661 lines
38 KiB
Plaintext
661 lines
38 KiB
Plaintext
Linux Installation Strategies mini-HOWTO
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Tobby Banerjee
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tobbyb@usa.net
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Philippe Martin - Conversion to DocBook SGML
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Revision History
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Revision 1.0.1 2001-05-02 Revised by: pm
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Conversion to DocBook SGML.
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Revision 1.0 2000-12-20 Revised by: tb
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Initial release.
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This document discusses a few installation strategies for those who intend to
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dual-boot between Windows and Linux.
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-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
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Table of Contents
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1. License
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2. Mail
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3. The basics
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4. A note about hard disks and partitions
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5. The concepts
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6. Partitioning
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7. Installation
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8. The Lilo way
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9. The Loadlin way
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10. Rebooting
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11. Setting up Loadlin
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12. Removing Linux and restoring your Windows partition to its Original state
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13. XFree 4.01
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14. Tips and Suggestions
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15. The State of Linux ?? What to Expect
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15.1. The Specifics ?? Wordprocessing
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15.2. Multimedia
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15.3. Internet
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15.4. Games
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15.5. Desktop Publishing
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-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
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1. License
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You are free to do with this document whatever you please but reading it
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would be a good idea. I am naturally not responsible for any consequence or
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action arising out of the use of information provided in this document. I am
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not a very responsible person and you heed me at your own peril.
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-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
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2. Mail
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Should you find this document helpful please feel free to mail me at <
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tobbyb@hotmail.com>. Microsoft shares will be highly appreciated but short of
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that flattery will do just fine.
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-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
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3. The basics
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The primary purpose of this document is to make the co-existance between
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Windows and Linux as simple and uncomplex as possible which means as far as
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Windows is concerned Linux doesn't exist. It is now possible to install Linux
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on a Windows partition as a disk image with what is known as the loopback
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filesystem ?? RedHat and Mandrake offer this ?? but it's an extremely bad
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idea because of the way Windows handles files. Defragmenting the system will
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become a nightmare and Linux itself will crawl and it will ruin both your
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Windows and Linux experience. The same applies to the Umsdos filesystem
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(though Linux won't crawl) and it's best to install Linux on a partition of
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its own. This document makes a few presumptions but nothing to worry about ??
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just a few.
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<EFBFBD><EFBFBD>*<2A>You are using Windows 9x (95,98) not Me or 2000.
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<EFBFBD><EFBFBD>*<2A>You are familiar with computers ie you know how to boot the system using
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the floppy or cdrom drive
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<EFBFBD><EFBFBD>*<2A>You know your way around DOS and Windows
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<EFBFBD><EFBFBD>*<2A>You know what a partition is and want to install Linux on a partition of
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its own
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<EFBFBD><EFBFBD>*<2A>You have a large hard disk ?? upward of 8.4<EFBFBD>Gb ?? which currently holds
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Windows and on which you intend to install Linux (even those who with
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smaller disks can read on).
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With that out of the way we can begin. The first thing to do is to make space
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for Linux. Like other Linux wannabes you are likely to be stuck with a huge
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single partition with Windows on it. This would be your C drive. In my case
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it was hogging 13.5<EFBFBD>gigs. You have to make a separate partition for Linux out
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of this space (which would then be labelled as D). You can either use Windows
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Fdisk which really is not a good idea as it would entail losing all your data
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and making new partitions from scratch, one for Windows and one for Linux, or
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you can take the easier and far more convenient way out and use a free and
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excellent non-destructive partitioning utility called Fips. What makes Fips
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special is its ability to create a new partition out of the free space in
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your C partition without any loss of data. The latest version of Fips (2.0)
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is available at its homepage [http://www.igd.fhg.de/~aschaefe/fips/] http://
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www.igd.fhg.de/~aschaefe/fips/ and most Linux distributions carry it under
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the /dostools or /dosutils directory in the primary cd.
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We are going to concentrate on using Fips so if you are going to use Windows
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Fdisk ?? which actually is totally unnecessary unless you have just bought a
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new system and even then it's a better idea to make a single partition with
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Windows Fdisk, install Windows on it and then use Fips to split it for
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reasons that I'm going to explain later in this document ?? or a commercial
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partition utility like Partition Magic you are on your own.
