Re: [newbie] Do I need to start over
> I'm gonna chop this up to respond to specific points. Hope that > doesn't mess with anyone's mind. Mess? It's actually a sanctioned activity. :) http://mandrake.vmlinuz.ca/bin/view/Main/MandrakeMailingListEtiquette It even promotes snippage... -- Mandrake HowTo's & More: http://twiki.mdklinuxfaq.org Want to buy your Pack or Services from MandrakeSoft? Go to http://www.mandrakestore.com Join the Club : http://www.mandrakeclub.com
Re: [newbie] Do I need to start over
On Sunday 08 August 2004 06:42 pm, Charlie Mahan wrote: > On Sunday 08 August 2004 15:47:03, BJ Tracy wrote: > > SNIP SNIP Thanks and I really appreciate the humor, we just don't laugh enough. I'll let you know if I smoke my system or not. (: Take care, bj > > You are a very appreciated resource. > > bj > > You are welcome, but I thought a resource was defined as something valuable > to be hoarded or exploited. > > I'm thinking there ain't that much here. (; > > Charlie Want to buy your Pack or Services from MandrakeSoft? Go to http://www.mandrakestore.com Join the Club : http://www.mandrakeclub.com
Re: [newbie] Do I need to start over
-BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE- Hash: SHA1 On Sunday 08 August 2004 15:47:03, BJ Tracy wrote: > > SNIP > Thanks for all your help. De nada. > > If you want a clean slate I _strongly_ recommend that you use the custom > > partitioning mode but first do a Google search for partitioning and read > > a lot. > > There's a ton of stuff to read and I have several books as well. Don't procratinate now. Eventually you will want to get it over with. I know you want to do it, do it now, you won't have a problem... > > That's why so many newcomers end up > > reinstalling and changing their partition structures so many times. Not > > enough research and too much enthusiasm. > > Guilty. Just like a kid at Cmas. Hey! I resemble that remark! The day I stop answering to newbie somebody please kill me. > > You're welcome bj. I haven't helped you yet though. Here's some personal > > recommendations; > > > > When you do the reinstall (and I know you want to so let's get that out > > of the way now) set a large enough _separate /home partition_ that your > > user(s) won't run out of personal space. Also since you have enough drive > > space for anything you may want to do, the primary master should include > > in my opinion: > > > > / the "root" of the system where everything hangs. Choose a size that > > seems comfy then reduce it. I never go more than 800 MB > > Question: does the "/" root have to be on every drive? No. Just the primary installation drive. Wherever you end up having that. > > As minimums, and I'd choose the JFS filesystem rather than ext3 (old tech > > with a journal grafted on) > > JFS is IBM's technology and it works exceptionally well, seems > > completely stable, and is fast. I'd use it for everything. > > As for ext 3 or JFS, will I see a difference on my GUI? I'm not a > programmer, and I don't do any development (yet), just a computer > nutHowever I do a lot of pictures and genealogy as well as my business > stuff. Just curious. Not unless you are so blazing fast yourself that you don't actually need a system. JFS is just a better file system with a better journal. ext2 is a hang over from the '60s and ext3 is just ext2 with a journal. JFS is fast and clean, seems great at 'disaster recovery' and seems to be invisible in operation. What more do you want? XFS is for _really big_ iron. It's from SGI, the people that build the systems with the funny name...oh yeah Cray. > > The other drive or drives, depending on how many you keep in the box, are > > up to you to choose partition sizes and mount points but I'd still > > recommend using JFS. > > My first two drives are Master and Slave. Does it matter if the (NEW) 250 > GB drive is a Master or Slave on the cable it's on? Sure it does bj. Where do you want the disks and in what order? lol As long as you don't try to have 2 masters or two slaves on one channel. You'll get a scolding for that kind of behaviour. By the installer. Or the BIOS. Or both. But _not_ from me! No, never that...much. I've done it myself a couple times over the last 10 years. Exhausted brain fart mode. > Thanks again, > You are a very appreciated resource. > bj You are welcome, but I thought a resource was defined as something valuable to be hoarded or