Installing Mandriva Linux - Full tutorial

[Mrkvonic]

Hello,

I have written yet another full, step-by-step text and image tutorial, this time, covering the installation and setup of Mandriva Linux. The tutorial includes the installation itself, basic configurations like package management, software updates, firewall setup, and more.

http://www.dedoimedo.com/computers/install_mandriva.html

The tutorial for PCLinuxOS, which is based on Mandriva, is coming soon.

Enjoy.
Mrk

[zapjb]

Yes, yes PCLOS. I'll give that a read. ;D :thumb:

[Meriadoc]

Good tutorial. I have an XP/Mandriva dual boot on a family computer.

[lodore]

nice tutourial of mandriva.
its a shame none of the mandriva ftp links work atm.
lodore

[wilbertnl]

Very, very nice, Mrk.

Based on my recent experience with installing (X)Ubuntu, Mandriva, Xandros, openSUSE, ZenWalk and Debian I would say that the interesting part of any installation is seting up wireless networking.

I own wireless adapters with Ralink RT73 and Atheros chipsets, and getting these babies to work with WPA enabled is sometimes quite an excercise.

Linux Magazine (http://www.linux-mag.com/) includes monthly a DVD with usually the latest release of a popular distro. Next month will be Fedora 7. This magazine is a great source for the distro collector!

Also, it would be interesting to discuss the Debian netinstall distro, because that gives the user all the opportunity to create a real personal setup:
almost nothing pre-installed, which software would you select?

[Mrkvonic]

Hello,

Thanks for the feedback.

I'm not using wireless as I hate the word wireless... but once I get it, I'll post for sure.

What would I choose, clean install? Uh-oh. That's problematic. Well, most of the software I have listed under A (cool) list of Linux tools.

But those would be: Firefox, GIMP, Amarok, MPlayer, VLC, VMware Server, OpenOffice, FileZilla, BlueFish, K3B, Samba, Amule ... that's what I can think of in 3 minutes.

This is strictly programs. Add to these various plugins, codecs, sub-apps that make life easier and faster...

Mrk

[chew]

Thank you for :thumb: another good tutorial. I am definately learning Linux next.

Slight hijack.

I think one peace information that I desparately need for a person who is trying to build up a rig from scratch is ... hardware compatibility... I wish someone could put a list out.

For now which latest Intel Core2Duo MicroATX Mobo is compatible with Linux ?

;D

P/s: I read somewhere someone had triple boot with two Linux (KDE & Gnome) and XP ... wow ...

[Mrkvonic]

Hello,

I'm running a machine with triple boot (XP, SUSE /w KDE, Ubuntu), 3 machines with dual boot ...

Which distro would be compatible? Well, insert any of the distros that come with live CD installer. If you can reach live session without disabling or changing anything, then you can install it too.

Mrk

[wilbertnl]

-{ Quote: "... hardware compatibility..." }-
There is information online, for example here:
http://www.linuxcompatible.org/compatibility.html
or here:
http://www.linux-drivers.org/.

When you install Xen (http://www.xensource.com/products/xen_express/index.html), you will be able to run multiple Linux/Solaris/FreeBSD configurations in a single partition...

[chew]

-{ Quote: "There is information online, for example here:
http://www.linuxcompatible.org/compatibility.html
or here:
http://www.linux-drivers.org/.

When you install Xen (http://www.xensource.com/products/xen_express/index.html), you will be able to run multiple Linux/Solaris/FreeBSD configurations in a single partition..." }-
wilbertnl,

Thank you very much for the info you have indeed save me loads of ££$$ :thumb:.

I think I will dual or triple boot my old Dell Inspiron 8100 laptop instead and save the £££ for Apple Mac perhaps next year if I still feel like I need one. I have been reading the hardware compatibility and somehow building from scratch might take a long time trying to find suitable Micro ATX mobo that I want.

Apparently my laptop is so "old" everything has been catered for in Linux especially Ubuntu. My HD is only 60GB with 512MB RAM so I guess that will be enough for me to use it as a "learning" machine.

Tricky bit is repartitioning it to FAT or whatever the compatible with Linux and M$. Since I have Power Shadow on my system and Partician Magic I hope it will not mess up things for me eventhough all my important data are back up in external HD. I just hate reinstalling if I mess up as and I have only reformatted twice in my life due to HD failure after 3 years. So I will give it sometime before I attempt (cold sweat ...).

Anyway ... back to reading now ...

