linux command shell and run /etc/grub.conf" and make a few changes. First off, when I run Red Hat 7.3 it auto sends me to a command line asking me to log in. Does Red Hat 7.3 not have a GUI? Also - when i try to follow the directions and log into the root account to open /etc/grub.conf it tells me access denied. So i guess my questions are these:
1.) Does Red Hat 7.3 have GUI, if so how do I activate it?
2.) Why can't I access /etc/grub.conf?
3.) Do I even need to edit the grub.conf file since I can already run both Linux and Windows at startup?
Thanks in advance.

(My system is a Dell 8400 with some kind of SATA hard drive.)

Last edited by ImNeat; 06-18-2005 at 09:20 PM.
 
Old 06-18-2005, 10:52 PM   #2
rose_bud4201
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Well...you should probably be using a newer version of the Red Hat-esque OS, for starters. They've not supported Red Hat as a personal distro for quite awhile now (since 2003, according to this page , and have moved to Fedora. So for starters , using that might make things easier for you, especially as you've got a very recent system.

1) However, provided that things are configured correctly you can start the gui by typing "startx" after you've logged in (as yourself, *not* as root).

2) I'm not sure why you can't access grub.conf...if you're correctly logged in as root, you should have read/write access to it. Which editor are you using, and could you post the output of "ls /etc | grep grub"?

3) No, probably not. If you've got Windows & Linux already, you're good to go

Last edited by rose_bud4201; 06-18-2005 at 10:57 PM.
 
Old 06-19-2005, 08:31 AM   #3
ImNeat
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Thanks for your help - I'll restart and check out the startx command. I actually tried to install the newer version 9 but I ran into problems. The 7.3 install went flawless until the /etc/grub incident. Since I'm running off only one hard drive I was able to switch the driver settings to Combination mode. So windows and linux run sin problemas. Thanks again.

-----*edit:

I just tried using the startx command and I got an error.
It told me no screens were found.
Does this mean it's not finding correct drivers for my monitor? When I went through the hardware manager for the first time I set the driver to a model below mine, since mine wasn't an option. If its a driver problem how can I get the correct drivers installed, is it possible to use the command line and access my Dell Drivers Disk? Or is that strictly windows? Also, what version of linux other than red hat 7.3 do you recommend? I would like something with a GUI interface somewhat like windows so I can start without being completely confused. Any help would be appreciated.

Last edited by ImNeat; 06-19-2005 at 08:53 AM.
 
Old 06-19-2005, 11:41 AM   #4
rose_bud4201
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Quote:
I actually tried to install the newer version 9
I think we're misunderstanding each other. "Red Hat", as a desktop OS, is no longer supported nor active. The last Red Hat update - version 9 - came out 2 and a half years ago. The successor to Red Hat is Fedora (the latest version is Core 4). So the latest version, which on a system as new as yours is definitely what you should be aiming for, is Fedora Core 4, not Red Hat anything.

And yeah, the Dell driver disk in all probability only has Windows drivers. The problem is more likely in X's configuration file than it is a driver problem. A big ol' constant in the world of linux is _everything_ has a configuration file In this case, the file in question is /etc/X11/XF86Config. I'm not sure what the command is in RH7.3 to configure it...but this site:http://www.yolinux.com/TUTORIALS/Lin...tallation.html
had this to say
Quote:
X-Windows:

* startx : This command start the graphical user interface X- windows system.
* If X windows fails:
o RH8.0: Use the X windows configuration tool /usr/bin/redhat-config-xfree86. This will edit the configuration file /etc/X11/XF86Config
o RH7.3-: If this fails one can reconfigure X windows with the command Xconfigurator (or you can also use XF86setup or xf86config which performs a similar function). This produces the same graphics setup interface as the installation. Xconfigurator generates the file /usr/X11R6/lib/X11/XF86Config (This is linked to /etc/X11) (See /usr/X11R6/lib/X11/doc/README.Config)
* The /etc/X11/XF86Config file holds X-windows configuration information about the graphics card, monitor, mouse and keyboard.
* For my 17 inch monitor (1280x1024 resolution) I configured X-Windows for a resolution of 1024x768 for better readability.
A warning - if you do this, PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE have looked up online and know the horizontal and vertical refresh (sync) ranges of your specific monitor. It's going to ask you for them, and it's a very bad idea indeed to guess. I think that somewhere in Dell's labyrinthine website, it does actually provide that information. So absolutely look up and know those values before you start that command!
 
Old 06-19-2005, 03:16 PM   #5
ImNeat
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Ahh thank you so much. I think what I will do is download and format the new Fedora version of Linux. I'm pretty sure I can reformat the Red Hat partition of my hard drive without affecting XP Pro. With that in mind - am I going to run into many problems with the Fedora installation? Or should it easily find my hard drive, mouse, monitor etc? Thanks so much again for taking time to help me out.
 
Old 06-19-2005, 03:21 PM   #6
gnukish
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Fedora core 3 should work fine. You must edit grub.conf after installing fedora, to have a dual boot. You have to edit grub becoz windowsxp will work only on primary partition.
 
