iphitus Posted July 26, 2003 Report Share Posted July 26, 2003 Ok tomorrow i'm going to install Mandrake 9.0 on a friends PC. It've very new, only about 6 months old. He's reformatting, because windows is stuffed :roll: Anyway we're goint to put Linux on as well. I just want to check some stuff first. 1) Hardware. Everything is fine but i don't know about these. MSI SIS645DX Mobo Sound is integrated NVIDIA Geforce 4 MX440 USB Mouse & Keyboard, Keyboard MIGHT be PS/2, he didn't check. LCD 15" I'm assuming he has a Winmodem. It's internal. Don't worry bout that. I'm installing Mandrake 9.0 because i have the three CDs, full of software. And he has a dial up. I might upgrade it to 9.1, (yes i know, clean is better...) Anyway this is the install procedure i'm taking. 1) Install XP 2) Use Partition Magic to create and resize partitions 3) Install 9.0 on partitions made by Part Magic. Or can I 2) Use Partition Magic to make partitions. 1) Install XP 3) Install 9.0 on partitions made by Part Magic. THen 4 4) edit l/etc/lilo.conf to make WIndows first on bootloader. 5) /sbin/lilo -v Ok any problems? advice? go ahead? James Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chris z Posted July 26, 2003 Report Share Posted July 26, 2003 not sure about the hardware issues, but instead of Partiton magic, why don't you just use a Window$ boot disk & then use fdisk for the partitioning? or, if a Window$ OS is still installed on the machine, just run fdisk from a command prompt. that always works fine for me. create partitons with fdisk, load WinXP first, then use MDK install disk 1 in expert mode to create Linux partiton(s). you can edit Lilo during the final stages of MDK install to reflect how you want the boot menu to read. or, just edit it from MDK once you get both OS's installed. also, with sound, my sound is integrated on my old war horse here & i've never had a problem with sound. when MDK didn't detect a soundcard during install, i just ran sndconfig from terminal & that set things up fine. Chris Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ixthusdan Posted July 26, 2003 Report Share Posted July 26, 2003 Make your partitions first. Do not use windex to do it. Only allow xp to use the space you give it. Then you will be fine. The new windex partitioning scheme really stinks! :lol: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
iphitus Posted July 26, 2003 Author Report Share Posted July 26, 2003 Ok i'll try chrisz's way. As for the hardware, those things are the only ones i could see any problem in. Thre graphics ought to be fine, as with the rest. Just best to check first. Anything else? Thanks James Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aRTee Posted July 26, 2003 Report Share Posted July 26, 2003 You can set up lilo during install to boot default to windows, no need to go in later and edit /etc/lilo.conf Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
iphitus Posted July 26, 2003 Author Report Share Posted July 26, 2003 You can set up lilo during install to boot default to windows, no need to go in later and edit /etc/lilo.conf Ok, just every time i've installed i've never seen the option. I'm using the older 9.0 too. Jamea Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tyme Posted July 26, 2003 Report Share Posted July 26, 2003 fdisk is the devil! it has a tendency to make weird partition shapes and sizes, a couple times it caused problems for me during a Linux install into a partition I had created with it... use partition magic.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bvc Posted July 26, 2003 Report Share Posted July 26, 2003 Yes, fdisk has helped me with win98 troubles but can still reck havoc on your data, and the new partitioning is diff so fdisk is the last thing I'd use. I've never had XP, but isn't there an option to use fat32 instead of ntfs?....and isn't this the way to go concerning linux? you can try to do the partitioning with diskdrake in expert mode install but win98 wouldn't have that....had to use fdisk. Diskdrake sucks when it cones to windows in my experience. I'm with tyme, use Partition Magic. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ixthusdan Posted July 26, 2003 Report Share Posted July 26, 2003 No, I would never use fdisk, even with 98. fdisk is evil. Yes, I use fat32, unless yor are setting up a server, and then I only use ntfs for the system files. Never for shared resources, even on an all windex network. It's too hard to recover from emergencies, and I have been through that! I am telling you what I learned through experience. There may be other ways, but I spent 72hrs finding all about windex's better ideas with xppro. I would use the mandrake partition tool to make a fat32 partition, cancel before the install, load windex in the fat32, and then let linux configure the rest of the space with a /, /home, /usr, and a swap partition. Only give windex a formatted partition to see, and it will leave the rest of the drive alone. With windex, you have to fool it into thinking it is taking over the drive! It will try to do the whole drive if it is blank, and "fix" linux partitions if it sees them! