# Total Linux n00b, wants to shift to linux, HELP!!!



## The Outsider (Sep 13, 2006)

I'm a total linux noob, got my free ubuntu 6.06 LTS cd 2 days ago so after playing with the live cd for 2 days now i wanna install it.

Heres what i have :
80 gb pata hdd, with win xp installed & all partitions are NTFS

What i want :
xp + ubuntu dual boot

so here goes the questions :
Pre-Installation :
1. how much space i should free up?
2. should i resize the partitions in windows itself by using some Disk management software or do it with ubuntu setup (at the tme of installation)?
3. i don't wanna lose my data so can anyone tell me how can i install it safely, without hasstles
4. if after the dual boot windows corrupt and i reinstall it, (i know grub will go and ubuntu will stop working) how to fix that thing?

Post-Installation :
1. after installation i heard that linux just shows up command line, if thats true how can i switch to the graphical mode?
2. in live cd i was unable to mount my partitions, will that remain the same in full installation too, if not how?
3. will i be able to play mp3s
4. how can i configure my dialup modem in linux, i have got its drivers for linux and i've also got few linux apps still no clue how to install an app in linux.

thanks in advance for your help, i know the reply will be a bit big but i'm sure some kind mate will help.


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## mehulved (Sep 13, 2006)

Chester said:
			
		

> Pre-Installation :
> 1. how much space i should free up?


Atleast 10GB if you really want to make some good use of linux.


			
				Chester said:
			
		

> 2. should i resize the partitions in windows itself by using some Disk management software or do it with ubuntu setup (at the tme of installation)?
> If you have partitioned disks before than it would be OK to go with partitioning in ubuntu otherwise just format a drive and do not give it any filesystem. When installing ubuntu, just select manual partitioning. Then use the formatted partition and make 2 partitions. One of ext3 mounted as / and one swap partition, that is 2xRAM.
> 
> 
> ...


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## The Outsider (Sep 13, 2006)

w000000000000000000000t thx bro, installed it successfully 10 mins ago, never seen anything like that, live cd is nothing as compared to full installation.

now i need to know how to play mp3s & configure my HSP56 MicroModem

read the procedure about installing codecs and xmms but still confused how to use and where to copy paste those wierd commands


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## led_shankar (Sep 13, 2006)

Hey chester,

congrats for breaking on through to the other side!

the HSP56 modem issue is well documented here: *tinyurl.com/jfydn

hmm....one way of solving ALL your codec issues in one go is to install VLC player. Get back to us if you are not satisfied with it.


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## mehulved (Sep 13, 2006)

For mp3 codecs and other essential software read the guide whose link I gave in the previous post.


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## hemant_mathur (Sep 13, 2006)

Now even i am thinking of giving linux a try. I'll use my old pc for this which is as follows :-
P1 166 Mhz
96mb EDO ram
28gb HD (8 + 20)
Matrox MGA Milennium Video Card

Which linux distro will work on this config ? Dont want any fancy looks but GUI is a must and am gonna basically try it before installing it on my main pc (can't do that now as it's full to the brim).


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## led_shankar (Sep 13, 2006)

hmmmm

a newbie friendly linux for that config might be tough.....techbhai u'll have to take over this one.


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## Pathik (Sep 13, 2006)

hey hemant u can try mandrake 9....


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## kumarmohit (Sep 13, 2006)

try a live cd like knoppix or damn small linux first


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## mehulved (Sep 13, 2006)

hemant_mathur said:
			
		

> Now even i am thinking of giving linux a try. I'll use my old pc for this which is as follows :-
> P1 166 Mhz
> 96mb EDO ram
> 28gb HD (8 + 20)
> ...


This one's gonna be a bit problematic. It's your processor that will be a bit of a problem. 
One distro that comes to my mind is Vector Linux. See this *distro.ibiblio.org/pub/linux/distributions/vectorlinux/docs/miscellaneous/version_table.html. Your PC meets the minimum requirements for Vector Linux 3.2. Well you will have to use some pretty old softwares with it so you will not really realise the full potential of a modern linux distro. Still this is something that you can give a try on P1.
__________


			
				kumarmohit said:
			
		

> try a live cd like knoppix or damn small linux first


This solution is only for running the live cd on your current computer not on the P1.


