# Linux?



## Punk (Jun 13, 2008)

Hello,

I would like to try a Linux on my computer. I have a 15GB partition on my second HD and would like to put Linux on it. Is it enough?

Also which version should I use? I'm a total noob of linux, I just want to try it. Also is Linux only good at programming or is it good a digital pictures/video like MAC is (comparing to XP)?

Can someone give me a step by step help on how to install Linux? I don't know a lot about OSes .

Thanks


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## PHATSPEED7x (Jun 13, 2008)

www.ubuntu.com and download the program, then make a boot CD. You can choose to try it on your computer without changing your current OS. I'm still playing around with it on my Sony, but havn't decided if I'm going to switch over.


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## porterjw (Jun 13, 2008)

> I would like to try a Linux on my computer. I have a 15GB partition on my second HD and would like to put Linux on it. Is it enough?



15 GB will be more than enough. You'll have to break it down into at least two partitions though still (One for Swap, one for the OS).



> Also which version should I use? I'm a total noob of linux, I just want to try it.



The general consensus among the Linux community is that Ubuntu is the most user-friendly to those wanting to try it out, while still maintaining a similar (default) feel that Windows gives. It's not to say it's just for beginners though, it will still give you complete control over the entire OS when you want it. Others have found SUSE or Mint is nice, too. I would stay away from Gentoo to start out on - it's geared towards a bit more advanced users.



> Also is Linux only good at programming or is it good a digital pictures/video like MAC is (comparing to XP)?



FWIW, on my system, Ubuntu smokes Windows when it comes to multimedia, both video and sound quality. Each OS utilizes the exact same hardware, yet Ubuntu gives a much sharper image and crisper sound.



> Can someone give me a step by step help on how to install Linux? I don't know a lot about OSes .



Generally the same for each Distro - visit it's homepage, download the version you want (Live CD if applicable or Text-installer), and burn it as a .iso. Reboot, boot to your CD, and select Install.


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## Kesava (Jun 14, 2008)

i usually have 2 partitions... 10 gb for the OS and 2gb for swap


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## Punk (Jun 14, 2008)

Kuzba said:


> i usually have 2 partitions... 10 gb for the OS and 2gb for swap



What is swap?


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## patrickv (Jun 14, 2008)

Punk said:


> What is swap?



swap is the portion of the hard drive that linux uses as virtual memory when it runs out of physical memory. same as the windows swap


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## Punk (Jun 14, 2008)

patrickv said:


> swap is the portion of the hard drive that linux uses as virtual memory when it runs out of physical memory. same as the windows swap



Oh ok, I had never heard of it 

Does it depend on how much RAM you have? I have 1.4 GB.

I'm downloading Kubuntu KDE4 8.04. In the description, it looked good for imaging. Am I right?

Thanks for your help so far


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## Punk (Jun 14, 2008)

I'm buirning the image right now. 

Will all my programs run on Linux?

Or at least Itunes or Msn Messenger?


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## tlarkin (Jun 14, 2008)

Why not just make a virtual machine of linux?  That way you don't have to fuss with partitions, and Microsoft's Virtual PC is a free download.


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## Punk (Jun 14, 2008)

tlarkin said:


> Why not just make a virtual machine of linux?  That way you don't have to fuss with partitions, and Microsoft's Virtual PC is a free download.



What exactly is the difference?

Also the hard drive is already partitioned, I have two partitions, one I use to keep all of my picture (this one must not be deleted at any time) and the other one I want to use for Kubuntu.

I tried it and it didn't work:


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## PabloTeK (Jun 14, 2008)

Perhaps it was a bad burn/download; sometimes they can throw up odd errors.


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## Punk (Jun 14, 2008)

PabloTeK said:


> Perhaps it was a bad burn/download; sometimes they can throw up odd errors.



Damn, that download took me an hour and a half...


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## PabloTeK (Jun 14, 2008)

They do unfortunately, you can order a Kubuntu CD from http://shipit.ubuntu.com though.


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## titaniumjjp (Jun 14, 2008)

Punk said:


> I'm buirning the image right now.
> 
> Will all my programs run on Linux?
> 
> Or at least Itunes or Msn Messenger?



There are linux versions of many common programs. Itunes won't work but if you have an ipod, you can still use it. There's a program called gtkpod that will allow you to sync your ipod. Instead a msn messenger, you can use gaim. It supports msn so you'll still have your contacts and everything.