exploited. I'm thinking there ain't that much here. (; Charlie - -- Edmonton,AB,Canada User #244963 at http://counter.li.org Mandrakelinux release 10.1 (Beta 1) for i586 kernel 2.6.8-0.rc2.2mdk 16:26:10 up 3 days, 5:19, 1 user, load average: 0.21, 0.10, 0.08 Is truth not truth for all? -- Natira, "For the World is Hollow and I have Touched the Sky", stardate 5476.4. -BEGIN PGP SIGNATURE- Version: GnuPG v1.2.4 (GNU/Linux) iD8DBQFBFqxHZqvqlrLPr5YRAj7PAJ0W5/daMAPRjrS1ekW9vgCQdFBmDwCaAhn4 ngyFB08MMf92b3ud06OCgZM= =N8rR -END PGP SIGNATURE- Want to buy your Pack or Services from MandrakeSoft? Go to http://www.mandrakestore.com Join the Club : http://www.mandrakeclub.com
Re: [newbie] Do I need to start over
On Sunday 08 August 2004 01:05 pm, Charlie Mahan wrote: > On Sunday 08 August 2004 08:22:08, BJ Tracy wrote: > SNIP Thanks for all your help. > If you want a clean slate I _strongly_ recommend that you use the custom > partitioning mode but first do a Google search for partitioning and read a > lot. There's a ton of stuff to read and I have several books as well. > That's why so many newcomers end up > reinstalling and changing their partition structures so many times. Not > enough research and too much enthusiasm. Guilty. Just like a kid at Cmas. > You're welcome bj. I haven't helped you yet though. Here's some personal > recommendations; > > When you do the reinstall (and I know you want to so let's get that out of > the way now) set a large enough _separate /home partition_ that your > user(s) won't run out of personal space. Also since you have enough drive > space for anything you may want to do, the primary master should include in > my opinion: > > / the "root" of the system where everything hangs. Choose a size that seems > comfy then reduce it. I never go more than 800 MB Question: does the "/" root have to be on every drive? > As minimums, and I'd choose the JFS filesystem rather than ext3 (old tech > with a journal grafted on) > JFS is IBM's technology and it works exceptionally well, seems > completely stable, and is fast. I'd use it for everything. As for ext 3 or JFS, will I see a difference on my GUI? I'm not a programmer, and I don't do any development (yet), just a computer nutHowever I do a lot of pictures and genealogy as well as my business stuff. Just curious. > The other drive or drives, depending on how many you keep in the box, are > up to you to choose partition sizes and mount points but I'd still > recommend using JFS. My first two drives are Master and Slave. Does it matter if the (NEW) 250 GB drive is a Master or Slave on the cable it's on? Thanks again, You are a very appreciated resource. bj > It's your system so it's all up to you but I do like the way JFS works for > me. > > Holler if you need advice on a proposed partition table or whatever, > somebody will see and respond. > > Charlie Want to buy your Pack or Services from MandrakeSoft? Go to http://www.mandrakestore.com Join the Club : http://www.mandrakeclub.com
Re: [newbie] Do I need to start over
-BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE- Hash: SHA1 On Sunday 08 August 2004 08:22:08, BJ Tracy wrote: > > > I'm gonna chop this up to respond to specific points. Hope that doesn't > > mess with anyone's mind. > > Thanks for your help,I don't mind chopping > Oh it gets worse, trust me. > > What do you mean you had Mandrake do the partitioning? See below for an > > explanation of the question. > > What I mean here is I chose the "Use Free Space" This option will perform > an automatic partitioning of your blank drive(s). If you use this option > there will be no further prompts. Use free space is fine but, again, there may be a logic failure somewhere. The installer has some A.I. (artificial intelligence) characteristics but it isn't all that bright. Use free space by default means use the available space on the primary master. You still didn't tell it what to do with the other drives. Is this making sense now? It's like asking questions on a mailing list, while the problem and the behaviour are crystal clear in the poster's mind the rest of us can't read the mind of that worthy. At least not through the Internet. (-: > Looking at hdb is says DOS Drive C:(just a guess) but it does not have any > partitions on it. Is that drive partitioned for XP and is XP still installed? If you wiped it did you allow the tool you used to rewrite the table to the