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-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
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4. A note about hard disks and partitions
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A hard disk can have a maximum of 4 primary partitions ?? don't ask me why, I
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don't know. Apart from primary partitions a hard disk can also have what is
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known as an extended partition which inturn can hold a number of logical
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partitions ?? I believe the number is close to 15. The extended partitions
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are not real partitions like primary or logical partitions in that they don't
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store data but are actually containers for logical partitions which is where
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data is actually stored ?? as you can see it is uneccessarily complex. Thus
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in Windows C is a primary partition and if you used Windows Fdisk ?? Windows
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Fdisk will not make more than one primary partition to partition your hard
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disk ?? D is usually the first logical partition of the extended partition. E
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would be the second logical partition and so on. In Linux things are slightly
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different. The first primary partition is called /dev/hda1, the second
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primary partition /dev/hda2 upto the fourth which is /dev/hda4. Linux refers
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to the an extended partition as in the case of a disk with 1 primary and one
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extended partition as /dev/hda1 for the primary and /dev/hda2 for the
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extended. The logical partitions of the extended partitions are referred to
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as /dev/hda5, /dev/hda6 and so on. The second hard disk would be referred to
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as /dev/hdb, the third /dev/hdc (usually the cdrom drive if set as secondary
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master) and the fourth and last hard disk as /dev/hdd (last because the
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motherboard has place for a maximum of 4 IDE devices) SCSI devices are
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referred to as /dev/sda ?? thank god for that.
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-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
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5. The concepts
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What Fips does is make a new primary partition out of the free space in your
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hard disk. This is an inherently dangerous operation and it's a good idea to
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back up all your important data lest something go wrong. Having said that
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Fips has been used successfully by a large number of people in different
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conditions and unless there is something already wrong with your hard disk,
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FAT (File Allocation Table) or partition table things will work just fine.
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You should read the Fips documentation.
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Before you set out to partition the hard disk you have to decide how you want
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to boot into Linux. The default and most common method is to use Lilo ?? a
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simple and basic bootloader program that overwrites (after saving) your hard
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disk's MBR (Master Boot Record) and on booting the system gives you a choice
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between booting either Windows or Linux. If you select Windows it boots
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Windows and you are met with the familiar windows screen or if you select
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Linux it boots Linux and if you don't make a choice in the stipulated time ??
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could be anything from <20>5 seconds depending on on how you set it up ?? it
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boots the default operating system, Windows or Linux, again depending on how
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you set it up. You can restore your original MBR anytime, when uninstalling
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Linux for instance, either by typing /sbin/lilo -u within Linux or typing
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fdisk /MBR in DOS (this will overwrite the MBR with the original Windows MBR)
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needless to say you would lose the option to boot into Linux after this and
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thus access to your Linux partition.
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The problem with using Lilo especially for those with large disks is you
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would have to give up a substantial chunk of your disk space to Linux. This
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is not a flexible solution since while you can access your Windows partition
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from within Linux ?? the large MPEG files can thus be stored in Windows and
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accessed by both operating systems ?? the alternate is not true.
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This is because of an arcane BIOS limitation that limits Lilo to the first
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1024 cylinders of the hard disk. Windows and Linux have no such limitations
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?? it has something to do with address translation and LBA which I have yet
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to fully understand. Suffice to know the BIOS cannot access data that is
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beyond this 1024 cylinder limit and since Lilo is dependent on the BIOS to
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boot the OS's nor can it. Thus if you want to use Lilo to boot Linux you got
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to make sure that the Linux partition is well below the 1024 cylinder limit.
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My hard disk ?? and most modern hard disks have more than 1024 cylinders ??
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has 1650 cylinders and using Lilo means making the Linux partition at about
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the 1000 or 1010 cylinder mark which translates into a whopping 5.2<EFBFBD>Gb of
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12.9<EFBFBD>Gb to Linux and this wasn't working for me since my Linux stuff hardly
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need more than 2<>Gb and my Windows data on the other hand with MP3's and MPEG
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movies needs a lot more than 7<>Gb.
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The solution, and in Linux there are always solutions, is Loadlin, an
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underrated alternative to Lilo which is inexplicably not as popular or
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widespread, inexplicable because it's far more flexible. If you intend to use
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Loadlin and for those with large hard-disks it's an excellent alternative you
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don't have to worry about the 1024 cylinder limit. Even better you can launch
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Linux from your Windows desktop and modify your autoexec.bat file to give you
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an option to boot into either of the OS's during boot time not unlike Lilo.
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You are then free to size your partitions as you please. In my case a 2.2<EFBFBD>Gb
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extended partition with 3 logical partitions. That's right 3 partitions. It's
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normal to make three partitions, one for the Kernel boot files, one for the
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root partition and one for the swap partition but more on that later.
