Madrake Linux isn't as friendly as it promotes (at least not for my hardware).

[lebe0024]

I am a senior in the computer science department at the University of Minnesota, and have a lot of experience with computers in general.

I have tried numerous times to install linux on my computer. Tonight, I downloaded Mandrake 9.0 ISO images, doublechecked the checksum, and made CDs. Then, I made sure I had about 4 gigs of unpartitioned space on my harddrive. Then I booted from the install CD I made. I clicked "Install / Update Mandrake Linux", it went to a text screen, with lots of devices being detected, then tried finding the CDROM it JUST BOOTED OFF OF. Guess what? It couldn't find the CD. IT COULDN"T FIND ITSELF. What a piece of retarded software. I have a very very typical setup for my machine. Msi GF3, MSI KT3, Seagate Baracuda IV HD, linksys NIC, Mitsumi CDROM. WHAT IS SO WRONG WITH THAT? This is supposed to be the most user-friendly version yet, and a CSCI major can't even install it. F*** you linux! WRITE SOME F***ing software that works! At least I can install windows. ha.

 

[kevinthenerd]

Try Red Hat. Don't forget to get OpenSSH, though, if you want any sort of security. If you don't care about a feature-rich GUI, go with OpenBSD for the most secure version out there. For general office-like work, though, I like Red Hat. Personally, I go to Saint Leo University. (It's about 30 miles NW of Tampa, Florida, USA.) I have in my dorm three computers: Two systems I rescued from a dumpster (p1-233, 32MB RAM, 4GB HDD, 10/100 eth, 32x CDROM) and the iBook they gave us. Yes, I know.. it's an Apple, but at least OSX is based on BSD. I have never had that iBook crash while running that software, and I frequently mess around with stuff using the Terminal program. (I'm always using SSH to administer the server for the Honors Program there. I put OpenBSD on that.)

It's a wonderful combination that I have going here...

iBook G3 - BSD-based OSX
P1-233 - MSDOS 6.22
P1-233 - OpenBSD 3.1

 

[lebe0024]

No, I've tried redhat in the past. That was a joke too. First, the part of the installation about disc partitioning was real confusing and not easy to use, then when I finally did get it all isntalled, DHCP wouldn't work. I had no internet. it sucked. Nor could I find where you could enable DHCP. I looked everywhere.

My problem with mandrake might be a bad burn. I am burning it with EasyCDCreator on XP (a dangerous combo). I'll try one more time.

 

[cct]

lebe0024 - I used to feel like yourself but i also had the misfortune of finding Linux a bit overwhelming in all departments
Anyway, i bought a book upon recommendations of a forum like this one - "Running Linux" by Matt Welsh, Matthias Kalle Dalheimer and Lar Kaufman.
After reading this book and playing with the distro's youve not been happy with i now feel confident in installing any Linux *BSD even if im not sure what im doing, the background this book has given me allows me to muddle my way through with very little trouble. Highly recommended.
If you dont want to spend the time learning Linux may i recommend Suse 8 Prof - Ive played with all the latest distro's and this one feels the most polished and was certainly the easiest to get going in the networking department.
Wish you luck.

Warm Regards,

Chris

 

[TheOmegaCode]

Originally posted by: lebe0024
No, I've tried redhat in the past. That was a joke too. First, the part of the installation about disc partitioning was real confusing and not easy to use, then when I finally did get it all isntalled, DHCP wouldn't work. I had no internet. it sucked. Nor could I find where you could enable DHCP. I looked everywhere.

My problem with mandrake might be a bad burn. I am burning it with EasyCDCreator on XP (a dangerous combo). I'll try one more time.

I bet you didn't even RTFM. Do yourself a favor and stick with EasyCD creator and operating systems that are catored for idiots.

 

[lebe0024]

Oh, ok, I'll do that asshole.

Anyway...

I got linux running, woohoo! (I tried 3 different cd-roms, finally an HP cd-writer worked, go figure).

