I've wanted to for over a year, but it is only now that I have...

Set up the old 266 mhz computer

And i am currently installing red hat 8.0! Huzzah! Welcome a new member to the linux... linux... tribe? I don't know I am but a padawan... a nerd padawan.

I have chosen almost everything to install, so linux will take up approx 1.8 gigs of my 6.4 gig hdd... Its a good thing I dont plan to store many files on that, i will just organise and free up some space in my 260 gig [80 + 60 + 120] on this computer... [windows xp im afraid... but i need/want to use both ]

Hm... this is taking a long time to install Completed 27 minutes, 30 minutes left... hehe

Ah well, it will be worth it.. me thinks

Although i dont know what i plan to use a "DNS Server" for!!!

Ahhh, enough rambling

I just wanted to say get ready for a barrage of linux related questions... Or maybe that would go in beginner forum...

LOL....congrats on taking the plunge epi!

Any questions, ask away and we'll do our best to help!

LMAO...welcome to a new world of learning, and don't worry you're not the only padawan

congratz
but dont just install linux if u dont know what to use it for
i intalled it and deleted it after 2 weeks cuz i had no use of it
if ya aint planning to make a server on ur comp
or proggram stuff with it, then its just a waste of time
cuz thats the most thing u can do with linux
unless u just hate microsoft, and want to install linux just for show off

Congrats, now make sure you hook that thing up to the internet ASAP.. that way you can throw yourself headlong into *nix incident response and forensics

Heh.. welcome to the club, and remember: Last one to root your box is a r0++3n 3Gg.

got this cd where i can startup Linux,but its not called Knoppixi am using it right now....love itr!

it?s called PHPmyAdmin....havent found anything that says....nope back to windows!In fact i am thinking of getting a "real" version of linux....but witch one??can anybody help me out on this?i think there are a couple of different versions....which one should a beginner start of with!

Theres a few threads in this forum dealing with peoples opinion on what distro is the best for beginners...might be of some help to you Devil!

congrats dude.... lol, i started with mandrake good ol memories.... Well when you get used to living in linux, u know like try doing everything you do in windows in linux. than you can try to do harder installations like gentoo, which in the end are faster. = ) , but redhat is great to start, i wish you luck and lots of patience in the world of linux.

Sorry I haven't replied until just now, but that's what you get when you rely on microsoft.

Last night, I was burning cds or installing/uninstalling programs, or doing SOMETHING in windows xp, and my computer screwed up. I can't remember the reason [does windows need one? ].

When i rebooted, it would not let me enter windows.... after a while, I just ran the 'system restore' option...

Suffice to say, it did not work 'completely' and i was without internet access... not normal lack-of-internet [crappy telstra ISP], this was different. No idea. And I was getting all these errors from crappy programs i had uninstalled, which thought they were still installed, but couldn't find their installed files [i wonder why?], so they sent me alert box after alert box... "Hey, yeah, we noticed you just acknowledged the last alert we sent, but we'd like to send you this one as well... and this one... and this one... and this one...". Sigh.

After a few even MORE disastrous restore attempts, I whacked in the windows xp pro cd, and after failing to find a blatantly obvious 'system repair' option, I tried my luck with an 'upgrade' [it was the other option for 'install'...]. Well, still had the same problem, but now it is an hour or so later, and I have gone an entire day without my computer. It is too late to do anything now, but this time tomorrow [minus a few hours] I will be attempting to rectify the situation....

By installing linux! On my current computer, not a crappy[crappIER i should say... 600mhz =\] throw-away machine. The 266mhz will be a server, and this one will be a fast loading one [ive noticed that the install dir is 1.8 gigs on 266 machine, and it takes 10 minutes to load up, and 30 minutes to shut down.... in fact when it shuts down, i havent ever seen it finish, i have to manually press the button, and it gets angry at me ]

I just need to find out if Red Hat can use NTFS partitions, and then I can overwrite the OS ive spent the past 4+ months configuring to how i like it and use it... [I dont expect to be checking this thread/forum for answers, as i wont have access to it tomorrow, and would be too inconvenient. But you may as well answer the question [if you want] for other people who need the answer...]

After this whole experience [well im not through with it yet, am i ] all I can say is... Thanks a lot microsoft. If my initial 'confrontation' with linux is favourable, or at the very least, not ball-crushingly torturous, i will be sticking with it. Microsoft and windows and all your little imperical slavemasters.... Fall over in a gutter and get speared in the eye by a stick, and then when you look up asking for a sytem restore, I will be there, with a bucket of acid, ready to pour into your eye socket.

