Installing Mandrake 9.0

[geoff32]

Have got the discs and the boot floppy but now need the courage and guidance to continue.
I have partitioned with Acronis,and to be honest am now lost....what do I do next?
Should I boot with the floppy and have the Cd's ready?
Or go into windows and access the 1st cd?
Have tried to install before and it was a disaster...so will ask and ask and ask..... till I think I know what I am doing.
Please keep it simple if you can....I am a wrinkley non techie trier...just doing it for fun.
Thanks for any help
Geoff32

[mdwatts]

I don't use Mandrake myself, but have found the online installation docs easy to locate. Have you had a read of them?

http://www.mandrakelinux.com/en/doc/..._Startup.html/

If your bios supports booting from cdrom, change the bios to boot cdrom first, insert the Mandrake installation cd and away you go.

Select custom/expert installation mode as it will give you greater control over the entire install process.

[Robert Keneely]

geoff32,

I recently installed Mandrake 9.0 and it was so easy it practically installed itself. Are you planning to make a dual-boot setup with Windows ?

I partitioned a 20 gig HD [15 & 5] and first installed Win98SE [in the 15] and then Mandrake just about "automatically installed itself in the remaining 5 gigs. The latest verisions of ALL distro's seem to have much better installation results.

So, if you already have Windows installed, just start at desktop and insert first Mandrake CD and read each screen CAREFULLY [don't rush]. Along the way, it will ask where you want Mandrake installed, Good Luck !

[JohnT]

Are you going to be using Acronis as your boot manager?

[geoff32]

Sat down to Install Mandrake ...
Changed my bios to boot from Cd...very proud to find how to to it myself.
All went well till a problem with "mount points" but I got through it ok....Then the reboot....Acronis didnt show....Mandrake didnt show...Windows didnt show....
Tired to boot from old floppy in windows ...no go...tried Mandrake floppy...not the right one..twiddled as much as I could ...but nothing zilch zero......so tired and confused dug out the restore discs that came with the PC....But I will continue...better prepared next time...have learned a lot...obviously not enough yet.
As you may have guessed I am late to this computor thing..but it will not beat me....will it?
Thanks for all your input....next time.
Geoff32

[JohnT]

What version of windows?

[Ninji]

load the mandrake disk and choose rescue and set it to install the windows boot sector again

[geoff32]

John T like the signature....It's win98se if that makes any difference....now you can see how little I know.
Ninji....I have re-stored from the discs supplied by the shop...it wipes everything and puts you back to square one....doesn't it?
Unless you Guys can tell me differently I will defrag the installation I have now and without partitioning go for a total install from my original discs and floppy.......apparently that is what I could have done from the start...but I thought I was clever......that will teach me huh!!
I could do with some advice about the mount point...what is it? and what should I do when it asks me?
As I have indicated a lot of the jargon goes right over my head...and some of it isn't jargon.... but you know what I mean.
Again any tip that may put me on the right track would be recieved gratefully.My present install is very basic win98 se with only a broadband connection an antivirus and zonealarm installed so I have loads of room ...over to you .
Geoff32

[JohnT]

Before tackling a re-install layout the procedure.
I would not use some third-party boot manager, but then that's me.