 

[pm]

I LAUGH AT HOW REDICULOUS LINUX IS

I laugh at your spelling of ridiculous.

 

[erikistired]

a CSCI major can't even install it

hmm i'm not a csci major and i've installed it plenty of times with no problems. perhaps that's your problem?

i run windows tho, so let's not hear "oh another linux zealot". w00p.

~erik

 

[ndee]

Originally posted by: lebe0024
I am a senior in the computer science department at the University of Minnesota, and have a lot of experience with computers in general.

I have tried numerous times to install linux on my computer. Tonight, I downloaded Mandrake 9.0 ISO images, doublechecked the checksum, and made CDs. Then, I made sure I had about 4 gigs of unpartitioned space on my harddrive. Then I booted from the install CD I made. I clicked "Install / Update Mandrake Linux", it went to a text screen, with lots of devices being detected, then tried finding the CDROM it JUST BOOTED OFF OF. Guess what? It couldn't find the CD. IT COULDN"T FIND ITSELF. What a piece of retarded software. I have a very very typical setup for my machine. Msi GF3, MSI KT3, Seagate Baracuda IV HD, linksys NIC, Mitsumi CDROM. WHAT IS SO WRONG WITH THAT? This is supposed to be the most user-friendly version yet, and a CSCI major can't even install it. F*** you linux! WRITE SOME F***ing software that works! At least I can install windows. ha.

PEBKEC

Only because you are unable to install it, doesn't mean it doesn't work.

 

[ndee]

Originally posted by: lebe0024
Oh, ok, I'll do that asshole.

Anyway...

I got linux running, woohoo! (I tried 3 different cd-roms, finally an HP cd-writer worked, go figure).

And yeah, of course it's linux when you're CD-Roms are broken.

 

[TheOmegaCode]

Originally posted by: lebe0024
Oh, ok, I'll do that asshole.

Anyway...

I got linux running, woohoo! (I tried 3 different cd-roms, finally an HP cd-writer worked, go figure).

You sure RedHat's for you? I mean you can install AOL on Lindows now...

 

[wxjunkie]

Originally posted by: ndee


PEBKEC

Only because you are unable to install it, doesn't mean it doesn't work.

Exactly...unless you've had a genuine electrical firing error, the operator is at fault...the computer is doing exactly what it's supposed to.

And you're a CS SENIOR? Did you recently switch majors, because I'm a sophomore at the Univ. of Kentucky, in a UNIX-only programming class (required, too) and our computer science department has a couple of other classes at least that are mandatory for CS majors, classes that are basically completely instructed in UNIX and the like. The school of engineering here requires UNIX and other operating system understanding before giving degrees. The entire world isn't running on Microsoft.

 

[Bremen]

wxjunkie, remember those apple computers in school? (well I do at least) Unfortunately not all schools are equal. There are those that actually teach comp sci exclusively on windows machines :-( To be fair most of these schools just don't know better, but it does show that where you go definitly makes a difference.

Also I noticed in the few comp sci classes I took (I was a Chem E) that some of the students managed to follow the instructions without ever realizing what they were doing. Hopefully these people washed out quickly, I dunno.

 

[lebe0024]

Yes, linux morons. UNIX is required for my major. You can't even pass one class without knowing UNIX. This problem doesn't stem from a lack of understanding in programming in UNIX. blind dickheads.

I have three different CDROMS that work perfectly fine on every other platform:

Mitsumi 44X cdrom (a common cdrom)
Lite-On 16x DVD (a very common DVD player)
Hewlett Packard cd-writer (the only one that the install will work with)

I don't find it unreasonable that I EXPECT IT TO WORK WITH COMMON CD_ROMS. I"M SORRY IF I HAVE TO GO BUY A FREAKING CDWRITER JUST TO GET THE MOST USER_FRIENDLY DISTRO OF LINUX TO WORK. The most retarded part is that the install program runs on all of them, but before it actually starts installing, it says it can't find the cd-rom, which is FUNNY IF YOU THINK ABOUT IT-- BECAUSE IT IS RUNNING OFF OF THE CDROM.