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## QwertyManiac (Sep 13, 2006)

hemant_mathur said:
			
		

> Now even i am thinking of giving linux a try. I'll use my old pc for this which is as follows :-
> P1 166 Mhz
> 96mb EDO ram
> 28gb HD (8 + 20)
> ...


Come on, why use your old pc, dont act so harsh man. Install it on your new pc to feel the true power, linux isnt "The os for the slow ones"


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## hemant_mathur (Sep 13, 2006)

Thank you all for the reply ... will install it tomorow.
Qwertymaniac : My new pc is full .. there is only 2 gb space left (out of 120gb) on the hd .. i'll install linux on it as soon as i make my backups and delete data from the hd and thats gonna take some some time (am a lazy guy ).


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## mehulved (Sep 13, 2006)

Here's the link to Vector Linux *www.vectorlinux.com


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## led_shankar (Sep 13, 2006)

d00d i have heard that zenwalk and vector linux are good for those with old pcs but comfortable with linux........how comfortable should one be? because i have xubuntu and i dont hink it is very fast


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## rakeshishere (Sep 13, 2006)

I too had the same question like chester [[exactly exactly i mean exactly the same]] ..Before making a new thread i saw this and i am very happy


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## mehulved (Sep 13, 2006)

led_shankar said:
			
		

> d00d i have heard that zenwalk and vector linux are good for those with old pcs but comfortable with linux........how comfortable should one be? because i have xubuntu and i dont hink it is very fast


If you  are talking about performance, Vector or Zenwalk will outperform Xubuntu by a good margin on a very old hardware cos Ubuntu is optimised for i586, if I remember right and Slackware from which former two are derived is optimised for i486. Also, Xubuntu can perform better with lower RAM but not so well with slower processor compared to the other two.


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## led_shankar (Sep 13, 2006)

so....128 MB RAM => Xubuntu or Zenwalk/Vector?


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## The Outsider (Sep 13, 2006)

thanks for the modem guide shankar, gonna go through it.

now the main problem is its dialup so i don't wanna install apps & updates with the synaptic manager (or whatever), but i wanna download them in windows and then install them.

i downloaded xmms the extension was *.tar, now how do i install *.tar files

else is there a by which i can download ubuntu packages in windows and then install them in ubuntu through synaptic manager (or whatever) or add/remove programs.

btw i already started liking linux


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## mehulved (Sep 13, 2006)

Chester said:
			
		

> now the main problem is its dialup so i don't wanna install apps & updates with the synaptic manager (or whatever), but i wanna download them in windows and then install them.


But, why download from Windows? Why not from linux? Browsing the internet is always more secure from linux. 



			
				Chester said:
			
		

> else is there a by which i can download ubuntu packages in windows and then install them in ubuntu through synaptic manager (or whatever) or add/remove programs.


You will face dependancy problems. It's not easy for newbies to handle dependancies. BTW, use deb's from packages.ubuntu.com for Ubuntu. It will be easier to install them. Use

```
sudo dpkg -i <filename>
```
But, if there are failed dependancies, it will give you errors, so you will have to read those and find what's missing. It's a bit difficult to handle that when you are just starting.


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## led_shankar (Sep 13, 2006)

lolz even i have dialup, and i also usually d/l stuff from elsewhere, unless it is really small.

This looks like a good, easy to understand guide:
*www.tuxfiles.org/linuxhelp/softinstall.html

many of these packages (they can be opened in an archiving program that comes with Ubuntu) contain  a readme file with the steps for installation.

also, there are ".deb" and "rpm" files for installing s/w on linux that generally make the job easier.

One last thing, I dont wanna sound rude or greedy, but please dont thank me. Rep me instead. My 'unknown' status is depressing me.  
__________


			
				tech_your_future said:
			
		

> But, why download from Windows? Why not from linux? Browsing the internet is always more secure from linux.



