NationStates Jolt Archive

Hellooo General Forum! This is a distress call directed to any who use Linux. I have a disk which supposedly has Linux SuSe within its mysterious depths, yet I am confused as to how to go about and install it. First time with anything with a faint scent of Linux... So I'm completely in the dark. Can anyone offer any help? I can open the disk n' such, I just have no idea what to do with what's inside, nor any clue as to how to do it.

If'n it could be any help, I have screen shots!

Here,

http://img172.exs.cx/img172/1633/second8it.jpg

Here,

http://img108.exs.cx/img108/7899/third0wb.jpg

And consecutively,

http://img34.exs.cx/img34/83/fourth7hx.jpg

Jah. Does anyone have help to offer? The one who gave it to me, whom I know personally, said I would have to do something with mapping...?

Have you considered putting it in your drive and rebooting your computer?

Essentially, if your computer is set up right, you just put the disk in and reboot. It will take you through the installation.

If it's not set up right, you'll need to check your BIOS. You need to have it set up to boot from disk and CD before it boots from the hard drive.

If I sound naive, feel free to smack me.

But.

BIOS?

If I sound naive, feel free to smack me.

But.

BIOS?
Are you sure you want to run Linux?

Irregardless.... the BIOS is the first "programme" run during the initial boot-up of the computer. It tells the computer how to start, detects devices, and other basic start-up procedures. Hence its name "Basic Input/Output System."

The BIOS dictates to the system what order to detect operating systems, like Windows or Linux, by reading drives in a pre-ordained order for some sort of boot sector. Usually the computer attempts to first read floppy and CD-ROM drives for operating systems (this is why you get an error when you restart the computer and leave a disk in the floppy drive; the computer expects some sort of operating system to be on the floppy disk but doesn't find any).

Sometimes the BIOS is edited so that the computer detects drives in a different order. In order to edit the BIOS, you should hold down the key given on the screen right when you turn the computer on. It should say something like "Hold down DEL to enter setup" or something to that extent. Do so, and you'll enter the BIOS setup screen. You can manipulate the menus and change the boot order. It differs from system to system, but even halfway computer-savvy people can figure out where the boot sequence is.

I hope my little description helps!

Don't mock me!

-Sobfit-

I want to try it out, and if that entails absorbing excessive ammounts of data and being able to recite them perfectly while applying them to critical thinking situations... Then so be it...!

Even though I have an inkling that what I asked is just... Common sense.

-Cough-

Read my previous post. I hope it helps.

If I sound naive, feel free to smack me.

But.

BIOS?
Your BIOS is what runs when you turn on your computer. It's essentially hard-wired into your motherboard. It helps to find your operating system and such.

When you restart your computer, you know how there are some crazy text things going on in the background? That's your BIOS loading things. If you don't have that, then the company that you got your computer from has put some sort of splash screen over it. They'll usually say "press delete (or escape or F1 or something) to enter BIOS". If the Linux installer doesn't load when you restart your computer, restart it again and do that. Navigate around the menus. Somewhere, it should let you specify the order in which it looks for things to load. You want the CD-ROM drive to be before the Hard Drive.

I want to try it out, and if that entails absorbing excessive ammounts of data and being able to recite them perfectly while applying them to critical thinking situations... Then so be it...!


Possibly a bootable installation that runs off CD like Knoppix or the like might be a better starting point for you - you wouldn't actually have to install it on your harddrive and so you could get some experience of Linux without any of the potential pit traps.

Possibly a bootable installation that runs off CD like Knoppix or the like might be a better starting point for you - you wouldn't actually have to install it on your harddrive and so you could get some experience of Linux without any of the potential pit traps.
Indeed. I've installed Linux three or four times, and I still need to do it again because my partitions aren't right.