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To access the contents, click the chapter and section titles.
Complete Idiot's Guide to Linux
Part 4
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Device | Make | Model | Comments |
---|---|---|---|
CD-ROM | |||
Ethernet Card | |||
Mouse | COM (serial) port number or PS2 | ||
Video card | Memory size in MB | ||
Monitor | Maximum scan rate and resolution | ||
Modem | COM (serial) port number | ||
RAM | How much RAM do you have? | ||
Item | Address |
---|---|
Machines host name | |
Domain name for your network | |
IP address assigned to your computer | |
Netmask | |
Broadcast address | |
Gateway/Router address | |
DNS name servers (2) | |
The information about your hardware is essential before you install. But in the event that your computer doesnt support booting from a CD-ROM disk, you might need two 3 1/2 floppy disks (1.44MB) that are PC formatted.
So, what kind of hardware do you need to have to install Linux? Linux runs on a slew of platforms. The CD included with this book is only intended for Intel-based PCs. Other distributions have software for Digital Alpha hardware, Sun SPARC, PowerPC, and PA-RISC workstations from Hewlett-Packard. But keep in mind, the basic PC requirement is any 386, 486, Pentium, Pentium Pro, or compatible PC or clone.
In terms of memory, the basic requirements for an install are actually quite modest, especially when compared with other OSs. You should be able to install Linux on an Intel-based computer that has 8MB of RAM. If you intend to use a graphical environment, I strongly recommend that you consider 16MB as the reasonable minimum. Although this is on the questionable side of being enough, it might be all you need for minimum installations. Dont expect a minimal system to be speedy, because the resources are going to be taxed to the max. Given todays beyond reasonable memory prices, a 32MB system should be the minimum you consider if you will be working with Linux using a graphical environment. Having 3240MB will keep Linux zooming right along and should prove to be more responsive than your current OS.
In terms of disk space, a minimal installation can probably fit on 54MB (100MB if youre installing X Windows), but at this size, many important functions will have been omitted. A small installation takes about 136MB. But keep in mind that 418MB is the recommended space for a standard install; this book assumes that you have at least that. More or less space will be required, depending on the options you choose to install. A full install will take around 1000MB, but the majority of users will never need these extra functions.
In addition to these basic requirements, youll also need a mouse and a supported video card if you intend to take advantage of a graphical interface.
If your computer meets or exceeds these standards (any modern $350 PC seems to do), you are ready to check if your hardware is supported.
As a rule of thumb, Win devices (Winmodems, Winprinters, and so on) are not supported. Bleeding-edge hardware, as opposed to leading-edge, is also likely not to be supported. Standard clone stuff will work due to the high-quality standard components and wide availability.
See Appendix B, OpenLinux Compatibility Guide, for the most current list of compatible hardware at the time of this writing. Make a list of the required modules, if any. If your hardware is not listed, it is probably not supported. Some components, such as Ethernet cards, will work if you try the NE2000/NE1000 and provide the IRQ and memory address for the card.
If your hardware is supported, you only need to make one more decision before you install. If you are not sure that Linux is for you, it is possible to install Linux alongside your current OS. This involves a little more preparation but gives you the opportunity to boot your computer with Linux or your other OS.
If you are considering having a dual-boot computer and have not yet installed the other OS, go ahead and do so now. Your installation will be easier if the other OS is already there. It is likely that Linux will be aware of other OSs, but your other OS probably doesnt know how to handle Linux.
Whether or not you are considering sharing the disk with another OS, youll need to create at least two new partitions solely for Linux. Partitions are portions of a disk that are owned and used by a single OS. One partition will accommodate Linux itself, and the other will be used for virtual memory storage (swap space). The minimum size of the swap partition is 16MB, but typically, youll want to allocate a swap space of the same size as you have RAM memory. Therefore, if you have 32MB of RAM, youll want a 32MB swap area.
If your current OSs partition is using all available disk space, you still might be able to install Linux, provided there is free space available within the partition. Included with the Linux distribution is software to allow you to repartition the hard disk without destroying the current contents of your disk. This software is called fips.
