Need a little Linux/Knoppix help

12-28-04 | edchambers

[edchambers]

This is my first post so forgive me if I violated some protocall by not posting to "Breaking News"

Ok, so I tried Knoppix, pretty amazing stuff, a full OS that runs from a CD and I liked it so.. I decide to install it on a partition on my hard drive.I followed the instructions from the Knoppix website and I think I was successfull.The Lilo boot screen shows up gives me a choice of a couple or three versions of Linux and my Windows 98se installation.The 98se partition still boots but when I boot Linux it prompts me for a username and a password which I supply then it stops at a prompt that looks like myusername~$_ I know I'm supposed to type some command here but which of the over 3000 linux commands is it?

[edchambers]

I don't think my problem is hardware.Knoppix picked up everything on this box including my PCI ethernet card,router and Cable modem.This box is a Pentium 3 with 256 megs of ram and a 64 meg video card.It's not exactly cutting edge but has enough power to run XP if I wanted to.It'll still boot up Knoppix from the CD but not from the HD.I think I screwed the install and now it won't let me reintall or repartition because I don't know the correct commands.

[edchambers]

Thanks but those were the instructions I used.This is like learning a new language on the fly.Like later in the article where he says to change the default OS by editing something from root what is he talking about?In dos to get to the root directory you would only need to cd\ "enter" to bring up the command prompt C:\> bam! root directory, how do you do this in Linux?

[goldstategop]

Most Linux distros will detect and set up a broadband connection automatically. Xandros found and installed all my laptop drivers except the modem - no surprise since its a winmodem so I bought an external hardware controllerless one. Now it boots me online.

[ShadowAce]

Well, the site pulled the article due to possible copyright violations. :)

In terms of editing something from root, I would hazard a guess that you must become root to edit the file he is talking about. The file probably has restricted permissions, and root would be the only account to be able to edit it.

[1L]

My comment was more general than in response.

Let me know how things work out. A lot of the information you need, I could use also.

[A CA Guy]

I bought a computer fully loaded with Linux which I F-disked to put a fine copy of windows 2000.

[ohCompGk]

"cd /"

[ohCompGk]

Oh yea. You won't get a C:\ prompt cause *nix doesn't use them. You will get the root directory, i.e. /. All other drives are mounted as subdirectories of /

[KoRn]

I would stick with the shell. The GUI tends to get in the way ;-).

[edchambers]

The shell doesn't do me much good if I don't know what commands to type at the prompt.The "old dos" had an excellent help file system that thouroughly explained every command and how to use it does Linux have anything like this?

[KoRn]

Type //, ?, or help works I think. Not sure about the // I could be thinking about something else lol.

[KoRn]

PS: To learn about a command you find type:

man (command name)

Welcome to the world of Linux. Sometimes that first step turns into a fall, but lots of *NIX FReepers are here to help ya!

[edchambers]

I bought a computer fully loaded with Linux which I F-disked to put a fine copy of windows 2000. I'm pretty close to going that route myself but I prefer 98se I've never tried 2000 but I've got a shiny new copy of Me that I can't give away.I think I'll boot the Knoppix disk again just for fun and take another shot at it.If that doesn't work it's time to break out the sledge hammer of all programs FDISK.FDISK has no problem deleting NTFS partitions even though DOS can't recognize them, think it'll have a problem with linux partitions?

[edchambers]

Well that's enough of the cryptic Linux command line interface, I'm off to FDISK.I think I'll do this smart this time I may split he drive in two and run my OS on one partition and all my programs on the other that way the next time I bugger something I can just reinstall the OS.

[philetus]

Are Knoppix or FreeBSD close to ease of use as a windows OS?

[KoRn]

I think Mandrake 10.1 is as easy as Windows if not easier. As long as it picks up your hardware on install(it probably would) it's very easy to get into even for total Linux n00bs.

[KoRn]

PS: I don't think knoppix and Free BSD are good flavors to get your feet wet with.

[philetus]

Which of these do I need to download.

Up to higher level directory
File: Mandrakelinux-10.1-Official-DVD.md5.asc 1 KB 12/6/2004 5:06:00 PM
File: Mandrakelinux-10.1-Official-Download-CD.md5 1 KB 12/6/2004 9:22:00 AM
File: Mandrakelinux-10.1-Official-Download-CD.md5.asc 1 KB 12/6/2004 5:06:00 PM
File: Mandrakelinux-10.1-Official-Download-CD1.i586.iso 708102 KB 12/5/2004 10:22:00 PM
File: Mandrakelinux-10.1-Official-Download-CD2.i586.iso 711660 KB 12/5/2004 10:23:00 PM
File: Mandrakelinux-10.1-Official-Download-CD3.i586.iso 711938 KB 12/5/2004 10:23:00 PM
File: Mandrakelinux-10.1-Official-Download-DVD.i586.iso 2124868 KB 12/5/2004 10:21:00 PM
File: Mandrakelinux-10.1-Official-Download-DVD.md5 1 KB 12/6/2004 9:22:00 AM
File: Mandrakelinux-10.1-Official-Mini.i586.iso 326920 KB 12/6/2004 9:19:00 AM
File: Mandrakelinux-10.1-Official-Mini.md5 1 KB 12/6/2004 9:21:00 AM
File: Mandrakelinux-10.1-Official-Mini.md5.asc 1 KB 12/6/2004 5:06:00 PM

[KoRn]

File: Mandrakelinux-10.1-Official-Download-CD1.i586.iso 708102 KB 12/5/2004 10:22:00 PM
File: Mandrakelinux-10.1-Official-Download-CD2.i586.iso 711660 KB 12/5/2004 10:23:00 PM
File: Mandrakelinux-10.1-Official-Download-CD3.i586.iso 711938 KB 12/5/2004 10:23:00 PM

If you have a DVD writer get the:

File: Mandrakelinux-10.1-Official-Download-DVD.i586.iso 2124868 KB

I hope you have broadband.

Are you planning on dual booting with Windows on the same system?

[philetus]

Are you planning on dual booting with Windows on the same system?

Yes, I'm running W2k pro now. Any problems?