Okay, for Voodoo, if you are not going to use opengl stuff, you dont have to worry, i installed mandrake 9.1 RC3 with Vodoo 5500 without a glitch

Yes, your network card is supported, we have the same card.

juz make sure u install Lilo or grub to boot to both partition (windows and Linux) and make sure you can mount windows partition

dont hestitate to post questions here i will try my best to help

quote:

What I'm asking, through this rather drawn out literature, is what I need to create this barebones install. I have read through a great portion of the newbie guide provided by this site, but it is quite ubiquitous. I need to know how to set up this skeleton Linux install with networking support, basic decompression utilities (I'm assuming I'll need these when I have to update my kernel and for installing programs that come in archives), a web browser(I'm not sure if I need a desktop for this, but I'd rather start without one), and anything else you think I need for my mentioned purposes.

What about the above quote? What utilities would you recommend for my skeleton foundation? You've answered my question about networking support, but what utilities will I need to, for example, download and install desktop software from the net? I'll need a few decompression utilities and a browser. Basically, I'm under the impression now that I'll be able to uncheck everything for my advanced install except a few decompression utilities and a browser. I'm sure mozilla and these decompression utilities will be on the Redhat8 cds. So, correct me if I'm wrong on any of this and recommend the decompression utilities, please.

For the install, I've repartitioned my HD to what was mentioned above. I plan on booting to the Redhat8 cd and installing only the necessities I've asked for above plus LILO or GRUB--I can't remember which comes on RH8.

actually, I'm considering not being a bum and actually partitioning linux the way people recommend. I'm going to leave the sawp at 512MB (same as my memory). How much space would you recommend I allocate for user, home, and root from 6.5 GB?

what will teh linux to be use for? server or workstations?

I'm just going to be using it as a toy. Like I said, I want to learn linux inside out--mainly because of boredom from Windows. I can't say much other than I like to learn.

Actually, it looks like I might want to ditch the whole RH idea and go with Gentoo--it seems to have all the basic stuff I need.

This post has been edited 1 time(s), it was last edited by smtkr on 03-31-2003 at 18:44.

well, u can put like 1.5GB on /usr and 2GB /home and 1.5GB on /var see if it's enough :p

This is all getting pretty interesting. I'm looking over Debian documentation right now and am seriously thinking about installing from one of their mirrors via rescue floppy. I'm all for new things and this is drastically different from the "boot-to-cd-then-install-Windows" method I've done 50+ times. One thing that is scaring me is this from the documentation:

quote:

During the installation, you will erase the partition(s) on which you are installing Debian before beginning the installation. All downloaded files must be placed on partitions other than those on which you are planning to install the system.

Are they saying I have to have a separate partition just for the downloaded files? That sounds kind of foolish.

Well, if you didn't have the downloaded files on a seperate partition, how would you access them?

It's like trying to lift a board while you're standing on it. ^^

__________________

ok, I was just groaning because I'll have to download proper drivers so the installer can read from an NTFS partition. What a pain in the arse. I guess I'll stick to RH then

I finally brought my 3 button mouse with me to school and found some time to install a distro. I settled on debian due to some remarks about its adherence to the linux standard. I have a small hitch--It boots up to the x-windows desktop, but I want it to boot to the command prompt and then load x from there as I see fit. Is this impossible? I'll try and figure it out myself until someone answers.

Some other problems I have encountered:

-Following the tutorial here: http://www.osforge.com/viewtutorial5.html , I have run into a wall. When I create a dos boot disk, it cannot read my ntfs partition. This effectively stops me from copying bootsect.lnx to c: and editing boot.ini. So, I went into windows adn edited the boot.ini file and copied the file over and even set the attributes according to the tutorial. Editing the boot.ini file was successful, as I am promped to boot to either Windows 2k Pro or Linux. When I select linux, the system reboot and I end up where I started. This clearly has something to do with the bootsect.lnx file or LILO. Any ideas?

-The only package I selected for installation with Debian was X-windows. This loads on startup. I would prefer it if it did not load on startup. If you can tell me how to prevent this, could you also tell me how to load x-windows from the command prompt?

-Finally, I've been trying to install Mozilla 1.3. Brick wall right here When I try running the installer, it tells me I am missing libgtk-1.2.so.0. As far as I can tell, I am missing this file (as I haven't located it in any of my searches). More than likely, this resulted from my minimalist approach I mentioned initially. I looked around and found that this is included in this package: gtk+-1.2.8-4.src.rpm. I downloaded it, but I can't figure out how to install it. I tried typing rpm -i filename.rpm but it says it doesn't recognize rpm as a command (I've tried rpm --help, but to no avail).

Anyhow, if anyone can help me out here, I'll be a happy panda (especially if I can get a browser running so I don't have to load windows every time I want to read a linux manual).

Cheers
MF

At last;

I finally have my Linux environment almost perfect. Only a few problems persist that I am in the process of solving (i.e. getting my integrated sound to work).

I cleared up with booting problem by letting LILO handle all booting operations, including windows.

X-windows loading on startup is no longer a problem. But, I have replaced it with a nice KDE install.

I use Konqueror as my browser, so the Mozilla problem no longer exists.

The whole Linux experience has been a royal pain in the butt. This undoubtedly stems from my initial choice of wanting to conduct a barebones install. This plan was foolish because installing things package by package manually is a complete pain in the butt. Additionally, many programs are dependent on libraries that would have been there had I chosen to install in a more traditional manner.

I think it was and is a great learning experience for someone like my self (I certainly have a great deal more to learn).

Linux documentation is out there; the only problem is that it is, as I said earlier, quite ubiquitous. Additionally, it is also rather nebulous. Combing through hundreds of pages of Linux guides proved unfruitful. In the end, going out and finding a Linux guru on campus prroved to be most productive.

Anyhow, thanks for the help guys and keep the forge strong.

I might pester you guys some time later about setting up a server or something (but that is really far away and I'll try to figure it out myself first instead of sending a barrage of questions).

Cheers,
MF

what kind of sound card you have build on?

For some reason MDK 9.1 detected the spu fine (it was some ensonique crap). The only other problem I had was that since I didn't have a sound card in at the time, I couldn't plug any audio cables in; hence, I could not play cds.

Now, in windows, this problem is alleviated by enabling digital audio in the control panel. For some reason, Linux either lacks this option, or it is difficult to find.

When I went home for the summer, I ended up putting my sblive back into that computer and an Audigy 2 in my new computer.

I'm now toying around with a different computer yet from my other 2 computers. This new one is the first OEM system I have ever used (I usually put them together). It is a dell using an 845 chipset. I have MDK 9.1 running on it. Since it has integrated audio, I still have the same problem playing CDs because this computer is using integrated audio.

If you could find a way to enable digital audio like windows, I'd be one happy penguin. Plus, that is the only thing holding my brother back from converting to Linux from Windows.

Cheers!