Step by step instructions for newby

Hi All,

I am vey new to Knoppix/Linux. It sounds like a very exciting OS. I would like to learn to download and burn a live CD/DVD. However, I have not found some instructions on how to do this step by step. Most instructions I have found assume knowledge on downloading or the use of a bit torrent application for downloading and burnign an iso. I know this is probably very easy, but it can also be very confusing when you are first learning - as I have found out. I, unfortunately, have no experience in such matters. Is there any hope? Thanks.

There is a row of links near the top of the page. Click on Documentation. Then read the DOWNLOADING FAQ. It should cover all that you asked about. While in the wiki there is a lot more that you might find of interest also, I'm hoping you'll at least look to see what is there (which is why I didn't just give you a link to the Downloading Faq).

Thanks, I will take a serious look. Not expecting handouts, just some direction.

acuevas, as you say there aren't step by step instructions geared to raw beginners. Even experienced computer users - be they network specialists or advanced webmasters - can have a steep learning curve on bittorrent, MD5SUM, ISO etc if they've never come across them before. Heck, I know a genius programmer who spent several frustrating hours last week learning to write a DVD, and my first copy of Knoppix (last year) took me the better part of a day as I was exactly where you are now.

There is no magic wand, there are just some new things to be learnt. Some people find it's just quicker and easier to use the BUY button on our Get Knoppix page. It saves the aggro of spending hours acquiring skills and knowledge you may never use again. These CDs/DVDs can be bought for as little as $1.99 (and the commission we get helps keep this site going :))

If, after your experience, you want to put together a guide that you feel would be more useful to people in your current position ... please send it to me and I'll consider it for publishing on here.

Thanks again to the both of you. I got a lot of info on the 'Documentation' tab. Well, I got as far as actually downloading an image using 'BitTorrent' and burning it unto a CD. However when I boot up using the CD it goes thu all the motions and I and up with a blank screen and a 'cross' as a cursor but nothing else. After a while it simply shuts down. I'm guessing I burmed a bad image?

Quote:

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Originally Posted by acuevas

.....and I and up with a blank screen and a 'cross' as a cursor but nothing else. After a while it simply shuts down. I'm guessing I burmed a bad image?

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I'm not clear what the problem is from your data. Or even just what you mean by "a bad image". That you have a Cross cursor indicates that you got pretty far into the booting process, far enough to start the X graphical environment. I'm not sure why it will not boot the rest of the way from there (most failures in making a disc reveal themselves a lot before that).

Here are some additional thoughts that might help:

• BitTorrent does it's own error checking so the md5 test usually isn't really needed with a BitTorrent download (but it is extremely important on a download from the mirrors). Still, I hope that you did the md5 test and got a match, or that you do it now and confirm that the ISO file is good.
  
  That fact that you go as far as you did into the boot process confirms that you did indeed burn the ISO "as an image" rather than just write it directly to a disc or make one of the other common mistakes. Did you burn it at low speed? This is very important. Even if you burned at low speed, you might want to try another burn, I would suggest burning to a 700 meg CDRW. This will avoid any waste if the results are the same, and will further enforce that the burn is done at a low speed.
  
  By the way, the mention of 700 meg reminds me, you did use 700 meg media, didn't you. It's all pretty much 700 meg now, but we have troubleshot boot problems that turned out to be someone trying to burn to 650 meg media.
  
  And, if you used Nero, did you click the option to have it do a verification pass at the end of the burn. On occasion I have had this catch a bad burn even though my ISO was good and I was burning at low speed.
  
  If none of that helps, you may want to try three things at boot time. One is to type in failsafe at the boot prompt and boot into failsafe mode. I can assure you that you will not like running in failsafe mode, as many things including you mouse may not work, but it may at least confirm that the system will boot up further into Knoppix. If it does then you may need to play with the cheat codes and find a code or combination of codes that work for you.
  
  The second thing is to type memtest at the boot prompt and run memtest86. Let it run at least a full pass. I don't really think that you have a memory problem, but this has indeed found the problem for some people and you are all set to do the test so you might as well determine if there is a memory issue now rather than weeks from now.
  
  Try typing testcd at the prompt and let Knoppix test the CD itself. I don't put blind faith in a test that passes (it can't quite check everything), but it is worth doing and any failure of testcd would certainly point you in the direction of a problem.
  
  If you do try to burn another disc and you don't have a 700 meg CDRW available, then try another brand. Note that I didn't say anything about using a "quality brand", as some of my worst burning experiences have been on expensive Sony media and I have plenty of bargain brand or generic no-name media that is great.

In all I think you are likely doing things right and that you may just need to find a good set of cheat codes for your hardware, but I mentioned the rest because they are things that we have seen time and time again. Please post back your results and any additional questions that you might have.

Thanks Kuhman,

Almost there, I went ahead and burned another copy and viola! The CD boots just dandy. However, how do I get the CD to boot into the 'desktop'? I get a menu of different items that I can boot into, i.e. WWW, Chat, E-mail, etc. However, I don't get an option to boot into the desktop. I did a search in the forum for desktop help but can't seem to pin point my issue. Thanks for all you help thus far.

You didn't say which version of Knoppix you were trying to burn, but your menu issue sounds like you are trying to burn one of the copies with ADRIANE in the name. Adriane is Klaus Knopper's latest project, adding speech to a Linux distro for the vision impaired. Part of this is menus similar to what you describe. Unfortunately this does make things harder rather than easier for regular users and your best option may be to download a version without ADRIANE in the name. You still may be able to boot into a normal Knoppix system with the disc that you have already made, to do so with an ADRIANE disc you need to type knoppix in at the boot prompt. Unfortunately, at least in the ADRIANE version that I tried, the boot prompt delay was drastically shortened. In other versions of Knoppix you get about 10 seconds to start typing at the boot prompt, but with ADRINE the delay was maybe a second. So you have to be waiting and start typing as soon as you see the boot prompt.Once you start typing the system should let you finish typing all of the options that you want.

Rather than just say to download a version without ADRIANE in the name, I should mention that 6.0.1 is the newest current version, but many users including myself feel that it is overly stripped down and otherwise not as good as previous versions. Some of the 5.x versions are still available, you may want to grab one while you can. For my money 4.02 was the best version, but it no longer is in the torrents. If you have a DVD burner you may also want one of the 5.3.1 DVD versions, which contain a lot more software (unfortunately, much more poorly organized and harder to find on the disc than in 4.02), but it would be reasonable ro resolve all of your problems making discs wit smaller CDs and only make a DVD after you have mastered the basics. And I'll assume you know about the difference between versions with EN and DL in the name and not go into it again here, but if not reread the downloading faq.

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Originally Posted by acuevas

Almost there, I went ahead and burned another copy and viola! The CD boots just dandy.....

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Do you have any insight on why a second burn was needed? Knowing this may help us help others. Had you done a verification pass on the first burn? Most importantly, had the first burn been done at low speed?

Thanks Kuhman,

Yes, I did burn the latest Knoppix 6.0.1 image and you're right it was the ADRIANE version. I was able to type in 'Knoppix' at the boot prompt(s) and was able to get into the desktop.

I don't have any idae as to what happened to the first image. Quite frankly I would not know how to determine that. I am still so green behind the ears with this that I don't think I can be of any help to anyone yet.

Thanks for your recomendations though about the other versions including the DVD version. And, I am very gratefull for all the help that you provided. I think I'll stick with this image for now and learn more since I am tired of the frustration I went thru just to get this far. Thanks again.

acuevas....acuevas....that you armando?

Not armando, sorry brother - good luck though.