Linux noob

[Daveyiv]

Ok I am trying to install linux, so far I've tried to install Debian, Mandrake, Knoppix, Gentoo. Each have their own problems.

When I tried to install debian it got to where i want to install it and it doesn't see my sata drive so i had to scratch that idea.

Next came knoppix which did see the sata drive and I got it installed onto my hdd but with it about 30 seconds after booting the internet just dies, and i have to refresh the dhcp info to get it to work again.

Next i tried mandrake and it froze during installation when it was installing the sata driver everytime. I tried this one loading both 2.4.x and 2.6.x kernels

Next gentoo didnt even see my sata drive.

WTF? How can i fix any one of these problems so i can install a distro of linux lol.

 

[jfall]

Wow that's a lot of distro's hah.

It might help to provide more details about the hardware your running. Also, you might want to give Fedora a try.

I have always found linuxquestions.org a very helpful place to find many answers to my Linux questions. It's worth a look.

 

[slpaulson]

I've had pretty good luck with Suse in the past.

What motherboard do you have? If you have something with more than one SATA controller, you might want to try the other one.

 

[Daveyiv]

Athlon 64 3000
MSI K8T NEO-FIS2R (via 8237 sata controller)
eVGA Geforce FX 5900
1GB Kingmax ram
160GB Maxtor SATA drive

 

[drag]

That looks like a fairly linux-friendly computer setup. Any modern distro should work out find.

Feel free to try several, most people will take a few tries to get it to the point were they don't obliterate everything and find a distro that agrees with their personality the best. Any distro is as capable at anything any other distro is. Think of them more like different flavors of the same ice cream.

I am partial to Debian, Ubuntu, and Fedora Core 3. If you use Fedora Core 3 do a google search for "dags rpms" read the FAQ and install his apt-get setup to get access to legally restricted software.. like being able to rip and play MP3's or play encrypted DVDs. (patent restrictions, licensing/legal restrictions keep it out of the official redhat stuff, but it's perfectly OK to use).

Check out my the link in my sig if you want to get a decent grasp of adminstrating Linux distros and the command line. Linux hands-on guide looks pretty ok.

For 3d acceleration check out nvidia.com they have propriatory linux drivers and instructions on how to use them as well as help forums. Also most distros have help forums and irc channels for help.

Also Suse, Mandrake, and Gentoo are very popular distros. Gentoo has especially active forums.

Also I wouldn't worry about 32bit vs 64bit distros either until you get more familar with Linux. Use 32bit for now, everything will work just fine.

 

[Davegod75]

try ubuntu..debain based and works well

 

[jterrell]

r u using the a64 versions of the distro?
search for the sata drivers beforehand.

mandrake and gentoo both worked for me past that point but gentoo is a work in progress due to emerge times.