Sub: A novice's guide to install GNU/Linux
Hi,
I just found this mail from one, Peters, from Dubai, in a Yahoo Group, that I
am subscribed to(infotech-jobs@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx, to be exact). A novice guide
install Linux - by a novice user. Thus the language is really simple and I
guess a novice user will surely find this piece of guide an excellant one to
start off.. installing linux on his/her PC.
regards
Natarajan
PS: Suraj can even consider posting this on the webpage ;-) :P
---
Mr. Peters,
Good Work Mr. Peter. Thanks for sharing your experience. I hope you wont mind
me, posting your message to the Chennai Linux Users Group, India. Hope you
enjoy your every bit of experience with GNU/Linux.
Regards
Natarajan, Chennai.
-----------------------------------------
Date: Fri, 5 Jul 2002 03:31:15 -0700 (PDT)
From: Peters Antony <peters1968@xxxxxxxxx>
Subject: Windows & Linux - How to make them co-exist - A novices guide to
installation -- by Peters A P
Windows & Linux - How to make them co-exist - A
novices guide to installation -- by Peters A P
Preface
I know many of you guys are experts in Linux. And
installing Linux must be a cakewalk for you, but for a
novice like me, I found it very difficult since I did
not know where to start from or what to do. So I
humbly request those Linux gurus to please excuse any
mistakes that I might have made while documenting
this. The main purpose of this document was to help
people like me -- beginners, to learn and install and
to make Linux & Windows co-exist. Thank you
How I did it.
I remember I tried to install Linux way back in 1996 -
almost 6 years back, when Linux was just getting
prominence in India, but I got stuck up when the OS
could not detect the VGA card in the machine and I did
not have any resources or help to turn to and clarify
my problem and to continue with the installation. So
the simple solution was - forget about Linux and
install Windows.
I completely forgot about the existence of this OS
till I came to UAE in search of a job (an elusive
thing which I am still searching), my cousin Joseph
John offhandedly was talking about Linux, for which I
did not give much attention, because of my previous
experience. So every time we had a conversation he
used to talk about Linux and its reliability. He also
mentioned about the Linux Users Group in the Middle
East. After much coaxing and cajoling and instigating,
I joined the mailing list and subsequently I attended
my first meeting.
All this time an interest developed inside me to learn
more about Linux, so I managed to get a copy of SUSE
Linux LiveEval from John and brought it home and tried
to install it in my brothers PC, but then I noticed
one thing that I did not know how to install Linux on
top of Windows ME which was existing in the system.
Again I was stuck, I thought that my Linux
installation for the second time is also going to be
unsuccessful, anyway with all the courage I inserted
the CD into the system and booted. The system came up
with SUSE Linux installation and something was going
on and it asked for some passwords and user names etc
etc, which I gave and then it said the installation
was complete. Thank god -- I thought, I have installed
Linux, so I removed the CD and restarted the machine
on the hope that Linux will come up, but to my dismay
it booted Windows ME and showed no signs of Linux. I
searched the hard disk drive and found that there were
two very large Linux files written on it. I could not
figure out what that was. Anyway I kept quiet about my
bungle of not being able to install Linux.
At the next LUG meeting I mentioned this, and few of
the members told me that SUSE Linux LiveEval does not
install in the system, it just creates a ROM image on
the HDD and to power up Linux you should insert the CD
every time. So now I knew what was wrong in my
installation and a few members suggested to install
Red Hat Linux.
So armed with my determination to install Linux I
asked John to give me the copy of Red Hat Linux he
had. But again the problem of making Windows and Linux
co-exist was there (since I did not know about it). So
with Johns advice and my determination, I backed up
all of my data to a CD from the computer and formatted
the CD and partitioned and installed Linux and then
formatted and partitioned and then installed Windows --
I was confused, I was not able to get the correct
process of partitioning and installation, Each time I
install Linux, Windows cannot be installed, when
windows was installed I cannot find the partition for
Linux, when I find both I cannot install Linux. John
gave me advice through telephone, I confused myself,
this confusion and complication went on till 5.00 AM
and I was exhausted and tired and went of to sleepÂ
..
The next day dawned and when I saw the unfinished
installation, I got more determined, I called up
Ganesh another LUG -- Middle East member. With his
telephonic support, I was able to install Linux and
Windows ME.
You must be wondering why I did not follow manuals or
installation guides, I tried that, but that was too
much of technicalities. Also please understand that I
am one among the millions of people who do not know
Linux, but want to learn it.
The First Attempt
Here is what I did with help from Ganesh
Things Required
- Windows 98 bootable CD
- PC Quest Red Hat Linux 7.1 installation CD
- Computer System (of course), I used a PIII 550
system with 128 MB RAM, 40 GB HDD, S3 Virge Graphics
Card, CD-ROM drive
First I backed up the data -- my Word documents, Excel
Sheets, my websites etc
I booted up my system with Win98 bootable, with the
option "Boot from CD" and then " Start Computer with
CD ROM"
After booting up, at the prompt give "FDISK"
Now since I wanted Windows and Linux, I needed a small
partition to hold my Windows, so at FDSK, I created a
Primary DOS partition of 1 GB. I set this partition
active.
I did not create any other partition -- my HDD was 13
GB, the remaining part was not partitioned.
I restarted the computer and booted up again by my CD
ROM with "Boot from CD" option and then "Start Windows
98 setup from CD-ROM"
Now it started installing Windows 98. Once Windows 98
was installed, (I upgraded to ME that instance itself)
I restarted the system.