Cheers

;D

[chew]

-{ Quote: "Hello,

I'm running a machine with triple boot (XP, SUSE /w KDE, Ubuntu), 3 machines with dual boot ...

Which distro would be compatible? Well, insert any of the distros that come with live CD installer. If you can reach live session without disabling or changing anything, then you can install it too.

Mrk" }-

Triple boot I want! LOL!

By the way on your XP do you have Power Shadow on? I mean install in XP? If you do does it create a problem if I repartition the HD? Only one HD on my laptop by the way.

Initially I partition my HD using Partition Magic and wonder if that is ok using Ubuntu own partician?

Also I have drive C for XP programmes (20GB) and Drive E for data/storage (40GB). All in NTSF (oh NSTF?) format and will I be able to free up some Drive C and E to form new FAT32 (or whatever format) for Linux ...?

;D

[Mrkvonic]

Hello,

I'm not using Power Shadow. I do use ATI for imaging, but without its boot loader.

As to making partitions smaller, I would not play with C. D is ok. But you have to ask yourself how much space do you want to dedicate to Ubuntu. For normal work, you'll need about 4-6GB or more.

Mrk

[wilbertnl]

-{ Quote: "Apparently my laptop is so "old" everything has been catered for in Linux especially Ubuntu. My HD is only 60GB with 512MB RAM so I guess that will be enough for me to use it as a "learning" machine." }-
I installed Linux on a ancient laptop too (HP Omnibook XE-gf), I spent most of the time with getting WPA enabled wireless working. XFCE4 is the desktop of preference for me, it's lean and feature rich.
And the Debian 4 (Etch) distribution is growing on me...

I read that you are interested in triple boot, and I get the feeling that you are interested in different desktops, like KDE and Gnome. If my feeling is correct, then you could also consider installing both KDE and Gnome in one Linux installation. No need for separate partitions with Linux! In fact, you are able to install a different desktop (KDE, Gnome, XFCE4, FVWM2, Windowmaker, IceWM, Enlightenment) for every day of the week!

[chew]

Thanks wilbertnl & Mrkvonic.

Sounds like Linux could be a lot of fun giving it's ability to mix and to match as one likes. One can even use both KDE & Gnome in one Linux installation :thumb:.

So far base on the replies from Wilders' forum I have short listed the followings. (Criteria is to find one that suits or compatible with my Dell Inspiron 8100 laptop with plenty of support and ease of use for beginner).

In no particular order.

1) Ubuntu (they even have dedicated Ubuntu forum for Dell PC. Excellent).

2) PCLinux2007.

3) Arch Linux.

4) Xfce.

Now I am reading materials on partitioning without having to do a total reformat. I am in the middle of a project now so can't do that but in 3 to 4 months time I will have plenty of time to mess about.

I think I will allocate max of 10GB -15GB for Linux and the rest of the storage can go to external hdd.

I think triple booting is too soon for me with my limited knowledge.

LOL! having one different distro for each day ... one day I might just try that. LOL!

Question:

Since my HDD is formated in NTSF (NSTF ? ) can I reformat back part of HDD to something that's compatible with both NTSF and FAT32 (Linux)?

My initial partition was using Partition Magic ... hmmm ... hope that will not mess thing up for me.

:)

[wilbertnl]

-{ Quote: "Since my HDD is formated in NTSF (NSTF ? ) can I reformat back part of HDD to something that's compatible with both NTSF and FAT32 (Linux)?" }-
Ubuntu (Gnome desktop) is a great choice, there are also Xubuntu (XFCE desktop) and Kubuntu (KDE desktop). It is possible to merge all three the *ubuntu's.

Linux is able to read NTFS and there is a Windows XP driver (http://uranus.it.swin.edu.au/~jn/linux/ext2ifs.htm) available that enables you to read Linux (ext3) partitions.

Resizing your current NTFS partition isn't a big deal, just make sure it's defragged, to reserve space at the end of the partition.

[chew]

-{ Quote: "Ubuntu (Gnome desktop) is a great choice, there are also Xubuntu (XFCE desktop) and Kubuntu (KDE desktop). It is possible to merge all three the *ubuntu's.

Linux is able to read NTFS and there is a Windows XP driver (http://uranus.it.swin.edu.au/%7Ejn/linux/ext2ifs.htm) available that enables you to read Linux (ext3) partitions.