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If you must use Lilo but are unwilling to give up a lot of space there is a
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solution. Place the Linux partition in the middle of the disk. You have to
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split the new partition you just created using Fips into 2 (you would have to
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use Fips once again for this) the first partition which falls within the 1024
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cylinder limit can be used for Linux and the second you can use for Windows.
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Thus your hard disk will then have 3 partitions the first and third for
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Windows and the one in the middle for Linux. I don't like this arrangement
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but it's up to you. (At the moment we are refering to the Linux partition as
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one but during the installation you will split it into 3 using the Linux
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tools) You can also make a small 15-20<32>Mb /boot partition and place it before
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the 1024 cylinder mark and the rest of the installation anywhere on the hard
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disk but again I quite don't like this.
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-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
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6. Partitioning
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Now we are ready to actually partition the hard disk. First make a DOS boot
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disk (type format a: /s at the DOS prompt or in DOS). Put the following three
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files in the disk, fips.exe, restorrb.exe and errors.txt. Defragment your
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hard disk ?? this puts all the data at the beginning leaving enough space for
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Fips to create a new partition from. If you use Norton SpeedDisk select the
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unfragment free space option. Norton usually puts data at the end of the disk
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and this will prevent Fips from creating a new partition. Run Scandisk and
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reboot using the bootdisk you just created.
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Type fips at the prompt and Fips will show you your partition table with a
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warning about partition table inconsistency. If your disk has more than 1024
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cylinders its usually safe to ignore this warning. Next Fips will ask you is
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you want to proceed ?? the program is extremely meticulous ?? answer yes
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obviously and when prompted to save a backup of your partition table and boot
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sector answer yes ?? this step is absolutely vital as it allows you to
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restore your hard disk to its unpartioned single partition state should
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anything go wrong. It also comes in handy if you want to uninstall Linux or
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resize your Linux partition. It doesn't matter what happens to the new
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partition in the meantime, if you have the back up you can restore your hard
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disk to its original unpartioned state. This reversible operation will work
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in all circumstances but one; if you format your original (Windows) partition
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which was split to make space for Linux in the meantime, the original FAT is
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overwritten with a new and smaller one and the restore operation will not
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work.
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After making the backup you will be presented with a screen with 3 numbers,
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the first represents your original partition ?? notice it is at its smallest
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size, Fips has allocated all free space in the hard disk to the new
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partition, this is the default behavior. The second column shows the cylinder
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info which will be the guide for those who plan to use Lilo. The third shows
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the size of the new partition you are going to create ?? it is at its largest
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size. Use the arrow keys to resize the partition, you would just have to
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reduce the size of the new partition since it is at its maximum to a size you
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want. For Lilo users the new partition has to be below the 1024 cylinder
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mark, 1000 is a reasonable beginning for the new partition. After you are
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satisfied with the size of your new partition press enter, Fips will ask you
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to confirm and write the new partition table.
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Reboot your system. Remember to change the BIOS settings to boot from the
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hard disk or you will end up rebooting with the floppy. Double click My
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Computer and you will see the result of all the hard work, there will be a
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new drive labelled D alongside the original C. Don't touch D, run scandisk on
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your original partition (C) ?? hopefully there will be no errors ?? and at
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this point you are ready to install Linux.
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Some of the Linux documentation mistakenly ask you to delete the newly
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created partition using Windows Fdisk. Do not commit that blunder because if
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you do the Linux partitions will show up in My Computer when you reboot after
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installing Linux and since Windows obviously cannot read these drives and the
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ext2 filesystem, using Explorer and acessing your hard disk in Windows will
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become a time consuming and destabilizing affair. So don't do it.
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-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
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7. Installation
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Reboot using your Linux Installation CD ?? I use Redhat 6.2 which is fairly
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straight forward and I will focus on it. Most Linux distributions have really
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worked on their installation programs and you shouldn't have a problem. Just
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have the details about your hardware in hand, the horizontal and vertical
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refresh rate of your monitor in case the installation program doesn't
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automatically detect it ( you will find the exact figures in the manual ),
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the video card, its memory type ( SDRAM or SGRAM ) and size, and your mouse
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type ?? PS2 or Serial. As I mentioned earlier you will have to make about 3
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partitions for Linux, you can make more but 3 is the recommended number.
