> Unless I am mis-informed, when you remove a partition, all the information
in
> the partition is irrevocably lost - forever! To my knowlege, Linux does
not put
> any kind of information in the CMOS, or re-do the BIOS. If you remove the
Linux
> partition, then do the DOS fdisk /mbr, that should remove any trace of
Linux.
> Then reinstall to your hearts content. On the other hand, if the problems
are
> persistent, then you may have either a hardware problem, or some
> incompatibility.
>
> KFM, unless I am sorely misinformed is the KDE file manager (perhaps a
typo?).
> Since it is a KDE app, are you using it in KDE, or GNOME?
Yes, it is one file manager in KDE (it seems to be the default one whenever
I click on a shortcut to a directory, which is why this problem annoys me so
much.
I am using it in KDE and have these problems. Incidentally, it also
behaves this way when accessed from Gnome.
> If you can give more concise information, perhaps someone on this list can
> assist you. Please include hardware information too.
I have a QDI motherboard, SB16 sound card, Wisecom modem (that isn't
recognized yet) on COM2, Serial Port Mouse on COM1, an unrecognized printer
on LP0, 96MB SDRAM, an Intel 430TX Pentium 233MHz chipset, a KDE monitor, a
second hard drive on DOS_hdb2 that's 2.6 GB, an Acer ATAPI IDE CD-ROM drive,
S3 Virge video card... If I can give you more info, just let me know. I
didn't have problems the very, very first time I installed Linux a few weeks
ago (Mandrake is my first). None of my problems that I have now existed
then. Thank you.
Karen
> Sorry I could not be more helpfull,
>
> Ernie
>
>
> On Mon, 01 Nov 1999,Karen M. Heiby wrote:
> | I would like to know how to cleanly uninstall Linux. I'm having
peculiar
> | problems that I think can only be fixed with a clean install.
> |
> | Here's what I've tried *several times over* but still does not work:
> |
> | 1.) Deleting the Linux partition from Windows
> | a.) (In Windows 98) filling up my hard drive with junk--totally, then
> | deleting the junk (just to make sure anything of Linux that might
still
> | be there is overwritten)
> | b.) scandisk (Windows 98) and defrag (Windows 98)
> |
> | or
> |
> | c.) formatting the entire hard drive (with DOS "fdisk") and
reinstalling
> | Windows 98, repartitioning it for Linux (Partition Magic) and then
> | reinstalling Linux
> |
> | 2.) Going into Linux as root, going to /, and typing the rm -fr /*
command,
> | which
> | a.) gets stuck even if I wait a couple hours, I don't see anything
> | happening.
> |
> | 3.) Going into runlevel 3 as root, going to /, and deleting each
directory
> | individually with "rm -fr nameofdirectory"
> | a.) (However: I can't delete /proc
> | b.) and I can't delete /lib)
> |
> | then,
> |
> | c.) I boot to DOS with a disk and using "fdisk \mbr" to delete LILO
> | d.) I reinstall Linux
> |
> | All three methods fail to get rid of my problems. For ex., KDE
freezes when I
> | use KFM to browse the /mnt directory. No other file managers (Gnome,
KDE file
> | manager, or any terminal) freeze, and it is not a permissions problem.
It's
> | just KFM/KDE! When I click the /dev directory in KFM and look at its
> | permissions properties, the text (User, Group, Other) is grayed out
but the
> | checkboxes are nonfunctional but the proper permissions are assigned.
Same goes
> | for everything else in /dev. I can use chmod or any other file
manager to
> | modify permissions and have done so.
> |
> | GAIM (AOL Instant Messenger clone) is retaining my contact list, when
that
> | should never happen if it were a clean install. This is not a
problem, per se,
> | but just an indicator that I still have old information from previous
> | installations haunting which are likely the cause of my persistent
> | problems.
> |
> | Gnome's "Settings" on the panel is kaput. I can click Gnome Control
Center and
> | get it running, but if I click anything else on the Panel under
> | Settings, (Multimedia, Peripherals, etc. ) nothing happens. That's
just a
> | minor annoyance since I can use these from Gnome Control Center
anyway, but
> | annoying nonetheless.
> |
> | During installation, I am never asked certain questions that I vaguely
remember
> | being asked the very first time I installed Linux, such as how much
RAM do I
> | have, etc. It seems to install as if it knows or thinks it's
installing on top
> | of another installation of itself.
> |
> | What gets me is that after I tried Route #1(above), by filling up my
hard drive,
> | I should have written over anything hard drive clusters that had Linux
in them
> | at one time, right? Even the boot record was re-made with a new LILO.
How come
> | old Linux glitches are still haunting me? Why is my GAIM contact list
still
> | intact when it shouldn't be?
> |
> | I really want to cleanly install Linux to solve some of my problems
and give me
> | peace of mind and solid footing for more learning, but I have a
problem doing
> | so when I know this machine isn't as pure as I'd like it to be. That
is, when
> | something goes wrong, how do I know whether I'm doing something wrong
or if
> | it's just a bad installation? That's tough on a newbie. Any ideas
would be
> | helpful.
> |
> | Thanks,
> | Karen
>
