ntfs hdd help [Archive] - Download Knoppix Live CD or DVD, Get Documentation and Help

bob58

03-20-2004, 04:36 PM

Hi Bob.....I have just recently started using Knoppix and decided to put it on 2 of my computers. I don't understand what you mean when you say your CD rom is "jacked".....I assume that means it is "not working". Well if you downloaded the ISO file and can't burn it to disk, you could visit a friend with a fast internet connection and see if he will let you download the ISO file and burn it right there at his house. If so, you should be able to get going on the project. Make sure your cd burner, or your friends is able to burn the ISO in BOOTABLE FORM. You have to be able to boot off that CD. There is an excellant CD burning program I found out about here on the forum called "BURNIT"....It is super fast, easy to use, and will burn an ISO file as bootable to a CD. Anyway, installing KNOPPIX to hard drive requires PATIENCE for us newbies!!! I have finally been able to get everything [mostly] working well. If you do get your ISO file burned as bootable to a cd, then first thing you do, is turn on computer and get into the BIOS....check the screen imediatly as its booting to see how you get into BIOS. Sometimes you have to press the "DEL" key....it should say on screen. Next you have to change your FIRST BOOT DEVICE to the CD ROM. Then save & exit.....That way when you re start computer, it will boot off the CD. OK now let it boot completely then when it is done, if hopefully you dont get any crazy errors.....press "ctrl+alt+F2" all at the same time to bring up root console.....then type in "knx-hdinstall" with out quotation marks of course. I have found and many other also agree that using "knx-hdinstall" is much more reliable than using the newer "knoppix-installer". When I used the "knoppix-installer" the first time, it didnt get my swap file to work so i had to re install all over! This time using "knx-install" Just follow simple menu....it will take you to the CFDISK partition program that looks similar to DOS's 'fdisk'. First thing you do is look at bottom of screen where your options are....use right arrow key to select "DELETE" to delete your NTFS partition. LINUX will not work with NTFS. It can read from it but not write to it. Delete any other partitions in there but most likely you only will see one. Now do you want to install KNOPPIX on the WHOLE hard drive? Do you have more than one hard drive? Do you want to partition the drive to be able to use WINDOWS and KNOPPIX on tha same drive???? I can't go on much more cause I dont know what you plan to do as far as if you want to put knoppix on a single hard drive, or partition your hard drive to have both knoppix and windows on it.....I have 2 hard drives, one has WINXP and the other has KNOPPIX. It works well. If you are going to use 1 hard drive and toss out WINDOWS.....then return to the CFDISK program. Once you have deleted the old ntfs partition, select "NEW". Now you need to know how much memory you have to continue. You need to make the "SWAP PARTITION" next. I have 640MB memory so I make my swap partition ONE MEG in size. That should be a big enough size for my uses.....So find out how much memory you have and set your swap partition to that size. If you have 256MB then make the swap partition 256MB. It will ask you what size to make it, and look at bottom of screen....type over the numbers already in there and put "256MB"...if thats your memory size of course. Then tab over with arrow key to the "TYPE" option....select "82" i believe for swap partition type. I beleive you press "ENTER" next then tab with arrow key to select "NEW" again for your LINUX partition. It will already show you the size which is the rest of disk space....just use that....tab over to the "BOOTABLE" option at bottom of screen to make this new partition BOOTABLE then check if the TYPE for this new partition is set at LINUX number 83 i beleive. Now you should have 2 partitions on there, one is a swap partition in the same size as your MEMORY, and the other is a LINUX partition which is the same size as the leftover space on disk after making swap partition. The LINUX partition should be set to BOOTABLE using option below, which you already should have done....it will say BOOTABLE in the partition description at top of screen. The swap partition should be set as SWAP....you should see that too. When this is all done tab over to "WRITE" to write this data to disk.....when its done writing ....tab over to "QUIT" to return to installation....Then you will be asked to make both partitions active...just follow rest of directions.....When it comes to the screen to choose FILE SYSTEM.....pick EXT3.....continue to the screen where you set your HOSTNAME or name of the computer....just type anything in here such as "homecomputer" or your name... next you will set ROOT and USER passwords. write them DOWN so you dont forget! Then 3 screen will come up asking if you want to set some kind of servers....just say NO to all 3....there will be a screen that comes up soon that asks if you want to use "LILO" as bootloader....If you are using KNOPPIX on one hard drive you probably dont need a bootloader but to be safe, just choose YES. It wont hurt anything. then a screen asking about making DHCP active....thats only if you have a cable modem.....if you use dial-up, dont select it, say NO. Now I have no idea how to configure LINUX for a dial up adapter. There is a menu item to configure PPP but I dont know how. I have a cable connection here & at work. At this point a screen will come up saying it will start copying files and it will take from 10 to 40 minutes depending on hardware.....choose "YES" and go get a cup of coffee! When its done restart computer, imediatley go back into BIOS and change FIRST BOOT DEVICE back to your main hard drive. Otherwise it will keep booting off CD! Then eject the cd and put it away. With luck everything will go smoothly and you will boot into KNOPPIX. You will notice it has become DEBIAN....which is just another flavor of LINUX. Knoppix is DEBIAN-BASED. When LINUX loads a log on screen will come on.....This part is tricky! look to left, and logon as ROOT....remember your root password? NOW look where it says DEFAULT....you have to make a selection from drop down menu....I tried logging in as "DEFAULT" and got nowhere! Choose KDE3 which is a nice GUI. The other ones in there kind of suck, but i guess if i learned how to use them they wouldbe ok.Now you have to tweak a few things! Well if you made it this far GOD BLESS YOU!!!! Post back here to let us know how you did...bob