Cannonfodder

Maybe you should just walk through the install and describe yoiur issues?

You can try www.isp.com. I've been using it, although with windows. It's cheap, reliable, and fast. Don't do the faster option as that relies on windows based compression software. Don't like it? I think they refund your money... been in business for over a decade..

Nice link, thanks!

If it comes back, try leaving it on, but disconnect from the internet (just guessing you are always on). See if it still happens... just a hunch..

bogey-man!

Aze, when you did the Mandrake install, did you do a CUSTOM partitioning or did you let Mandrake do the dirty work? Some things to consider..

Win2k/XP both have a file on the boot partition called boot.ini. This file contains an absolute address to the partition containing the NTLOADER and other necessary startup. You know if things are goofy due to this file if you get a message "Could not locate NTLOADER" or somethng like that. Unfortunately, what can happen is that the partition table can be rewritten and the order in which the partitions are listed is changed. This is just a possibility. Additionally, if this is a possibility, its difficult to fix because linux doesn't support NTFS read/write and you can't just edit the boot.ini (text file).

This is why doing a DOS fdisk /mbr may not resolve your issue, especially if XP is no longer listed as HDA1 or however its boot.ini has it listed.

So barring other complications like the bios, the order of startup is..

1. Bios goes to Active Harddrive.

2. MBR on active harddrive executes code to run Boot Manager.

3. LILO Boot manager presents options and you select XP.

4. XP Boot manager now runs. If only one option, then goes straight to XP. If more, you get a boot menu (again).

Now if boot.ini in step 4 lists the installations location in such a manner s its no longer true, you get an error NTLOADER not found.

So, what I would do, is go into Mandrake CD1 and do the install. Locate all of your actual mandrake partitions (double-check) and delete each partition. When done, you should have a NTFS XP partition left yeah?

Now do a DOS fdisk /mbr and see if that works. This mbr is very simple and says go to the first partition on the active drive. Use fdisk to insure that the partition is marked ACTIVE.

If you do get it going at this point, yoiu can then consider whether you want to continue with Mandrake. 9.2 is a stable release and you might be better sticking with it for now. Otherwise, some other ideas are to buy a second drive and install linux on it. Best way to skip problems with XP because of something you don't know or forgot.

Regarding boot managers such as system command and Partition Magic, I recommend you avoid them. They may or may not be linux compatible. You are trusting them *shaking head*. Better to do the 2 disk solution and use XP Disk manager for changing your first drive and use Mandrake Diskdrake for changing your second drive.

daystar,

First boot off of CD1 and go into Mandrake Install.

When you get to the PARTITION screen, select CUSTOM Partitioning.

Look at the graphical layout of your hard drive. Do not save anything or make any changes.

Click on each partition and write down

1. Name. E.g. HDA1

2. File system type (NTFS EXT3 so on)

3. Write down the MOUNT POINT. (E.g. /usr.)

Then turn off computer and come back here and post this information so we can see it.

Regarding the NVIDIA driver. Here's what you do..

1. Go to NVIDIA and get the linux files, plus get the readme instructions. If you can print this out, would be helpful to yourself.

2. Boot up and when you get to the graphic screen, look in your menu bar for a Applications/System/Terminal option. Pick a terminal and open it. This is like a DOS command line interface.

3. Type

init 1

This will go about shutting down your X Server and graph8ical interface. It will also shutdown a number of other services, making things much more simplier.

4. Follow the instructions for updating the NVIDIA drivers. GO line by line and stop and make sure you are doing it correctly. NO rush.

5. You may have to use vi to edit your XF86Config-4 file. Type

cd /etc/X11

vi XF86Config-4

At this point, go to the line you hae to edit and position the cursor. Hit the letter i key for insert and make your changes (normal type hit delete or backspace so on). Now when you are ready, changes are all done, hit the ESC key. This pops you out of insert mode. If you screwed up the line, try hitting the letter u to undo and try again.

When ready, type a colon (shift key and hit colon). A colon will appear in bottom left corner of screen. Type

wq

and press enter. wq for write-quit.

At this point you should be done with vi text editor.

6. When you are done, you can give it a shot..

Type init 5 to return to the X server run level. Will come up or screw up ;)

Let us know how you made out..

hmmm don't recall of the top of my head, but look for a folder called

RPMS

maybe /usr/RPMS ? Problem is that the updater tends to delete them after update so they are not cluttering up your system. Probably a setting to discourage this..

