Really new to Linux

[marlav2]

Hi All.
I tried reading through the posts but it's all Linux to me, a Windows only person. I downloaded Fedora and would like to set it up on a pc. I have no idea what I'm doing. I booted to the dvd and went through the keyboard selection and so on. But the installation failed quickly. I'm sure it has something to do with the hard drive. I tried Mandriva linux on the drive with a clean hard drive that was partitioned in ntfs. It didn't work so I decided to give fedora a try. This time I deleted the partitions, the disk is raw. Again installation failed.
I know I sound really dumb and this may be exasperating for you all. I read the posts regarding installation but may have missed something. I've been reading all day and can't figure this basic thing out. I would appreciate it if someone could walk me through this. I'm pretty bored with Windows as I'm a repair tech and although I'm sure there's alot I don't know about windows, I think I know all I want to know and am ready for something new.
How do I prepare the hard drive for Fedora?
Thanks in advance for any help given.
mar

[bob]

Linux can't use NTFS. If you want to install it on a clean drive, simply use 'fdisk' or any partition manager to remove all partitions or maybe use Gparted Live: http://gparted-livecd.tuxfamily.org/ or PartitionMagic to split up the drive and allow maybe 15-20 gig for Fedora. Perhaps, use Ext3 or LVM instead of NTFS.

Keep in mind that Fedora is a Free & Open Source Software (FOSS) distro, so you're going to have to do a bit of work to enable some familiar things - .mp3's, graphic drivers, etc. It can be a great learning experience, but it can also be a bit frustrating for someone who's never dealt with that. If those things scare you a bit, you might also consider some 'new user' distros, such as PCLinuxOS, Mint or Mandriva. Just a thought.

[bob]

I hope you've found this page: http://docs.fedoraproject.org/install-guide/f8/en_US/ and these may help too: http://www.howtoforge.com/installation-guide-fedora8-desktop
http://forums.fedoraforum.org/showthread.php?t=92701
http://forums.fedoraforum.org/forum/showthread.php?t=171660

[uranus65]

The install program should give you the option to remove all linux partitons, use existing space or remove all partitions. You may have to click the box to reveal these options. If your mouse is not operational at this point, you can use the <tab key> to move around and <space> to select and deselect things. If you are only going to use Linux on this machine and not dual boot, you should choose to remove all partitions. Keep in mind that this will TOTALLY ERASE everything on on your computer and render it useless until you complete the install. So this ought to be a spare PC. Anyway, the install program should then format your drive properly and set up the correct partitions for the Linux install.

[jokrasa]

Hey first of all make sure your PC is in a basic setup (without any PCI video card or USB devices, etc hooked up ). Then try again. I had upgraded the video card and had to set it back to boot up the DVD.

Maybe this will help?

[marlav2]

Hi all.
I appreciate the replies. I tried using the gpart and I get a reboot then a blank screen. I then tried fdisk, created partitions and attempted to install the mandriva. It failed. i tried fedora again and it tested the dvd and said it was bad. So at this point I don't know what's going on. I'm going to retry burning the dvd and see what happens. I don't like to give up but this is a challenge.
Thanks for the links, I had read a few of them. But since the gpart isn't working for me it's a bit hard to continue.
I will retry the dvd and post back with what happens.
Thanks again.
mar

[hellork]

The best bet is to burn the LiveCD and boot to that. Then install to hard drive if it works for you.

[Datu Puti]

if fedora says the dvd is bad, then i guess we have to rule out that as the problem, and i bet it is. if you've already got the dvd iso downloaded, i'm sure you'd want to try burning it again. dvds are getting cheaper all the time. if you continue to have problems, though, i do agree with the suggestion to try a livecd - or a live dvd for that matter. sure, you have to download s new image, but they come in handy anyways for testing fedora on new hardware without committing to an install. and both fedora 7 and fedora 8 i've only used livecds for installation - it works great and i can add whatever other software i want later. stick with it - fedora is a great operating system if you're patient.

-dan

[marlav2]

I decided to try the installation in another pc and Fedora is installing from the supposedly damaged dvd. I tried Mandriva first but it wouldn't install. It took me some time to figure out the partitioning part, like the swap and I may have it set wrong.
It was interesting to see the place where an operating system can be added, is this how you dual boot with another os? I divided the drive in half, I have enough free space to dual boot with another os.
The pc I was first working with has some issues with drive installation so that may be why it didn't work.
Thanks so much for all your help! I'm sure I'll be back as I try to make this work, lol.
Have a good day
Mar