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BOOT CAMP 448
(31/10/06)
Installing Linux part 3
It
is time to do the deed and install Linux Mandriva on your Windows XP
computer in ‘dual-boot’ mode. Once again I must stress that you should only
attempt this after you have backed up all essential data and accept that there
is a small risk that you could end up loosing your XP system. See also this
week’s Top Tip for some basic troubleshooting advice.
Switch
on the PC pop in your copy of Mandriva (ideally the Free 2007 version on DVD),
the computer should boot from the disc and the opening screen appears with a
number of options. Use the cursor up/down keys to select Installation and press
Return. On the next screen select your language, the mouse should be active
now, choose English (British) and click Next. This takes you to the Licence
Agreement, click Agree then Next and the Keyboard menu is displayed, ‘UK
Keyboard’ should be checked if so click Next and the
Security
menu appears. The default setting is High, this is fine, and leave the Security
Administrator box empty then click Next.
You
have now reached the most important part of the installation, Partitioning,
where the drive is divided up to create a new logical drive (or drives) for
Mandriva and we need to be careful to avoid overwriting Windows. Unless your
drive has been partitioned it will probably contain a single partition (see
last week’s Boot Camp) so you should select the option ‘Use the free space on
the Microsoft Windows partition’. Click Next and you will be asked to confirm
your selection, but notice now that your hard drive is no longer referred to as
C: but hda1 (or sda1 if you are using a SATA type drive, as in the DT MK II
computer). Click Next and you will be presented with a warning screen, read it,
you are rapidly approaching the point of no return and you should be sure of
what you are doing.
On
the next screen you decide how much of your hard drive is given over to Linux,
Mandriva needs a minimum of 5Gb but I suggest giving it at least 20Gb, more if
you have it to spare. To make the change simply move the blue slider with your
mouse, click Next and the partition will be resized. Depending on the size of
your drive and how much data there is on it this can take from a few seconds to
a few minutes but at the end you should see a message telling you that a check
will be carried out the next time the machine is booted.
That’s
the worst part over and it should be plain sailing from now on. Click OK to
proceed and after a minute or so a screen appears asking you if you would like
to copy the CD to your drive. There’s no need and it will slow down the
installation so click Next and the installation continues.
The
next screen lets you choose the software to install, I suggest leaving it on
the default ‘Workstation’ setting, and tick the ‘Game Station’ box as the
standard selection isn’t very interesting and you might want to tick GNOME and
ICEwm workstations under graphical Environment as this will give you a choice
of desktop styles. Click Next and the installation proper gets underway. A
progress bar and estimated time to completion is displayed at the bottom of the
screen (on the DT Mk II this part takes around 15 minutes).
After
it has finished you will be asked to enter and confirm an administrator
password, make a note of it, you will need it. Click Next to display the User
screen; put your own name in the Real Name box, press Return and it will
suggest a Login name, which you can accept or change. You can also create a
password but this is optional, leave the boxes blank if you do not want to use
one. Click Accept User and another Add User screen appears, fill it in or leave
blank and click Next to move on.
The
Bootloader configuration is next. This is the program that give you the choice
of operating systems when you switch on your computer, leaving it on the
default setting (First sector of drive MBR) and click Next to display the
Summary screen.
With
luck there will be no ‘flags’, indicating a problem, if you do see any warnings
click the adjacent Configure button and Mandriva will suggest how to resolve
the problem. DT Mk II builders note that the Graphics adaptor should be set to
‘Intel 945’, this being the closest match to the Intel 950 chipset the
motherboard uses.
Click
Next and the Updates page is displayed, you can safely skip this step and click
OK at which point your CD/DVD draw will open and you’ll be asked to remove the
installation disc. Click the Reboot button and after a few moments you should
get your first sight of the Bootloader screen, giving you the option to boot
into Linux or Windows. Touch nothing and after 10 seconds your Windows XP
computer will load Mandriva Linux for the first time!
Next
Week -- Installing Linux, part 4
JARGON
FILTER
MBR
Master
Boot Record - the first sector on a hard disc drive, containing information
about the rest of the drive
PARTITION
Dividing a single large
hard disc drive into two or more separate (logical) drives, so a 120Gb drive,
for example, could be split into two 60Gb partitions designated C: and D:
SATA
Serial Advanced Technology
Attachment, fast, higher performance interface used to connect hard disc drives
to PC motherboards
TOP
TIP
If
you fall at the first hurdle and can’t boot from the disc you need to change
your PC’s BIOS setting -- see the manual -- and make the CD/DVD drive is set as
the first or primary boot device.
If
you are unsure about how much space to allocate the Mandriva partition don’t
guess! Exit the installation, launch Windows, Open My Computer or Windows
Explorer, right click on your C: drive icon, select properties and make a note
of the Free Space.
Unless
you know your way around Linux don’t experiment, stick with the defaults.
If
the screen goes blank, displays a flashing prompt or cursor try changing your
video card and re-run the installation.
---end---
© R. Maybury 2006, 1810
Part 1 2 4
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