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There are 3 main installation types, Workstation, Server and Custom. The
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Server class install erases everything in the hard disk so beware. The
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workstation and custom installs have sub-classes but that's for you to
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explore.
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Loadlin users have to select custom installation and dump Lilo when given the
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oppurtunity because the other types of installations install Lilo by default
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and without asking and we dont want that do we? Lilo users have no
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restrictions; you can opt for whichever install type you like.
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-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
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8. The Lilo way
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Lilo fans can use Disk Druid which is RedHat's default partitioning utility
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?? yes we haven't finished with partitioning just yet. First delete the
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second partition which will show up in Disk Druid's screen as /dev/hda2. Then
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create a new partiton, set its mount point to /boot and size to 16<31>Mb. Create
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the second partition and set its mount point to /(that's called the root
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partition) and size to growable. This tells Disk Druid to reclaim all free
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space after you have finshed partititoning . Create the third partition and
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set its mount point to swap and size to about 127<32>Mb presuming you have 64<36>Mb
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RAM, those with less can make a 64<36>Mb swap partition.
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-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
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9. The Loadlin way
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Those who intend to use Loadlin however cannot use Disk Druid, they will have
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to use Linux Fdisk which may have an intimidating reputation but is actually
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pretty simple. When presented with the installation type screen select custom
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and with fdisk (you will find a small button with fdisk on it at the top of
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the screen). For some reason Disk Druid doesn't let you proceed with the
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installation if your /boot partition is above the 1024 cylinder limit so if
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you try to use it to create the partitions the install program will refuse to
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proceed. Fdisk is a pretty straight forward program and easy to use too.
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First you have to delete the partition you just created using Fips. Many
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people don't understand why they have to delete the partition they just
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created at considerable risk. This new partition is actually a FAT32 partiton
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which Linux cannot use and when you delete it it doesn't revert to being a
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part of C but is actually UNPARTITIONED FREE SPACE which you can use to
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create new partitions.
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You have to understand a few Fdisk operations, typing m lists all the
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options, typing p at the prompt shows you the current partition table, d
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deletes a partiton, n creates a partition, q quits without saving changes so
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if you make any mistakes there is nothing to worry about just type q and
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start all over again, w writes changes to the partition table use only after
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you are sure and L shows you the hex numbers for different partition types
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but you only need to know 2, Linux native is hex number 83 and Linux swap is
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hex number 82. So why do you need the Hex numbers? While Disk Druid allows
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you to mount a swap partition without going into the hex numbers in Fdisk the
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only way to make a swap partiton is to give it its correct hex number which
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is 82.
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Let's start, in Fdisk type p at the prompt and you will see the current
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partition table. Type d and select the partition you want to delete which in
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this case would be /dev/hda2 (just type 2) type p again and you will see the
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change reflected in the partition table. There will now be a single FAT32
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partition /dev/hda1 (which is actually C). Type n to create a new partition
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and for type of partition the choices being primary or extended select e.
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There is no hard and fast rule about this for instance you could have a
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primary partition for /boot and an extended partition holding two logical
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partitions / and swap. I recommend an extended partition that holds three
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logical partitions. Now you have to size your extended partition properly
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since it's a container for the three logical partitions. From now on you just
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have to respond to Fdisk. It will ask you to set the size of the extended
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partition that you want to create. This partition will start where your
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Windows partition ends and ends at the end of the disk. You can either give
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the size in M (megabytes) in cylinder numbers or in K (kilobytes). Just
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accept the default for the start of the partition and select the end cylinder
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number for the end ?? Fdisk will give you the end cylinder number.