Before you run fips, youll need to defragment the disk to ensure that theres enough space for the repartitioning process. Your OS should have a tool such as defrag.exe or optimize.exe for this purpose. If not, there are several available from commercial vendors (Norton Utilities is one) that will do the job. Fips is only able to handle DOS and Windows 95-style partitions. If you are running Windows NT or OS2, you might need to take a look at a commercial product like PartitionMagic (see http://www.powerquest. com) that also supports NTFS and HPFSeven Linux drives.
The fips program, along with some readme files you should definitely read before installing, is located on the CD-ROM under col\tools\fips15. Lets take a quick look at how to repartition your disk space using fips:
Follow the onscreen instructions to reserve the amount of space you expect to need for Linux. A good estimate should include allowances for the size of your Linux install (usually 418MB), the size of your swap space (same size as your memory), and extra space for data you create while using Linux (usually a few hundred megabytes). To resize your DOS partition, use the arrow keys on your keyboard. Press Enter to set the appropriate size. Confirm your changes and reboot your computer.
How you install Linux will depend on whether your BIOS supports booting from a CD-ROM. If your computers BIOS doesnt support booting from a CD-ROM, youll have to create two floppy disks: One disk will be a boot disk, and the other will be a modules (drivers) disk.
If your computer supports booting from a CD, you can skip building the floppies; go directly to the section Starting the Install.
If your computer doesnt support booting from a CD-ROM device, youll need to create two floppies that start the Linux installation. One disk is required to boot the computer (the boot disk). The other disk (the modules or drivers disk) will contain additional software that is necessary if you
If your system is fairly standard, it is unlikely that youll need the second disk, but build it anyway just in case you do. To build the floppies, follow these steps:
To build the modules diskette, repeat steps 36 but provide the name of the modules image instead: d:\col\launch\floppy\modules.144.
Note that rawrite3 sometimes has trouble with Windows NT 4.0 systems and with some computer system BIOS chips. If rawrite3 fails to produce working disks on your computer, you might need to borrow a friends computer for a few moments to make working install and modules disks.
If your computer doesnt support booting from a CD-ROM, insert the install diskette and start your computer. After a few seconds youll see the Linux boot prompt. Hit return to start the installation process.
If your computer supports booting from a CD, put your CD into the CD-ROM, verify that your BIOS is set to boot from the CD (see your computers manual), and start your computer. Booting from the CD is the fastest way to install Linux on your computer.
Either way, after a few seconds youll see the installation screen and a boot: prompt. Hit Enter to expedite the process; otherwise, youll have to wait about 20 seconds before the installation boot begins. After the boot process begins, youll see text scrolling up your display for up to a minute; it is safe to ignore these progress reports.
After the boot process is complete, youll be prompted for the language you want to use during the installation. Select whatever language is appropriate for you. Use the arrow keys to change the selection. When the option you want is highlighted, press Enter. Note that while installing, the button with the white text is the selected option. This is not always obvious.
Next youll be asked to select a keyboard layout matching your locale (country). Do so and press Enter.
Next, youll be asked if you want to resume installation from a known configuration. The No option should be selected (white letters); press Enter. If you are a system administratortype person, it might be useful to know that at the end of an install, you can save your configuration to disk. If you are installing Linux on multiple machines, you can use the configuration information on the disk so you dont have to repeat the same configuration selection data.
The next screen will provide various options that LISA (Linux Installation and System Administration utility) will use to obtain configuration information. The options displayed on this screen are as follows:
Select the Use this setup and continue option and press Enter. LISA will now probe your computer and try to locate some basic hardware.
After its initial probe, LISA will report the IDE and ATAPI (CD-ROM) disks that it found. Verify that your IDE and ATAPI devices are found.
Press Enter and confirm that all devices have been recognized. If they havent, LISA will perform a more detailed probe of your system.
If you answered No when asked if all your IDE and ATAPI devices were found, LISA will probe for additional devices. Go ahead with the cautious autoprobe. After a few moments, LISA will display additional devices it found during the probe, if any. Make note of the devices found. (You might have to use your up/down arrows to see them all.) Press Enter to continue.
