So there is the question of how the install should go. I think
for simplicity Mandrake 8.0 on each is a good idea. It is what
Andy would prefer, and I don't think Marc or Nate have much
preference. It is the favorite distro among a lot of our group,
and we have media. I would think a CD install has the least
potential for glitches, and we could make sure we have several
copies so we can run them all at once.
It would be nice to know what we are going to encounter ahead of
time. Things that would be nice to have sorted out before the
install.
Things you want to know about your computer before you begin:
- how much RAM does it have?
- how big are the hard drives?
- are there empty partitions on there for Linux?
- is there free space on the partitions you have?
- have you backed up what is on there in case of
disaster (a very good idea if we are going to muck
around in the partition table)?
- it has a CDROM drive yes?
- how about a network card? What is the manufacturer and model?
For example is it NE2000 compatible is it a 3com card?
- What kind of video card/video chipset does it have? If you
actually have a video card, then the Manufacturer and brand, if
it is built into the motherboard, you might open the case and
try to find the video controller chip. Having supported video
hardware is _critical_ if you don't want your Linux install to
look like software written in the early '80s (i.e. no graphics
just text)
- What kind of sound card/sound chipset does it have? If we
don't have time, you probably aren't going to get a sound
install, but if it can go together smooth, we might be able
to make it work.
- A modem? Probably problematic.
I believe you can learn a lot about the hardware in your computer
from Windows (someone a little more MS savvy should follow up on
this). Its probably somewhere under the Control Panel. You can
likely learn the IRQ settings and base address of things like
your sound card and network card for example, in addition to the
type of video you are using.
Some things you can do to make your install get started faster:
Check your BIOS stuff:
- disable all of the "RAM/ROM shadowing" options you can.
- set it to boot floppy/CDROM/Hard Drive if you can or CDROM
first (so we can just boot the CD and go or a floppy if we need)
- Set the printer port for IRQ7 epp (as opposed to ecp).
- Disable APM (you can try turning it on later and experimenting
with it, but it sometimes causes trouble)
- Set your drives to use LBA (Linux Block Addressing)
If you plan to add Linux to a hard drive that is clean or that
you plan to wipe out, that is very cool and straighforward. If
you are comfortable working with hard drive partitions, and you
plan to add Linux to a hard drive that is already filled with
partitions:
- it would be helpful if ahead of time you used a partition
resizing tool to shrink your existing partitions to make room
for Linux on the "back" of the drive. (Somebody else will need
to recommend a program).
Did I leave anything out?
Don
--
Don Bindner <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