I think he is saying that because he wants to do the downloading from some other place (like an office, or cyber cafe) amirite chesterboy?


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## The Outsider (Sep 13, 2006)

ah ok dude, repping thing is fine with me, rest i have the different version of the modem so that guide is useless for me 

now i'll try to find another drivers and mp3 playing is still a problem.


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## led_shankar (Sep 13, 2006)

0h crap.


sorry man.


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## mehulved (Sep 13, 2006)

Chester said:
			
		

> mp3 playing is still a problem.


*www.ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=75278


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## praka123 (Sep 13, 2006)

mp3 support in ubuntu dapper fully needs gstreamer0.10-plugins-ugly,bad and good installed..hmm u need an external dialup modem for better browsing.for internal modems identify there is a `scanmodem` utility (which u can run as " ./scanmodem") and drivers at *www.linmodems.org


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## The Outsider (Sep 13, 2006)

woha thx bro, seems bit difficult for a 1 day linux user, i'll give it a 100% go


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## led_shankar (Sep 13, 2006)

chesterrrrr

chillax............just have FUN learning about it...... that should be your first priority 

the rest will fall in place


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## rakeshishere (Sep 14, 2006)

hello guys i finally crosd my fingers and took a risk and using the instructions of
tech_your_future indtalled ubuntu but how to get started using internet in it..I have a 256kbps unlmited internet connection and have a HUAWEI modem


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## mehulved (Sep 14, 2006)

Check the sticky thread on BSNL.


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## rakeshishere (Sep 14, 2006)

tech_your_future said:
			
		

> Check the sticky thread on BSNL.



Hey i did it myself on my own with some knowledge and man it rocks
__________
In windows u can see where windows OS files are installed..In linux how to see where those sys files are located..i can see all my drives and including one extra drive called "File system".i clicked on "Places" on the taskbar on the top and then went to 
"Computer" and i am not able to see where ubuntu is installed.Any help guys  and b/w watz dis "WORKSPACE" which i can see in the rght bottom on my desktop


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## mehulved (Sep 14, 2006)

rakeshishere said:
			
		

> In windows u can see where windows OS files are installed..In linux how to see where those sys files are located.


There's no specific location as such. See *www.pathname.com/fhs/ to understand more about what files are stored where.



			
				rakeshishere said:
			
		

> i can see all my drives and including one extra drive called "File system".i clicked on "Places" on the taskbar on the top and then went to
> "Computer" and i am not able to see where ubuntu is installed.Any help guys


Ubuntu is installed in Filesystem. The filesystem entry you see is / partition of  ubuntu.



			
				rakeshishere said:
			
		

> and b/w watz dis "WORKSPACE" which i can see in the rght bottom on my desktop


There are many virtual desktops in linux. This is not so well known to windows users. There are 4 Virtual Desktops by defualt in most distros. This means you have 4 desktops to work on. This can be expanded to 20 virtual desktops.


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## sariq (Sep 14, 2006)

here is a nice collection:
*www.ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=186792

for mp3 i am able to install XMMS 

```
sudo apt-get install xmms
```


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## The Outsider (Sep 14, 2006)

still stuck bout the mp3 and modem
i can't use synaptic manager as i can't configure my modem to work in ubuntu.

found the exact name, its PCTel 688 HSP modem 

is there any way by which i can enable the mp3 without using synaptic manager.


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## rakeshishere (Sep 14, 2006)

Chester said:
			
		

> still stuck bout the mp3 and modem
> i can't use synaptic manager as i can't configure my modem to work in ubuntu.
> 
> found the exact name, its PCTel 688 HSP modem
> ...


i too had the same problem...U can do this in a simple way.On the top rght side click APPLICATIONS---->Add/Remove---->Sound/video---->XMMS music player...Install that and play mp3s in ubuntu..Thats how i found it


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## mehulved (Sep 14, 2006)

Chester said:
			
		

> still stuck bout the mp3 and modem
> i can't use synaptic manager as i can't configure my modem to work in ubuntu.
> 
> found the exact name, its PCTel 688 HSP modem


Download scanModem from here *132.68.73.235/linmodems/index.html#scanmodem and follow the instructions. And tell us if you get stuck at any point.


