YDL Install Problems

[Benjamin Dembroski]

Alan Waterfall wrote:
> Sir,
> 
> I am entirely new to Linux. I have been trying to install a Linux
> distribution on a 7600/132 with 15" Multiscan monitor for several days.
> Mandrake got almost nowhere. With Debian I could never get to a GUI. Yellow
> Dog has been better in that,  I have seen a GUI, BUT  I have several
> difficulties that I have spent considerable time on. I am very frustrated by
> the level of knowledge required simply to install a system. I would be
> grateful for any help.
>  
> 1.I cannot get the system to start and present a GUI to log into.
> 
> During the install I never got to the X11 configuration as deopicted in the
> install instuctions (p8). The complete install stalled towards the end on CD
> 3 at KDE Additional Artwork,the error window said there was a bug, hitting
> any of the prompts on the error window (I have got to this stage more than
> once) exited the install to a text screen.
> 
> Restarting into the system presented me with "local host login" (What does
> local host mean? I assume this is not the main command prompt?).I followed
> the Xautoconfig and got to the GUI and altered the Display settings (more of
> this later) to the correct monitor. I did not alter the video card setting
> as I have no idea what card is in the 7600 nor can I find any info on the
> Apple website. I logged out and in again as instucted. Again I was presented
> with "local host login". The only command this understands is root. I do not
> understand the next stage in the instructions on p 11, "pico/etc/inittab",
> Where do I type this and isthis the exact instruction? Please bear with me
> on this, as a long time Mac user the text line freaks me out -I have never
> come across this before and it is appallingly difficult to interact with. I
> could open the pico editor by typing "pico" at the root prompt but at read
> file the response was no such file when I typed in etc/inittab.
> 
> 2. I could not get a very useful desktop either before or after altering the
> display settings. The icons are enormous. There is insufficient room on the
> screem for the programme windows, part ofthe window is missing off the
> bottom. When I altered from 640 x 480 to 800 x 600 the only change was a
> larger desktop that was off monitor which could be seen if I moved the mouse
> to the extremes of the screen. Is this usual. I would very much like to get
> to the sort of screen I see with this higher setting on the Mac. How do I do
> this. Can I use the GUI to achieve it?
> 
> 3. As the install stopped before completion, Office is not present in the
> Office folder. How do I install or copy this onto the hard drive?
> 
> Thanks,
> 
> Alan
> 
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> 

Hi Alan,

As a fellow linux newbie, I would like to offer you a few tibits that 
might make your adventure into linux a little easier to swallow. (Its 
not that bad, really.)

I'm sorry that I can't offer any real help to most of your questions. 
(Like I said, I'm a newbie and any tech help i might offer would be 
spotty at best)

I have been a dyed in the wool mac user for 6 years now, and the whole 
reason I got into this linux thing in the first place was to make use of 
some old PPC's that were laying about in the school's computer lab. I've 
had moderate success, but in the process, I have learned a ton. A great 
deal that I've learned directly applies to my life with OSX, which also 
has a command line.

Anyway, A few tips that will make your (and anybody else who is used to 
Mac's) life with Linux a happier one:

1. I would reccomend that you check out the following links. This is 
always where I start when I get stuck with anything:

http://linux.about.com/cs/linux101/
This is about the best primer that I've found for somebody with no 
previous linux experience.

http://www.justlinux.org/
Searching the fourums on this site has usually led me to a solution to 
whatever problem I might be having.

2. Get a good book on linux. Personally, I've found the Oreilly Press 
books particularly well written. In my limited experience, I have found 
that books give a good overview of how linux works in general, but tend 
to be less helpful than online sources of info when it comes to actual 
troubleshooting. If nothing else, they tend to let know what kind of 
questions you should be asking.

3. Google is your best friend. In particular www.google.com/linux

4. Mailing lists like these are an invaluable resource. Whenever I am 
extolling the virtues of linux to anybody, one of the first points I 
bring up is that essentially linux comes with unlimited free tech 
support from 1000's of specialists. No other product can claim that.

One other thing, YDL is based on Red Hat Linux, so much of what you read 
(although not all) about Red Hat will apply to YDL.


I realize that you probably now most this already, but thought you could 
stand for a few words of encouragement.

To answer a few of your questions,

localhost is simply the "name" of your computer.

When using pico, typing (without the quotes) "pico /etc/inittab" is 
telling the computer to run pico with the file /etc/initab. The space is 
important. Its similar to double clicking on a word document and having 
  Word open with the file. If the file didn't exist, pico would create 
one with that name when you save the file.

Hope that helps.

Ben