Again, for those mean people hear who can't read properly: My cd-roms work just fine. It's the User-friendly Mandrake install program that can't use them.

---

No more help for you. Calling others "asshole" "blind dickheads" is abusive, especially since some in this thread were actually trying to help you. Doing so again may be reason to lock your account on our forums.

AnandTech Moderator

 

[agnitrate]

Why did you decide to try linux in the first place? Because you were sick of Windows? Because you wanted something different? Did you think it was going to be all there in a nice little package waiting for you without any effort or attempt to learn something new?

Linux is very much like UNIX. You claim you are very well versed in UNIX so you should know very well that Linux/UNIX won't hold your hand to do things. The Mandrake UI is actually extremely advanced (from what I remember) and I think it does a great job of providing an initial setup. I understand your frustration but calling it 'retarded' is not the solution here. Perhaps if you google your problem you might find some reasons it doesn't work or other users that are having similar problems. A CSCI major should understand that UNIX/Linux isn't guaranteed to work with everything, right? It takes a bit of fiddling to get everything perfect, but it's well worth it in the end.

Also, maybe Mandrake isn't for you. There are plenty of other distributions out there that might suit you better. Give a few of them a try.

-silver

p.s. calling people 'blind dickheads' isn't the best way to achieve tech support/sympathy

 

[n0cmonkey]

Originally posted by: lebe0024
Yes, linux morons.

Please clean up the language.

UNIX is required for my major. You can't even pass one class without knowing UNIX. This problem doesn't stem from a lack of understanding in programming in UNIX. blind dickheads.

lalalalala. Come on, you are supposed to be an adult to enter college. Act like one.

I have three different CDROMS that work perfectly fine on every other platform:

*EVERY* other platform? Come slide one of these in my SPARC. Or Nothinman's Alpha. We will see what happens. I can think of a dozen OSes off the top of my head, no guarentee they will all work.

Mitsumi 44X cdrom (a common cdrom)

If I remember correctly, and I may not (and maybe the information is dated anyhow), mitsumi drives are fairly proprietary. So that may be a problem.

Lite-On 16x DVD (a very common DVD player)
Hewlett Packard cd-writer (the only one that the install will work with)

Those are fairly common and should work. Not sure why they didnt.

I don't find it unreasonable that I EXPECT IT TO WORK WITH COMMON CD_ROMS. I"M SORRY IF I HAVE TO GO BUY A FREAKING CDWRITER JUST TO GET THE MOST USER_FRIENDLY DISTRO OF LINUX TO WORK. The most retarded part is that the install program runs on all of them, but before it actually starts installing, it says it can't find the cd-rom, which is FUNNY IF YOU THINK ABOUT IT-- BECAUSE IT IS RUNNING OFF OF THE CDROM.

Try the FTP install. Or install off of the hard drive. There is no need to yell. Each distro has its quirks, much as each version of Windows.

Again, for those mean people hear who can't read properly: My cd-roms work just fine. It's the User-friendly Mandrake install program that can't use them.

Then try a different distro. Debian is great for most systems. Gentoo has plenty of people raving. Slackware helped me learn a heck of a lot about Linux. Try a BSD. They are technically more Unix than Linux is. Try Solaris for x86. Try Darwin. I have personally never had trouble getting (older versions of all of these OSes mind you) Mandrake, redHat, Corel (yeah yeah yeah), Debian, Slackware, FreeBSD, and OpenBSD on various pieces of hardware. Including Creative labs cdroms (which I think is a miracle).

