Newbie wants to know

**nofori** · 10-15-2003, 10:06 AM

hi,
i'm a newbie having gotten hooked on knoppix on a mates pc. i have just installed knoppix on my old compaq armada 1700 and encountered a few problems.
1. no matter what cheat code i use my mouse does not move.

2. Is it possible to install knoppix on a formatted hard drive with no windows.

More questions to come.

**horo** · 10-15-2003, 11:03 AM

Hi nofori,

2. Is it possible to install knoppix on a formatted hard drive with no windows.

This is always a good idea (Yes, it is possible)

Ciao Martin

**nofori** · 10-15-2003, 11:37 AM

Hello Martin

2. Is it possible to install knoppix on a formatted hard drive with no windows.

How do i go about this. i mean are there any pre installation procedures.

cheers,

nofori

**horo** · 10-15-2003, 12:32 PM

Hi nofori,

boot from CD and be sure everything is ok (screen resolution, network, etc.). You may use some cheatcodes at the first boot: prompt. Then look here: http://www.knoppix.net/forum/viewtopic.php?t=5374#25134

Ciao Martin

**rickenbacherus** · 10-15-2003, 12:33 PM

Originally Posted by nofori

2. Is it possible to install knoppix on a formatted hard drive with no windows.

Linux doesn't need wimpdoze for anything! A word of caution however. Comcrap er uh Compaq computers are notorious for not having a real BIOS. Instead some genius thought it would be a good idea to put the BIOS on the hard drive! What this means is, if you reformat the drive or replace it you will lose your BIOS! Additionally, the BIOS is rather worthless as it lacks the most basic of features. The only way to restore it is with the Comcrap restore disc which is:
A)Usually no where to be found
B)Available from Comcrap for $20

There is an alternative. I have successfully copied the contents of a creatively edited win98 boot floppy to hdd. This provides cdrom drivers which are otherwise not present. If you can use both the floppy and cdrom simutaneously then you might have an easier go of it.

Threre is actually a website called www.compaqsucks.com
What does that tell you when an entire site has been devoted to how badly a computer company sucks?

Anyway........sure you can install Knoppix to hdd. Have you tried booting w/ noapic? How about using a PS2 mouse instead of the eraser head?

After you boot you need to have a look at the partition table. THe BIOS is relatively small (< 100MB). I have actually found that some Comopaq's do indeed have a real BIOS. These machines seem to work just fine. Perhasp you are one of the lucky ones but I doubt it. If nothing else boot failsafe and see if you can get anywhere that way.

**nofori** · 10-16-2003, 12:43 PM

ok so i formatted my hard drive , completely wiped windoze from my existence .
Knoppix runs from cd but my mouse pointer will still not move . i've tried all the cheat codes.
aaaaaaaaaaarrrrrrrrrh what now

**Stephen** · 10-16-2003, 11:02 PM

Originally Posted by nofori

ok so i formatted my hard drive , completely wiped windoze from my existence .
Knoppix runs from cd but my mouse pointer will still not move . i've tried all the cheat codes.
aaaaaaaaaaarrrrrrrrrh what now

It might help if we knew what kind of mouse and the contents of the file /etc/X11/XFConfig86-4 and the output of lsmod.