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Repeat the operation for the three logical partitions, only this time you
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would have to select logical instead of extended and the appropriate sizes
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which are 16<31>Mb for the boot partition, 127<32>Mb for the swap partition (the
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size of the swap partition is variable depending on installed RAM, double
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your RAM is recommended) and the rest of the free space for the root ( / )
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partition. Find your way ?? it's simple, really! After creating the three
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partitions type p and you will see the partitions you just created. There
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will be /dev/hda2 (extended) /dev/hda5 (logical) /dev/hda6 (logical) and /dev
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/hda7 (logical). There is just one thing left to do, set the hex number for
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the swap partition. Type t and select the 127<32>Mb partition you created which
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would be /dev/hda6 enter 6 for the partition number and 82 for the hex number
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(you will be prompted) and you have just finished with partitioning. Type w
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after making sure and Fdisk will write the new partition table and exit. The
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next screen will be the Disk Druid screen our Lilo friends have already seen
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and you just have to mount the partitions with Disk Druid. Select /dev/hda5
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(the 16<31>Mb partition) and mount it as /boot. Select /dev/hda7 and mount it as
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/ (the root partition)
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-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
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10. Rebooting
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The rest of the installation is straight forward and requires no hand
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holding. Select the packages you want, make the boot disk when given the
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oppurtunity to (absolutely essential especially for Loadlin users) and reboot
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the system. Lilo users should press dos at the Lilo prompt to boot into
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Windows. Like promised none of the Linux partitions will be visible to
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Windows and we can all rest in peace for that. Lilo users should reboot the
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system and boot into linux this time by typing linux at the Lilo prompt and
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depending on the choices you made you will either be at the console or the
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gnome or kde desktop. From one amateur to another it's always a good idea to
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log into the console first and not graphically and then starting X because if
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X crashes on you still have access to the system to make amends. Lilo is set
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to boot into Linux by default after a gap of 5 seconds, you can change the
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default to Windows by editing the lilo file in /etc. Look for the line that
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says default=linux and change it to dos. Alternative launch lilo from an
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xterm and change the asterisk from linux to dos (use the arrow buttons,
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dummy). That's set now for Lilo users.
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-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
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11. Setting up Loadlin
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Loadlin users still have a little work to do. First boot into Linux with the
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floppy. If you logged in graphically start a terminal emulator like xterm or
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some other. There are always a couple of these under the utilities menu. Type
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mkdir /mnt/dosc. This is the first step to make your Windows partition
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accessble to Linux and this is particularly important for Loadlin users as it
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is the easiest way to tranfer the Linux kernel to your Windows partition.
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Next start linuxconf from the system menu or the xterm and look for the
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filesystem menu. Expand accesss local drives and select add. Type /dev/hda1
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in the partition field, vfat in the type field and /mnt/dosc/ in the mount
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point field and mount the partition. Alternatively you can directly edit the
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fstab file in /etc in a text editor (Gedit is a good choice) and add the
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following line exactly as shown.
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/dev/hda1 /mnt/dosc vfat defaults 0 0
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This should give you access to your Windows partition, it will be in /mnt/
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dosc/. Copy the linux kernel to your C directory and rename it to vmlinuz.
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||
You will find it in /boot and probably called vmlinuz followed by your kernel
|
||
version number in my case vmlinuz-2.2.14-5.0. Do not copy the vmlinuz with an
|
||
arrow in it, its a symbolic link. Reboot into windows, get the loadlin
|
||
package from the Linux cd ?? it will be in the /dostools/utils subdirectory.
|
||
Unzip it and place Loadlin.exe in the C directory. Loadlin and the kernel can
|
||
be anywhere on your windows partition but for the time being we will leave it
|
||
in root directory of Windows. Now its up to you how you want to boot into
|
||
Linux. Read the loadlin documentation for the details. The roundabout way is
|
||
to restart the system in DOS mode and type:
|
||
C:> loadlin vmlinuz root=/dev/hda7 ro
|
||
|
||
This will boot you into Linux. The easier way is to make a .bat file with the
|
||
same information and placing it on your desktop. Open notepad type c:\loadlin
|
||
c:\vmlinuz root=/dev/hda7 ro and save the file as linux.bat, right click the
|
||
file, select advanced, and check the msdos mode and warn settings. Make a
|
||
shortcut to this file and put it on your desktop. The next time you want to
|
||
boot into Linux just double click this file and you will be in ?? talk about
|
||
convenience.
|
||
|
||
If you want to be prompted to boot into linux before Windows boots like the
|
||
Lilo guys you have to make another .bat file and call it from your
|
||
autoexec.bat file. It's very simple and the details are available in the
|
||
Loadlin documentation. The file looks a bit like this.
|
||
@echo off
|
||
cls
|
||
echo.
|
||
echo.
|
||
echo.
|
||
echo.
|
||
choice /t:n,5 "Do you wish to boot Linux?"
|
||
if errorlevel 2 goto End
|
||
c:\loadlin c:\vmlinuz root=/dev/hda6 ro
|
||
End
|
||
|
||
(This little script has been filched from the Loadlin documentation which you
|
||
would know if you did the sensible thing and read the documentation)
|
||
|
||
Save this text as linux.bat or if there already is a linux.bat in your
|
||
Windows root directory you can place it in another directory or give it
|
||
another name. Add the following line to your autoexec.bat file c:\linux '(or
|
||
whatever you have named the .bat file). The main thing if you are using a
|
||
.bat file is to tell Loadlin where to find the kernel image file (vmlinuz).