My approach is to use Active Killdisk to do a
low-level format of the disk. The link for the free download is at the bottom of the page. This
app is good for only one drive, excluding floppy, on one cable. You will have to disconnect
any slave, cd-roms to use the process. They can be hooked back up after its done. Takes
awhile , but worth it to make sure no remenants of previous software is left behind. When
finished reboot with a Win 98 bootdisk and at the A:\ prompt
initiate the command "fdisk". Choose large disk support. At this point there is nothing on the
drive. Killdisk took care of that. Make one Primary partition and make it active, for windows, of
the size you want. Now make another partition, but don't make it active, for the size
you want for Linux. (write your sizes down as you make them). Reboot and at the prompt
initiate the command A:\ format C: /u/s . This will format the disk as fat 32 and add the sys
files. Reboot and change bios to make cdrom first boot device. Do your Win install on the first
partition, the active one. Reboot. Do your Linux install as expert. When It comes to the
partitioning screen you will see the windows partition defined as /dev/hda. Do not click on
this partition. Use the blank part for Linux. At the first part of the partition create a 20mb space
for the mount point "/boot". Second, about a 250mb /swap space. The rest is up to you, but at
the very minimum You must have a"/"
Here's a link on Disk
Partitioning and security. You'll just have to figure out over a period of time what works for
you. That's a minimum of three partions, /boot, /swap, /. Don't forget to make
a bootdisk when asked
Dual Boot ....... reference this page as to setting up a dual boot with win 98. This is tied in with your Linux install , so choose the method you want and see what needs to be incorporated during the install. Any questions before proceeding.....Ask.

[geoff32]

John T ...hope your PC advice isn't as kooky as your sense of humour...which I like by the way.
Thanks for the links and advice..will go into it further at the weekend , need an open ended time scale,never know when it will end?
Can understand the need for a "clean sheet" install, but does that mean physicaly disconnecting the cd drive? as I have never peaked inside the case let alone tweaked about there.
I will read and digest your links and advice and when time allows go for it...may leave out bits if it's too techie/daring.....one step at a time dont walk before you can run etc.
Thanks again and I will return...maybe triumphantly who can say?
Geoff32

[JohnT]

does that mean physicaly disconnecting the cd drive? as I have never peaked inside the case let alone tweaked about there.

Only if it shows up in Killdisk and it gives you a message about "Demo copy can only do one disk, blah, blah". Just pull the ribbon cable off and put back the same way it came off, or you might be able to just go into the bios and disable it while your wiping the disk, then enable it when it's through.

[geoff32]

Thanks John T will most likely do the deed at the weekend,got to be in the right frame of mind though.
Will read and try to understand your advice...may be back,if something needs clarifiation....thanks again Geoff32

[eyceguy]

I would try this before i low level formatted my hdd.
boot up with a win boot disk and at the A:\ prompt

type:
fdisk /mbr

this should allow you to get back into windows if it is still on the hard drive

eyceguy

[sasKuatch]

Just one thing to try before you do that low lever format.

1. Mount points are odd to linux first-timers

a) Read this: Filesystems and Mount Points

b) After that's done, pop your first CD into the drive, and with the knowledge gained from reading the above link, you can partition your drive(s) correctly. Basically, your Windows partition should be /mnt/windows/ and your Linux partition should be /

c) The best thing to do (since you toasted everything with the restore disk), is to delete all partitions, and create a few from scratch. Depending on how much free space you have, create an approx 2 Gig Linux partition at the beginning of the drive (the multicolored strip at the top), and set the filesystem to ext3 if you can, if not, don't worry about the type. Next, create a 150 Megabyte swap partition (do this by adding a partition and setting the size to approx. 150 Meg and setting Type to "Linux Swap").

d) Leave the rest blank, Windows will live happily unaware of Linux in this space.

Now, whether you do this before or after installing Windows is up to you, but I suggest doing it after, in which case you need to Resize you existing windows partition and add the Linux partitions at the end instead of deleting everything.

Remember, this is just a guide as to *what* to do. Use the instructions to see *how* to do it. Knowing what to do is difficult when you are new to linux and it is something you learn with experience or ask for help with (which is why we are here)

Good Luck, have fun, and try to maintain your hairline.

[geoff32]

Thanks Saskuatch (another punny signature,that went slightly over my head...boxcutter?)
Am still in the learning /finding out stage after my bad experience before...dont want it to happen again.
Anyway just been asked to work the whole weekend an (offer I couldnt refuse) so will more than likely commence the install the following weekend....it will be good to investigate more in the mean time...cant learn too much?
And how did you know about my hairline?
Thanks again all you chaps.....Im english we dont have guys.
Geoff32