If your system freezes during the cautious probe, you can press your reset button and try the install again. If your system freezes on the second try, youve probably discovered a hardware conflict that needs to be resolveda topic beyond the scope of this book. For now, youll either have to live without the devices Linux didnt find, or youll have to look into technical support options from Caldera. (Linux user groups also might provide some great information resources.)
If all of your devices were found, answer Yes to the recognized hardware question. Otherwise, answer No to manually load additional kernel modules with the Kernel Module Manager.
If not all of your hardware was found, youll need to manually specify the missing devices and pick the appropriate module (driver) for it. If you made your list and verified that your components are compatible with Linux, this is not really all that difficult.
Select the Load kernel modules option and press Enter to manually select any missing devices. On the Load Kernel Module panel that is displayed, select the type of driver you want to load. For example, if your Ethernet card was not recognized, select Load driver for network card and press Enter.
You will then be presented with a list of all available drivers. If your card is listed, select it and press Enter to continue. You might be required to provide some parameters before the card is successfully recognized. If so, read the next section, Module Options.
Module Options
On your keyboard, press Alt+F2 and type help at the login prompt. This will display the Installation Help System. Select the List of possible parameters for module loading option. A list of the modules and required parameters will be displayed. Press j to scroll down and k to scroll up a line at a time. To move an entire screen at a time, press f or b to go forward or backward, respectively. Find the documentation on the driver you need.
For example, my network card is a LynkSys Ether16, a card that is not automatically recognized by Linux. However, many PC Ethernet cards are compatible with the NE2000/NE1000. If you scroll down the document, youll see an entry for it, telling you that NE2000/NE1000 takes two parametersthe IO and IRQ settings. Make a note of this, and press q to exit the help document. This will return you to the Installation Help System. Select the Exit this help system (quit) option and press Enter. Press Alt+F1 to return to your installation window, pick the correct module (in my case, NE2000/NE1000), and provide the parameters as per your installation list.
If you absolutely cant figure out the proper parameters to provide to the module, try using the module without specifying any parameters. Although this is not recommended, some modules will work this way.
When you attempt to load the module, you will be informed whether this worked. Keep in mind that you might be prompted to insert the modules floppy at some point. Press Alt+F6 to see any diagnostic errors that might have been raised when the module was loading. Press Alt+F1 to return to the installation screen. You should see a message indicating whether your card was recognized. Repeat the process for any other devices that werent recognized.
The Hardware found screen should now list any added devices. Press Enter to continue the installation. If you are done loading modules, select Return to previous menu and press Enter. Then select Finish kernel module management and press Enter.
At this point you might need to define partitions for Linux and its swap area. If you do, answer Yes to the Change Partition Table panel.
This will prompt you to select a disk. Pick the disk you want to change, and answer Yes to the Change Partition Table panel.
Using Fdisk
You will be dumped into an fdisk session. Fdisk is used to define partitions. It is a dangerous program because it gives you the ability to delete a partition that contains data.
Creating the Primary Linux Partition
Follow these steps to create the primary partition:
Creating the Swap Partition
Follow these steps to create the swap partition:
Saving Your Changes
To save your changes, enter w. This will write your new partitions to disk and exit the program. When returned to the Hard Disk Selection panel, select No further hard disk changes and press Enter.
You will now be warned that you might need to reboot your system to ensure that your partitions were properly allocated on disk. This is not normally necessary with recent computers; most users can continue with the install process safely. If you do have an older system and decide to reboot, youll have to redo many of the Linux install steps up to this point.
The partition that you designated for the swap area should be highlighted. Click Continue to initialize it. This will enable Linux to access it.
Next, you are prompted for the Installation Source Selection; dont freak outthis is just a fancy way of asking you where your Linux installation disk is. Select CD and press Enter. A window with a list for all possible CD devices is displayed. If you have a standard ATAPI CD-ROM, you should see your CD-ROM selected. Otherwise, select the appropriate drive as per your configuration list.
LISA will confirm the version of the CD you are using for installation. Press Enter to acknowledge that this is what you want.
Next, you are asked to select the root partition. LISA should highlight the partition you created earlier for this purpose; press Enter.
LISA will confirm that the selected partition will be erased and all data it currently contains will be lost. Press Enter to confirm your choice or press your arrow key to select No to cancel the operation.
