New to Linux, Lots of ??'s about Slackware Please Help!
 

Hello everyone,

I am new to linux and I tried installing Slackware for the first time yesterday. The install went ok except for LILO. For some reason it wouldn't install into the MBR. Windows XP is installed on one partition on the drive and I put Slackware on the other. I used cfdisk to make the linux partition and I set it to be "BOOTABLE" (I don't know if I was supposed to or not). Any ides on why it wouldn't install into the MBR or what I should do about it??

Another questions I have...which are the packages I should install to have a pretty minimal working install? I want the network tools installed so I can get more packages, so what else should I put on other than the A package and the N package?

Also I did the newbie install to see what is installed...why is there like 50 shells installed? Do I need more than one? If not what is the best one to use? And the same applies for the windows managers. What is the deal with XWindow? Is it needed by KDE or is it the same type of thing as KDE. I'm very new to this so I apologize for my ignorance.

And finally the last question I have is which version of KDE comes with Slackware 9.0? I want to make sure to get the latest KDE (I think its 3.1) so I don't know if the ISO I downloaded has the current one on it.

Thanks everyone I hope I don't overload you guys with all of these questions.

-AlpineWonder

Re: New to Linux, Lots of ??'s about Slackware Please Help!
 

You don't need to make the Linux partition bootable. Just one partition must have it set. Not sure why LILO wasn't installed. Were there any error messages?

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Another questions I have...which are the packages I should install to have a pretty minimal working install? I want the network tools installed so I can get more packages, so what else should I put on other than the A package and the N package?

The most important thing is what you'd like to do with it. Most important packages will be installed, but there really many you may need.

Quote:

Also I did the newbie install to see what is installed...why is there like 50 shells installed? Do I need more than one? If not what is the best one to use? And the same applies for the windows managers. What is the deal with XWindow? Is it needed by KDE or is it the same type of thing as KDE. I'm very new to this so I apologize for my ignorance.

I don't think you have 50 shells. More likely 4-5. Most of them are just symplinks to others. In fact, you really need only sh/bash. There's no simpel answer and I can't tell you which one to use (shell or window manager). You need to test them and choose the one you like best.

XWindow system provides "connection" between hardware (your screen, mouse, keyboard) and appliations. It's used by a indow manager, that provides "look&feel", menus etc. KDE is one of the window managers.

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And finally the last question I have is which version of KDE comes with Slackware 9.0? I want to make sure to get the latest KDE (I think its 3.1) so I don't know if the ISO I downloaded has the current one on it.

The KDE version that comes with Slackware 9.0 is 3.1.0. The latest is 3.1.2, but 3.1.3 should be out very soon (you will be able to upgrade).

Thanks for the reply!

Ok the error message it told me is that LILO could not be installed to the MBR, that's pretty much it. It said something like it detected an error and was not installed.

I am going to reinstall when I get home and I won't set the linux partition to bootable (only the windows one will be) and see how that works out.

As for what I want to do with my linux system, I want to be able to run KDE, connect to the internet, and eventually use it as a develpment environment (but I'm going to wait to install all the dev tools). I want to have as little stuff on as possible for this and add as I go so I have complete control over my system and learn as much as I can about how linux works.

And yeah it was onyl like 4 or 5 I was just kidding about the 50 shells (with the newbie install it feels that way, haha). What exactly are the shells? When/how/why are they used?

Thanks for the info on XWindows, I was always a bit confused about it but it seems to make more sense now.

I still haven't decided if I want to install the KDE from the cd or if I want to download the newest one, but either way hopefully it won't be too bad.

Thanks again for the help! All of the linux forums are really helpful and I think they are a great thing for linux (especially with people like you who actually try to help out people new to linux instead of saying RTFM).

as a newb, i found that if you have the disk space a good way to start with slack is just to install everything by default ("full" ~2GB). then you can remove what you don't want later with removepkg, etc.

afaik, the slack install doesn't check for dependencies, so unless you are familiar with which app needs what, you might end up with more headaches if you leave out something important (like X ;) ). having everything installed also helps you learn about typical linux apps that you might not know about if they weren't on your system.

i suppose one could also make the argument that not meeting a dependency forces you to learn about linux, too (yeah, the hard way ;) ), so to each his or her own. :D

edit to add, LILO can be installed on a floppy disk, too. i've found that to be a good tool on more than one occasion.

