cyranoVR's Journal: TODO: Install Mandrake Linux 9.1 on my T20

Authors note: I am probably not going to move forward on my Install-Linux-Plan until after the July 4th weekend, as I have to be well rested for Nationals.

I have decided to install Mandrake Linux on my T20 because I have read and heard good things about it. I get the impression that RedHat is too "mainstream" and oriented towards the server market, and I didn't like the goofy cartoony look/feel SuSE live-eval that I tried out last night.

Todo:

1) Download the "extras" ISO, since I only have "Disk 1" - the installation CD
2) Create a Windows 2000 Emergency Repair Disk so I can restore things if I screw things up.
3) Read up on dual-booting so that I know what I am doing and don't screw things up.
(So far I have learned that I don't want the LILO to overwrite the MBR or whatever - and that the best plan is to boot into linux from a floppy).
4) Search my hard drive for stuff I can't live without and back it up (there shouldn't be too much of this, seeing as I just started using it full time last week).
5) Delete any files I don't need and re-defragment my hard drive (making way for the linux partitions).
6) Re-read installation and dual-booting articles.
7) Install, and make sure that I choose LILO from a floppy drive so I don't have to worry about losing access to windows.

My modem is on the COM 4 Port - 3Com Mini PCI 56k
NIC card is also 3Com Mini PCI
The video card is S3 Graphics Savage / IX 1014
The sound card is Crystal Sound Fusion
monitor: IBM Thinkpad 1024x768 TFT LCD panel

Questions:

Will Mandrake support my T20's superdrive? It is allows "hot swapping" of my CD-RW, DVD and floppy drives.

Will Windows be able to access the Linux partitions and vice versa?

Updates 6/30/03:
Wow, there is a lot of stuff on the Internet about installing Linux on my T20. Thinkpad Configuration Tool for Linux - "tpctl" - looks particularly promising.

Some other articles and KB entries on the MBR:

FDISK/MBR Rewrites the Master Booth Record

Installing your Kernel

KB: How to Remove the Linux LILO Boot Manager

A few answers

[Trolling4Dollars]

I haven't tried Mandrake since version 6 or 7. It was originally a Redhat derivative but broke away fiarly quickly to establish it's own approach to things. I don't know how different it is now in terms of file system layout (where programs are put) and application options.

As far as RedHat being "too mainstream", it's all a matter of opinion. I've played around with SuSE, Redhat, Lycoris, The old Caldera, Corel and Mandrake. To one extent or another, I've found things I like and dislike about each. Re

Some remarks

[jawtheshark]

My experience with Linux was mostly with a Slackware derivate called Peanut Linux, which I chose because it was a small distrib which worked fine on my old Laptop.

Read up on dual-booting so that I know what I am doing and don't screw things up. (So far I have learned that I don't want the LILO to overwrite the MBR or whatever - and that the best plan is to boot into linux from a floppy).

The boot floppy is the "safest" way, but really, you shouldn't be afraid of putting LILO in the MBR. I have *always*

Re:Some remarks

[rkz]

ermm.. Windows does support EXT2 fisle systems, look here [sourceforge.net] for the driver.

I think if you are scared of things like LILO and GRUB then you might be better off downloading Knoppix [knopper.net], which is a 'Live CD', just boot from CD-ROM and you get a fully working debian based distrobution. This will not touch or mess with your windows installation and you can easily install it to your hard disk by simply typing knx-hdinstall at the root console if you like it.

Re:Some remarks

[jawtheshark]

Dude... I was talking about basic Windows installs. Of course the open source community is going to have a solution to read ext2 from W32 platforms. After all, ext2 is well documented (unlike NTFS)

Knoppix is indeed a useful "first contact" distro, but CyranoVR doesn't seem to be competely in that category.
The grub/lilo scare is not necessary. Heck, if he really wants he can use the NT4/W2K/WXP bootloader. Never done that myself, but I know it's possible. I however think that LILO in the MBR is the

Re:Some remarks

[cyranoVR]

The laptop is running windows 2000 with one continuous NTFS partition. I recently deframented it, so Mandrake shouldn't have a problem setting up it's own partition?

Re:Some remarks

[jawtheshark]

I was reading the front page article Windows Tech Writer Looks at Linux [slashdot.org]. From comments I read there, it should have no problem. I usually use an older DOS-based version of PartitionMagic, but that one has problems with Win2000 NTFS (not with NT4).

I recommend you to backup your vital data just in case. I usually pre-partition my disks for multi-OS usage: the first thing I always ditch is the OS that comes on a new computer. I haven't actually ever installed Linux alongside an existing Windows par

Re:Some remarks

[cyranoVR]

From the linked page:
If the machine has Windows NT/2000/XP that uses an NTFS filesystem, one of the easier ways to resize an NTFS partition is to get Mandrake Linux 9.1, which includes the ability to easily resize NTFS partitions through a graphical user interface. You would start the process of installing Mandrake Linux. Then after you have shrunk the NTFS partition, you can either continue to install Mandrake, or you can then install another version of Linux.

Score! Looks like I am starting out right.

Re:Some remarks

[jawtheshark]

Do you really think I would have linked to that article without reading it myself? I *knew* it said Mandrake 9.1 did it correctly.
Good luck, by the way. I have to admit that for the moment, I'm Linux free. (Running OS X, Window2000 and OpenBSD 3.2 each on different machines) I need to kick my own butt and install Linux on that Windows2000 machine. I mean, I have 120Gig freespace on that machine, plenty of space, and if I recall correctly, the partitions for Linux are already defined.

Re:Some remarks

[cyranoVR]

OpenBSD but no linux? That reminds me of a funny site I happened across once:

http://www.linuxisforbitches.com/

Especially this [linuxisforbitches.com].

Re:Some remarks

[jawtheshark]

Well, that has historical reasons. I'm pretty sure I can manage a Linux system, after all, I did that back in the day when my old laptop was my secondary machine and my only laptop. You know, with a P120 with 32Meg RAM and 1.3Gig harddisk you're rather limited to either Win9x (which sucks) or Linux.

One day, I rolled the family server. Being insecure about my own skills, I went with OpenBSD because of its strong security reputation. I learned a lot by using OpenBSD, it is very interesting. I like Open

Check your links

[jawtheshark]

FDISK/MBR Rewrites the Master Booth Record

Is faulty.... You probably forgot to add the http:// part

Re:Check your links

[cyranoVR]

Fixed.

Actually, I accidentally pasted in the whole "use mandrake for Win2K" quote into the Href value (d'oh).

[K] responds

[lemon70]

I have decided to install Mandrake Linux on my T20 because I have read and heard good things about it.

Good for you. As [K] [slashdot.org], you know I began with Mandrake 8.2. I think Mandrake is a good place for someone to start with linux. It will take care of a lot of the things that struck me as kind of scary like partitioning, boot config, and hardware detection. You can start working with linux quicker and avoid a lot of the headaches that can come up when using linux. You clearly remember that some thin [slashdot.org]

Re:[K] responds

[cyranoVR]

Thanks for the comments - and glad to see that you set up an account :)

Post Script

[cyranoVR]

It turns out that I am Palm OS - which makes sense because I actually have often admired the OS on my Handspring for its efficiency and simplicity. PocketPC seems like cramming too much into something you'll barely use.

You are Palm OS. Punctual, straightforward and very useful. Your mother wants you to do more with your life like your cousin Wince, but you're happy with who you are.