|
||
The above .bat file gives you the option to boot into Linux before Windows
|
||
loads by typing y (for Linux) or n (for Windows) within five seconds at which
|
||
point it boots Windows. Enjoy.
|
||
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
|
||
|
||
12. Removing Linux and restoring your Windows partition to its Original state
|
||
|
||
Depending on whether you are using Lilo or Loadlin the method differs
|
||
slightly. Lilo users have to first restore their original MBR either by
|
||
typing /sbin/lilo -u within Linux or typing fdisk /MBR in DOS. The next steps
|
||
are common for both Loadlin and Lilo users. These are not really neccessary
|
||
but just to be on the safe side I do them all the same.
|
||
|
||
Boot using the Linux installation CD and type Linux expert at the first
|
||
prompt, answer whatever you wish to the next questions until you get to the
|
||
install selection screen. Here select Install and With Fdisk and use Fdisk to
|
||
delete all Linux partitions. Write the changes to disk and Ctrl??Alt??Delete
|
||
your way out of the installation program or reset your system to reboot.
|
||
Remember to change the BIOS settings to boot from the hard disk or else you
|
||
will reboot from the CDROM again.
|
||
|
||
Reboot once again, this time with the fips disk that has the backup of your
|
||
partition table and boot sector ?? you saved it, didn't you? ?? and type
|
||
restorrb at the prompt. Answer yes to the question, the program will restore
|
||
your partition table and boot sector and you can pat yourself on the back for
|
||
accomplishing the impossible ?? reclaiming lost partition space! This is all
|
||
the more reason for making sure that the crucial backup file (Rootboot.000)
|
||
is saved in at least 5 different locations. You can never be too careful.
|
||
Reboot back into Windows and run scandisk on the newly increased C drive. It
|
||
will report one error in the fsinfo sector which is just a used and free
|
||
space accounting error. Your Linux data is now naturally lost for ever.
|
||
Hopefully this procedure won't be neccessary unless you are increasing space
|
||
allocated to Linux or getting rid of Windows.
|
||
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
|
||
|
||
13. XFree 4.01
|
||
|
||
It's a good idea to upgrade your Xserver to 4.01. At the moment only RedHat
|
||
7.0 ships with this version of X but it is availabe from the X consortium's
|
||
(how corny) ftp site ?? [ftp://ftp.xfree86.org/] ftp.xfree86.org/. It
|
||
provides direct acceleration and increased performance for a large number of
|
||
accelerated cards and those with Nvidia cards are in luck for not only does X
|
||
4.01 natively provide excellent support for most of their cards but Nvidia
|
||
have made available high performance OpenGL accelerated drivers ?? cheers to
|
||
them. See XFree's home site ?? [http://www.xfree86.org/] http://
|
||
www.xfree86.org/ ?? for more info.
|
||
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
|
||
|
||
14. Tips and Suggestions
|
||
|
||
<EFBFBD><EFBFBD>*<2A>Whatever soundcard you have Alsa drivers will deliver better performance
|
||
and if like me you have the Yamaha 724 the Alsa drivers are nearly as
|
||
good as those provided by Yamaha for Windows. You will of course have to
|
||
compile them for your system but don't let that deter you. Its a simple
|
||
matter of three commands. The alsa drivers are available at [http://
|
||
www.alsa-project.org/] http://www.alsa-project.org/
|
||
|
||
<EFBFBD><EFBFBD>*<2A>Those used to scrolling with their mouse wheel/s will not like Linux if
|
||
they can't scroll. The good news is you can but it is not set up by
|
||
default. Add the following line to your XF86Config file in /etc/X11/ in
|
||
the mouse section "ZAxisMapping 4 5" (obviously without the quotes though
|
||
in Xfree 4.01 you would have to enclose the numerical values in quotes)
|
||
If this doesn't work visit the Linux scroll wheel homepage at [http://
|
||
www.inria.fr/koala/colas/mouse-wheel-scroll/] http://www.inria.fr/koala/
|
||
colas/mouse-wheel-scroll/ set up by a curiously named fellow called Colas
|
||
Nahaboo.