LISA will ask you if you want to check the new partition for errors. This is generally necessary only for older 386 or 486 computers or for cautious individuals. If your computer is a newer system, you can safely skip the error check. (This type of error check can take many hours if you happen to be running it on the newer, larger hard drives.) After a few moments, youll be asked if you want to mount additional partitions. Select No. You will see information as LISA formats and prepares the partition. The format process can take anywhere from a few moments to a few hours, depending on the size of the disk and whether you chose to verify the format.
You are then prompted to select the type of install. Select standard system. This book assumes that you will use this type of installation. (Note that 418MB of disk space is required for this installation, and that this number does not include space for your own data files.)
Next, you need to pick the X11 server appropriate for your video card. The X11 server is the software that displays a graphical user interface on your screen. This software is matched to the type of video card you have. Moving up and down through the list with your arrow keys, use the Spacebar to select both of the following servers:
By default, the XFree86-VGA16 server will also be installed. This 16-color server will allow you to configure the server that more closely matches your card. If the server that matches your card doesnt work, you can then try the SVGA server. If you are unable to find another server that works with your card, the generic VGA16 server will always be available. Keep in mind, however, that choosing this type of server will limit you to a small screen with only 16-color support.
From here on, Linux will begin to copy and install files. When it finishes doing so, it will ask you for some additional information. In the meantime, go and take a coffee break. This process will take anywhere from 10 minutes to several hours, depending on the speed of your CD-ROM drive, speed of your CPU (386, 486, or faster), and type of install you selected (although you shouldnt have chosen any other type of install when weve coached you to choose standard system).
When file copying is completed, you will be prompted for various Network settings.
Hostname Entry
In the Hostname Entry panel you are asked for the fully qualified domain name of your computer. If your computer is in a networked environment, enter that name here. Otherwise, name your computer anything you want, but use a domain like the default .nodomain.nowhere (a domain that doesnt exist).
Network Card Configuration
Next, you are asked if you have a network card. Enter Yes if you do, No otherwise. If you have a network card, its name is probably eth0 (multiple network cards are named by exchanging the 0 for some other number). Enter eth0 as the device name for the network interface.
The next step is to provide an IP address for the card. If your computer is on a small, local network without a registered IP number(s), use an IP like 192.168.0.1 or 10.0.0.1. (You can replace the 1 with any number up to 254, depending on this machines location in the network.) These IP sets are reserved for private networks that are not registered with Internet IP numbers. If this computer will have a registered IP number on the Internet, provide a real IP number.
Enter a network mask if yours differs from the one that Linux calculated for you; same for the broadcast address. If you have a router or gateway, press Enter to set its IP; otherwise, select No and press Enter.
If you have a DNS name server, press Enter to enter this IP; otherwise, answer No. Or, if you have NIS information from your system administrator, enter it now. Otherwise, you should select Do not use NIS and press Enter.
If your clock is set to Greenwich Mean Time, select this option. If not, select Local Time. If you dont know, your computer is almost certainly set to local time. When asked to do so, pick your time zone.
In the Configure Mouse Type panel, you get to pick the type of mouse you have. Select the appropriate setting and press Enter. If youre asked to select a serial port for your mouse, select the port to which your mouse is connected.
Select your printer from the list of available printer types. If a driver or module for your exact printer is not available, select another model by the same manufacturer. I have an Epson Photo Stylus 700 printer and use the Epson Stylus Color setting. Youll then be asked for the port to use in communicating with the printer, the default resolution, and the default paper size. Provide the appropriate values.
At the Password for root prompt, guess what youll be asked? Heres where youll set the root password. Now, you might be asking, what in the world is root? Root is a special administrative account that should only be used for system configuration. This password is essential. Whatever you set it to, make sure that you dont forget it. Otherwise, you might have to reinstall the system. Note that your characters will not show as you type the password in. This is so that someone cant look over your shoulder and steal your password. After entering it once, youll be asked to enter it again so that the computer is sure you typed it correctly.
Accounts are covered in more detail in the first few chapters in the book. For now, just remember this password.