disk? If not the guess is probably as accurate as you'll get. > > The mistake(s) you made was probably two-fold. First; when you "had > > Mandrake do the partitioning" did you do "Use Free Space" or "Erase > > Entire Disk" or Custom Partitioning" or??? > > I used "Use Free Space" not thinking about the Mandrake I had on the > other disk. SO should I reinstall using "Erase Entire Disk" and will > this work for all three drives? If you want a clean slate I _strongly_ recommend that you use the custom partitioning mode but first do a Google search for partitioning and read a lot. With that much drive space the problem you'll probably have, and I've seen it a thousand times if I've seen it once, is that you'll either make too many partitions and have no clue what to name the mount points then forget where you put stuff when you start using the system, or you'll have absolutely *huge* partitions that you'll hate yourself for 6 months down the road when you figure out that you should have one dedicated partition for a specific project/task/data type (such as videos or compressed music files) but that you don't have it and it doesn't really fit logically into the partitions you set at install. That's why so many newcomers end up reinstalling and changing their partition structures so many times. Not enough research and too much enthusiasm. Example of an article on partitioning: http://www.linuxquestions.org/questions/answers.php?action=viewarticle&artid=121 That one may get too technical (read as sleep inducing) but it does give some good pointers. > > Also depending on the security level you chose at install you may never > > see the other disks/partitions in user land. > > I chose Standard. Good. You don't need anything higher usually unless you're running a server. > > Before I make another point (and there is more than one to be made) is it > > your intent to *never* put Windows back on this system? > > No more Windows. I currently have 3 pc's and a laptop in my office on a > simple LAN, the other two pc's and laptop still have XP on them but my plan > is to move away from Windows. Understood. Windows has it's uses I'm sure, I just don't have a personal need for anything that would make the statement true. Being called to sanitize systems infected with the "current crop" of malware does buy the beer on a regular basis though. lol > Right now the system in question does not have any data on it, just the > setup configs and I had started personalizing the desktopso If I have > to start again, not that big a deal. (more coffee) I just want to get the > foundation of the OS correct and right now I can see I messed up. Personalizing the desktop is a rite of passage for us newbies ya know. We get to do it so often that...well never mind. Sufficient to say that we break things and the instinctive reaction is to start over. Which is what you're doing. Like interesting background images? Try http://www.digitalblasphemy.com > Thanks for you help, > Standing by, > bj > You're welcome bj. I haven't helped you yet though. Here's some personal recommendations; When you do the reinstall (and I know you want to so let's get that out of the way now) set a large enough _separate /home partition_ that your user(s) won't run out of personal space. Also since you have enough drive space for anything you may want to do, the primary master should include in my opinion: / the "root" of the system where everything hangs. Choose a size that seems comfy then reduce it. I never go more than 800 MB /swap the default that pops
Re: [newbie] Do I need to start over
On Saturday 07 August 2004 05:04 pm, Charlie Mahan wrote: > On Saturday 07 August 2004 14:28:02, BJ Tracy wrote: > > Hello All (again), > > I'm gonna chop this up to respond to specific points. Hope that doesn't > mess with anyone's mind. Thanks for your help,I don't mind chopping > What do you mean you had Mandrake do the partitioning? See below for an > explanation of the question. What I mean here is I chose the "Use Free Space" This option will perform an automatic partitioning of your blank drive(s). If you use this option there will be no further prompts. > > NOW- I go into system/config/mountpoints and look at the drives in there > > partition state and it is strange. > > hda - has ext3 and swap details > > hdb - has NOTHING for details > > hdc - has ext3 ans swap details Looking at hdb is says DOS Drive