Installing Fedora

[Keito]

I decided to install Linux!

But before I do so I want to make a couple of things sure, and since some of you people here at neowin know practically everything about Linux I decided to ask here.

This is the first time I'm going to install linux and work with it, is Fedora a good stable distribution?

I read that Fedora Core 3 Test 2 was better then Core 2 and the test version was had fewer shortcomings; Should I go with core 3 test 2 or use core 2?

Will my hardware work; Asus K8V SE Deluxe, onboard sound, integrated gigabit lan, powercolor radeon 9600pro, amd64 3000+?

Should I go with a 64bit variant or stick to 32bit? (i.e. will all software work in 64bit linux or do I need to recompile etc.)

Will a 5gb fat32 partition be enough for everything?

thanks in advance for all your answers! :D

[M. Sullivan]

First of all, Fedora is a great n00b distro, I would definitely recomend that you start on it. As for versions, I would recomend that you go with the Core 3 Test 2, but keep in mind that you may want to upgrade very soon. Your hardware won't be a problem, if anything it's overkill, as for the 32/64b query, go with 64, it shouldn't be a problem. I wouldn't recomend using a Fat32 partition... I've never tried it, so I can't give you any first hand experiances, but be safe and go for an ext format. Five gigs will be more than enough.

Hope that helps some.

[Keito]

which fielsystem should I use then? I'm only aware of Fat16, Fat32 and NTFS :p

[MrA]

which fielsystem should I use then? I'm only aware of Fat16, Fat32 and NTFS :p

For linux, you should be using a natixe linux partition type like ext2/3, reiserfs, xfs, jfs, etc. The windows partition types don't handle case-sensitivity which is pretty much a must in linux (or any unix).

[Keito]

ok next question; does the fedora install let me format a partition to such a filesystem and how does dual-booting work exactly?

[mercuryx013]

Fedora will let you pick to install Grub or Lilo are your boot manager. Yes, it will format to ext3 for you.

[Keito]

hmm just remembered, how about my Microsoft Wireless IntelliMouse Explorer2.0... will that work out of the box or do I need another mouse when I'm installing or something?

Still looking for some answers on my above questions as well; do I have to download anything to make everything work? Like graphicsdrivers or such?

[M. Sullivan]

You won't have to download any graphics drivers or anything like that, as the ATi drivers for Linux suck :p, you're better off just not installing them. Sound will be automatically installed, et cetera et cetera ad infinitum. Really the best thing you can do is just stop worrying and install it, you'll be fine.

[mercuryx013]

The mouse will work out of the box with a small caveat. You will want ot make sure that X is using the ExplorerPS/2 driver. Check the driver in /etc/X11/ the file will be xorg.conf or XF86Config - i'm not sure which Fedora is using.

[Keito]

lol... i'm paranoid; can't help it. I just installed Xp freshly so I don't wanna lose data :yes:

[mercuryx013]

As long as you don't install onto the same partition, it can't ruin your XP install.

[Keito]

ok thank you guys; i'm download fedora as we speak and will probably install it tomorrow :D

[markwolfe Veteran]

Let me recommend using FC2, over the FC3 test release. You can update your FC2 to more current stable versions very easily, and you won't have to worry about the occasional glitch in the pre-release versions.

Also, to make sure you don't run into problems with your drive geometry (this only affects dual-booters), make sure your BIOS is set to LBA mode for your hard drive, not CHS (cylinder, head, sector) or 'auto' representation.

[Barney T. Administrators]

Whoa! I totally agree with Mark Jensen here. I just tried to update from Core 2 to Core 3 test 2 and it hosed my system. I then tried a clean install and there were some big problems with compatibility and broken apps. I have files\d bug reports with Fedora, but I would stick with Fedora Core 2 at this stage, until 3 is more polished. As far as I am concerned, the reviews on Core 3 Test 2 are not correct..

Barney

[Fredde87]

There shouldnt be a problem, but I have no idea if 32bit code will work with a 64bit os? :wacko:

It should be straight forward, if worst comes worst, it will install a generic driver or something if some hardware is not supported.. But then you just manualy select in redhat-xfree86-config what grafics card etc you want...

Do you want to dual boot XP with linux on a 5gb drive? Or do you mean that the partition you want for linux should be 5gb? If so make sure you select the right partition, it will probebly be hda2 (depending on how many partitions you have)... Also read some guides to how to setup dual boot before installing linux....

[Barney T. Administrators]

and... I am not a n00b either.... test distros can be tricky. Get the stable version.

Barney

[DAaaMan64]

Hey guys, I have the 4 linux disc right here, but I can't seem to boot from them at all. My DVD/CD Drive is set in first position and I can even re-select it in a boot menu. But nothing happens It just continues to XP. Anything will help I don't see why it would be the discs unless I burned them wrong. I burned them as a data disc.

Thanks

[russ0943]

you probably burned it wrong. use nero and select the burn disc image (.iso) in order to burn it. Data format won't work, Only burning it as an image. When you select it and nero lets you browse to the file, it should have as default to only view .nrg files. Change this to .iso,.cue,.bin and then select ur .iso file. Hope this helps some.

[markwolfe Veteran]

Hey guys, I have the 4 linux disc right here, but I can't seem to boot from them at all. My DVD/CD Drive is set in first position and I can even re-select it in a boot menu. But nothing happens It just continues to XP. Anything will help I don't see why it would be the discs unless I burned them wrong. I burned them as a data disc.

Thanks

Yup.

If you open the CD and see a big .iso file, you didn't do it right.

An .iso is an image of the whole filesystem (kind of like a Norton Ghost image). You will need to burn it so that ir recreates the whole file structure. :yes:

[DAaaMan64]

what your saying makes sense and is probably what I want to do, but I don't understand what I should click on to make the disc I have Nero and it looks like I can make a bootable disc in expert mode however shoudl==ld I just copy those discs right over or is there something else I need to do?

[DAaaMan64]

What your saying makes sense but when I open the discs all I see are 4 or 5 files out side of a folder then a good 50 inside the folder.

[markwolfe Veteran]

I don't know nero, but this might help...

http://members.home.nl/lsnoek/iso.htm#Nero%20Burning%20ROM

EDIT:

What your saying makes sense but when I open the discs all I see are 4 or 5 files out side of a folder then a good 50 inside the folder.

Oh, nevermind, then. It sounds like you burned them correctly.

Did you do an md5sum on your downloaded files to make sure they got downloaded OK, and again on the CD to make sure they burned ok?

[DAaaMan64]

what you are saying makes sense................................... hahaha I can't believe that.

[DAaaMan64]

I have no idea how to do that.

[DAaaMan64]

Now I can make a boot disc shoudl i re-burn everything and try again booting? Another thing is that there is no accual ISO file, just a bunch of rpm files and a couple of unkowns.