This time I had the PC Quest Linux CD in the CD ROM
drive. Linux installation started, I used graphical
install option. After selection, country, Keyboard and
Mouse, I came to the option of Partition. Here I used
the option of "Manually partition using Disk Druid"
Here you can see two screens split horizontally, top
screen shows two partitions and the bottom screen
shows the percentage of space used. You can find that
both the partitions are FAT32 partitions. One
partition has 1 GB and the other partition had roughly
12 GB
Blah blah blah.. and then the hard disk crashed --
it was almost 3 years old and my Linux Installation
got stuck.
The Second Attempt
So I was pondering as to what to do next, no amount of
coaxing and cajoling with my system would not bring
back my system to life, so I decided the only
alternative, to purchase a new HDD. With the new 40
GB hard disk installed in my system, I started the
entire process again, this time I did not need to take
backup, sine my hard disk was new and I had already
backed up my data earlier.
But still I insist, backup your data
I booted up my system with Win98 bootable, with the
option "Boot from CD" and then " Start Computer with
CD ROM"
After booting up, at the prompt give "FDISK"
Now since I wanted Windows and Linux, I needed a small
partition to hold my Windows, so at FDSK, I created a
Primary DOS partition of 1 GB. I set this partition
active.
I did not create any other partition -- my HDD now 40
GB, the remaining part was not partitioned.
I restarted the computer and booted up again by my CD
ROM with "Boot from CD" option and then "Start Windows
98 setup from CD-ROM"
Now it started installing Windows 98. Once Windows 98
was installed, (I upgraded to ME that instance itself)
I restarted the system.
This time I had the PC Quest Linux CD in the CD ROM
drive. Linux installation started, I used graphical
install option. After selection, country, Keyboard and
Mouse, I came to the option of Partition. Here I used
the option of "Manually partition using Disk Druid"
Here you can see two screens split horizontally, top
screen shows two partitions and the bottom screen
shows the percentage of space used.
On the top screen you can find something like this
MountPoint Device Requested Actual Type
<not set> hda1 1004M 1004M WIN95 FAT32
This is where you add your Linux partitions, you will
be able to see an ADD button, click on that and create
a Linux Swap of 1.5 times the size of your RAM
Since everything is graphical, I presume you will be
able to ADD partitions with the following
specifications.
MountPoint Device Requested Actual Type
<not set> hda1 1004M 1004M WIN95 FAT32
/ hda2 1600M 1600M linux native
/usr hda5 2000M 2000M Linux native
/home hda6 2000M 2000M Linux native
/var hda7 2000M 2000M linux Native
/opt hda8 1000M 1004M Linux Native
/tmp hda9 1000M 1004M Linux Native
/usr/local hda10 500M 502M Linux naïve
<swap> hda11 192M 196M Linux Swap
hda12 1M 26850M Dos 16-Bit>=32M
Please note here that you do not do anything to hda1
as this is your Windows partition, apart from that,
using Disk Druid option partition the Hard Disk as
mentioned above.
Also your Linux Swap partition should be 1.5 times
your RAM
When all the Linux partitions are over, use the
remaining space to create hda12, this will be your D
Drive under Windows.
Your partitions need not necessarily be as above,
since I had a 40 GB Hard Disk I used the above space
allocations. You can set your own space allocation
Choose partitions to format
- Select all -- I mean check marked all of them
Firewall Configuration
Please choose security level -- Medium
And then use default firewall rules
Language Selection
Choose the default language -- English USA
Time Zone Selection
Select -- Asia/Dubai
UTC Offset -- Choose the default
Account configuration
Root Password ---- "whatever you choose"
Confirm ----- "whatever you choose"
Account Name ----- "whatever you choose"
Password ----- "whatever you choose"
Confirm Password ----- "whatever you choose"
Full Name ----- "whatever you choose"
And then Click add
Package group selection
Since I was installing a server version -- I check
marked all the items
X Configuration
Just read through -- it asks about your Graphics Card,
it is better to know the name of th card before your
installation plus the amount of RAM n ur graphic card.
Else by default it probes your card and shows you the
option
Monitor Configuration
By default again it probes for the monitor and you can
select that if you wish to or change it.
Customize Graphics Configuration
Again play around and choose the settings, which suit
you best
Now to quote Microsoft windows installation "Sit back
and relax for the next 12 minutes while Linux is
installed in your system"
Boot disk creation
I ignored that -- since I could not find a good floppy
around at 3.00 am
Congratulations, installation is complete -- click exit
-- I felt a sigh of relief - I did it !!!!
After clicking on exit your CD ROM is ejected and the
system restarts.
Once the system restarts you will find the familiar
Linux penguin with two options -- Linux and Dos, move
your arrow keys and select whichever operating system
you want to go to.
Now the question remains, I installed my Windows in 1
GB, where will I install my programs, if I install one
or two Windows programs my 1 GB will be filled. The
answer to that is simple, when the system restarts,
choose the DOS option. Here Windows will start up,
once Windows is loaded, click on My Computer, you will
see your C drive and D Drive, you must be wondering
where the D drive came from, remember while we were
partitioning using Disk Druid for Linux we had created
a DOS 16 >=32M, yes that is the D Drive, Now it is
simple, format that D Drive and it becomes ready to
use.
Conclusion
I am not sure to what extend it helped you guys out
there, but I would be honored to get your comments,
reviews, suggestions to improve to help Linux grow.
Some of the technical terms I used might not be
correct, please correct me wherever I am wrong, or was
wrong during installation.
One thing about which I am happy is that now I have
Linux and Windows running side by side and can select
whichever option I want.
Now the next step is to learn the complete operation
of Linux, I hope I can count on many of you guys out
there for support.
I wish to thank specially Joseph John
(saji_jjk@xxxxxxxxxxx) and Ganesh
(ganesh_net@xxxxxxxxxxx) for their help.
Thanks
Peters A P
(peters1968@xxxxxxxxx)
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