Linux Transition Thread

  • Thread starter skip0110
  • 192 comments
  • 9,344 views
standard235
Well, I'm ready to give Linux a go. I've downloaded the ISO Images for Fedora Core 6. there's 6 of them, and then there's this SHA1SUM file.

Now, I've been reading for about 3 hours and I haven't found out more than it's all the Linux commands or something like that. (I feel like a total n00b)

Anyways, First go at the boot disc got me scratching my head. As did the second. Anyone have any ideas? I have Roxio Easy CD Creator 5 and can make bootable discs, and CD Burner XP Pro which does this too.

Do I just put the SHA1SUM file on every disc? 5 discs and a Rescue Disc... Please help.
Click to expand...
You should burn the iso directly to the disc, not put it on the disc (don't make a data disk and then put the iso on there as a file, that won't work).

Ignore the SHA1 checksum, that is just used if you want to verify the integrity of the files you download.

I use this to burn iso images.

Good luck!
 
standard235
Do I just put the SHA1SUM file on every disc? 5 discs and a Rescue Disc... Please help.
Click to expand...

No.

sha1sum will check if your ISO files are corrupted, so really, don't worry too much about that file.

Edit: Damn you, Skip!

I don't know if you've ever used Fedora before, but some important things to know (forgive me if you already know these things):

* You'll probably only need the first two installation discs
* MP3-playback isn't supported out-of-the-box; you'll need to manually download the codecs
* Same thing with certain video files and DVD-playback
* Linux is still using Flash 7; there is a Flash 9 beta, however
* FC6 ships with Firefox 1.5 not 2.0

Have fun with FC6!
 
Thanks doug.


I'm kinda having second thoughts. I have all the discs burnt but is everything installed through command prompt?

I don't know if I should take the plunge and do it or not. I have everything partitioned out. How should I format it for Linux? I have Local Disc C: and D: formatted with NTFS. One for OS/Programs, one for storage. Then I have Local Disc E: that is currently set RAW.

Thanks for the help. In the mean time, I'll look around Partition Magic and see if I can find anything.


EDIT: Ok, I found Linux ext2 and Linux ext 3. WHat is the difference?
 
standard235
Thanks doug.


I'm kinda having second thoughts. I have all the discs burnt but is everything installed through command prompt?

I don't know if I should take the plunge and do it or not. I have everything partitioned out. How should I format it for Linux? I have Local Disc C: and D: formatted with NTFS. One for OS/Programs, one for storage. Then I have Local Disc E: that is currently set RAW.

Thanks for the help. In the mean time, I'll look around Partition Magic and see if I can find anything.


EDIT: Ok, I found Linux ext2 and Linux ext 3. WHat is the difference?
Click to expand...

Ext3 is a "journal filesystem", like ReiserFS. This means that every thing done to the disc, every file written, deleted and changed are "journaled". This greatly minimizes the chances of corrupted files in case of a mishap.

Ext2 is the _old_ File system...

OT.. Cool.. We have a spel chekker now :lol:

[Edit:] And the correct answer of course being - They're both filesystems...
 
OK. New question. It's a dual boot system. There's no unallocated memory at the head of the drive. I have 15GB for C: then 25GB for D then I have 36GB unallocated. I read somewhere that you are supposed to have some swap file in the first 1024 cylinders on the drive, or the first 528MB. Does this mean I need to reformat WINDOWS again? I have everything backed up so it'd just mean another 2 hours before I have Linux starting to install. Thanks guys.

EDIT: I'm thinking of reformatting and making Linux either the first partitions, or the only OS on the computer. How much support is lacking for Fedora? If Fedora isn't the Linux OS for me, what is? Some test thing told me Mandriva but I was told Fedora 6 was the most like Windows. The screenshots seem satisfying to me.

System Specs:
P4 1.8ghz
Integrated Graphics and Sound
512MB of RAM
74GB HDD
CD-R/CD-RW Burner

Sitting here with FF with 2 tabs using 55MB, I have 186 MB of RAM in use. Better than the 200MB at idle with only AVG up that I had yesterday.

Another thing. DRIVERS. I have a Gateway Drivers disc, but it's for Windows. What about Linux? I've heard that these discs basically have EVERYTHING you need. Gateway 500SE. If you need model of the chipset or graphics then say so.
 
Ok. I used Partition Magic to move my partitions around. I now have a 500MB Swap File for Linux, and then like 36GB for Linux. Should be more than enough. I also have BootMagic installed so we should be good to go.
 
AFIK the Linux swap does not have to be at the front of the drive.

I have set up a dual boot Red Hat/Win 2K machine with windows at the front of the drive.

All your drivers should be included in the CDs you burned, no configuration needed.

And I've used Mandriva and Fedora, I would say Fedora is easier to get started with; Mandriva needed some configuration from me before I got it how I liked it.
 
