I wonder if anyone can help me with this one: I have a Celeron 466 with 64 MBytes of RAM, two hard drives (one dedicated to Windows and the second with 1 GB a Windows partition and 3 GB for LINUX), a CL-GD5465 video card with 4 MB and a NEC MultiSync XV17+ monitor, and an Ethernet card plus cablemodem. MANDRAKE 7.02 (Mandrake iso image download) This has a VERY slick interface. No problem assigning mount points to existing LINUX partitions. While the mouse choice is small, and my exact one is not there, I can find one close enough to work. The custom install lets you pick the individual packages, but at the end, it just automatically installs all the packages that are dependent on what you have selected, and does not tell you what it has done. There does not seem to be a one-to-one correlation between what you select and what you get. E.g. I did NOT want NFS server, but it got loaded anyway. I did select XF86Setup, but it was NOT installed. After the last Install attempt, I tried to get XF86Setup off the CD-ROM, but got the error message "no driver installed"! Whether I do a new install or try to upgrade from the Macmillan Mandrake 6.0, I get the same problem at the very end (after over an hour during an upgrade, 45 minutes on an install). It tries to configure the video and hangs up with an error message something like: "cannot use undefined ARRAY". If I click "OK", I just end up at the same place. The last time I tried to update, on the left hand side, there was no button at the bottom to "Exit Install". I am not sure what I had done differently, somehow I was able to exit install and, perhaps after rebooting, using xf86config, I was ONCE able to get some kind of screen, but not acceptable. I THINK XF86Setup is supposed to be easier, but despite selecting it, it was NOT installed. On one attempt, by rebooting at this stage and copying the XF86Config file generated by Macmillan Mandrake 6.0 to /etc/X11, I was able to get the windows sort of working but lots of other things were wrong. I am back to the Macmillan distribution of Mandrake 6.0 until I figure out how to get 7.02 working. Just for comparison: ------------------------ MANDRAKE 6.0 (MacMillan Distribution) -- the ONLY LINUX distribution to install cleanly for me!! I have tried RedHat, Slackware and Corel, all failing at the video setup (and with Corel, the partitioning). This works very smoothly, although it is not as "slick". Like most others, it sets up the mouse and keyboard first (this one is the ONLY one I have seen which actually lets me select my EXACT mouse - Logitech FirstMouse3+ PS/2). As with 7.02 I can just use existing LINUX partitions by editing them to set the mount points and then formatting them. In custom mode, it lets you pick all the packages individually, and tells you what each does so you can make a semi-intelligent decision, like 7.02. When you have finished selecting, it tells you what, if any, other packages must be installed to satisfy dependencies. At that point, you can either choose to let it go ahead and install those extra packages or you can go back and deselect the modules identified as needing others (e.g. if module A requires module B, which you had not selected, you can either go ahead and both A&B will be installed, or you can go back and deselect A). After configuring the printer and Ethernet card comes the part which sets this distribution apart from all others! It actually detects my video card. It then gives me a long list of monitors, and the NEC MultiSync XV17+ is one of the choices on the list. It then lets me set up the screen size I want (I choose 800x600 24bit colour). It then starts X-windows with a little box which asks me to click on it if I can see it. It then tells me to reboot, and I am up and running. -------------------------------------------- -------------------------- CONCLUSION I wish ALL distributions could have as smooth a video setup as the Macmillan Mandrake 6.0 distribution! One good thing about Corel is that the video setup is at the beginning, so when it fails you haven't spent over an hour installing as is the case with Mandrake 7.02. I have not been able to make their partitioning system work with Corel (you cannot just use existing partitions, assign mount points and reformat) Thanks for any suggestions. Murray Strome
