noob help :?

[sas13]

hi all, new here, and new to linux.
basically I'm trying to take my first steps out of M$ world....
so Knoppix is my first try.
what I wanted to ask is - - I've read all these warnings about the NTFS file systems. currently I have Windows XP Home installed, with only one partition on my HD, and it is NTFS. is it safe for me to use Knoppix? what can and can't I do without causing any damage? will just trying to access the data on my HD do any harm? or do I really need to repartition before I get going?
Thanks

[turbinater]

is it safe for me to use Knoppix?

Yes, it's perfectluy safe.

what can and can't I do without causing any damage? will just trying to access the data on my HD do any harm?

Anything you do shouldn't cause any damage to your hard drive, unless you try to repartition it. Your hard drive probably wont even be mounted while you're playing on the cd.

or do I really need to repartition before I get going?

You only need to repartition if you're going to install knoppix to your hard drive.

[Jez]

Yep, one of the great benefits of booting off the Knoppix CD is that it leaves your hard disk untouched. It would be quite hard to cause any damage in Knoppix by accident. Just don't try to repartition the drive (unless you mean to). In fact, don't try to write to the drive at all if you want to be safe. By default Knoppix won't let you anyway, so you're safe.

Just boot it up, have a look around, play a few games, explore the file system etc. No harm done, and you get a good feel for what Linux is like.

This is why Knoppix is so great for people wanting to experiment with Linux

[sas13]

great, thanks for the replies.
So I started Knoppix up and have been playing around a bit and I like what I see.
one thing - when I try to start off with the 2.6 kernel it hangs - i get as far as the (colorful) wlecome to knoppix message, and then the system hangs after two more lines -
probing SCSI.............megaraid.o segmentation fault
probing SCSI..............alooo2w.o
what do I do about that? and what are the advantages of 2.6? might I have more luck on 2.6 setting up my external USB ADSL modem? (askey ALE 130)

[Jez]

I can't really help you with your problem with it hanging, unfortunately.

what are the advantages of 2.6? might I have more luck on 2.6 setting up my external USB ADSL modem? (askey ALE 130)

Just did a bit of snooping around and found this. So you should be able to get it working in 2.4. How you'd actually get those drivers into Linux is beyond me, since I've never really done any of that yet . Especially since you're booting off the CD. I guess you'd have to reinstall them each time you boot... Which might get a bit irritating.

[j.drake]

great, thanks for the replies.
So I started Knoppix up and have been playing around a bit and I like what I see.
one thing - when I try to start off with the 2.6 kernel it hangs - i get as far as the (colorful) wlecome to knoppix message, and then the system hangs after two more lines -
probing SCSI.............megaraid.o segmentation fault
probing SCSI..............alooo2w.o
what do I do about that? and what are the advantages of 2.6? might I have more luck on 2.6 setting up my external USB ADSL modem? (askey ALE 130)

OOH! Oooh! I know this one, Alex!!

Use the noscsi cheatcode and see what happens. When the boot screen comes up, type, "knoppix26 noscsi" (without quote marks). This tells the hardware detection not to waste time looking for SCSI devices. Looks like that's what's hanging you, and it's not an uncommon problem for version 3.4.

When you get it up and running, check out "persistent home" and "save configuration", so that you can make progress from boot to boot without doing an install (e.g., install software, set up printer drivers, etc.). Running live CD without those is like the movie Groundhog Day - you have to reset everything the way you like it with each boot. Click the Docs tab at the top of this forum, and look at the WIKI for posts (toward the bottom) with both topical help on these issues, as well as a general guide for newbies and windows users.

jd

[sas13]

ok - ready to try again
that modem link had a pic just like my modem - right down to the ISP's sticker on the box - so I guess it's the right one.
let's see if I can get it (and 2.6) to work! :P

[ishaim]

i am new to knoppix as well and have a few questions..

1) what are the consequences of partitioning your hard drive?
2) if you partition, will you lose data/windows OS?
3) is it possible to partition your hard drive for both windows and knoppix?
4) some tips on configuring a cable bluetooth lan (wireless-b usb adapters) w/o partitioning, or at least connecting to the internet via knoppix live-cd, so that i'm confident an undoable repartition (if that devastating) won't result in my having to reformat just in order to get back online, and so if a partition is necessary to install knoppix to hard drive, i already know how to set it up.. practicing a network setup, in other words, if possible from live-cd..

any help is greatly appreciated

[sas13]

Hi Ishaim, I'm a complete noob myself, but here is my experience :
I didn't manage to connect to the internet via knoppix, but I decided using the live CD and having no HD support was to much trouble - so I installed (Mandrake) Linux on my HD.
As far as repartitioning - I had only one NTFS partition with windows XP on it, what I did was use Partition Magic 8 to shrink the size of the existing partition, and make room for linux. I then installed mandrake linux with no trouble at all, and now can use both OS with no problems.
but one important thing:
DO NOT create a linux partition with Partition Magic, as this can cause trouble. What you want to do is only resize the existing partition, so that you end up with some unassigned space on your hard drive (I left 8GB out of 40) and then when you install linux it will find this space and use it automatically (I had no trouble with mandrake, I hear other distros can be harder for someone with no experience)
Hope that helps!!

[ishaim]

did you know that you could install knoppix to your hard drive?

http://www.knoppix.net/forum/viewtop...231&highlight=

^ i'm not sure of the implications of partioning your hard drive, using a dual boot loader, etc, but i asked that question and the answer appears that yes you can, but you will have to partition your hard drive in order to install knoppix..

if i may reference another thread about partitions..

http://www.knoppix.net/forum/viewtop...228&highlight=

^ would anybody happen to know if "qtparted" is as reliable and stable of a partitioner as partition magic? what's the easiest way for a newbie to partition? and exactly what is the order of operations here, because running "qtparted" from the live-cd seems sketchy, not possible, or only possible after i installed knoppix to a hard drive which i have not even partitioned..?

what is the order of operations if you want to install knoppix to a partition, from how to create the partition, to how to configure the dual boot loader?? (HOPEFULLY that isn't too broad of question.. )

lol if you made it this far thanks for reading