Resizing your current NTFS partition isn't a big deal, just make sure it's defragged, to reserve space at the end of the partition." }-
wilbertnl,

Just found this thread on Wilders regarding NTFS and Linux what do you think?

http://www.wilderssecurity.com/showthread.php?t=179294&highlight=NTFS

So does it mean I do not have to format to FAT etc?

Cheers

:)

[wilbertnl]

-{ Quote: "Just found this thread on Wilders regarding NTFS and Linux what do you think?" }-
As a regular Windows XP user, I'm not that much of a NTFS expert. I do believe though that NTFS is a very difficult area for developers. The fact that is took 12 years to release a stable and solid driver doesn't sound convincing.

But when you as linux user are able to read files on a NTFS partition and as windows user you are able to read AND write on a Linux ext3 partition, I don't see an urge for a separate FAT32 partition.

[zapjb]

It's PCLinuxOS. Current version PCLinuxOS-2007. Or PCLOS for short.

Right off the bat. 2 points. PCLOS installs twice as fast as ubuntu & runs faster. Oh point 3, I find the PCLOS forums friendlier & more helpful.

[Mrkvonic]

-{ Quote: "It's PCLinuxOS. Current version PCLinuxOS-2007. Or PCLOS for short.

Right off the bat. 2 points. PCLOS installs twice as fast as ubuntu & runs faster. Oh point 3, I find the PCLOS forums friendlier & more helpful." }-

Hello,
I must disappoint you there before the tutorial but:
They run equally fast and install equally simply.
APT is much slower in PCLinuxOS due to non-premium servers method.
Mrk

[zapjb]

-{ Quote: "Hello,
I must disappoint you there before the tutorial but:
They run equally fast and install equally simply.
APT is much slower in PCLinuxOS due to non-premium servers method.
Mrk" }-
That is not my or others experience(s). But I acknowledge that it is your experience.

[FastGame]

-{ Quote: "Hello,
I must disappoint you there before the tutorial but:
They run equally fast and install equally simply.
APT is much slower in PCLinuxOS due to non-premium servers method.
Mrk" }-

-{ Quote: "That is not my or others experience(s). But I acknowledge that it is your experience." }-

So what are we talking here, PCLOS vs Ubuntu...or...PCLOS vs Mandriva ?

-{ Quote: "APT is much slower in PCLinuxOS due to non-premium servers method." }-

Not so, there's repo's for PCLOS that are every bit as fast (if not faster) as Mandriva or Ubuntu if thats the subject.....

BTW, PCLOS and Mandriva are closely related so the guide prolly will work for both, how did Ubuntu get in this thread ? :D

[zapjb]

Cause I'm turning into a ubuntu basher.

And I saw Mandriva & said heres another opportunity to bash ubuntu.

Or cause I made a mistake.

[FastGame]

You weren't the one who first brought up Ubuntu ;)

but you're right in that case.....PCLOS and Mandriva are faster ;D

[Kerodo]

I will agree with you that PCLOS installs faster. I did a full PCLOS install in 9 minutes here, whereas Ubuntu took closer to 20 if I remember right. However, both seem to run about the same responsiveness-wise.. Both forums are good also. Ubuntu is good, but in my experience, PCLOS is the only one where literally everything works out of the box, no tweaking required. My choice: PCLOS hands down... :)

One of these days I will get around to trying out Mandriva also...

[Mrkvonic]

Hello,

After years of AV wars, we have a Linux war! Ye!

Seriously, I have found only marginal difference between most modern distros.

Regarding the flexibility, ease of use, user support etc:

I believe Ubuntu has the best and fastest community.
I believe Ubuntu embodies the APT in the best possible way.
I believe PCLinuxOS builds well on Mandriva and offers some very nice tricks.
I believe PCLinuxOS has a great growth potential.
I find the separation between free and premium servers for either Mandriva and PCLinuxOS versus to be a disadvantage compared to Ubuntu repos.

But since this is free software and a free world, enjoy them all!

More about PCLinuxOS in the tutorial, coming soon ...

Mrk

[wilbertnl]

-{ Quote: "After years of AV wars, we have a Linux war! Ye!" }-
I read an interesting argument in this thread about the speed of linux distro's.

First off, what kind of speed are we talking about?
Fast installation? Fast boot-up? Fast desktop response?
I have seen that ZenWalk (http://zenwalk.org/) (Slackware based) boots really really fast, probably because of a stripped down kernel and services. Which is nice when you are in a habit of turning off the laptop/desktop. Slackware also compiles for x484 and higher, Would that make such a difference in performance? If so, then source-based distro's would be interesting.
Fast installation? Nice when you re-install on a regular basis.
Fast desktop experience? I think that depends mostly on the desktop environment, KDE, Gnome, XFCE or a different one. Even applications matter: Abiword or Open Office, for example.

