Linux Mandrake Install Help

[KouklatheCat]

Curiosity finally got the best of me and I just downloaded Linux Mandrake. I downloaded the ISO files and used adaptec ez-cd 3.5c to burn them onto CD rom. I made a boot disk using the directions. I made two CDs since there were two ISO files (Mandrake72-ext.iso (565,704KB) and Mandrake72-inst.iso (123,335KB)). It stops the install at "initializing cdrom"

Any suggestions????

 

[Damaged]

The inst CD is bootable.

 

[KouklatheCat]

I dunno if it is mt machine or my CD but it wont boot from CD. I changed the settings in the BIOS to boot from CD but it doesn't. The machine I am using is listed as "Oscar Fish" on my "Rigs" page found on my profile.

thanks

 

[Batti]

The problem could be the EL GENERICO CDROM drive... is it relatively modern?

 

[KouklatheCat]

Yeah its a BTC 48X

The error im getting now says "Ammount Failed: Invalid Arguement" It tells me to click ok, then I get "Error Mounting RAMDISK. This shouldn't happen and Im going to reboot your system". It is a very polite OS. I also tried it on a P166 machine I had laying around under my work bench, I got the same error.

 

[Damaged]

Didn't notice this before, but the problem isn't with anything other than the CD ROMs you made.

The inst.iso should be 648MB, a far cry from the number you posted. There's your problem.

BTW I have a BTC 48X and it's always read bootable CDs fine. In fact that sucker has been quite a reliable drive for as cheap it was. Mine is actually identified by the BIOS as a Panasonic.

 

[KouklatheCat]

Damaged,

That is what I suspected (the CD was bad). My BTC shows up in my BIOS as BTC, it is actually a decent drive for the money.

Thanks

P.S. The inst iso I originally downloaded was 123 Mb (or something close to that) the one I am downloading now is 648Mb. Thank god for DSL

 

[KouklatheCat]

Okay the Linux Box is up and working. So far so good. I don't have any progams installed on it does regular windows crap (Word etc) work?

Thanks

 

[Workin']

<< does regular windows crap (Word etc) work? >>

On linux???? No! That's why it's called &quot;windows crap&quot; However some Windows programs will run under linux using a linux program called WINE, but that's a whole 'nother story......

You generally have to use Windows applications with Windows and Linux applications with Linux.

 

[KouklatheCat]

So is there a version of MS Word Etc.... for Linux? Most of my work stuff uses Word. Where can you get programs for Linux?

 

[Damaged]

AbiWord would be the lightest weight word processor that also recognizes MS word formatting, or you could install Star Office to get an entire suite like MS Office and that is compatible with MS Office progs formats.

 

[Workin']

Well, AbiWord and StarOffice CLAIM to be compatible with MS Word, etc., but they are FAR from it, in my opinion (I use both regularly). Only the most basic documents import correctly. If you have anything beyond the basics, it gets ugly. On top of that, you have to figure out how to get your TrueType fonts to work with X, and printing with Linux is mostly an exercise in futility.

So you see, Linux is perfectly acceptable for users with a lot of technical knowledge, but at this point if you think the average user can abandon MS Windows in favor of Linux on their desktop, that's still a ways from actual reality.

Where can you get Linux programs? If you have Gnome and/or KDE installed (I recommend doing at least a core install of both, so you can run programs for either environment), check out KDE or Gnome home pages for software listings. Otherwise there are dozens of Linux oriented websites that can point you to stuff. Just use a search engine.

 

[jkdude]

tell me, how is it running on your OSCAR FISH pc? is the 550 fast enough for you?

i installed this last week on a P-166 and it goes SOOO slow. I need a version of Linux that runs well on a 486 to Pentium machine and has a nice GUI.

anyone?

 

[KouklatheCat]

jkduke

Actually I wound up installing Linux on a P166 and not the &quot;Oscar Fish&quot;. I got so frustrated due to the problem I had with the CD being bad and I could not do without my second PC I wound up using one of my oversized paperweights. How much RAM do you have installed because my Linux box is plenty fast, it is faster then if I had a Windows OS on it. Atleast it seems that way to me. Ill be adding the system to my rigs page later today probably.

Thanks

 

[Workin']

<< I need a version of Linux that runs well on a 486 to Pentium machine and has a nice GUI. >>

I don't think there is a GUI version that will run nicely on a 486. They all rely on XFree86 for the GUI, and that takes a little more horsepower. But any version should run fine on a P166, maybe something was wrong with your setup? I have Red Hat 6.2 installed on a P90 laptop and it runs fine using X and Gnome with the Sawfish window manager. I'll be taking Red Hat off and installing Mandrake 7.2 this weekend, just to see if there is any difference.