Toying with the idea...

[Kooldino]

Ok, is it me or is Debian HUGE?

I have ISOs...

06/18/2004 11:50 PM 614,367,232 debian-30r2-i386-binary-1.iso
06/19/2004 12:19 AM 677,511,168 debian-30r2-i386-binary-2.iso
06/19/2004 12:46 AM 678,068,224 debian-30r2-i386-binary-3.iso
06/19/2004 01:15 AM 674,889,728 debian-30r2-i386-binary-4.iso
06/19/2004 01:44 AM 671,875,072 debian-30r2-i386-binary-5.iso
06/19/2004 02:12 AM 674,529,280 debian-30r2-i386-binary-6.iso
06/19/2004 02:25 AM 310,575,104 debian-30r2-i386-binary-7.iso
06/19/2004 02:45 AM 467,847,168 debian-update-3.0r2.01-i386.iso

Seems like a lot of ISOs for a linux install. Anyone?

[leech]

That's the full woody Install... I only ever download the first ISO and then install with that, and then install whatever packages that aren't on the ISO off of the net..

I would still suggest you install off of the Sarge Release Candidate 1 Installer... it'll make setting up your hardware MUCH easier...and the fact that the ISO is only 110MB...

Leech

[Six Of One]

Right, Debian is huge. And it gets bigger and bigger. Sarge is said to come on 12 CDs...

Do it like Leech suggested, get the Sarge installer, it's now RC1, and get the rest online. No need to d/l all that stuff for your daily needs.

But well, since you already have Debian Woody start with CD 1 and don't press enter. Type bf24 and start the install. This will save you some trouble, namely the default 2.2.x kernel ;-)

EDIT: of course it's a 2.2.x kernel, not 2.20.x ... doh

[Kooldino]

What does bf24 do? Boot From 2.4?

[Kooldino]

Bah, I went to go boot off of the CD, but it wouldn't boot.

This is on an old Asus A7V. It has a Promise ATA 100 controller on board, and the CD ROM is hooked up to that. In the BIOS, it's set to boot ATA100 before the hard disk. Yet, it won't boot from the CDROM. Any ideas short of swapping around IDE channels?

[spadnos]

Make a boot floppy?

[Kooldino]

Ok, i totally powered the machine down and turned it back on and it picked it up. Don't ask why it didn't before.

So i did a bf24, got through the first CD, and now I'm in the process of burning CD #2.

it asked me one question about LILO - whether it should be installed to the MBR or the root file system. I THINK it said to choose MBR if you weren't sure. I chose whatever one it said to choose if you weren't sure. Then it told me that someone with physical access to the machine could bypass all of that and get to my files, blah blah blah.

Is that because of the way I chose LILO to be installed?

[leech]

Uhm... don't remember, it's been a LONG time since I used a Stock Woody install (in fact I think it was Debian 3.0r1 and I think they're up to 3.0r3 aren't they?). Basically all it's saying is that you can set up Lilo on the ROOT so that you'd have to use another bootloader to load up linux... like the windows one... I always just put lilo on the MBR, and let it handle the booting. Much easier... and if you're paranoid, you can always put in a password for lilo... that way if someone wanted to get into your system, they would have to know that password, plus whatever passwords are in Linux/Windows. But then again,that one is easy to bypass with a rescue CD (which the Woody boot discs can be used as....)

Leech

[Kooldino]

Ok, I got it installed, and I hate it so far.

When I log in, I get a CLI. Great.

I type "startx", and it tries like hell, but something isn't configured correctly. Few more stabs at that, and I wish I hadn't wasted the evening on it.

Plus, that installer SUCKED. It sucked something fierce. Very frustrating, very NOT user friendly. I mean for example the partitioning program...WTF was that? I got it to work, but it was a hassle to use. Blah.

[leech]

That's why I told ya to use the Sarge installer.... it makes everything MUCH easier to install. Though you'll still need to just run the tasksel and select Xwindowing system (or whatever it calls it on there.)

Yes, the old Debian installer sucks, and is a real pain to install. There really isn't any auto-detection of hardware in it. But the newer one is MUCH better.

Leech

[Kooldino]

Is this what I want?

http://cdimage.debian.org/pub/cdimage-testing/sarge_d-i/i386/tc1/sarge-i386-netinst.iso

[Six Of One]

Originally posted by Kooldino
Ok, I got it installed, and I hate it so far.

It's best you stop right there. If you are already hating the experience, you shouldn't continue, for your and our sake.

Else, read on...

When I log in, I get a CLI. Great.

I type "startx", and it tries like hell, but something isn't configured correctly. Few more stabs at that, and I wish I hadn't wasted the evening on it.

Do you have internet connectivity yet? If not, get the other CDs. Become root.

Type:

apt-get install x-window-system xfce

This installs the X-Windows-System and the Desktop Environment XFce Version 3. Ugly but fast and reliable.

After the install type:

dpkg-reconfigure xserver-xfree86

Read the instructions and choose your setup. If you happen to own a NVidia card, you have to install the NVidia drivers first. Get them from Nvidia and follow their instructions. You probably need the kernel-headers, so

apt-get install kernel-headers

Better yet, compile your own kernel and leave the sources in /usr/src/linux.

Considering that this is Matroxusers, i guess you've got a Matrox card. Select mga and get going (not true for Parhelia).

Plus, that installer SUCKED. It sucked something fierce. Very frustrating, very NOT user friendly. I mean for example the partitioning program...WTF was that? I got it to work, but it was a hassle to use. Blah. [/B]

Well, apparently you never used MS fdisk, else you would honor the advance cfdisk really is ;-) Anyway, the only fault of the Woody installer is that it actually requires user input and that its instructions are somewhat esoteric for non-techies.

Whatever, Woody is old, from 2002, and it makes you jump some loops, but i guess you are learning something in the process. If i recall correctly you wanted to learn, didn't you?

EDIT: formating

[Six Of One]

Originally posted by Kooldino
Is this what I want?

http://cdimage.debian.org/pub/cdimag...86-netinst.iso

Yes, if you have a fast internet connection.

[Kooldino]

Well, apparently you never used MS fdisk, else you would honor the advance cfdisk really is ;-)

I have used fdisk many a time, but it's still more user friendly. For example, I created a partition, and it asked me how big I wanted it. It defaulted to the amount of free space I had, but I didn't choose that, as I had to leave some for a swap partition. So, I went to edit the default number, but as soon as I began to type, the number disappeared. So now I had to go back to the main screen, memorize how much free space I had, and then enter in said disk space minus a GB or so. Whoops! Left off a digit, it's only 2.9GB instead of 29. Can't resize the partition...gotta do it all over.

That's just one example of my gripes with it, but you get my drift.

Anyway, the only fault of the Woody installer is that it actually requires user input and that its instructions are somewhat esoteric for non-techies.

Whatever, Woody is old, from 2002, and it makes you jump some loops, but i guess you are learning something in the process. If i recall correctly you wanted to learn, didn't you?

Sure, but this is a far cry from a typical Red Hat install. I wouldn't mind something a tad more interactive, but this is just a pain in the ass.

[Kooldino]

Originally posted by Six Of One
Yes, if you have a fast internet connection.

That I do.