SimplyMEPIS help for a newb.

Simon Bridge · 08-29-2005, 11:58 PM

Quote:

The Windows option only comes up when my second hard drive is set to Primary in the BIOS. When I showed you the code it was set to secondary boot. As I said in my first post, the keyboard does not work on the option screen. It's almost like it's unplugged until it gets into Mepis totally or XP.

The problem here is that the initrd boot image does not have usb drivers. You can amke another initrd with usb drivers to fix this ... you have usb drivers in you operating kernel, so you just need mkinitrd (see man page) I think.

rename the old inird.img to initrd.img.old ... then make a new initrd.img to replace it and see how that goes.

Mepis is like most distros - a pain in the ass when it dosn't go, but heaven for those where it does. However, Mepis has a rep for low tolerance to even slightly unusual hardware configs at install.

I think the best one for newbies is Ubuntu - though that has it's troubles too.

Of course, I use Fedora (RH9 as a newbie) and this has great HW support - I just have never got a RH distro going without at least one reinstall.

Now - please - this is a civilised forum - lets put the flamethrowers down please... gently ...

sprintman · 09-03-2005, 08:30 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by aysiu

You must be joking. What's such a hassle about Mepis? It's arguably the easiest OS around to install, configure, and use. You're making impossible demands on Mepis. Does Windows XP let you boot to XP and Mepis? Not at all. Mepis does, however. Did you install Grub to the MBR?

I have to agree aysiu, MEPIS is the easiest distro I have tried, although I do believe Linux in general can be a bit intimidating at first for some.

Chris

Greenhaven · 09-21-2005, 05:38 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by Courtenay
Nah. What really sucks is that neither MS-DOS or Partition Magic is letting me reformat the drive. Mepis is a pain in the ass for newbies, I know a whole lot of you use it but it's just not worth the hassle sometimes.

-Courtenay

Go back to Windows - come back when you are ready.

syg00 · 09-21-2005, 07:40 AM

Interesting this thread should be resurrected.
Last weekend I managed to trash the Mepis I had built for my good lady. Totalled KDE completely.

Decided was time for a re-install using the latest CD. As I had /home on a separate partition, *nothing* was lost.
Took a while to get the CUPS (network) printer and my WEP Wifi sorted, but all done in an hour an a half.

Pretty impressive.
I still recommend this over all others to newbies - no question.

Simon Bridge · 09-21-2005, 11:58 PM

syg00: How many newbie installs have you seen then?

(Remember: you are far from being a newbie - there are many things you would now do without thinking that a complete novice wouldn't think of. For that matter, a newbie windows install is tricky - it's just as well it comes pre-installed or nobody would use it.)

syg00 · 09-22-2005, 06:42 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by Simon Bridge
How many newbie installs have you seen then?

Enough I think.
Having myself suffered through Redhat as a first distro, I know all about "RPM-dependancy hell"; and have seen others suffer the same.

I recommend Mepis to those that ask, and I have few "panic" calls to rescue people. Seems newbies can generally handle it themselves - and not have to worry about finding NTFS drivers, or codecs, or whatever.

Greenhaven · 09-22-2005, 10:42 PM

I have tried several times over the last two years to peek into Linux. After ten years with Windows, Mepis was the first time it felt enjoyable. This is all relative to my understanding of Linux, all the same Mepis "feels nice". The rescue CD and its Xconfig / Grub / partitioning tools give a newbie confidence to tweak things without having to walk a tightrope without a net.

I am giving away windows software to my friends, the really good friends get Mepis.