If you should only use the root account for system configuration, what account do you use on a day-to-day basis? The step following the root password setup is where you create your own home account. This is the account that you normally use when working with Linux. Select a username (eight characters, no spaces). Typically, your account will be your first name or a combination of your first and last names, although it could be your nickname. Enter the first letter of your name followed by your last name, or anything else you like.
Leave the UID displayed as it is (100).
Select users standard group.
Press Enter to set the users home directory. It should read /home/username where username is the username you selected for your account.
On the shell selection, leave GNU bash as the default option.
Enter your full name and provide a password for your account. Again, your characters will not display as you type them, and youll be asked to enter the password twice.
Dont forget your username and password; youll need them to log in. Note that passwords and logins are case sensitive.
The next few steps configure the LILO boot manager. LILO is the software responsible for starting your computer when you use Linux. If Linux is sharing your computer with another OS, LILO can provide you with a choice of OSs when you start your computer. To do this, LILO must be installed on the first hard disks MBR (master boot record).
Some OSs, like Windows NT, dont like LILO very much. For a multiboot system with NT, youll need to install LILO on the Linux root partition instead of on the MBR and configure the NT loader to give you a choice when you start your box (computer). Other OSs like MS-DOS, Windows 95, and Windows 98 work fine with LILO on the MBR.
When installing LILO, you will be asked to choose a Linux kernel for your system. Select the default (/boot/vmlinuz) and press Enter. If you are asked to provide an initial ramdisk file image, select the default file by pressing Enter. If you are asked to name the boot image, the default name linux should be used. At the boot parameter box, press Enter to accept whichever values appear by default, unless you do need to add some special parameters for your hardware. When the LILO installation menu displays again, select No further entries to add to LILO and press Enter to display the configuration file LISA has built for you. Press Enter to continue, and when the Install LILO as configured dialog box is displayed, press Enter once more to install LILO.
Say OK to the options listed for the daemon/server autostart. These options should be left alone unless you know what you are doing. If you need to alter these settings at some point in the future, you can do them using LISA without having to reinstall Linux.
To configure X Windows, select the X11 server appropriate for your card and press Enter.
Select Yes to call XF86Setup right now. For LISA, right now really means postpone this until the installation is finished, so you wont see XF86Setup until later.
If you have another floppy disk handy, save your configuration to a diskette in case you need to restore it later. This will save you from having to manually reconfigure the install.
Congratulations! You have installed most of Linux on your system. Your computer will now boot into Linux, and afterward, youll be able to setup the X server. During the boot process, youll notice some scrolling status information while Linux starts. This process will take anywhere from several seconds to several minutes, depending on the speed of your computer.
After your computer finishes booting into Linux, you should see a graphics screen with an X-shaped mouse pointer. After a few seconds, the XF86Setup program will be displayed.
If your mouse is working, you can use the mouse to click on boxes and select various options. Otherwise, you might have to use your arrow and Tab keys to move among the various options. Use the Enter key to activate the option.
Mouse Settings for X Windows
The mouse configuration screen allows you to set the details about your mouse (see the next figure). Linux likes mouse devices that have three buttons. If your mouse only has two, you might want to consider purchasing an inexpensive three-button mouse. Your other alternative is to select the Emulate3Buttons option. This will require that you press both mouse buttons at the same time to simulate the middle one.
Note that configuring a nonworking mouse can be tricky. For example, some newer Logitech mouse devices use the Microsoft protocol, whereas some older Microsoft mouse devices use the Logitech protocol. If yours is an older mouse, try to match the name of the mouse to the name of the protocol. If yours is a newer serial mouse, it is most likely a Microsoft mouse, regardless of its manufacturer. If your mouse is connected to a PS/2 mouse port, select the PS/2 protocol. If your mouse is already working, just let it be!
The mouse configuration option allows you to fine-tune and configure your mouse settings. If your mouse is working, you should leave most of the settings as they are by default.
Keyboard Configuration
To begin keyboard configuration, select the Keyboard button at the top of the display (see the following figure). More than likely your keyboard is already working properly. One setting that many people like is assigning the Caps Lock key (to the right of the A key) as the Ctrl key. This is only one of the possible options. The keyboard selection also has settings for specific keyboards from Dell and other vendors, including laptop models. Check this option to see if you have one of those listed. Click the Apply button when you have completed your configuration.