Well. My installation went BOOM. SO I spent like an hour trying to get everything right. Finally just did a fresh install, deleted all partitions with default setting.

Basic install, it works. Tomorrow I'll upgrade so it has all the programs I want.

Thanks for the help.

EDIT: Here we go. Gonna put all the apps on.
 
What do you think of FC6 so far?

I haven't had time to install it, since I'm too lazy to download the massive DVD image. I'll probably try it out during my break from school.

To be honest, I always thought that Ubuntu was a better distro for beginners. I started with Ubuntu 5.10, and by the time I used FC5, I already had some knowledge of how things worked so it was somewhat easier. I'm definitely interested in how your experience is with FC6 as your first distro.

Also, I noticed that you mentioned something about "most Windows-like" in one of your posts. Of course there are many distros that try to imitate Windows as much as possible, such as Linux XP, but I couldn't tell you the quality of those distros.

However, you should check out openSUSE 10.2; it will be released in December. It's currently in beta, but it's looking good so far. It's not necessarily "Windows-like," but if you look at the screenshots, it's got the familiar look. It should make it easier for beginners.



More Beta 1 Screenshots
 
For me the apt based package system never worked as well as rpm.

The best is Gentoo emerge, but Gentoo is by no means easy to set up.
 
Well, I used Software Manager to install some more programs for me.

Now, I open Firefox and go to Youtube. It says to update Macromedia Flashplayer plugin. Ok, so I did. But it acts like it didn't even happen. Ok, so I download Flashplayer 7, Java since it says Jave isn't on but Java is enabled in FF, and I downloaded Adobe and Realplayer.

Now, once I get to an RPM, I get stuck. I follow the instructions in Terminal, but it doesn't seem to work. Starting to get me a little unnerved. Especially since my Rio Carbon got screwed when I backed up my music and connected to a friend's comp.

Any help appreciated. Other than this little bit, I love it. I dunno what to call them. Panels I guess in the bottom right. That, and the Hide All Windows button. Frickin awesome if you're installing files and wanna use GAIM at the same time.
 
To install packages once you have the rpm the command is
Code: 
rpm -ivh <filename>

But you should be able to double click them and they will install.

EDIT:
Other command line stuffs

To search if a certain package is installed:
Code: 
rpm -qa | grep -i <some part of the name>
To unzip an install .tar.gz package
Code: 
tar xvfz <package name>
cd <new directory that was created in the last command>
make
su
<type root pwd>
make install
 
It's not an rpm. Set it to executable permissions (+x) by right clicking and going to properties, then double click to run it.

Alternatively, navigate to the directory where it is, then run it.
Code: 
cd ~/Desktop/ [assuming it is on your desktop]
chmod a+x RealPlayer10GOLD.bin
su
./RealPlayer10GOLD.bin

Although, I would suggest using xmms for music and xine for video.


EDIT: I take it you did not read the instructions. http://www.real.com/moreinfo/player...l_instructions&src=linux&pcode=rn&opage=linux
 
Yeah, I read the instructions.

I had the bin file. Downloaded the RPM and it installed.

Mozilla doesn't tell me I need the Flash plugin now, but now videos tell me that I have Java turned off or an old version of Flash. I have Java installed and the new version of Flash and Java is turned on as well as Javascript in Preferences.

EDIT: I read on a site that having Firefox 1.5 could be part of the problem. I'm going to update to 2.0 tonight and see if that fixes my problem.

Everything else worked, most of the RPM's I downloaded weren't able to be executed under properties. All better.

Now, about the Filesystem. How does it work?
 
standard235
Mozilla doesn't tell me I need the Flash plugin now, but now videos tell me that I have Java turned off or an old version of Flash. I have Java installed and the new version of Flash and Java is turned on as well as Javascript in Preferences.

EDIT: I read on a site that having Firefox 1.5 could be part of the problem. I'm going to update to 2.0 tonight and see if that fixes my problem.
Click to expand...

If you really want the latest flash, you could always run the Windows version of Firefox under Wine. It's very easy to set up on Ubuntu, but I haven't tried it on Fedora. There are many how-to's out there that can probably help you.

Now, about the Filesystem. How does it work?
Click to expand...

I'm assuming you're talking about ext3? What do you want to know?

* Basically it's ext2 with journaling
* Don't worry about defragging
* Most popular distributions use ext3
* ext4 is out, but still under testing

That's about all I can tell you. I'd do a search if you want a more technical answer.
 
dougiemeats
If you really want the latest flash, you could always run the Windows version of Firefox under Wine. It's very easy to set up on Ubuntu, but I haven't tried it on Fedora. There are many how-to's out there that can probably help you.
Click to expand...