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## porterjw (Jun 14, 2008)

Punk said:


> Damn, that download took me an hour and a half...



Much more often than not, it's a burn issue as opposed to DL issue. Try re-burning the .iso at the slowest speed supported by your burner.


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## Punk (Jun 14, 2008)

imsati said:


> Much more often than not, it's a burn issue as opposed to DL issue. Try re-burning the .iso at the slowest speed supported by your burner.



Alright I'll try it thanks


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## Punk (Jun 14, 2008)

imsati said:


> Much more often than not, it's a burn issue as opposed to DL issue. Try re-burning the .iso at the slowest speed supported by your burner.



Did that, didn't help


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## porterjw (Jun 15, 2008)

Hmmm. Refresh my memory for your System specs? Honestly, I've never seen that error before. Rather than google some of the code and seeing what pops up and giving the wrong info, I'd make sure there are no known hardware issues.


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## tlarkin (Jun 15, 2008)

Your hard drive is giving I/O errors which is not good.  What file system did you format it in?

I still vote you just make a Linux virtual machine.


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## alienationware (Jun 15, 2008)

Linux is over-rated.  Switched back to WinXP and happy about it.

With Ubuntu, I noticed that every night around 8PM, I get these massive downloads of +200MB out of thin air, even though I am not using the internet at that time...  Want to secretly steal my CPU power crunching downloaded (astronomy, or w/e conspiracy) data from NASA/the government eh?


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## tlarkin (Jun 15, 2008)

alienationware said:


> Linux is over-rated.  Switched back to WinXP and happy about it.
> 
> With Ubuntu, I noticed that every night around 8PM, I get these massive downloads of +200MB out of thin air, even though I am not using the internet at that time...  Want to secretly steal my CPU power crunching downloaded (astronomy, or w/e conspiracy) data from NASA/the government eh?



Uh what?  You probably had auto update for your packages, which can be cleaned up after you update them.  You just have to know how to do it.  Also, what does it matter to you if he wants to learn a new OS or play with Linux?  I don't see why people feel the need to always but in with their opinions like that.  

Also, I wouldn't worry about any tracking software with Linux, in fact I would be worried about DRM in windows, and all the freaking stuff it does to track what you do and what you install.  Of course it isn't the government that has that information, it is Microsoft, but I bet the government could probably get it if they really wanted to.  It would just take forever in court, but via the Patriot Act, all they would have to do is link it somehow vaguely to terrorism, and problem solved.

However, you do have a point, which is why I strongly recommed all Linux newbies start off with a virtual machine.  That way they don't have to mess with their hard drives, partitions, swap, etc, they can just delete the virtual machine if it goes crazy or when they no longer want to use it.  Then they don't mess up their windows installation either.  It is a good way to try before you buy so to speak, except you aren't buying Linux.   Unless, you buy one of the enterprise versions of it of course.


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## Kesava (Jun 15, 2008)

tlarkin said:


> Your hard drive is giving I/O errors which is not good.  What file system did you format it in?
> 
> I still vote you just make a Linux virtual machine.



yeah i think thats what happened when my laptops hard drive died and i tried to install linux.

the main partition should be formatted to ext3 shouldnt it?


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## tlarkin (Jun 15, 2008)

Kuzba said:


> yeah i think thats what happened when my laptops hard drive died and i tried to install linux.
> 
> the main partition should be formatted to ext3 shouldnt it?



I think most distros work with ext2, ext3 and resier, but the more common one is ext3.


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## Punk (Jun 15, 2008)

tlarkin said:


> Your hard drive is giving I/O errors which is not good.  What file system did you format it in?


How do I know that?


alienationware said:


> Linux is over-rated.  Switched back to WinXP and happy about it.



I have WinXP on one HD and I want Kubuntu on the other...


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## tlarkin (Jun 15, 2008)

your error message when trying to boot linux gives a hard disk I/O error, sda is a hard drive device in Linux.


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## Punk (Jun 15, 2008)

tlarkin said:


> your error message when trying to boot linux gives a hard disk I/O error, sda is a hard drive device in Linux.



I meant how do I know in what I formatted the HD?


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## Kesava (Jun 15, 2008)

well when you set up the partitions... you formatted them and selected the type right?

maybe you did ntfs or something...
still it should reformat it when you install


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## Punk (Jun 15, 2008)

Ok I went into Properties, it is a NTFS.