Old 06-19-2005, 03:27 PM   #7
ImNeat
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Ok so go with Core 3, not Core 4. If you don't mind me asking how do I reconfigure grub? Will I need to log in root, and do the "/etc/grub.conf" ? And what do I need to type into the command line to get it to work? *Also, I already have XP Pro formated on C:, it was the first OS I formatted but it is not the default. I won't have to touch it in order to reformat Fedora over Red Hat on D:, will I?
 
Old 06-19-2005, 03:30 PM   #8
rose_bud4201
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Ehh, chances are pretty good that the installer will pick up windows automatically (the same way RH7 did for you already). Granted, it's a possibility that when you reboot you'll only have linux. Should this happen - don't worry, it's easily fixable via the editing grub.conf process. I'm still not entirely sure _why_ you had some difficulty with that this time though - the command to do it is either `vi /etc/grub.conf` (when you're logged in successfully as root), or, if you're booted to the GUI, just open a console window, type `su` to get to root, and use whatever text editor you please (Kate, Emacs, Vi, there's quite a list) to edit it. Save, and reboot.

As long as you install over the current redhat installation (is it on the same hard drive as windows, or a different one? And what's your partition scheme for windows (only one partition - C: - or do you have multiple?) You shouldn't even need to go near the windows installation, no.

And yes, it should have no problems with hardware; the supported hardware list at this point is pretty massive, and FC3 does indeed support SATA.

Last edited by rose_bud4201; 06-19-2005 at 03:34 PM.
 
Old 06-19-2005, 03:38 PM   #9
gnukish
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Mostly it must pick up the xp partition. But just incase it doesnt... try logging in as root from terminal(konsole)

then .... edit grub.conf as follows
Code:
root @ localhost root $ vi/etc/grub.conf
Now ... add these three lines after leaving the entries for fedora untouched

Code:
title Windows
rootnoverify(hd0,x)
chainloader +1
Here hd0 is hdd===>number may change sometimes. "x" should be 1 or 2 depending on hdd no. If its hd0 , x should be 0+1[or] if it is 1, x=2
 
Old 06-19-2005, 05:19 PM   #10
ImNeat
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Alright awesome. I'm running both Linux and Windows off 1 hard drive. It's a 80GB SATA drive and I'm planning on partitioning 45GB for XP Pro and 30GB for Fedora. Now before I do all this what should my proper drivers setting be? I changed it to SATA/PATA for XP/RH7.3 to work, but whats the best option for XP/Fedora?
 
Old 06-19-2005, 05:28 PM   #11
rose_bud4201
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I'm not sure how you mean drivers...? you won't need to touch the Windows partition at all, and FC3 should already have SATA drivers built-in.
 
Old 06-19-2005, 07:31 PM   #12
ImNeat
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Erm I must have used the wrong wording. What I meant was the hard drive configuration in the BIOS. Unfortunately I'm about 6 hours away from my computer, so I can't check to write exactly what I'm asking. But I'll try to explain: My BIOS allows 4 options for startup.
1.) Something / AHCI
2.) Something / ATA --- (is default, ran windows but not linux.)
3.) Something else
4.) Combination (SATA/PATA)

Now when I used option #1 Linux would install but XP got an error. When I used option #2 Windows was fine but Linux "could not find hard drive." Then I tried option #4 and both operating systems installed fine. That was all with Red Hat 7.3. Now when I get back to my computer and go to install Fedora, should I keep the BIOS option #4, or should I put it back to default #2? -- Sorry, I'm probably not being clear at all seeing as I'm confusing myself.
 
Old 06-19-2005, 07:56 PM   #13
rose_bud4201
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Ahh, I see. I think that you might as well keep it the same - I don't think that whatever base kernel options controlled hard drive access have changed much from Red Hat to FC3. (And if they have, you'll probably find out fairly quickly in the install process.)
 
Old 06-19-2005, 10:22 PM   #14
ImNeat
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I'm gonna go ahead and download/burn the ISOs now so when I get to my computer I can get to work. Looking at linuxiso.org I see two different versions of Fedora Core 2 (Tettnang) - an "i386" version and a "0" version. If I recall correctly the RH7.3 I got was i386, but I don't know the difference between the two. Is one better/more reliable than the other? Or is there absolutely no difference? (ps: sorry for my stupid question after stupid question, I'm just taking advantage of being in contact with you pros =) )
 
Old 06-19-2005, 10:48 PM   #15
rose_bud4201
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You should be getting the i386 ISO's in this case, too - rather than being under the "Tettnang" heading, which is the 2nd set of iso's on the page, you should p'bly be getting the FC3 (the first) set. The section is "Version: Fedora Core 3 (Heidelburg)", and the heading is simply "i386", with the links named "Fedora Project - FC3 CD 1", "Fedora Project - FC3 CD 2", and so on.
If I had to guess, I'd say that the first and second are core system elements, the second and third are software, and the 4th is probably other languages, etc, but that's just a guess. If you've got a fast connection I'd grab all 4.
 
  


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