			
				Chester said:
			
		

> is there any way by which i can enable the mp3 without using synaptic manager.


Download win32codecs.


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## The Outsider (Sep 14, 2006)

tried the win32 codecs as shown in the guide and the readme of codecs but still totem won't play any mp3 or movie,

gonna try scanmodem now


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## mehulved (Sep 15, 2006)

I haven't ever tried totem-gstreamer. Totem-xine works well for me with win32codecs installed.


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## plsoft (Sep 15, 2006)

try and install libxine-extracodecs, worked for me with Amarok.


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## The Outsider (Sep 15, 2006)

tried the scanmodem tool, it detected my modem and gave link to the driver

i installed the driver too 
everything fine 

so the modem is installed on /dev/ttySL0 or /dev/ttySL1 both works

problem is i go to Networking and and configure everything and click on activate (nothing happens) , i click on ok still nothing happens but the modem dials the number and after 1 min or so connection drops and theres nothing shown up on the screen in the whole process, just the hear my modem dialing and trying to connect.

i'm confused, plz help

can't paste my modemdata.txt here as my partitions are NTFS


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## led_shankar (Sep 15, 2006)

@Chester: uh after the connecting sound stops.... did you try to see if any pages were loading or not?

I could not tell from your post whether you meant that you expected to see a  "connected" message (which even I dont get) or that nothing was loading. If it is the latter, try it a few times and see (works for me at times)


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## mehulved (Sep 15, 2006)

Type the following in the terminal

```
ifconfig
```
See if it is showing anything in the errors column. 
I haven't ever used dial up on linux so haven't got much idea. But, you can google it up if you can find any tuts on how to connect to your ISP or tell us which ISP you are using, someone might be able to guide you.


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## vignesh (Sep 15, 2006)

Try wvdial..


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## The Outsider (Sep 16, 2006)

i have bsnl (sancharnet) dialup. 
@shankar dude yes i tried to see if the pages are loading or not and even picked up the phone and confirmed that its dialing properly, still no luck

@tech dude gonna try that one.

@vinesh how do i do that, more info plz

thanks all.


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## mehulved (Sep 16, 2006)

Maybe this can help *linuxhelp.blogspot.com/2004/11/connecting-to-bsnl-dial-up-internet.html


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## The Outsider (Sep 16, 2006)

w0000000000t configured the modem,  everything working fine

just installed xmms, music on linux is just soooo f**king coooooool

many thanks all who helped me, special thanks to tech_your_future & led_shankar.

surfing on linux atm


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## led_shankar (Sep 16, 2006)

Hehe! Congrats Chester!


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## rakeshishere (Sep 16, 2006)

this thread is an ultimate knowldege for noobs ..Plz dnt delete this ...Its my request


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## led_shankar (Sep 16, 2006)

What??

Why did you think someone was going to delete this thread?? lol


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## The Outsider (Sep 16, 2006)

yeah my thread seems good for total newbies lolz

& i configured to work my airtel MO too with nokia 3200 + DKU-5 cable


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## led_shankar (Sep 16, 2006)

Gr8 going chester! 

You are doing much better than I was when I started linux.


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## The Outsider (Sep 17, 2006)

here goes the screenshot 
*sinpped*


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## led_shankar (Sep 17, 2006)

Avril! Nice!


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## mehulved (Sep 17, 2006)

Don't go for beta softwares so early. If they become unstable, you will find it very irritating. And also, update your system if you can. See the update notification next to gaim icon on top panel on the right.


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## QwertyManiac (Sep 17, 2006)

Avril and Linkin Park... lolz.


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## gary4gar (Sep 17, 2006)

Chester said:
			
		

> w0000000000t configured the modem,  everything working fine
> 
> just installed xmms, music on linux is just soooo f**king coooooool
> 
> ...


see linux is not that hard
as most ppl think


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