On Fri, Apr 07, 2006 at 12:58:46PM +0000, [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: > I had a Win98/knoppix p2 machine that was flooded by katrina. I have a new > system: > cpu AMD Athlon 64 3200+ > mb evga 133-k8-nf41-xx uses the nForce4 chipset > pcie video card nVidia GeForce 6600LE (do not intend to use SLI functionality) > OS WinXP Home + SP2 preinstalled on a 160GB SATA HD > Use dual (VGA) monitors under win > > Finished my break-in period with XP, and I'd like to establish a dual boot > system with linux. I think I can hack resizing the ntfs volume, repartition > the disk, install linux and manage the boot loader. My initial questions > concern which linux version should I install? > > Constraints/desires: > 1. I have a dialup connection, therefore I need to install from cd/dvd.
Hmm, tricky. I used to maintain a debian unstable system up to date on dial up. Every night I connected and asked it to download the updated packages and hangup afterwards. Worked great. Install I did at my parents place using cable modem. > 2. I'd like to use the dual vga monitors off the nVidia card using xinerama > (not nVidia's TwinView) You can run xinerama on the nvidia. I know people doing that. > 3. Other hardware: Agere Systems PCI Soft Modem using SV92PL-T00 chipset, > (can hook up a serial Creative Modem Blaster if the soft modem can't function > under linux), an external usb hd, and a Samsung scx-4216f > printer/fax/copy/scanner using either usb/parallel. Soft modems are usually a pain. External serial would work great. I see no support for the printer. No idea what would be involved or what their driver does and how it would integrate with something normal like cupsys. > Options considered: > 1. Live CD Knoppix v4.0.2 provides a hd-installer, but some Knoppers say if > you are going to install Debian anyway, you are better off doing a straight > Debian install. Moreover Live Knoppix detects neither the soft modem nor the > printer. Haven't made the effort with the xf86conf file to see if I can get > dual monitors driven by the one card before deciding between these options. > 2. Install official stable (sarge) Debian v3.1r1 i386. DVDs easy to purchase. Won't install on hardware that new. > 3. Install unofficial (sarge) Debian v3.1r01 amd64. CDs (or DVDs?) can be > purchased. Not sure anyone has made disks of it. And it won't install on hardware that new. > 4. Install testing (etch) Debian which supposedly has internal amd64 support. > Can DVDs/CDs be found? No DVD/CDs for testing. Netinstall cds exist, which can grab actual needed packages from internet. Discs are usually only made near to release time, which is at least 8 or 9 months away for etch (testing). > Additonal notes that may/may not be applicable to the above options: > a) Samsung has a linux driver for their printer which may give functionality > under any of the above options. > b) nVidia has a NFORCE-Linux-x86_64-1.0-0319-pkg1.run which adds support for > (nVidia)AMD64 nForce 430/410 mbs. I suppose this might add support for my mb > too? Any recent system already supports the majority of devices on nforce4 boards. I wouldn't touch that one from nvidia. > c) nVidia has a NVIDIA-Linux-x86-1.0-8178-pkg1.run which adds i386 and/or > amd64/em64t support for their GeForce 6xxx video cards. Some distributions have packages of those drives, which work very well. Nvidia's installer makes a nice mess of many systems, due to making assumptions about the layout of the system. > Suggestions on which linux flavor and which add-on drivers I should install > are welcomed. Well I am a debian fanatic, so that's what I would run. :) Sarge is probably too old to install on that hardware, but testing ought to work well, and they like people testing the beta2 for testing's installer (named etch). Len Sorensen -- To UNSUBSCRIBE, email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with a subject of "unsubscribe". Trouble? Contact [EMAIL PROTECTED]
