Linux help newbie

ive looked but to no avail

ok guys ive just installed mandrake 8.0 ive never used linux before in my life and it looked great for a few seconds and it was really quick and great then the monitor blacked out and i lost the use of the mouse and this happens every time i start linux after a couple of seconds.

System specs
Winxp/mandrake 8 dual boot
1.2ghz duron
Nvidia agp graphics card
voodoo3 pci graphics card
15gb hard disk - windows
4gb hard disk - linux
256 ram
2 15 inch monitors
ms explorer inteli mouse
ms natural keyboard pro

like i said i have no linux experence and i dont know what to do! i think iam running the gnome interface but one i loose the mpouse closing and oping windows is a nightmare help please

 

I've had similar problems with Mandrake. It's buggy and doesn't work very well for me. The only thing I can suggest is you try removing one monitor and see if Linux runs ok then as unless there are specific NVidia drivers for linux installed you may have trouble running dual monitors.

 

whats that got to do with my mouse?

and it dossnt work at all with my ps2 mouse

 

It's mandrake Linux. Try instaling a REAL distro.

When you say the monitor blacks out, do you mean, it goes bank, then comes back up ? Or does it go blank and stay like that ?

Sounds like you've got mouse confilcts/errors, and maybe your video drivers are confilcting. I dunno what Mandrake tries to do for graphics support, so I'd say, go to NVidia's website and grab some drivers.

Also, I don't know hopw well Mandrake handles multiple graphics cards, which might give you problems. Try removing the secondary one.

 

Try Redhat. I have a personal vendetta against mandrake. (I lit my copy of mandrake 8 ablaze, man that was a good day )

 

Did you get pictures ?

That would have been good to see . . . . . .

 

Ubermich - I'll be doing the same thing to my mandrake discs soon enough.

And yes I will get pics

 

right what about installing it on my lappy? the only 2 versions of linux i have are

Mandrake 8.0 and Suse 7.2

laptop specs

PIII 700
64mb ram
8gb hdd
touch pad
yahaha sound card
dvd drive
neo magic graphics card

i have no means of backing up my mp3 connection on the laptop is there anyway to install linux on (DARE I SAY) a fat drive? with a dual boot to windows and i want windows as the primary boot system

i dont want to loose a thing

 

Yes it's possible to install Linux on a FAT partition, but it will be a horrible experience. Similar to punching yourself in the groin until you pass out.


However, you cna't have two OSes on the same partition, so you'd have oty re-size the partitions and such, which could destroy your data anyways.

Also an 8 giger would be pretty cramped for space.

I'd say your best bet would be a second HDD if you really wanted to try it. Unless you got a different distro, such as Gentoo, which you could slim down and make nice and small.

 

ok back to the PC specs above

what distro hould i use on that?

and is anbody willing to send me a copy ( iam a poor sod with no broad band )

gota be easy to use and good for sombody with no linux experience want some sort of office on it and a dual boot to windows!!!

tah

 

I'd send you a copy, but I ain't firing it across the entire globe, sorry. I'd reccomend prety much anything you wanted to try, as that machine will be able to run it.

Bt of course your cramped for space (or have you decided to ahve a second HDD in there?) I'd say Gentoo for space, but that might be a little more work than you want, and without broadband you cna expect to wait a good long time (downloads the packages as it needs them) Slackware would be a good alternative, as apparently it's easy to use (I don't have experience with it).

Avoid Mandrake as it is SARS, Ebola, AIDS, and castration all rolled into one.

Debian may be abother one, but again, mayhap a bit more work than you want. Apparently Suse is dead easy, but that again, will download the packages as it needs them.

Redhat would be another one that's dead easy to use, but it bloated more than a damn whale. It needs LOTS of space, as trimming it down for Redhat is considered 1.5 gigs But it's probably the easiest to get running, most supported by developers and such.

Gu'luck'su . .

 

SuSE is a great distro, way better than mandrake.

7.2 aint that old, try it!!

 

/me watches his server box while mandrake 9.1 installs...

 

/me watches his server box while mandrake 9.1 fails...

 

Hate to say "I told you so..."

Step 1: Burn Mandrake discs
Step 2: ?
Step 3: Profit.

 

ok iam installing a minimal mandrake 8.0 on my lappy but i have a problem! (quiet at the back! i can hear you laughing!) i get to configure x at the end of the installation and it asks me to select my monitor mine isnt listed so i selected generic 1024x768 and it wont let me go further! it says not supported and then asks me to select my monitor again!!

 

is 1024x768 the native res on the display? (I'm assuming it is)

Is there another display similar to yours listed?

If all else fails I'm guessing you could d/l the drivers for it off the intarweb w/o x...

 

That would mean using Lynx, which is akin to diping yourself into a nice big bucket death. Yes I've used it. Everything is all ASCII and horrible.

What model of monitor do you have ? And which is it ? Mandrake or Suse. It'd make it easier for others to help you as well if we are all on the same distro

 

Aw c'mon. It's not that bad. I've been on bit w/ it (I was very very very very very very very very bored).

 

ok iam on suse atm (7.2)

and i cant get out of the initial setup ive installed iam now at the end of YAST2 where it asks you to configure the monitor