Another idea if you have sensitive info on your computer.. Run a service that requires periodic (daily?) typing of a password or some other confirmation. This fails, a worm will start cleaning out (wiping byte by byte) your system.. Not sure this can be done, but this is linux... probably..

Hi guys,

 

Holy smokes that is scary about root!! But I see how it is convenient as well. Thanks for replying, I am grateful we are part of such an active community.

 

Regarding mounting a secure volume on a USB key or what have you (I don't see why it would not equally apply to USB2 drives), can I do such a thing w/o figuring out BestCrypt/Loop/etc.?

 

I heard of this myth about mountloop but unlike everything mandrake it seems it's ill documented, no man page and the command line help is so brief:

 

usage: mountloop <enc> <file> <dir> [<fs type>]

 

Does anyone know the secrets to using mountloop? Could it possibly be useful in my scenario or perhaps just useful if I had something loop already in place?

 

Thank you kindly,

Ben

How to mount iso's..

mount -t iso9660 -o loop -rw $1 $2

where

$1 - location/name of iso file

$2 - mount point in your file system..

If you want you can make a file called myalias.sh and put it in /etc/profile.d. Inside the file do something like

alias maketar=tar -czf

Each time you login or open a new command window, the aliascommand will be executed and you can then do type

maketar <some folder>

I also do this for uncompressing tar.gz, or tar.bz2 or making iso files, whatever. Just easier to type and less to remember argument wise.

I've usually done..

/ root - 600 mg

/usr - 6 gig

/home - 2 gig

/swap - do autoconfig when installing and see what swap size is made.

/media - the rest..

With /usr being 6,you have room to download software and install it. /home won't grow much. But its nice to have separate for backup purposes. /root will probably top out at 600 or less. One thing to watch out for is downloading mandrake updates. They can fill up your root partition quickly. I usually just make an /media/rpms folder and do a symbolic link in the root partition (replacing the actual folder).

Might want to check out ImageMagick (that's how it is spelled). It is either linux or windows. Have no idea with a 2 bit image is.. lol kinda small.. 2 bits would support 4 colors (00, 01, 10, 11). Then again AS400 are really kinda old.. Let us know what you figure..

1. Does ATI plan to develop their Multimedia Center (as in Control Panel) on Linux?

2. Do they see developing an easy install system for ATI drivers for Linux?

3. Do they see themselves making an increasing profit through using users involved with Linux system? Any plans to start doing questions 1 and 2 with major linux developers or distros that try to emulate windows ease of use for windows users trying linux?

Feel free to paraphrase it.. ;)

Just out of curiousity, why are you working with such an old machine?

Just a suggestion, why not try out the Mandrake move CD? Just out of curiousity, what does a boot floppy do that a boot CD doesn't (e.g. Mandrake CD1? Bypass boot managers?

You can also try going into the bios and selecting the set to default option. Sometimes this forces resets. But I would simply toss the 4 gig. If you want a second drive, go get another 40 gig or larger. I got a 80 gig for 60 bucks at bestbuy (after rebates).

Glad it worked out.. I now have 3 drives on my computer and not only have lots of space but am finding I have more options for backups and data storage..

Think you'd be able to get around the law by removing the policeware from your personal computer? Think again -- anyone who defies the government by disabling or tampering with the policeware on their own computer, in the privacy of their own home or business, would also face five years in the slammer.

Reasonable?

I haven't bought a gigabit NIX but I do like d-link. I bought a wireless router and really boosted my connection and reliability by 50% compared to the Toshiba wireless junk I had before..

Why don't you try a few things if you haven't..

1. Disable any firewall (if you can, not sure you can disable iptables)

2. Don't consider this an email problem until you fix your posting problem. What happens when you try to post?

3. If you fix 2, then is the email problem still present? Is your email server local? Your computer handling the pop or are you sending through a smtp server? Is that where its timing out? How about different email packages? Same result or different?

Try turning off your router between boots and see if that makes a difference.. maybe a router difference (if you have one)

You can unmount the drive with the command

umount /mnt/removable

Check your fstab for other references.. removable2 for example.Make sure yoiu catch them all..

mount -a will automaticaly mount all entries in your fstab. Not sure if this works for removables or whether you need to do a specific mount command.

You can always boot off of CD1, do an install of Mandrake (just a few steps in), when you get to the partitioning screen, select custom partitioning. This will open diskdrake, locate your swap partition (in green) and format it. Then just hit the power button to abort the installation (you don't really want to do that). GIve it a shot..