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GuoJing Posted July 27, 2003 Report Share Posted July 27, 2003 About Partitioning: You can use WinXP installation program to creat partitions just before you select drive/partition to install the OS to. No need for partition magic. Creat a partition (the main one, C) for WinXP and you can format it later. Remember to creat a big enough partition for Mandrake. The other partitions can be formatted later in WinXP. You can use Mandrake installation program to auto-allocate partitions in the big partition you reserve for Mandrake. Works for me 100% of the time. I wish the Windows bashers would stop the "windows never works for me lol!!!11!" - it's not true... About the hardware: they all work fine, I had a similar mobo running MDK 9.0 before. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ixthusdan Posted July 27, 2003 Report Share Posted July 27, 2003 As I said, "experience". I have administrated an nt network with 50 work stations, and had to be the service desk as well. "Daily" was the key with windex problems. I'm glad you've had better experiences with windex. I would not call you a liar, afterall, your experience is your's. But to call my experience "untrue" is a bit out of line. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GuoJing Posted July 27, 2003 Report Share Posted July 27, 2003 Sorry, I wasn't saying that you're a liar, but it's not true that "fdisk is evil". It's not any less reliable than other stuff, maybe it doesn't have as many options, but for this purpose it's good enough. Although I prefer using the WinXP one (isn't it the same but improved fdisk but with a different interface ?) I've been working as a tech at a computer shop for over 2 years and I've used my method (see above) to install OSes on (i've lost count) computers. Work 100% of the time. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ixthusdan Posted July 27, 2003 Report Share Posted July 27, 2003 I've only been servicing and building computers since 1994. And I've only been using linux since Mandarke 7.0. Windex utilities are designed for windex. Other utilities are designed for whatever you might encounter. If all you're woking with is windex, then by all means use fdisk. But the last I checked, many here are using the prefered os, linux. Linux users are more interested in making their computers work, regardless if windex is present or not. Windex is just interested in making windex work--and poorly at that. :wink: Again, I want to restate that I am sure that you have had good experience with ms. I have not. I would only advise someone of what I know, and not what a manual or piece of literature claims when it comes to ms. Perhaps we will just have to agree to disagree. Nothing what I have said is untrue. When it comes to working with linux, fdisk is evil. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tyme Posted July 28, 2003 Report Share Posted July 28, 2003 when i said fdisk is the devil i was mostly joking. it's not the devil. but i've experienced problems with it. many times i've used to create partitions, and even partition magic (which I content is a very safe, reliable tool) has complained about said partitions. from the errors i've seen, fdisk sometimes incorrectly identifies the boundaries of a partition. i then end up using partition magic to correct said problems. i've had the same thing occur when using various linux-created partition tools. i trust partition magic more than any other partitioning tool. that is why, I, personally, suggest it. "fdisk is evil" was a joke, if i was serious i would have said something completely different. we are a Linux forum. we tend to prefer non-O/S-specific tools. my apologies if this preference gets on your nerves. btw, this: "windows never works for me lol!!!11!" could be construed as a stereotyping. I have never, seriously, said that-nor has Ix, nor do we use excessive exclamation points. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
liquidzoo Posted July 28, 2003 Report Share Posted July 28, 2003 Are you putting XP and Mandrake on a new HD? If not, are you keeping any of the data that is already on the HD? If you are completely wiping the drive, why not use the XP partitioner to create the Windows partition(s) and leave the rest of the space unallocated? After that, you can use the Mandrake utility to create the Windows partitions. I have done it this way once (with Win2k and Mandrake 8.0) and it worked great. Since then, I have added a new drive and have 1 drive solely for Linux, so I've never had to worry about XP fscking up my partitions. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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