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easiest way to install Xfce?
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motautis
Newbie
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10. January 2007 @ 11:36 |
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Hello, i got a old 400 mhz computer that i want to install some form of linux on. I really wanna try out xfce but am willing to try out other stuff.
Im a complete noob regarding linux also.
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janrocks
Suspended permanently
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10. January 2007 @ 12:21 |
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xcfe isn't an operating system, it's a lean desktop environment. It comes with the very small live distros, you can install it on the big heavy ones too, but theres not much point.
I also run a few 400MHz machines and find that the small debian based ones like damn small work a real treat. The only problem is the packages which are compatable with dsl are all old-stable, which means it's probably running on the 2.2 kernal (maybe 2.4, but still old) While this isn't a disadvantage if you don't stray from the path, it's certainly annoying if you want to do any serious work, or add modern, up to date apps.
I have had great success with puppylinux on machines with performance as low as a pentium 60 with only 32MB of ram, so on a 400 it will really fly.
If you add aptitude from the pup's (puppy installer packages) and edit your sources.list file to reflect the fact it's a brand new distro on a 2.6 kernal it should seriously impress you.
I run it lots, and the help channel is full of very helpful, nice people..
Download it here (it's tiny..84Mb) http://www.puppylinux.org/user/downloads.php?cat_id=1
Get the new seamonkey version (late november I think) the full one..burn it, boot it up and go for it.. It's probably the most user friendly linux around.
It may seem like I bang on about this one a bit..but that's just because I'm so impressed with how far this project has come in the last 12 months.
This message has been edited since posting. Last time this message was edited on 10. January 2007 @ 12:27
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motautis
Newbie
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10. January 2007 @ 12:33 |
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yep, i just got done messing with that puppylinux, seems pretty cool. I'll probably be cool with using that for now atleast, do you know how i can get it to install on the hard drive? I have like 11 megs of space when using it from the live cd. I think i'll probably have to delete and format the HD too, when rebooting i tried saving the session and all and it said their were no usable partitions? I think it might be screwed up i had win 98 on it and no floppy (just need a cable actually) and tried using the winxp disc on it blah blah, you know how i could delete and format the hd using puppy? (wish my floppy worked)
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motautis
Newbie
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10. January 2007 @ 12:59 |
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hmmm its not even detecting the hard drive, i seen the tool where u can use fdisk and everything but it doesnt see it in the first place sooo...mmmm...ima try another hd i guess. Its my bigger one that use to be in this computer, i dunno.....i might as well use it i suppose.
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janrocks
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10. January 2007 @ 13:17 |
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Try this..when it forst boots go into the bios and select hdd autodetect..if it does save settings and exit.
Puppy is easy to install IF you follow these basic rules. The drive can be anything over 500MB..great use for all those old drives we collect..
It needs to be formatted ext3 in one big partition. On the desktop there is a partitioning tool.. don't actually have it running right now..but that will take me 5 minutes to solve.
Right click anywhere on the desktop and it will bring up a menu.. look in system, or tools/accessories for the partitioner.
Make one ext3 partition..then select the pup universal installer from the same desktop meun and follow it through.. ;-)
This message has been edited since posting. Last time this message was edited on 10. January 2007 @ 13:40
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motautis
Newbie
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10. January 2007 @ 14:04 |
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arrrgh, since my hd wasnt showing up i went into the bios and whatnot and auto detected it, now im getting,
"buffer I/O error on device hda, logical block "xx""
same errors (pretty much) i was getting when i tried ubuntu.
You think if i hooked it up on this computer and deleted the partition on it, would it work then?
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motautis
Newbie
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10. January 2007 @ 14:17 |
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im gonna try the Gparted live cd to redo my partitions and crap.
thx for all the help.
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janrocks
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10. January 2007 @ 15:03 |
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Gparted should do, or maybe the drive has a terminal fault.
the dsl disk has cfdisk, at runlevel 2 (at boot prompt type dsl 2)
Maybe the drive is in an unrecoverable state due to a sector 0 error.. I use an application called active@killdisk to completely wipe the drive. It takes some time, but cures drives that report wrong size and such..
free version available here. http://www.killdisk.com/
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motautis
Newbie
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10. January 2007 @ 15:30 |
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man.....ok i repartioned it and used ext3, did the install program and everything, it looked like all was good and then on the grub loader, selected linux on hda1 or whatever, then the screen went blank and stayed blank. So then i deleted that partitioned, made a new one, but for some reason afterwards it said the drive was using 438 mb still??? then i did the installer again, it didnt do the grub stuff this time, rebooted, and then got a grub error 15 or something....
grrr, im tired of this im going to play FFXII, i might try that killdisk app, if you have suggestions it would be much appreciated. Puppy seems really cool, cant believe i didnt have to do barely anything to get the internet working which was the big problem with win 98 for some reason.
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janrocks
Suspended permanently
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10. January 2007 @ 16:06 |
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Posted from puppy 2.12 on a new install
Hardware... pentium 133, 64MB ram 8MB graphics.. seagate 4Gb drive
After a couple of false starts with the partitioner I did it like this..
Booted from CD and used gparted partition editor instead.
