Absolute newbie. Only days. First my hardware:
Toshiba A60 laptop
512MB Ram,
No floppy drive
60 GB partitioned as follows: hda1 Pri / 3GB
hda2 Pri swap 2GB
hda5 log /usr 10GB
hda6 log /opt 3GB
hda7 log /tmp 500MB
hda8 log /home 40GB
All partitions reiserfs
Partitions layout from other ppls "how I setup mine guides"
Any advice would be appreciated on partition sizes, types and filesystem to use.
Just wanna workstation for now and to get my head round Linux.

Problem 1/
Lilo will not install in superblock of root or the mbr. Using bare.i. Boot from cd ok but get the L 99..... error when boot from hard drive. As far as mbr is concerned is it fixable by deleting all partitions and reformatting as a single drive the re-do partitions with cfdisk (prefer cfdisk to fdisk).

Problem 2/
When I do get kde running (boot from cd) no sound, (Ac97 on board) most other things seem ok, at moment.

Where can I possibly find a guide as to how to install drivers, software, rpms etc. Also list of commands.

Btw I do keep doing a search however most answers I find are either not specific to my prob or are double dutch to me.
Please excuse the questions.
Any help will be much appreciated

Cheers Edd

Sorry forgot to add, Linux only no windows at all

http://www.linux-on-laptops.com/toshiba.html is always a good place to start for Toshiba laptops. I have also put in some links to my Linux Bookmarks page. Search for "toshiba" on the right hand sidebar.

For problem 2, when you first get to the console prompt, run "alsaconf", it should get you started, then run "alsamixer" to set your sound levels, then "alsactl store" to save these settings.

Hi,

Edd, first why do you have such a large / partition? Since you have /usr, /opt and /home partitions, the / should not need to be that large. That is unless you are compiling like mad and placing a lot in /boot. Even then 3GB would be large.

BTW, no need to reformat, I think your problem is related to the drive, see below answer. The only quewstion I would have was how you wrote to the superblock? Wa sit set as active?

Problem 1:

I would use a live-cd like slax and choose the ranish option to confirm the boot sectors. The ranish utility is self explained with some good help. You could write an spl for the disk then use your install cd to boot, then chroot to use your lilo to write the mbr.

I like to be explicit by;

lilo -v -t -b /dev/hdp# #this will test
lilo -v -b /dev/hdp# # this will write

note; p# should be replaced with the device and partition number.

Be sure to have the boot partition active. This can be done using fdisk or cfdisk and selecting the partition to be active. It will be denoted with an asterisk. BTW, you can have more than one active partition to allow you different boot OS. Read man lilo!

Problem 2:

Good advice already given for the sound!

As for rpms', I don't really like to use them for some obvious reasons. I want to know what and how things are installed in my systems. Even with packages, I want to know what going on.

For reference;

Slackware Linux Essentials

http://slackbook.lizella.net/book2.html

If you have the Slackware 10.2 cd set, it is on cd3.

The linux documentation project is a real good source;

http://tldp.org/guides.html

As for excusing your questions, no way! How else can someone learn without presenting questions either too themselves or to others that can answer said question(s).

BTW, welcome to Slackware!

I know this may sound silly, but check your BIOS for any "anti-virus" or any "protect the MBR" setting in there. If it is 'on', you can't write lilo to the MBR. (Ran into that prob myself once or 500 times...lol)

Hi,

Good one! I always disable virus check or blocks within the BIOS. But sometimes forget that other people are not aware of the BIOS options for their system.

Yeah...that's about the first thing I check whenever "I can't write lilo to the MBR" thing gets posted...I might have to get a rubber stamp for that...lol

Right! First things first. Thanx very much all for prompt helpful replies.

Virus check in bios always disabled.

Don't possess a live cd. Most commands entered gives 'command not found ' so came to conclusion corrupt install. So in end got fed up with it, gave up and went back to windows (only joking), joking aside i figured probably corrupted the mbr somehow and cause I ain't got a clue as to what command does what I re-partitioned hard drive to one, reformatted, then re partitioned again. Tried reinstall and Bingo... It works.
And also sound works ok, detected my sound card straight away, using the alsaconf tip.