Just returning the favour.

[If all goes well, this time tomorrow night i will be sighing with relief and downloading all my favourite games... for linux!]

Wish me luck.

If Red Hat has the option in its install, i will simply delete the pre-existing partition and make a new one with almost exact properties [but so linux can install...].

The problem here is, I don't want to take any risks with the other partition on that HDD, but there is no way i can burn the stuff to CDs, or copy it to another HDD...

I guess i will just have to give it a shot, and then figure it out as I go along

The problem with the 266 mhz computer [not 600mhz] is that:

- Mouse does not work! It used to, but now it doesn't... I've tried switching mouse, I've tried restarting... I don't know. I guess I'll see if I can't fiddle around with it more and make it work again.

- I chose to install quite a lot of things... I think the end installation of linux came to take up about 1.8 gigs... [i.e install directory is 1.8 gigs big]. But it takes a fair while to load up, and when it is shutting down, I have no idea how long it goes for. I left it for maybe 20 minutes once, and still nothing was happening [still running through files 'shutting down'..] so i just press the off-switch. What i want to know is if the time is normal for an install of this size... Thanks.

Edit: About the mouse problem, I just tested it on this laptop and I know for sure it works. I guess it may be something to do with drivers, or configuration [I didn't know what COM type it was... or... whatever it was.]. I will fiddle around with it more soon...

Edit x 2: .... *sigh*. I'm still trying to get the PARTITION to work. *hits computer*

Edit x 3: Hurrah! I looked at the online documentary, saw in an image i needed a boot partition as well, created it, and off i go!

http://www.gentoo.org/doc/en/gentoo-x86-in...l.xml#doc_chap6
good docs
so you need to create a couple new partitions for your new os , so im not sure about the RH installer , but im sure you could boot that knoppix cd you had and use fdisk ie fdisk /dev/hda H for help
theres lots of help on irc
irc.freenode.net
#linux #linuxfriends #linuxhelp #red hat #gentoo etc
if you still cant figure it out , post and we can try to help

Red Hat is installed...!

Okay, here's the problem I'm facing now.. Well, two problems.

Problem 1: Internet. This is the problem I had before, and I'm starting to think it's not a microsoft/windows thing.. [don't regret uninstalling though]. I have no idea what it is, I guess i will just muck around, look at everything, and narrow down the possibilities. Not much to do here... but it's really really annoying.

Problem 2: Harddrives!!! I don't know Linux, or Red Hat. But at a cursory glance, I can't find my harddrives, but I think I know why... They are partitioned as... NTFS i believe. As far as I'm aware, Linux can't see, support, or do anything with this... Somebody please tell me i'm wrong

The issue arises from the fact that I have 1 more partition on this drive, and 2 more harddrives [260 GIG in total, minus 10 gig for linux]. And i can't do anything with them, nor can i delete, or back up on other HDD's, then copy back over when i install linux-friendly partitioned drives... Is there any way I can get Red Hat / linux to support them, or convert them over without loss of files?? I doubt the second one is possible/likely, but the first one remains my most significant hope...

Any help here would be much appreciated. I don't think you can help with the internet right now, as I have not looked into it enough to warrant asking you to waste your time trying to define the problem. But the second one... that is an issue I have no idea about, and need your guidance, knowledge, and help

Thanks for all the input, it's been very supportive and encouraging

Edit: Actually, this is probably worth mentioning... The mouse still doesn't work on the 266 mhz computer, and I've tried changing drivers [navigating through keyboard is HARD Especially when I don't know the buttons to change to the taskbar to log off.. Any help?]

Anyway, my question here is this: How do i reset the Red Hat Mouse config to find what it originally wanted to give me... It might work. I'm hoping it will work

at first: linux DOES support other partition types, even ntfs ( at least write support in older kernel versions )
in linux all devices are listed in /dev/
hda is the first drive at ide0
hdb is the second at ide0
hdc is the first at ide1
...

the number behind hdx is the partition number ( for example hda1 would be the first partition on the first device at ide0 )
you should perhaps read a few documentations to get a solution for your hdd problems.
http://www.gentoo.org/doc/en/index.xml << gentoo has nice documentations online, read the installation instructions to get basic knowledge and type "man mount" in a console.