I understand your frustration, but you have to realize this is a .0 product you are talking about. There are bound to be quirks and irritating inconsistancies popping up with it. Every company has these problems, not just the linux guys. Coming in here, being extremely rude, using foul language, calling users trying to help you names, and yelling at us is not going to make the situation better. I wish you luck on your journey of enlightenment and education, and I hope you take the time to learn a little more about Linux and the systems that inspired it. The various projects can use all the coding help they can get, as you so crudely point out

*as a note to everyone that pmed me or complained about my attitude in various threads, is this better?*

 

[Bremen]

 

[lebe0024]

Wow! I am amazed at people's absolute inability to read. I did not say I was well versed in everything about UNIX, only I know hwo to program in UNIX. AND my problem had nothing to do with the UI, but the device programming/recognition of the installation program.

The only reason I called some of you "dickeheads" and "morons" is because you jump all over me without even reading my post. TYPICAL LINUX ZEALOTS. I will say this for the last time. My problem is I find it unreasonable that common-place hardware throws it into confusion. Especially when it comes to CD-ROMS. I like the nice people who try to help me out. The idiots who are spewing "It's your fault. You should use AOL." blah blah blah.... get a clue on how to read people's posts.

Linux has a LONG way to go as far as being easy to use. It took me an hour just to get the KDE web browser to work properly with FLASH (I know, I'm probably a moron). So I got sick of trying and tried to download Netscape. BIG mistake. While downloading it in the netscape installation program, it encountered all sorts of data errors, and couldn't complete the installation. BLAH.

Windows is just so easy to use/setup/install. AND with Cygwin, I can program all I want with gcc, g++, and OpenGL in a UNIX environment. The best of both worlds. See ya later Linux. Maybe I'll visit you in another 5 years.

Thanks to everyone who was polite, and above all, understanding.

 

[Bremen]

If I remember correctly, and I may not (and maybe the information is dated anyhow), mitsumi drives are fairly proprietary. So that may be a problem.

Extremely dated. It should work fine. However one can't help but notice that there are 3 drives... perhaps he is using one of those "RAID" ide cards? Doesn't that mobo even have one on it already? Well we can't expect comp sci majors to know anything about hardware (although I'm sure they're good at cursing at it)

EDIT: Hardware crack is about comp sci students in general.

 

[lebe0024]

I understand this is free software, and I should keep that in mind more often. It's just very very hard being as windows-orientated as I am. I know how to fix all of windows' little quirks. I have no idea how to do that on linux, and linux doesn't make it any easier. That's all.

 

[pm]

If you post an antagonistic message, you shouldn't be too surprised if you get antagonistic replies.

At work (Intel Corp.), we use Linux in many applications. It's not easy to set up, it's a little easier to use, but it takes time to learn. But it is a good OS and it does many things better than Windows can in my experience (distributed computing is one example). Cygwin is a neat application, but it's essentially an overlay.

FWIW, I have had hardware detection issues with Mandrake 9 beta releases. I had better luck with Redhat 7.2 and Suse Professional. I haven't tried the Mandrake 9.0 final, but my expectations for a solid hardware install without troubleshooting are fairly low based on the beta releases.

 

[agnitrate]

Wow! I am amazed at people's absolute inability to read. I did not say I was well versed in everything about UNIX, only I know hwo to program in UNIX. AND my problem had nothing to do with the UI, but the device programming/recognition of the installation program.

Why didn't you just say, agnitrate you are an illiterate idiot?

You mean to tell me in the 3 1/2 years in CS you have never used UNIX past the programming standpoint? Then what do you make the programs for? Just turning in projects and that's the end of it? To really get into CS, you have to go in depth into things and check it out to see how it works.

Secondly, I was talking about the UI in general and its overall functionality (i.e. auto-detection of drives and such) and I wasn't talking about just the purdy colors. About the linux zealots comment, if I walked into a computer help forum where many questions are asked about OS X and posted a thread with the title "Steve Jobs is a friggin' moron! When will he learn to code something useful", how many people do you think would actually read my post?

Starting respecting other people.

-silver

 

[n0cmonkey]

Originally posted by: lebe0024
Wow! I am amazed at people's absolute inability to read. I did not say I was well versed in everything about UNIX, only I know hwo to program in UNIX. AND my problem had nothing to do with the UI, but the device programming/recognition of the installation program.

