[plug] RH 9 instal problems

[Bret Busby]

Has anyone managed to successfully instal RH 9 without using the 
graphical instal?

We tried to instal RH 9 on our server (to replace RH 6.2 - RH 7.3 
didn't properly instal). The server is a Pentium MMX, with 32 MB RAM. 
The installation said that not enough RAM was present to use the 
graphical instal, then proceeded with the text-based instal. The 
installation process did not include any network component at all, and 
failed to detect the mouse.

We bought the manufacturer's $40 version of RH 9. The Installation Guide 
does not include the text-based installation, and gives no details as to 
how to set up the network part either using the text-based installation, 
or, after installation.

In loading XWindows (using GNOME and Sawfish), it is as slow as watching 
the grass grow. My old Cyrix P120+, with 32 MB of RAM, using RH 6.2, 
could load XWindows and Star Office 5.2, faster than the Pentium MMX 
loads XWindows. We tried to load XWindows, to try to use the GUI tool 
for setting up a network interface and configuring the network, but got 
nowhere.

When the computer was rebooted after the initial installation, it had 
still failed to detect that either the network card or the mouse was 
present. Whilst the network card might not be a "plug-n-play" device (I 
am not sure), I expected that the OS would detect that the card was 
present.

I had understood that RH 9 was supposed to make installation easier, but 
this appears more difficult than installing Debian.

I am assuming that the manufacturer's CD's are good (not corrupted).

So, has anyone managed to succesfully instal RH 9, using the text-based 
instal? And, can someone please advise how to (from the command line) 
instal the network card device driver and configure the network? 
Usually, this kind of stuff can be done graphically, but it appears that 
the graphics have become to big in RH 9, to make XWindows useable on 
32MB RAM.

Thanks in anticipation.

-- 
Bret Busby
Armadale
West Australia
..............

"So once you do know what the question actually is,
 you'll know what the answer means."
- Deep Thought,
  Chapter 28 of 
  "The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy:
  A Trilogy In Four Parts",
  written by Douglas Adams, 
  published by Pan Books, 1992 
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