The keyboard option allows you to select a keyboard and to control various options such as the location of the Ctrl key.
Video Card Configuration
To begin video card configuration, select the Card button at the top of the display. The following figure shows you your video card configuration. Provided you selected the appropriate X11 server to match your card, you should be able to specify a minimum number of settings to have your card recognized. You will want to specify the amount of Video RAM you have and the chipset. If you know the exact card and chip settings (an S3 86C375/86C385 type of thing), you can click on the Card List button, pick the correct card, and then press Detailed Setup.
If you dont know a specific value, use the Probed options. XF86Setup will try to query the card for the unknown information. If your card is unknown, you might want to try the SVGA settings. The system wont be able to make use of advanced features available for your card, but youll be able to work while you find more information about your system.
Configuring Your Monitor
To begin monitor configuration, select the Monitor button at the top of the display, as shown in the next figure. Youll need to know the specs for your monitor and supply the appropriate range for horizontal and vertical refresh rates. If you dont know them, youll need to pick one of the options listed. Note that its very important that you supply the correct options for your monitor. Using incorrect refresh rates will overdrive your monitor, possibly wrecking it. This is more of an issue with non-multisynctype monitors. If you have your monitor manual, you should enter the settings yourself by hand.
This is the configuration screen for your video card. Note that you can assign multiple settings by clicking the Card List button and picking your card.
Laptop monitors can be especially tricky. Newer laptops might work without problems using standard 640×480, 800×600, or 1024×768 modes. (Select the resolution that matches your laptops display.) Some laptops, on the other hand, might exhibit display problems. On my laptop I have been unable to find the proper setting, so when I boot into X-Windows, my screen dances. My fix for a number of years has been to switch between monitor output options (internal and external), and that somehow fixes the problem for the session.
Monitor resolution selects the refresh rates your monitor is capable of supporting. Overclocking a refresh rate will kill a monitor.
Selecting Resolutions
To begin resolution configuration, select the Modeselection button at the top of the display. Youll see the screen shown in the next figure. Depending on the amount of video RAM your video card has, it might be possible to specify various resolutions and color settings. By default, X-Windows will use the biggest resolution the card can handle. In some environments, this means enabling a virtual screen in which the screen drops off the right and bottom edges. Moving the cursor to the right or bottom edges scrolls what you see. To me, this sort of setting is disturbing, so I specify settings that match what my monitor can do.
The color depth selection is activated by the four buttons at the bottom of the panel: 8 bpp (bits per pixel) will yield 256 colors, 16bpp will yield 32768 colors, and 24 and 32bpp will yield 65535 and millions of colors, respectively. Note that not all video cards will support all display depths.
The Modeselection panel allows you to set the resolutions you want to use on your monitor along with the default color depth.
Other Configurations
The Other configuration has to do with options for switching resolutions and exiting the X server (see the following figure). The Ctrl+Alt+Numeric Pad plus (+) and minus (-) keys allow you to switch between different display resolutions on the fly. The Ctrl+Alt+Backspace sequence is used to exit immediately from the X server. If you boot into X Windows and cannot read the screen, Ctrl+Alt+Backspace will take you back to the command prompt. You might need to do this once or twice before you get your configuration right.
The Other configuration panel allows you to set options regarding switching resolutions and exiting X-Windows.
When you click Done to exit the XF86Setup program, XF86Setup will prompt you to make sure youre done setting up your system. If you select OK, XF86Setup will try to start your card-specific X server using the settings you specified for your monitor and video card. If your settings appear normal, you are done. If your screen is scrunched up and your monitor geometry buttons dont correct the problem, you might need to use xvidtune, a program that will fine-tune the video rates. Xvidtune is a potentially dangerous program and should be used only if you cannot adjust the picture using your monitors controls.
If your settings are correct, you should see a black-and-white mesh as the background for your screen and a window without any title bars that aligns with the top-left corners of the screen. If this is correct, click Save the configuration and exit button. Your system will now boot into multiuser mode and is ready for use.
Congratulations! Now that youve installed and configured Caldera OpenLinux, turn to Chapter 1, The First Login on the KDE Desktop to get started using your new OS.
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