Made dev/hda1 as partition1 ext3 bootable
made dev/hda2 (256MB) as swap and set swap on
Then installed with the universal installer without reboot.
After reboot I went through the grub to hda1 and installed grub to mbr (possibly dangerous) as the installer advises.
On reboot went through all the setup xorg again ( I have to change the mouse settings from ps/2 to serial on tty1) and after the os booted set up the internet connection using the wizard.
I know I make it sound easy, but I have installed a lot of linux systems in my time..it becomes second nature after a while, mainly involved with working out the partitioning regime a particular distro likes. It's like a kind of feel for them..and a lot of reading the homepages. As puppy runs from the cd that should be enough to learn the in's and out's of the distro and see if you like it.
Have another go when you feel like it.. No point getting annoyed, I gave up trying to install DSL on this machine last year...now it takes me 5 minutes.
EDIT I just called in on the puppy homepage and found that there is a new version out on 7/1/2007.. going to grab that and install it tomorrow.. Then I will post a complete bug free walkthrough for a clean and starting from blank unpartitioned HDD install. (It's 5.20 am by my clock..time for bed)
EDIT 2 Downloaded and run. (puppy 2.13).it's detecting the old xorg files, but I'm getting black screen too. Time to try a few other options.. watch this space.
This message has been edited since posting. Last time this message was edited on 11. January 2007 @ 08:05
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janrocks
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11. January 2007 @ 11:52 |
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Double post! but this is an install guide...
To install Puppylinux 2.13..
First get a completely clear drive.. Run active@killdisk or other drive eraser on it...
Then boot the live CD and wait..
The first window that will come up will be to set up the keyboard..chose the region you want (us/uk whatever) and <OK>
Next will be a window to set up the monitor/graphics.. Choose <XORG>
and there will be a wait while xorg probes for video hardware..
In the next window I chose 1024x768x24 (supported) and <enter>
Next window has 2 choices <test x now> and <change mouse>
If you are using anything other than a ps/2 mouse you need to select <change mouse> here..and follow the options (ps/2..usb..serial) you will need to have some idea of which tty they are on..or just take the one it suggests..
Then back at the other screen it will take you back to..remember the <test x> <change mouse>? select <text x now>
The screen will go black for a while...wait and see if anything happens.. If it does and you get the screen saying everything is ok then hit <ctrl+alt> and tap <backspace> while holding them..
The next screen is self explanatary, either select <finished>,
or if you had to wait for this screen without seeing any [if you see this screen then x is working etc..]window, select <tweak> and go through the options..If you had no joy with a display before try 60Hz...
don't forget to change the mouse again if needed and run <test x> again
(what a pain!! They had this setup down great in 2.12, but it seems a bit broken again.)
Now we get to the proper install...
Wait for the desktop and when it arrives right click anywhere on the desktop..
From the drop down menu select <control panel> <GParted>
I made 2 primary partitions.. A main one of XXXX (whatever size you want) at the beginning, and left 256MB at the end for a swap.
It's pretty straight forward really..
Format the main partition ext2 and flag set to boot, and the swap partition flag as linux-swap.. Apply the changes.. <edit> <apply> and wait while it writes the changes.
Without rebooting find the puppy universal installer (hint..it's in the desktop menu.. <setup> and just follow all the options, they are very self expalnatary..the only place I went off the suggested path was to install grub to the MBR.. then it gets it right.
After all this, wait for it reporting "grub install success". Retrieve your puppy live CD and from the main menu select reboot there will be a few options..select save to file, and also select the file on /dev/hda1 (if that's where the install went)..OK the sanity check if everything looks right.. wait and see if it reboots...
If it only boots as far as a # prompt type
xwin
.. which will start the x-window system from the settings you provided earlier..
If it just hangs or takes you back to the prompt then type
xorgwizard
and go through all that lot again..remember to change the mouse settings every time or it will forget. If anything goes wrong during the post install procedure don't bother trying to reboot..just reset the hardware and wait for the prompt...
With a little luck you will now have a fully installed and working Puppy 2.13 install.
I have a problem which I'm researching which is...the rox icons are missing, not a problem to me, but an annoying error screen on boot.
EDIT Cured.. just install the dotPET rox file manager package to cure the issue.
This message has been edited since posting. Last time this message was edited on 11. January 2007 @ 12:47
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motautis
Newbie
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12. January 2007 @ 02:57 |
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:) thx. I got 2.12 to install right though, i seen you in the irc +#puppylinux chat too i was puppyuserdfac or something:) I really need a new monitor for that pc, that one is just nassty, hurts your eyes after awhile.
I have alot to learn about linux though. Do you happen to know any links to help a nooby out? If not now though, ill learn it later. Im in a PC repair/networking tech school class and we might be going for linux+ after server 2003. I got A+ and Network+ certifications so far.
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janrocks
Suspended permanently
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12. January 2007 @ 07:57 |
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A little suggestion then.. try FreeNAS..it's a free file server download and can be installed on a machine with no monitor or keyboard or mouse after installation. You will find lots of uses for a server at home, and it's a good stepping off point.
I was on #puppylinux last night from the clean install of 2.13, so it does work, eventually...
I will post some good guides when I find some which are relevant.
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