|
||
|
||
<EFBFBD><EFBFBD>*<2A>By default the hard disk is not configured to perform at its optimum and
|
||
in most cases the difference can be dramatic. DMA, 32<33>bit IO and multiple
|
||
sector transfers are disabled by default and you should enable them at
|
||
the earliest this is of course presuming you have a relatively new hard
|
||
disk that support these features. As a test you should benchmark your hdd
|
||
before and after you change the settings just to see the difference
|
||
tweaking can do to your system. The utility to change the settings is
|
||
hdparm and you can run it from an xterm or the console but for a
|
||
permanent solution append the command to your rc.d local file in /etc/
|
||
rcd. Before you use hdparm read the documentation carefully. Its a
|
||
powerful utility and misusing it can trash your disk. First run hdparm
|
||
with the -i option to get the info on your hdd, then benchmark it without
|
||
the changes by running hdparm -Tt /dev/hda. Then run hdparm -c 1 -d 1
|
||
-m16 -k 1 /dev/hda
|
||
|
||
hdparm -d 1 (sets dma to on) -mx(this sets multiple transfers where x
|
||
represents the maximum (in my case 16) that your hdd allows ?? running
|
||
hdparm with the -i option gives you the maximum that your hdd allows ) -c
|
||
1 (sets 32<33>bit io) and -k 1 keeps the setting. In my case the data
|
||
transfer shotup from a mere 3.16 to 16.8<EFBFBD>Mb/sec!
|
||
|
||
<EFBFBD><EFBFBD>*<2A>A file system driver for the ext2 filesystem for Windows, ext2fs is
|
||
available from its homepage [http://uranus.it.swin.edu.au/~jn/linux/]
|
||
http://uranus.it.swin.edu.au/~jn/linux/ giving you the added convienience
|
||
of reading your Linux partitions from within Windows.
|
||
|
||
|
||
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
|
||
15. The State of Linux ?? What to Expect
|
||
|
||
Programmers and Enthusiasts ?? For programmers Linux is already a near
|
||
perfect solution. No other system gives so offers you a wider array of tools
|
||
and platforms for development. The flexibility is simply amazing and it
|
||
doesn't carry a price tag. An added benefit is the sense of community and
|
||
that's priceless.
|
||
|
||
Enthusiasts never had it so good. There is aways something new to discover
|
||
and since the system is totally transparent your chances of understanding
|
||
computing and programming in general ?? you will be interested if you aren't
|
||
already ?? are infinitely higher than in Windows. Tinkering will never be the
|
||
same again.
|
||
|
||
For the home user ?? There are 5 separate areas here, the internet, gaming,
|
||
basic word processing, administration and multimedia. We aren't going to talk
|
||
about ease of use here because the days of an ugly and unwieldy interface are
|
||
long gone, at the moment as far as usability and sheer visual pizazz is
|
||
concerned Gnome has taken the pants off Windows so there is nothing to worry
|
||
about there. File management, installing and uninstalling software and basic
|
||
administration are more streamlined and centralized and as you use Linux more
|
||
you probably will get over any prejudice toward the command line which is
|
||
nothing like the impotent DOS prompt. This is an outrageously powerful shell
|
||
that will accomplish anything you can think off faster than it takes you to
|
||
select a button. You might be intimidated at first but its the heart of Linux
|
||
the control centre, the headquarters, your direct line to the kernel.
|
||
Hardware configuration is not as simple as in Windows mostly because plug and
|
||
play has complicated things not eased them but it's not difficult either, the
|
||
best thing to do is set your BIOS to non pnp so that it can configure things
|
||
especially the sound card, but read read read. There is a lot of
|
||
documentation on your system and with that behind you everything becomes
|
||
simple. There is no excuse for ignorance.
|
||
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
|
||
|
||
15.1. The Specifics ?? Wordprocessing
|
||
|
||
Corel WordPerfect is good but for the simplest solution try Abiword ?? [http:
|
||
//www.abisource.com/] http://www.abisource.com/. It's good and bears an
|
||
uncanny resemblance to MSWord ?? now now. Both are free and widely available
|
||
?? I don't know about Wordperfect 9 , 8 is free, good and available. Other
|
||
options are Applixware and Star Office. I haven't used Applix but Star Office
|
||
is really ugly and slow and just the sort of software that could put you off
|
||
Linux and its just as bad in Windows. Version 5.1 was tolerable but after Sun
|
||
took it over its deteriorated and version 5.2 is the pits. Plain text and
|
||
html editors are sprouting by the day. Most distribution carry a lot of
|
||
software so look. I'm not much of a spreadsheet person but there is GNUmeric
|
||
which is not unlike Excel and a glaring inadequacy in printing is now
|
||
rectified. It looks good. Corel have ported nearly all their apps and they
|
||
are not as expensive as their Windows counterparts and with the same
|
||
functionality.
