baillie

I used Partition Magic 8 to resize my NTFS partition, when I installed around a week ago, simple to use, and although not quick I didn't lose any of my data.

I sized my NTFS Win XP partition down to 25Gb, created a new FAT32 partition for file swapping between the OS'es, and left the rest unallocated, and used the Custom Partitioning option during the Mandrake Install.

It would be more helpful if you could give us the full error message?

Install Instructions: http://ndiswrapper.sourceforge.net/phpwiki...hp/Installation

Download from here: http://prdownloads.sourceforge.net/ndiswra...tar.gz?download

Download the drivers that you need, and put the driver files into a directory on your home drive, open the konsole log in as root, and do the following:

1. ndiswrapper -i /home/username/driver.inf

2. modprobe ndiswrapper

3. iwconfig wlan0 essid <SSID OF YOUR ACCESS POINT>

4. iwconfig wlan0 channel <CHANNEL NUMBER>

5. ifconfig wlan0 up

6. pump -i wlan0

Step 1 only needs to be done the first time, but 2 - 6 will be perfomed every time you connect, I'm new to this but you could probably put this all in a script file to run automatically.

The forum is also a good place to go to get started: http://ndiswrapper.sourceforge.net/forum

From the Ndiswrapper supported cards list:

Card: Netgear MA521 
Chipset: RTL8180 FCC_ID: PY3MA521 
Driver: ftp://210.51.181.211/cn/wlan/rtl8180l/ndis5x-8180(170).zip (NOT NETGEAR DRIVER! NETGEAR DRIVER UNSTABLE!!) 
Other: Works well even with DHCP on SUSE 9.0 Pro. 128 bit wep, managed mode. Will be trying WPA/PEAP/MSCHAP v 2 sometime later on. Check http://hastingswireless.homeip.net/index.php?page=articles&number=2004.11.22 for information.

Here: http://ndiswrapper.sourceforge.net/phpwiki/index.php/List

Is this the same?

I use the Ndiswrapper to get my WLan card to work, works brilliantly, surprisingly i seem to get a better connection using windows drivers under Mandrake, than I do using windows drivers under windows!

I had this exact same problem last night, you will need to follow these instructions: http://ndiswrapper.sourceforge.net/phpwiki...x.php/Uninstall

Then reinstall, there is also talk in the ndiswrapper forums, about using the wrong kernel source to compile, are you sure you have the correct kernel source for the kernel you are actually using.

I'm new at this to (around 36hrs and counting), so ignore me if I am wrong.

Would just like to say a HUGE thank you to everybody who took there time to reply to my original (long) post, I now have a fully working (appears to anyway! ) Mandrake Linux install, and XP is still working as well.

Took around an hour, but I took my time double checking a lot of stuff, still have to try my wireless network card (this is being posted from XP), and get my FAT32 partition visble in linux, but I'm sure I can work that out myself, either that or I'll be back!

A couple of things for any newbie like me considering an install:

1. Your definetly in the right place here for advice

2. Take your time, and don't rush it

3. Read this, print it, and it will help you through: http://www.mandrake.tips.4.free.fr/install101.html

I think the author is around, it helped a lot, and took away a lot of my worries.

4. Have a bit of paper ready to note down anything you may need later, such as passwords.

5. Have fun with your new OS.

So again Thank You guys.

no. mandriva will take care of this with its own partition manager. and only if you plan on some heavy ram using processes, like advanced graphic design or video editing or compiling packages for operating systems you might need a swap.

I will go with a 512Mb swap, will probably not need it, but better to have it than discover I need it later.

yes, you can if you want to. but you could also create a minimal /home partition with only e.g. 500 mb where you store your emails etc. ;)

Never thought of that thanks.

As for the CD issue, I think i will go with my current CE set, it will take me too long to download the 3 CD's, and will use a good chunk of my download quota this month. I can update once I am up and running.

best layout for your partitioning would be:

 

|| windows xp | fat32 share partition | swap (double ram size) | linux /root partition | linux /home ||

So i have my Win XP NTFS partition (20Gb), which I make smaller by resizing, I then create another FAT32 partition (20Gb), can I leave the remaining space free (15ish Gb) (ie not formatted), and the installer will create the other partitions for me, or do I need to set up the swap, root and home in PM8.

Is a swap area really necessary as I have 1Gb of RAM already?

As i will probably switch between Windows and Linux quite a lot can't i just store all/most of my files on the FAT32 partition, and put my /home and /root onto the same partition, is this possible?, I know i would loose my data if something happened to that partition.

Thanks

You could set all three off at the same time, that is what I did. Then you don't have to worry about the delay in the morning for the others!

My router wouldn't appreciate that!, I can always set my alarm for around 5, set the next ones off, and go back to sleep, by the time I normally get up they should be done!

Thanks, will grab the Official version, I am on 512K, so will start it tonight, grab one, then get the rest tomorrow, thanks for your help.

I knew ther was a reason why I wanted 2Mbps (minimum! ) broadband!

Then I suggest, do not use the Community Edition, but download the Official Edition, this is much better - lots of probs with the Community one!

The official version is 4 CD's correct?, I'd be here for years if I tried that, what sort of problems are there, and can I get the official version by updating online after I have installed the CE.

Hi,

Yet another linux newbie looking for advice. ( you've probably heard it all by now! )

Anyway, I have a 55.8Gb Hard Drive currently one partition, with Win XP installed, 1Gb of RAM, AMD Athlon 64 3200, XP currently uses around 25Gb, but that includes around 10Gb of My Documents stuff. Formatted NTFS. I've had enough of reinstalling XP, so want to see what all the fuss is about!

I will be using Mandrake Linux 10.1 Community Edition from a Magazine DVD.

The one point which is stopping me taking the plunge straight away is all the formatting stuff, I have Partition Magic 8 installed and ready to go, but am not sure how to go! I would like the XP partition to be around 20Gb, a second partition for my files would be shared between the two OS's (FAT32?) My Documents will be moved here, which would be around 20GbGb again, and the rest can belong to linux - 15Gb.

I have read a lot of different websites, and topics in this forum, and although they have helped I am still a bit confused, mainly with this screen: http://shots.osdir.com/slideshows/193/6.gif

How should I go about partitioning the HD, do I reduce the NTFS partition to 20Gb (I will remove My Docs first), create a new partiton for my files in FAT32, and leave the rest untouched, and choose "Use Free Space" in the above screenshot, will the installer do the rest?

How long should this all take, assuming everything goes trouble free?

Sorry for asking such a long question, but I don't want to mess up my system by doing something stupid!

Where is the forum for idiots when you need one!?

Anybody who took the time to read through all of that should get a medal, Thanks.