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## ducis (Jun 15, 2008)

Punk said:


> Ok I went into Properties, it is a NTFS.



NTFS is a windows type format
try ext3


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## Punk (Jun 15, 2008)

How do I do this?


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## porterjw (Jun 15, 2008)

Put in the disk like you're going to install it again and when it comes time to format, just select the ext3 option.


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## Punk (Jun 16, 2008)

I never putted a disc to install my HD...

Are you talking about the Linux CD? If so I said earlier that I can't get to installation because of the error I stated before.

I tried another version of Linux a long time ago, and it worked on the Live Distro...


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## Kesava (Jun 16, 2008)

so can you boot up off that disk into livecd?


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## Punk (Jun 16, 2008)

Kesava said:


> so can you boot up off that disk into livecd?



I get to the menu, then if I click on any options, I get the loading screen then I get the error.


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## Kesava (Jun 16, 2008)

well if your not actually using any of the partitions yet then it doesnt seem likely that its a formatting problem...

really sounds like a corrupt download or something... you reburnt it right?
did you redownload it?

i know you probably wont want to but anyway haha.

can you try to use livecd on another computer?
that will show us where the problem lies


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## Punk (Jun 16, 2008)

I use one of the two partition of this HD.

Is that the problem? If not, I'll re-download it either thursday night or on Friday, my exams are until Thursday


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## Kesava (Jun 16, 2008)

to my understanding, with livecd the image loads onto your ram...
maybe im wrong, but if im right then a dodgily formatted partition shouldnt matter...


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## Punk (Jun 16, 2008)

Kesava said:


> to my understanding, with livecd the image loads onto your ram...
> maybe im wrong, but if im right then a dodgily formatted partition shouldnt matter...



Exactly...

Now what the problem could be?

I paused the download twice to watch youtube videos, could that be the problem?

I'm re-downloading right now


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## Kesava (Jun 16, 2008)

well is it a torrent? thats the easiest way to do it...

its quite possible that the download site didnt support pausing and so it corrupted it


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## tlarkin (Jun 16, 2008)

Can you toss a HD in there you can just wipe out completely and start from scratch?  It sounds to me like corruption of hardware failure.


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## Punk (Jun 16, 2008)

tlarkin said:


> Can you toss a HD in there you can just wipe out completely and start from scratch?  It sounds to me like corruption of hardware failure.



I have 11 GB of pictures and 16GB left on my Master HD.

Is there any way I can format just the partition I want to use for Linux?


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## Punk (Jun 16, 2008)

Ok re-downloaded, still got the error...


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## tlarkin (Jun 16, 2008)

Try nuking the partition, and making it all NTFS again.  Gparted Live should be able to do that with out losing data.  However, you always run the risk of data loss so back it up before hand, but you are already backing everything up right?

Then just download virtual PC from microsoft here, it is free:

http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/...02-3199-48A3-AFA2-2DC0B40A73B6&displaylang=en

Then install VPC and create a new virtual machine and use the Linux ISO you downloaded to create it.  If it installs and errors out you got a bad download.  You also don't have to mess with partitions and if the Linux machine crashes and you or you don't want it anymore all you have to do is delete the virtual machine and your windows side is never fussed with.


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## Punk (Jun 16, 2008)

Where is it going to install it?

On my second HD?

Thanks for the help.


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## tlarkin (Jun 16, 2008)

Punk said:


> Where is it going to install it?
> 
> On my second HD?
> 
> Thanks for the help.



It creates a virtual hard drive, so it installs as a virtual disk basically on your system.  If it gets screwed up or you don't want it anymore just delete it and you don't ever have to fuss with partitions and dual booting.

Now, once you find out you like Linux more and want to run it native then you can install it on the hard drive physically.


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## Punk (Jun 19, 2008)

tlarkin said:


> Now, once you find out you like Linux more and want to run it native then you can install it on the hard drive physically.



The thing is that I can't have go through an installation... The same error appears.


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## tlarkin (Jun 19, 2008)

Punk said:


> The thing is that I can't have go through an installation... The same error appears.



When wiping out the partition and starting over or when doing a virtual machine?


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## concorde (Jun 20, 2008)

I would just dive in and format your hard drive BUT SAVE AND BURN YOUR FILES THAT YOU WANT to a CD before you do this! You can keep pictures and Word Docs and such. Just remember to download a MP3 plugin as MP3 isn't included with Linux typically. Then you will be set.


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