This is why I'm more interested in the configuration of all the distro's. Would it make sense to build your own distro and only install your minimum requirements?

[Mrkvonic]

Hello,

Sure it would. I'm currently compiling my own system using LFS.
It makes for best custom-made OS. But with a solid processor, even generic kernels will work well.

I got two machines running Athlon 64, 3700 and 3800 dual core, 2GB RAM, with 64-bit versions of Suse and Ubuntu (several versions). They all run lightning fast in all possible aspects, including virtualization of other OSs. Absolutely stunning speed in every aspect. Installations took only about 10 min.

Mrk

[wilbertnl]

-{ Quote: "Sure it would. I'm currently compiling my own system using LFS." }-
Linux From Scratch (http://www.linuxfromscratch.org/) and Beyond Linux From Scratch (http://www.linuxfromscratch.org/blfs/)?
The challenge is to take care of the dependencies.

I think that FreeBSD and Gentoo (both source based) solve the dependencies issue in a reliable fashion.
Debian is also offering the sources as packages, but I haven't yet seen information on how to compile your own Debian system.

Years ago I compiled my own system, I found myself updating and recompiling more often than that I just used my system.

[Kerodo]

I have yet to compile anything in Linux, but would soon like to at least try compiling a new kernel. Sounds a bit scary to me at the moment though, even though I do have a programming background from the old DOS days..

As for speed, when I speak of speed, for me it's how fast do apps load, how does the general responsiveness feel, quick or sluggish, not so much how long does it take to install, or how fast does it boot. I don't care much how long it takes to boot because once it does, it's usually up for a week or so..

[coolbluewater]

Compiling Debian:
http://www.howtoforge.com/kernel_compilation_debian_etch

Apt and dpkg take care of the rest.

As for the whole "speed" thing, I think a better word is capability - I can run 6 different desktops, each filled with apps - with zero slowdown, hanging or crashes, an alien concept to Windows OSes.

[wilbertnl]

-{ Quote: "I have yet to compile anything in Linux, but would soon like to at least try compiling a new kernel. Sounds a bit scary to me at the moment though, even though I do have a programming background from the old DOS days.. " }-
Don't worry, as long as your current kernel is available you can't go wrong.
Even if you messed up and the new compiled kernel doesn't function at all (for example, you forgot support for your root file system...) you would just reboot and select the old kernel.
Give the new compiled kernel a unique name, and make Grub or Lilo aware of it. That's all.

@Mrk,
I found Arch Linux (www.archlinux.org/), which is optimized for i686 CPU's. I wonder if you looked into this distro?

[Kerodo]

Thanks... I just found Arch Linux myself and downloaded the iso a few minutes ago. I am seriously thinking of trying it out very soon here.. looks pretty interesting... have been reading the forum and wiki for the past hour getting familiar with it...

[coolbluewater]

@Mrk - another fine effort!

I'm always referring people to your site, and always getting positive feedback from those people who you've helped.

Keep up the great work. 8)

[iceni60]

i wouldn't bother with arch if you haven't used linux much, it's quite difficult to install and configure, it's worth trying it though if you think you can get it working, it's really, really fast in all areas (unlike pclos lol)

[Mrkvonic]

Hello,

@wilbert:
Haven't tried arch yet. There are only so many days in a week...

@cool:
Thanks for the feedback.

Mrk

[Kerodo]

-{ Quote: "i wouldn't bother with arch if you haven't used linux much, it's quite difficult to install and configure, it's worth trying it though if you think you can get it working, it's really, really fast in all areas (unlike pclos lol)" }-
Well, I was up to the challenge (I thought), and started the net install, but when it probed and failed to recognize/detect my usb network adaptor/card that's when I said bye bye... and returned to my favorite PCLOS. Sometimes things like Arch and FreeBSD look like fun, but in the end, I find that I'm spoiled and opt for the easy solution... :)

[wilbertnl]

-{ Quote: "Sure it would. I'm currently compiling my own system using LFS." }-
Since Debian is growing on me, here is some information about building Debian packages with optimized compiler settings:
http://julien.danjou.info/article-apt-build.html.
Lets' get the speed of Arch Linux with the stability of Debian... ;D