C:(just a guess) but it does not have any partitions on it. > The mistake(s) you made was probably two-fold. First; when you "had > Mandrake do the partitioning" did you do "Use Free Space" or "Erase Entire > Disk" or Custom Partitioning" or??? I used "Use Free Space" not thinking about the Mandrake I had on the other disk. SO should I reinstall using "Erase Entire Disk" and will this work for all three drives? > Also depending on the security level you chose at install you may never see > the other disks/partitions in user land. I chose Standard. > Before I make another point (and there is more than one to be made) is it > your intent to *never* put Windows back on this system? No more Windows. I currently have 3 pc's and a laptop in my office on a simple LAN, the other two pc's and laptop still have XP on them but my plan is to move away from Windows. > I don't see why you'd need to start over unless you aren't happy with the > partition tables you have now. There may be ways to correct any problems > without anything so drastic. You must have harddrake starting at boot > (Mandrake Control Centre, System, Services) and it's trying to guess what > you want done with all that drive space and possibly conflicting mount > points, etc. plus the fact you probably have a boot record on drive hdc and > another on hda now as well.. The simplest thing to do will depend upon the > answers to the questions above. Plus others. Talk to us, please. Right now the system in question does not have any data on it, just the setup configs and I had started personalizing the desktopso If I have to start again, not that big a deal. (more coffee) I just want to get the foundation of the OS correct and right now I can see I messed up. Thanks for you help, Standing by, bj > Post the answer, give details of the system and what you intend to do and > someone with a brain will definitely jump in and correct me. Assuming I > have a chance for another reply. (lol) OK? > > Regards; > Charlie > P.S.; Now that I've tried to start the ball rolling to help you please get > rid of the Reply To: setting in your K-Mail client. It's a pain to "demand" > a personal reply on a community help list. Please. > C. Want to buy your Pack or Services from MandrakeSoft? Go to http://www.mandrakestore.com Join the Club : http://www.mandrakeclub.com
Re: [newbie] Do I need to start over
-BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE- Hash: SHA1 On Saturday 07 August 2004 14:28:02, BJ Tracy wrote: > Hello All (again), I'm gonna chop this up to respond to specific points. Hope that doesn't mess with anyone's mind. If I weren't the one doing it it would probably mess with mine. > Let me make this as straight forward and short as possible but I need to > give you Linux/Mandrake brains some history. Oh! You asked for a "Mandrake brain" and got stuck with me. Damn! I'd feel slighted if it were me. > After much research on my part about switching to Linux and then with all > the security issues with Exposer(Explorer) I was fed up and made the move. Valid reasons but not the only ones. > However my confidence was not there so I opted for a dual boot system(bad > mistake). Here's the harddrive layout of what I had - Cdrive was 80GB and > had XP on it and I had a Ddrive of 120GB. So thinking I wanted to do a > dual boot system I went and bought a 250GB for Linux. Tried the dual boot > system and was not happy. So I tried to install Mandrake 10.0 and erase XP > but (Not thinking) it put it back on the 250 Gb drive. So I went in and > Installed Mandrake on the original Cdrive(after making copies of my data > and pics) and had Mandarke do the partitioning. Everything seems to be ok > but when I look at the Hard Disk on my desktop there is just one. What do you mean you had Mandrake do the partitioning? See below for an explanation of the question. The dual boot idea wasn't necessarily a mistake. I "officially" dual booted Mandrake and Windows 98 SE for almost 2 years. Suddenly one day I realized Mandrake had run continuously for 63 days with no reboots. Windows hadn't booted for over 12 months. I salvaged the disk space and gave away the Windows 98 disks. > NOW- I go into system/config/mountpoints and look at the drives in there > partition state and it is strange. > hda - has ext3 and swap details > hdb - has NOTHING for details > hdc - has ext3 ans swap details The mistake(s) you made was