Yet another round of Mandrake 8.1 questions ...

[kuk]

OK, after 2 years, I'm ready to give Linux a third shot. In this exact instant, I'm downloading CD 1 of the Mandrake 8.1 ISO ... and here goes my questions:

1.) Can I install Madrake with only CD 1? Or with 1 and 2? My DSL line is dog slow, and each ISO takes 7 hours to download ... and I'm eager to get this up running tonight.

2.) Any speed constrains on burning the CD? My burner tops out at 12x ... but some say that when burning at 4x or 8x, there's a smaller chance of error.

3.) Due to some problems, I was unable to setup multiple partitions before installing WinXP Pro. I have a single, 80GB FAT32 partition, with lots of free space. Can I rely on Mandrake disk utility to partition my drive correctly? I know there are risks involved, but I hope that I won't have to use PartitionMagic.

4.) Any problems with USB mouse detection? This isn't really a major problem, since I have an adapter. But keeping my setup as it is, is a great plus.

 

[NorthenLove]

<< OK, after 2 years, I'm ready to give Linux a third shot. In this exact instant, I'm downloading CD 1 of the Mandrake 8.1 ISO ... and here goes my questions: >>





<< 1.) Can I install Madrake with only CD 1? Or with 1 and 2? My DSL line is dog slow, and each ISO takes 7 hours to download ... and I'm eager to get this up running tonight. >>



You need the second one but you can skip the third one if you like.



<< 2.) Any speed constrains on burning the CD? My burner tops out at 12x ... but some say that when burning at 4x or 8x, there's a smaller chance of error. >>



Depends on how much ram and if you are doing anything in the background. Try burning at 12x and see what happens if it works it works if not then bump down the speed and increase the error correction.



<< 3.) Due to some problems, I was unable to setup multiple partitions before installing WinXP Pro. I have a single, 80GB FAT32 partition, with lots of free space. Can I rely on Mandrake disk utility to partition my drive correctly? I know there are risks involved, but I hope that I won't have to use PartitionMagic. >>



Hmmm.....Am pretty sure you want to keep your data so if I were you I would use PM 7, besides that XP has of habit of not playing nice with Linux.



<< 4.) Any problems with USB mouse detection? This isn't really a major problem, since I have an adapter. But keeping my setup as it is, is a great plus. >>



I have used USB MS mice and USB Logitech Mice and all work well except for the 2 side buttons on the InteliMouse Explore mice which are unsported in terms of using them a foward and back buttons in browsers.

 

[kylef]

<< Due to some problems, I was unable to setup multiple partitions before installing WinXP Pro. I have a single, 80GB FAT32 partition, with lots of free space. Can I rely on Mandrake disk utility to partition my drive correctly? I know there are risks involved, but I hope that I won't have to use PartitionMagic. >>



If you're planning to destroy your old WinXP partition and do a straight-out linux install, then the Mandrake partition tool will be just fine.

But if you want to re-partition your current setup without losing your XP partition data, then you will need a separate utility with functionality similar to Partition Magic.

 

[Willoughbyva]

I know the partition tool in expert mode will repartition a fat 32 drives partition in win 9x, not sure about the 2000, but it is a fat 32 partition. It will not resize a NTFS file system, for that you will need partition magic and I am not sure it will do it on such a large drive, but it might be ok. btw defrag your hard drive before you attempt resize, and always back up your important data.

You can install with just the first cd, but if you get to adding components it will need some files from cd 2 (like kernal source and such). Really I have not run 8.1, but I did install it once with just the first cd.

I would burn at the rated speed of the drive.