Linux and others

[TFoS_Fan]

Hi, This may appear a slightly silly question, i'm not sure, but I don't know much about the subject.

I was wondering if it was possible for me to try an open source OS (I think Linux is) without getting rid of my existing Windows XP OS and without making a new Partition (cause I have got that wrong before). A great way I thought would be to have some sort of system where I could simply run the OS off a CD, but, I do not know if anything of this sort is possible and/or a reality!

Any help would be appreciated.

Michael

[greffov]

knoppix is your solution. Full fletched Linux from a CD.

see
http://www.knopper.net/knoppix/index-old-en.html

[TFoS_Fan]

Thanks for the information.

I am at the moment downloading KNOPPIX_V3.3-2004-02-09-DE.iso. Is that the only file I need?

Furthermore, do you get anything extra ordering a CD of Knoppix or is it just for people with slow internet connections.

I actually just bought a Linux magazine, it has Mandrake 10.0 on it and while reading it, it mentioned Knoppix.

Michael

[TFoS_Fan]

Well I just tried Knoppix and encountered a few problems.

1. The Language cannot appear to be changed
2. The screen resolution id too low
3. The screen "flickers" slightly

Any ideas how to solve this as otherwise the OS looked pretty cool.

Michael

[cpugeniusmv]

the DE in the filename indicates that you've downloaded the german version

look for EN!

i'll get you a direct link on a fast mirror...

ftp://raven.cslab.vt.edu/pub/linux/k...4-02-16-EN.iso

the resoultion and refresh rate (flickering) are low because knoppix doesn't automatically know what your video card and monitor can handle. there are options to configure how this works, but play around a bit first...and get the hang of it.

[the hunter]

Thanks CPU, as Im downloading it also. now i just need to figure out what to do with it once i have it downloaded. LOL

[greffov]

BURN it on CD hunter... and LOCK it into your cd-rom station...

hahaha...

[TFoS_Fan]

I thought as much, luckily someone down the hall had the English version.

However,

1. Caused my touchpad to fail for a while
2. I still cannot seem to adjust refresh rate and screen resolution

May try Mandrake 10.0 instead.

What you think?

Michael

[cpugeniusmv]

Originally posted by TFoS_Fan
I thought as much, luckly someone down the hall had the English version.

However,

1. Caused my touchpad to fail for a while
2. I still cannot seem to adjust refresh rate and screen resolution

May try Mandrake 10.0 instead.

What you think?

Michael

1> i don't know!

2> well, that's harder to do in knoppix...there is a configuration file located in /etc/X11/XF86Config that contains all of the refreshrate and resolution information...but the thing is that you can't edit a file that's on a CD and even if you could edit it and have it in the ramdisk, you would have to do that every time you booted.

i'd just bear it for now until you get a distro installed on your hard drive

[dalert0140]

try using some of the cheat codes here

[cpugeniusmv]

i completely forgot about those!

[TFoS_Fan]

Thanks for the info guys, but would you agree that it would be better for me to try and prepare my system for a duel boot of Mandrake and Windows XP as I really don't want to run the risk of my Touchpad breaking, as it appears to be working fine now that I re-installed the driver.

Michael

[greffov]

I would go for gentoo... for it's splendid support for nearly everything. However, it's not beginners proof. If you're a real n00b, you better start with a n00b distro like SuSe or Fedora.

[cpugeniusmv]

the gentoo install is definately not for the faint of heart...i haven't made it through one successfully

yet. go for mandrake or fedora...and i've heard suse is good as well.

[dalert0140]

i've heard good things of lycoris,xandros and the formerly called Lindows,now called Linspire,

All those cost money. Linspire right now has a promotion in which you can get Linspire for free.

I'd give mandrake a try.It's really friendly