probably two-fold. First; when you "had Mandrake do the partitioning" did you do "Use Free Space" or "Erase Entire Disk" or Custom Partitioning" or??? If custom, did you click the tabs for the other drives and assign mount points? If not you basically told Mandrake it wasn't allowed to touch them. Sort of an ignore order. hda has a Mandrake install because that was the last one you did, hdc has an old Mandrake install because that was the previous one, but, again, you didn't tell the boot loader or the OS what to do with all those wonderful partitions. The tables were recognized but... Also depending on the security level you chose at install you may never see the other disks/partitions in user land. Coming in as a self proclaimed "fed up" soon to be ex Windows customer you may have gotten a bit eager since Mandrake allows you to choose the security level. BTW "Standard" is higher than XP can get without a lot of help. Before I make another point (and there is more than one to be made) is it your intent to *never* put Windows back on this system? > What do I need to do? Do I have to start over AGAIN?(bummer) > and a footnote, if I restart my pc I get a message that says "HardDrive > Config error - sda was removed" one time and then the next time is says > it was added. I don't see why you'd need to start over unless you aren't happy with the partition tables you have now. There may be ways to correct any problems without anything so drastic. You must have harddrake starting at boot (Mandrake Control Centre, System, Services) and it's trying to guess what you want done with all that drive space and possibly conflicting mount points, etc. plus the fact you probably have a boot record on drive hdc and another on hda now as well.. The simplest thing to do will depend upon the answers to the questions above. Plus others. Talk to us, please. > Sorry for the length of this. > Please advise > bj Yeah. It's a tad longer now, isn't it? (-; Post the answer, give details of the system and what you intend to do and someone with a brain will definitely jump in and correct me. Assuming I have a chance for another reply. (lol) OK? Regards; Charlie P.S.; Now that I've tried to start the ball rolling to help you please get rid of the Reply To: setting in your K-Mail client. It's a pain to "demand" a personal reply on a community help list. Please. C. - -- Edmonton,AB,Canada User #244963 at http://counter.li.org Mandrakelinux release 10.1 (Beta 1) for i586 kernel 2.6.8-0.rc2.2mdk 14:34:06 up 2 days, 3:27, 2 users, load average: 0.07, 0.14, 0.25 I have a very good DENTAL PLAN. Thank you. -BEGIN PGP SIGNATURE- Version: GnuPG v1.2.4 (GNU/Linux) iD8DBQFBFUPCZqvqlrLPr5YRAtFsAKC3iMJ2YEuTB2LcQGoztwZaJiM6lQCfddc+ OGat4eTkA2zbPOC38APMT7E= =yKu6 -END PGP SIGNATURE- Want to buy your Pack or Services from MandrakeSoft? Go to
[newbie] Do I need to start over
Hello All (again), Let me make this as straight forward and short as possible but I need to give you Linux/Mandrake brains some history. After much research on my part about switching to Linux and then with all the security issues with Exposer(Explorer) I was fed up and made the move. However my confidence was not there so I opted for a dual boot system(bad mistake). Here's the harddrive layout of what I had - Cdrive was 80GB and had XP on it and I had a Ddrive of 120GB. So thinking I wanted to do a dual boot system I went and bought a 250GB for Linux. Tried the dual boot system and was not happy. So I tried to install Mandrake 10.0 and erase XP but (Not thinking) it put it back on the 250 Gb drive. So I went in and Installed Mandrake on the original Cdrive(after making copies of my data and pics) and had Mandarke do the partitioning. Everything seems to be ok but when I look at the Hard Disk on my desktop there is just one. NOW- I go into system/config/mountpoints and look at the drives in there partition state and it is strange. hda - has ext3 and swap details hdb - has NOTHING for details hdc - has ext3 ans swap details What do I need to do? Do I have to start over AGAIN?(bummer) and a footnote, if I restart my pc I get a message that says "HardDrive Config error - sda was removed" one time and then the next time is says it was added. Sorry for the length of this. Please advise bj Want to buy your Pack or Services from MandrakeSoft? Go to http://www.mandrakestore.com Join the Club : http://www.mandrakeclub.com
