FlyingPenguins Posted June 22, 2006 Report Share Posted June 22, 2006 Hello. I have just learned to dual boot Windows XP and Mandriva for free through this guide here. The problem is, this is the only guide I could find, and it is outdated, and I think I did a few things wrong for the installation. Everything had been going well since "Partitioning, Formatting, and Installing Linux." I created partitions for boot, swap, and root, left my XP partition, and the rest is for Linux free space, which I think I am supposed to do. But after this, during installation, it keeps on being unable to install certain files, and prompts for different CDs... which I put in the CD drive yet keeps on ejecting it. It took many tries to get it working. But a major problem then arose: after asking what packages I want to install (eg. the GUI and environment), it says: An error occurred Idconfig failed and goes back to that screen about the packages, and this problem repeats in a loop. There is also no cancel button, and the CD won't eject, so I had to physically turn off my system. Mandriva is now probably partially installed on my system, yet I cannot fix it without repartitioning. I'm also not sure if I was burning the CDs at too high of a speed (12x) was a factor. Does anyone know how to fix this problem, or know a better, newer guide to dual-booting XP and Linux? (If no one can find a guide, is anyone kind enough to substitute what I am supposed to do different than when that old guide was written, eg. the new partition manager?) Thank you for reading this long post. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
polemicz Posted June 22, 2006 Report Share Posted June 22, 2006 Welcome to the board. A couple of things: 1) 12x is generally too high, I generally go no higher than 4x, also make sure you have checked the md5sums, 2) for a general desktop three partitions are most reasonable - /, /home, and swap. It is good to have /home on its own partition so your data and settings are kept separate from everything else. How big / is will depend on what you will want to install, for my simple desktop needs 5GB is sufficient. Good luck. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
scarecrow Posted June 22, 2006 Report Share Posted June 22, 2006 I only buy good quality CDR media ( Taiyo Yuden printables- the genuine, japanese ones ) and never had a bad burn recording data at 32x or more. Cheapo "autopeeling" media can give you trouble even at low burning speeds. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FlyingPenguins Posted June 22, 2006 Author Report Share Posted June 22, 2006 Thanks for your replies. But I have a few questions: which is the space for other files, such as documents and games (I carved my 80GB hard drive, alotting 50 gigs to Windows, so where do I put the rest of the free space for Linux); does swap have a "/" before it; and how do I do a MD5sum check? I checked its Wikipedia article, I have no idea what to do with the Windows MD5 checker program listed there. Also, I used Fujifilm CD-Rs with jewel cases that I bought in a ten-pack to burn Mandriva discs; I guess yes, 12x is too high, but wasting 3 CDs is just a shame. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
daniewicz Posted June 22, 2006 Report Share Posted June 22, 2006 See this thread for a discussion of md5sum https://mandrivausers.org/index.php?showtopic=4638 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FlyingPenguins Posted June 22, 2006 Author Report Share Posted June 22, 2006 The isos are on the CDs, so I have no idea how to check them. The instructions for checking the md5s are for Linux. How do I get through this? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
arctic Posted June 22, 2006 Report Share Posted June 22, 2006 This link explains how to check already burnt isos. http://www.brunolinux.com/01-First_Things_...Burned_CDs.html :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FlyingPenguins Posted June 23, 2006 Author Report Share Posted June 23, 2006 Thank you for replying, but I'm still having trouble with that method because again, it is for in Linux only. I have tried multiple attempts at it in Windows, but no luck, especially the "$" part, which I don't know what to substitute with. I think it would be wise to just try downloading the isos again and checking those files with the md5sum program and burning at a very low speed. However, I still would like assistance in the installing part. Also, can anyone guess if Mandriva is partially installed on my system, since it went through a fair amount of installation before I had to turn off my computer? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ixthusdan Posted June 23, 2006 Report Share Posted June 23, 2006 Turn off all features like acpi and apci for installation. This is more likely the cause of you situation. And reinstall. The system is not "partially installed". I am assuming that the install proceeds to around 10 minutes and then fails. It is your computer doing this. The linux installer is not as capable as the linux system. Most special features do not work until reboot, including acpi. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FlyingPenguins Posted June 23, 2006 Author Report Share Posted June 23, 2006 (edited) Finallly I got Mandriva working! I just used auto configure, then used the install cds onto hard drive option. I am now using Mandriva right now, although it seems to be a bit laggy at the time. I didn't even need to go through all the steps on that dual-boot thing... GRUB shows both Windows and Linux already, although what does linux-nonfb and failsafe mean? Edited June 23, 2006 by FlyingPenguins Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
scarecrow Posted June 23, 2006 Report Share Posted June 23, 2006 although what does linux-nonfb and failsafe mean? linux-nonfb is running the boot process in plain text mode (in case your videocard does not support the framebuffer used), and failsafe is booting your system to runlevel one (single user environment) for recovery purposes, if something goes REALLY wrong. Most of the times you won't need any of them. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
daniewicz Posted June 23, 2006 Report Share Posted June 23, 2006 although it seems to be a bit laggy at the time Try disabling the service "Kat" Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ianw1974 Posted June 23, 2006 Report Share Posted June 23, 2006 Best few commands for you to run after install from a console prompt: su (enter root password when prompted) urpme kat urpme lisa urpme portmap urpme nfs-utils-clients you won't need any of them, and they free up some services and especially the removal of kat as daniewicz says, will make your system so much faster. Kat is pants. Oh, and apply updates to your system, and visit the easyurpmi link at the top of this page, so that you can easily download new software. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
arctic Posted June 23, 2006 Report Share Posted June 23, 2006 Disabling KAT won't change it. You have to remove KAT, unless there is a fixed package available online that doesn't slow down your box anymore. Edit: Oh, Ian was faster. :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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