Alpinewonder, did you try to install LILO "automatically"? I too dual boot between Slack and XP, and the option "try to install LILO automatically" or whatever it's called won't work for me - I have to go into "expert mode". From there, it installs with no problems at all. Give it a shot - you certainly won't have to be an expert. :)

Awesome, thanks I will have to try that....I will be going home shortly and will try. I'll update with my progress after that.

Actually one more question for you. When you installed it using expert mode did you install it to the MBR?

Thanks again!

Yep, I went for the MBR...keep in mind though, that a reinstall of XP (and possibly installation of service packs etc too, I'm not certain) will "fix" the MBR - the Windows bootloader will wipe out LILO. Should it happen, it's easy to fix (just boot your box with the CD, or a floppy, and rerun LILO), but it's a hazzle nonetheless.

I would strongly suggest that you go with the version of KDE that is on your cd. That package was compiled sepecifically for the 9.0 Slack that you'll be installing, so it should set up with little or no problems. Trying to install any other software can be very challenging, especially to a newbie (no offense intended, it's just a simple fact).

I would also agree with synaptical, that for your first (or now second) install, it's not a bad idea to just go with a complete install. Play around with it afterwards, and get used to it, then decide where you want to take it. Chances are that you'll be re-installing within a few months, once you begin to realize all the things that you wanted to do differently. Don't be put off by this, it's a natural part of the Linux learning experience.

Now, for the bad news. If you used cfdisk to resize an existing XP partition, you may have real problems, especially if the partition is NTFS. Are you still able to boot into XP?

By the way, to nvn, that's the funniest sig I've ever seen :-)

Enjoy!
--- Cerbere

Hehe...and the scary thing is that it's really an actual quote. :D

Cerbere, I reinstalled XP the other day and partitioned the drive previous to installing Slackware. I just reinstalled Slackware and I wrote LILO into the root instead of the MBR because of what I read here

http://www.frusher.fsbusiness.co.uk/.../dualboot.html

But when I tried this command like they told me to (hda2 is my linux partition)

dd if=/dev/hda2 of=~/bootsect.lnx bs=512 count = 1

I get an error message saying the file can't be found. Any idea why this would be? I would like to do it the way they tell me to at that link because it sounds like that way a windows update shouldn't be much of a problem because it is handling the boot loading.

Let me know what you guys think.

Thanks!

apw, it's no big deal to install lilo to your MBR. After/if you install to the MBR run "makebootdisk" (with a floppy in) to have another way to boot, just in case you need it.

When/if you install, remember to add your linux and windows boot-partitions to lilio-conf before you actually install to the MBR.

BC

Just my $0.02:

There's no harm in installing LILO on the boot sector, but XP might come up with it's usual tricks and mess it up anytime it deems necessary. Other apps that might mess it up are anti-virus tools, and such.

Safe method without confusing inferior OSs coming out of Redmond is to install lilo in /boot.

You can dd the boot sector of Linux if you want, but if you prefer to do it in a Windows/DOS environment then I'd recommend bootpart for your multi-boot needs. It's stated on the site that it'll work with NT, 2K, and XP, and that's true. It can also create boot sector images of other OSs, not just Linux. I've manage to quad boot my PC with XP, Slackware, LFS and OpenBSD (and sometime other OSs I want to experiment with).

It does the exact same thing that dd does, but arguably in a more user-friendly way.

Hope this helps!

I use 'Acronis OS Selector 8.0', it will boot Linux, windoze or anything. I also use 'Acronis Partition-Expert 2003', it will work with reiserfs, ext2 or 3, etc. Another good utility is 'Acronis True-Image', I use it to make an image of my entire slackware HD. It's fast, efficient and Linux-friendly'(grin).

My 2cents, BC

Can ANYONE tell me which kernel to select? I have not een able to find that info anywhere. :study: I have an hp pavilion 4453 with a amdk6-2 233 mhz w/64 k ram and I have no idea which one to choose. I chose the bare from the cd and when I rebooted (after the rest of the config was done) all I got was:
L99 99 99 99 99 99 99 99 99 (and so on.) What is the correct one?:Pengy:

bare.i is the basic kernel