And, FWIW, we have a computer that would NOT install Windows (it
wouldn't recognize the CD-ROM at install time [sound familiar?]), but
Linux went on just fine. Since there is only one Windows distribution,
and this is primarily a game machine, we wound up having to replace the
hardware.
On Fri, 31 Mar 2000, you wrote:
| Trevor....I have mdk 7.0 running (as near as I can tell)
| flawlessly on three machines. At first one of the three would
| not install 7.0, but 6.1 had installed just fine on it. So I
| changed the ide cdrom drive to a new one and that solved the
| problem. But on my main personal system, where mdk 7.0
| installed and runs fine, BeOS will not boot without a floppy and
| the sound card outputs a constant stream of static (needs to
| have the speakers physically unplugged while running BeOS). So
| I believe your allegation, "BUT, it proved you can write a
| hassle free installer THAT WORKS!", is not correct. It's more
| accurate to say that some installers work well in some
| situations and other installers work well in other situations.
|
| I understand that you are frustrated, but that's because your
| particular combination of factors led to a problematic
| installation/setup experience with mdk 7.0-2, much like my
| combination of factors led to my bad experience with BeOS. In
| the past I've also had a very bad experience when upgrading from
| Win95 to Win98. I couldn't get my ATI video card to work at all
| except at 640x480x16 colors. At least till I did a complete new
| bare hard drive install, that is. Above all, enjoy.
|
| Alan
|
|
| Trevor Farrell wrote:
| >
| > When I first installed it, I really liked Mdk 7.0-2 - real nifty new
| > installer, supermount, XFree3.3.6, the first graphical install to work
| > with my SiS 6326 chip, ... Yes, I thought it was really nice. Then the
| > cracks started to appear - sound card that worked under Ver 6 wouldn't
| > install under 7, Netscape had yucky b&w icons, cd burner not linked
| > properly, and wouldn't burn when it was, wheel mouse that wheeled
| > without help under 6 didn't under 7, partitioning tool buggy, expert
| > install option absolutely unusable - how the hell do you know what is
| > selected and what isn't? - the "magic 50%" install rule - it only fills
| > your partition to 50%, regardless of what you really wanted, ...
| >
| > Now, weeks later, some of the above are fixed and some aren't, but I put
| > it down to my "el cheapo" buying - PCchips motherboard, ide cdrw, etc
| > and lack of knowledge/skill - ie my fault...
| >
| > Today, I feel differently. We have had a Mdk 6 machine at work for
| > some time, and its supervisor today decided to install 7.0-2 . He
| > started by booting from a boot floppy, the install locked when it tried
| > to initialize the CD. So I suggested that he set the BIOS to boot from
| > CD (it was previously set to boot from the floppy, then the ide drive.)
| > and this time the install went nicely, until he hit the expert select
| > packages fiasco - he couldn't make any more sense of it than I could -
| > so he cancelled that and started again, this time being careful not to
| > select expert! It loaded the packages (why is Mandrake so slow doing
| > this, compared to red hat?) and then locked up as it started the X
| > configuration. Rebooted the machine, everything started up well, but no
| > X. At this stage my colleague threw the ver 7 cd in the bin, and will be
| > putting 6 back on the machine next week. (No - he doesn't want to know
| > how to fix it, or what went wrong.)
| >
| > Also today, I installed the BeOS 5 (Personal Edition) operating system
| > that I downloaded last night. It really just unpacked the files. I
| > rebooted the machine, and hey! presto ... BeOS! Funny, video worked,
| > sound worked, Cdrw burnt cd's, ... all with NO installation questions,
| > NO how-to's, No hassles. OK - so there is nothing written for BeOS yet,
| > and I'm not serious about keeping it, just curious, BUT, it proved you
| > can write a hassle free installer THAT WORKS!
| >
| > OK - back to Linux - the current attitude that if something didn't work,
| > it's because you didn't read the instructions or your hardware is faulty
| > IS SIMPLY NOT ACCEPTABLE to me any more - If it doesn't work FIRST TIME
| > it's because its broken, and needs fixing.
| >
| > The first Linux distribution that produces a hassle free installer that
| > works (no if's, but's, or maybe's - I mean works - full stop!)
| > WILL SUCCEED, all the rest will only be installed by enthusiasts (which
| > I still count myself among) and are doomed to their rightful resting
| > place in the garbage bin.
| >
| > Now, it's time for my big decision - Do I, like my colleague, consign
| > the Ver 7 install I have spent so much time on to oblivion, and go back
| > to Ver 6 because it worked, or do I persevere, and try to get 7 up and
| > running properly, or, perhaps, do I try RedHat 6.2, or just wait for a
| > distro with kernel 2.4 & XFree 4? I really don't know, and I really
| > don't expect anyone else to decide for me, I just know that my
| > perceptions of install problems will never be the same again.
--
"Brian, the man from babbleon-on" [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Brian T. Schellenberger http://www.babbleon.org
Support http://www.eff.org. Support decss defendents.
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