BTW: what is ideal size then for root please and are there any other partition types that are handy. As explained I am an absolute newbie to this.

Thanks very much again all

[QUOTE=
BTW: what is ideal size then for root please and are there any other partition types that are handy. As explained I am an absolute newbie to this.

Thanks very much again all [/QUOTE]

Hi,

Partitioning schemes for linux have always been an issue. Personal taste/bias for one scheme over another.

For a simple Slackware full install I recommend give what you can to / as PV states at least 3GB. I then suggest to setup /home with an amount that you have available as at least 1-2GB for a SHO desktop.

If it is a small production machine then that setup is different.

I would divide /, /usr, /tmp and /usr/var to separate partitions.

/ at least 1GB (more than actually needed) without growth typical is about 800MB

/usr 3GB
/tmp 150MB to 500MB (generally use around 30mb to 100MB)
/usr/var 300MB-1GB this will depend on spool needs and other var uses
/swap this is a controversial issue, some people say 2x the ram

I say find out what you are going to use the machine for and decide what your swap size should be for that installation. If you check the /swap usage, it generally is not used. If it is a server or high production unit then you could use swap on occasion. With large system ram these days it really is not used that much. I really get a kick out of people on this issue.

Hey, if you want to get technical about it; You decide where to place the /swap on your HD. Where or where should the swap be?
Some place it inward, some place it middle while others place outward. That is a true argument I will leave open. I have my opinion but reserve it.

Another issue would be /swap vs swapfile. Now that one can really get to be a hot issue.

As for filesystem types, I use ext3 for my uses. I'm used to it and find it reliable. I will use reiserfs on other machines that are production units or servers since it is based on a balanced tree algorithm.

As for filesystem support in the kernel, that will be dictated by what systems you are accessing or using.

I didn't mean to get so winded!

HTH!

Approach this new field much like you were a new-born: learn to breath, focus your eyes, crawl, walk, and then run. And learn to ask questions!

Regarding reading info: An Important Starting Point---Documentation and Online Resources

This essay discusses the philosophy of partitioning: Disk Partitioning

There are several threads here in the Slackware LQ forum discussing partitioning and some of those threads people have posted their partitioning schemes.

The bottom line is that the first few times you try various partitioning schemes you will be proceeding based upon trial and error. The mechanics of partitioning is straightforward, but defining your wants and needs is not. Wants and needs tend to change too. I repartitioned my multi-boot box several times through the years before I finally decided I was comfortable with my setup. Try not to be like the deer caught in the head light beams. That is, don't be afraid to repartition at a later date. Do your best for now and then later reevaluate your partition scheme. Your future needs and wants will inform you when or if you need to repartition.

The operative words here are "wants" and "needs". At the end of the day, it's your system. You decide. There is NO wrong answer. Set it up as you want, then learn.

THAT is why I love GNU/Linux/Slackware. It's mine to do with as I wish.

Hi,
Here! Here!

It's just like ice cream, some people prefer vanilla while others prefer chocolate. I like mine as vanilla with chocolate mixed and a little caramel!

My point is that I agree. Each installation requires adaptation at times but some people just let it roll on as it is.

No oneway to do any installation. Except of course if you must use M$. And yes, I have times where it must be used.

That's what is nice about unix/linux OS, it is adaptable! With GNU/Linux you have the luxury to do as you wish.

Ok! Thanks all.
As far as partitions go all this /var; /usr; /opt; /etc...... etc what do they all mean please. If these various partitions are created will the install automatically use that partition instead of creating a folder in root, (hope that makes sense)
Most of the replies stated above are similar reasons for me trying linux out, even though by what I can gather I've opted for an awkward distro to cut my teeth on
My laptop is for Linux only but the main PC is a flower pot (Window Box) should I need to use it. I have found though that most of the simple jobs in Windows aren't quite so straight forward in Linux, puzzling really.
Thanks again all. I'll quit babbling now

It will, if you have them marked as so when you install. I.E. When you are installing, it sees the various linux partitions. It will then ask you which one you want to use as '/', you tell it(/dev/hda1), then it asks you what you want /dev/hda2 for, you say "/home", and so on.

I used pkgtool to install LILO on MBR...