Another option for up to date Flash, if you don't mind running beta software, is the Flash Player 9 for Linux beta - relevant blog entry here, and you can download it from here. Don't be too put off by the fact it's in beta - it's been rock solid for me and I haven't heard of many problems :) 👍
 
I was going to install Flash 9 beta after my fresh install, but out of pure laziness, I downloaded the Flash 7 package instead. It works alright on YouTube, and that's about all I care about :lol:

BTW, I'm so glad a did a fresh install of Edgy. My previous installation has been dist-upgraded since Knot 3, and I had kiba-dock, Beryl, Ubuntu System Panel, Wine, Windows Firefox, and various other applications so it was quite bloated.

Of course, that was done on purpose, because I wanted to experiment in order to find the perfect setup before a fresh install. I'm quite happy with my first "stable" OS in a long time!

Edit: skip and standard, can you guys fire up OpenOffice.org Writer and see if your fonts are about the fugliest thing you've ever seen in your life? I'm wondering if it's just an Edgy problem, since I can't remember OpenOffice fonts looking this ugly under Dapper.

Are you having the same problems, Greg?
 
dougiemeats
Edit: skip and standard, can you guys fire up OpenOffice.org Writer and see if your fonts are about the fugliest thing you've ever seen in your life? I'm wondering if it's just an Edgy problem, since I can't remember OpenOffice fonts looking this ugly under Dapper.

Are you having the same problems, Greg?
Click to expand...

Just had a look and it's not a problem for me, but I've installed a load of fonts with Automatix2 so it could be that it's the standard fonts that are a problem :confused: I'm also not very fussy about fonts anyway, so fine for me could be fugly for you...

Have to agree about installing Edgy from scratch too, I waited until final to do it but my setup had got pretty bloated in the meantime. I'm still using Beryl but I've ditched Kiba-dock for now (still too resource hungry, and the bdock plugin for Beryl that's on the way may well prove better).
 
dougie - I don't actually have a Linux machine at hand...it's been about 6 months since I had it installed. Although fonts were okay from what I recall in Jan/Feb when I did have Mandriva.
 
Thanks, Greg and Skip. I checked Ubuntu Forums and it seems to be a known issue. I didn't check if there was a solution, but I usually don't have to type anything so it won't bother me too much. It might scare off some new users though. The font rendering is just hideous (compared to the system-wide font, that is).

gregc
Have to agree about installing Edgy from scratch too, I waited until final to do it but my setup had got pretty bloated in the meantime. I'm still using Beryl but I've ditched Kiba-dock for now (still too resource hungry, and the bdock plugin for Beryl that's on the way may well prove better).
Click to expand...

As hard as it is to resist the sexiness that is Beryl, I actually haven't installed it yet. I'll be installing it soon, though. I've also decided against Kiba-dock as well. Placing shortcuts on the top panel might not be as fancy as a semi-transparent dock, but it looks so much cleaner and much more resource-friendly.
 
You should be fine. I think you have almost the same specs as me, and Ubuntu/Kubuntu/Fedora run great. Not as fast as XP, but the difference is not significant. The important thing is the RAM. You have 512MB so you won't need a lighter distro.

Anyways, definitely give it a try. The orange and brown theme might not appeal to you, but you can always change the theme later. It will also benefit you since I am currently using Edgy, so I'll actually know what I'm talking about for once, since its right here in front of me. :lol:

Make sure you download the right ISO: ubuntu-6.10-desktop-i386.iso

Once you have it set up, I can show you how to enable repositories (I think it's done differently in FC6), and download and install what you need. Good luck!
 
Frickin awesome.

Well, during the download, Fedora went boom. Wouldn't boot up. So I installed Linux with an extra partition. Installed Windows too.

Wait, Windows isn't C:. Not good. SO I wiped it all, put WINDOWS on. When I go home, (School right now) I am going to install SP2 and download Ubuntu Edgy. I should be done by 10.
 
Torrent might be a better idea. The file you want is: ubuntu-6.10-desktop-i386.iso.torrent

In case you have trouble finding it, go the usual download page, and it's on the bottom of the page.
 
I've downloaded the ISO from BitComet. It says "alternate i386" or something like that. Is that the Live CD, or a permanent installation?

Edit: I didn't read the whole thread....
 

Similar threads

Dennisch
Need help with a NUC and surround sound.
Replies
0
Views
426
Dennisch
Dennisch
HERE4BEER3
Computer Wiz needed, windows 10 upgrade question
Replies
4
Views
999
Grayfox
Grayfox
Firehound427
Looking for a gaming laptop for GTA V and AC - any suggestions?
Replies
5
Views
1K
Firehound427
Firehound427
Waheedos
Gran Turismo 1 v1.1 & v1.0 Widescreen 16:9 and Stable 60 FPS for Retroarch Swanstation Core Settings
Replies
0
Views
4K
Waheedos
Waheedos
Eunos_Cosmo
Windows RDP Help
Replies
3
Views
869
Eunos_Cosmo
Eunos_Cosmo

Latest Posts

Back