[plug] Setting up Mandrake 8.1 on a PC

Sat May 18 00:17:27 WST 2002

Hello Paul,

At 07:29 PM 17-05-2002 +0800, you wrote:

>I am going to install Mandrake 8.1 onto my home computer into its own
>partition and make the computer dual boot between Mandrake and Windows 98se.
>

I was in the same situation as you a couple of months ago - I needed Linux
at home so I could do my Uni work at home - without having to spend hours on
end in the labs at Uni trying to learn Unix related stuff.

At Uni we have access to an online forum - I have extracted some of my posts
to this forum (see attachment),
I am not a Linux expert, so you may get better information elsewhere, if
somebody tells that my advice is wrong , please let me know so that I can
correct my thinking (I am still learning too !).

I hope you get some benefit from what I have sent you - it all worked for me
with Redhat 7.0 - and I am about to got to Redhat 7.3.

Good luck and let me know how you fared.
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Message no. 22 posted by Arie Hol on Tue Feb 19, 2002 22:50

Subject Multi Boot Systems

I recently set up a Pentium 200 with 32Mb RAM and a 10Gb HDD. After a few stuff ups I eventually had a multi boot system with Windows 98 SE, Windows 2000 and Redhat Linux (ver 7.0).

I used Partition Magic to create the Partitions for all OS's. The Linux partitions were created individually and then manually assigned to Linux during the Linux installation.

The only problems I had were:

Problem 1 - I did not have the vertical and horizontal refresh rates for my monitor.

Solution 1 - found out the minimum and maximum rates for vertical and horizontal refresh.

Problem 2 - I did not know the chipset on my graphics adapter.

Solution 2 - used diagnostics utility to find out the graphics chipset and video RAM (S3 in my 		case with 4Mb RAM)

Problem 3 - The bios had a limitation of 8Gb.

Solution 3 - root partition "/" @ 200 Mb was created as a primary partition within the first 2Gb 	boundary - the rest of the this 2Gb area was given to a primary partition for Win 98 & 		Win 2000. The following partitions - "/usr" @ 1200Mb - "/var" @ 149Mb - "/home" @ 1200 Mb 	- "swap" @ 360Mb - were created as logical partitions within the extended partition 		between the 2Gb and the 8Gb boundaries. An extra partition was created above the 8Gb 		boundary (but only Win2000 can see it and use it)

Problem 4 - Order of OS installation

Solution 4 - First a clean install of Windows 98SE (plus applications). Followed by a clean 		install of Windows 2000 (plus a repeated install of the same applications as for Win 		98).Then finally a fresh install of Redhat Linux (ver7.0).

Outcome of soution 4 - a system which will boot to a menu alowing a choice of Linux (default 		after 10 seconds) or DOS. The system would then display a menu to choose either Windows 	2000 (default after 10 seconds) OR Windows 98.

	This PC is part of a peer to peer network and so far has given reliable performance as 	part of this network and is surprising considering it only has 32 Mb RAM. 

NOTE: 	Linux not yet configured for the network.

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Message no. 50 [Branch from no. 43] posted by Arie Hol on Sat Mar 02, 2002 01:23

Subject Installing Linux Mandrake

Refer to Message: 22 " Multi Boot Systems "

If you have a PC that already has Windows on it and has at least 2.5 - 3.00 Gb of empty space on it :

1 - clean all unnecessary files from your system.

2 - run defrag to defragment "ALL FILES".

3 - reconfigure your Windows "Swap file" so it is 'temporary' (restore to permanent after Linux)

4 - use a partitioning utility such as Partition Magic to reduce the size of the Windows/DOS         	based partition/s in order to create 2.5 - 3.0 Gb of "unallocated space"

NOTE: on the partition that is used for the Windows swap file - Make sure that THERE IS AT LEAST 10-15% of the total partition space available for the swap file.

5 - then use the same partitioning utility to alter the existing partitions to allow for your "/"     	partition to be within the first 2Gb boundary (this must be a primary partition), then 	create an extended partition or use the existing extended partition to create the 		required Linux partition/s as logical partitions within that extended partition.

NOTE: if part of any linux partition is likely to go beyond the 8Gb boundary then you MUST ENSURE that partition starts within the 8Gb boundary and then extends out past 8Gb. Some versions of Linux cannot see a partition which starts beyond the 8Gb boundary.

6 - run your Linux installer and then use the partitioning utility within the installer (e.g.        Disk Druid) which will detect the partitions you have created and allow you to manually         assign the partitions for Linux.

NOTE: the installer doesn't care how big/small your partitions are - but if they are too small - your instal session will be for nothing and you will have to do it again and again - TIP when you do the first install make a note of the size of the packages you install and also
the total space required - then when you create/resize your partitions  make sure that the "/usr" partition is larger than the total space required for the packages.

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Message no. 54  posted by Arie Hol on Tue Mar 05, 2002 00:56

Subject Hard Drive Partitioning

For those people interested in using Partition Magic (Version 5).

If you have plenty of space on your hard drive you should not have any trouble with the installation, but you need to create or rearrange your partitions to suit Linux.

Partition Magic 5 is alright for Windows versions up to Windows 98SE and ME. 

If you have Windows 2000 of greater you should only use Partition Magic 5 before you install Windows 2000 and not after. 

Partition Magic 5 will create, alter, copy and move partitions to suit your preferences.

But the "/" partition for linux must be a primary partition below the 2 Gb boundary, and all other Linux partitions can be put in the extended partion but must start before the 8Gb boundary.

A lot will depend on the arrangement of your current partition/s.

You need to take extreme care when installing Linux, Partition Magic can create your partitions before you run the Linux installer. Then you need to assign these partitions to Linux "MANUALLY" when the installer runs the Linux partitioning utility.

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Message no. 67 posted by Arie Hol on Thu Mar 21, 2002 21:37

Subject Hard Drive Partitioning

Partiton Magic Version 5 is safe for all versions of Windows and DOS up to and including Windows ME.

If you have Windows 2000 you SHOULD ONLY use Partition Magic version 5 - BEFORE INSTALLING Windows 2000.

I do not recommend using Partition Magic version 5 after installing Windows 2000.

I do not recommend using Partition Magic version 5 for ANY VERSION of Windows XP. (It might be safe before you install XP but I can't be too sure at this stage.)

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Message no. 81 posted by Arie Hol on Thu Apr 04, 2002 17:49

Subject Dual Boot Problem with Win2000

The article at http://www.enterprisedt.com/publications/dual_boot.html is very interesting.

But I would take a great deal of care if I followed the writers example.

The writer did not state which version of Linux he installed.

If he had installed a recent version of Linux - then a great deal of what he has outlined is not necessary.

LILO will give boot menu options for Win 2k.

A lot depends on the preparation and configuration of the system before, during and after installation of the operating systems.

Please refer to my previous posts covering installation and partitioning.

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Message no. 82 posted by Arie Hol on Thu Apr 04, 2002 19:38

Subject Dual Boot Problem with Win2000

Have a look at : http://www.linuxdoc.org/HOWTO/Large-Disk-HOWTO-11.html

If your hard drive is > 30Gb, you may run into problems when you reach the 33.8 Gb boundary. 

The above link points to a web page that explains it quite well.

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Message no. 83 posted by Arie Hol on Thu Apr 04, 2002 19:59

Subject Dual Boot Problem with Win2000

If you have problems with booting Windows NT, 2k or XP after installing Linux go to :

http://ourworld.compuserve.com/homepages/gvollant/bootpart.htm