|
||
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
|
||
|
||
15.2. Multimedia
|
||
|
||
This is one area where Linux will not be found wanting. There are as many if
|
||
not more mp3 players than Windows. The most common is XMMS, is somewhat like
|
||
Winamp and just as good ?? has some great visualization plugins. Other mp3
|
||
players are Gqmpeg, Freeamp, Alsaplayer. That's enough for me. Mpeg1 vcd
|
||
players are a bit scarce, MTV is good and available ?? [hteztp://
|
||
www.mtvplayer.com/] hteztp://www.mtvplayer.com/ free for personal use ?? a
|
||
totally free solution is available from lokigames ?? [http://
|
||
www.lokigames.com/] http://www.lokigames.com/ There are more. There are a few
|
||
mp2 players movie is good. I' don't have a dvd player so I don't know but
|
||
Xmovie should tackle mpeg2 streams. Most of my mpeg1 players are GL
|
||
accelerated and perhaps my vcd playsback as well as Windows Media Player.
|
||
Ripping is a reality with a lot of options <20> no more ASPI headaches ?? most
|
||
of the Linux apps read digital data directly from the discs and all the
|
||
popular codecs are available; Xing, Fraunhofer but I use Blade and Lame ??
|
||
two excellent freeware encoders avalible for all platforms. There are also a
|
||
couple of tools for cdwriting. Check some of the Linux archives.
|
||
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
|
||
|
||
15.3. Internet
|
||
|
||
Again things are really happening here though one wishes there were a few
|
||
more browsers other than Netscape but then Netcape is adequate. There are all
|
||
the other stuff you will find for Windows, chat utils, instant messaging,
|
||
ftp, downLoaders etc.
|
||
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
|
||
|
||
15.4. Games
|
||
|
||
The problem area is games, there is a project on to port popular games to
|
||
Linux by Lokigames and they have a number of titles ready ?? [http://
|
||
www.lokigames.com/] http://www.lokigames.com/ ?? Quake 2&3 are out, System
|
||
Shock, Heavygear etc. The thing here is to make sure you have at least Xfree
|
||
4.01 and support for your video card.
|
||
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
|
||
|
||
15.5. Desktop Publishing
|
||
|
||
That leaves us with DTP and this is one area where Linux could pound Windows
|
||
but the thrust has been missing. Linux could really be optimized for DTP.
|
||
Ghostscript - a PostScript RIP ?? already offers a professional (if you know
|
||
how) solution for printing and your printer is probably supported. If you
|
||
already have a postscript printer there is no problem to start with. For
|
||
image editing there is Gimp. It is nearly as good as Photoshop ?? and that's
|
||
some compliment ?? but for lack of CMYK and colour management support ruling
|
||
it out of serious print work but it can be a good semi-professional solution
|
||
and for web work perfect and it's fun to use. Gimp also has a couple of good
|
||
drivers for Epson printers. Ghostscript has a problem with bitmaps ?? not all
|
||
bitmaps but photographs, you could eventually get some good output but it
|
||
will take some amount of tweaking. As far as text and vector graphics is
|
||
concerned it's good enough to replace my Epson driver in Windows (it has a
|
||
Windows version) GhostScript is available at its homepage [http://
|
||
www.cs.wisc.edu/~ghost/] http://www.cs.wisc.edu/~ghost/
|
||
|
||
Word processing is already covered. The problem areas are vector editing and
|
||
page layout. Framemaker for Linux is a solution and CorelDraw is available
|
||
but they are both commercial offerings. There are vector editors but all are
|
||
at a nascent stage. Sketch, Killustrator and Impress are coming along but far
|
||
away from professional solutions like Draw and Adobe Illustrator. For page
|
||
layout there is Tex but those used to Pagemaker, Quark or InDesign are not
|
||
going to be amused, its tough to learn and difficult to control and there are
|
||
way too many issues with things like fonts and its not wysiwyg ?? we can't
|
||
live without that.
|
||
|
||
On a last note at the moment the only difference in productivity for me is in
|
||
vector graphics, page layout and games. They are perhaps a year away at which
|
||
point Linux would have over taken Windows ?? at least as far as I'm concerned
|
||
?? and I would have little reason to dual boot but I think having Windows is
|
||
in a odd way comforting as is having Linux, perhaps I will always use them
|
||
both.
|