As a programmer, that is something you can help with.

The only reason I called some of you "dickeheads" and "morons" is because you jump all over me without even reading my post. TYPICAL LINUX ZEALOTS.

If you open up in a hostile manner, you should expect hostility back. If you had calmed down a bit before you post, collected yourself, apologized for being frustrated with something bad, a meaningful discussion may have occurred

I will say this for the last time. My problem is I find it unreasonable that common-place hardware throws it into confusion. Especially when it comes to CD-ROMS. I like the nice people who try to help me out. The idiots who are spewing "It's your fault. You should use AOL." blah blah blah.... get a clue on how to read people's posts.

Linux has a LONG way to go as far as being easy to use. It took me an hour just to get the KDE web browser to work properly with FLASH (I know, I'm probably a moron). So I got sick of trying and tried to download Netscape. BIG mistake. While downloading it in the netscape installation program, it encountered all sorts of data errors, and couldn't complete the installation. BLAH.

I have a similar feeling towards both flash and Netscape. They both suck

Windows is just so easy to use/setup/install. AND with Cygwin, I can program all I want with gcc, g++, and OpenGL in a UNIX environment. The best of both worlds. See ya later Linux. Maybe I'll visit you in another 5 years.

You still miss 99% of what the Unix philosophy is all about. Good luck though.

Thanks to everyone who was polite, and above all, understanding.

Most of us have dealt with similar problems in the past, mine mostly revolve around Windows though

I understand this is free software, and I should keep that in mind more often.

It helps, but its not the best excuse.

It's just very very hard being as windows-orientated as I am. I know how to fix all of windows' little quirks. I have no idea how to do that on linux, and linux doesn't make it any easier. That's all.

That is the fun part. You are at college to learn, explore, and find out things about the world, yourself, and life that you would never learn anywhere else. You may have the time (depending on your course load and whatnot) to learn a bit more about Linux. You may find it interresting, even if you learn it is not what you want to use professionally. Now is your chance to branch out, beef up the resume a bit and learn something totally foreign. No handy dandy error messages that make no sense what-so-ever. Instead you get cryptic error messages that make no sense what-so-ever. No start button, instead a foot or a K. No silly drive letters, no stale interface, none of the same crap. You will have all brand new crap to over come. Anyhow, good luck with whatever you decide to do. If you try out linux for a while and start to enjoy it, great! If not, sorry to see you go, but its really your loss

 

[n0cmonkey]

Originally posted by: Bremen

If I remember correctly, and I may not (and maybe the information is dated anyhow), mitsumi drives are fairly proprietary. So that may be a problem.

Extremely dated. It should work fine.

Thanks for the correction.

However one can't help but notice that there are 3 drives... perhaps he is using one of those "RAID" ide cards? Doesn't that mobo even have one on it already? Well we can't expect comp sci majors to know anything about hardware (although I'm sure they're good at cursing at it)

EDIT: Hardware crack is about comp sci students in general.

Hardware guys blame it on the software, software guys blame it on the hardware

 

[n0cmonkey]

Originally posted by: agnitrate

Wow! I am amazed at people's absolute inability to read. I did not say I was well versed in everything about UNIX, only I know hwo to program in UNIX. AND my problem had nothing to do with the UI, but the device programming/recognition of the installation program.

Why didn't you just say, agnitrate you are an illiterate idiot?

You mean to tell me in the 3 1/2 years in CS you have never used UNIX past the programming standpoint? Then what do you make the programs for? Just turning in projects and that's the end of it? To really get into CS, you have to go in depth into things and check it out to see how it works.

Secondly, I was talking about the UI in general and its overall functionality (i.e. auto-detection of drives and such) and I wasn't talking about just the purdy colors. About the linux zealots comment, if I walked into a computer help forum where many questions are asked about OS X and posted a thread with the title "Steve Jobs is a friggin' moron! When will he learn to code something useful", how many people do you think would actually read my post?

Starting respecting other people.

-silver

All of them, and you would get the flaming of your life