I've just ordered a Dell notebook computer, an Inspiron 1000 (looks like a bargain at $579 after all the rebates, with free shipping). Of course it comes with WinXP, and of course I want to set it up for dual boot with Linux (SuSE 9.1 for now, probably). I have several dual-boot machines, but none of them started out with a standalone Win system on them. I remember that the installation DVD has a procedure for this particular case, though. My question is: are there any gotchas I need to know about? I don't want to find out that I've hosed Win in the process of setting up Linux, and then be unable to do anything about it. As an example: is YaST able to cope with the filesystem that typically comes with a new Win system and shorten the partition without corrupting it? Paul
Paul W. Abrahams wrote:
My question is: are there any gotchas I need to know about? I don't want to find out that I've hosed Win in the process of setting up Linux, and then be unable to do anything about it. As an example: is YaST able to cope with the filesystem that typically comes with a new Win system and shorten the partition without corrupting it? It shrank the NTFS partitions on my daughter's laptop with no problem. I would recommend defragging the Windows partition first though before shrinking. -- Joe Morris New Tribes Mission Email Address: Joe_Morris@ntm.org Registered Linux user 231871
I've just ordered a Dell notebook computer, an Inspiron 1000 (looks like a bargain at $579 after all the rebates, with free shipping). Of course it comes with WinXP, and of course I want to set it up for dual boot with Linux (SuSE 9.1 for now, probably).
I have several dual-boot machines, but none of them started out with a standalone Win system on them. I remember that the installation DVD has a procedure for this particular case, though. My question is: are there any gotchas I need to know about? I don't want to find out that I've hosed Win in the process of setting up Linux, and then be unable to do anything about it. As an example: is YaST able to cope with the filesystem that typically comes with a new Win system and shorten the partition without corrupting it?
Paul I installed SuSE 9.2 on an inspiron 8600 with Windows already installed and
On Sunday 13 March 2005 21:52, Paul W. Abrahams wrote: the installation worked without any problem. dj tuchler
On Sunday 13 March 2005 11:17 pm, Dennis J. Tuchler wrote:
I installed SuSE 9.2 on an inspiron 8600 with Windows already installed and the installation worked without any problem.
Do you know if your Dell came with a backup partition for reinstalling Windows? If so, any problems with retaining it? And (I know this is a hard question) would it still work after repartitioning to accommodate Linux? What's new for me in this is that so far all my machines have been generics that I've assembled myself, so I have no experience with Dell customizations. I don't want to lose anything useful that Dell puts on the machine. And by the way (I know that this is off-topic), what's the difference between a notebook and a laptop? Paul
On Monday 14 March 2005 8:37 am, Paul W. Abrahams wrote:
And by the way (I know that this is off-topic), what's the difference between a notebook and a laptop?
Paul
Ooo! Ooo! I know this one!!! An n, 2 o's, an e, 1 b, 1 k, (1) l, 2 p's. Other than that - not much. Stan
On Monday 14 March 2005 10:49 am, Stan Glasoe wrote:
On Monday 14 March 2005 8:37 am, Paul W. Abrahams wrote:
And by the way (I know that this is off-topic), what's the difference between a notebook and a laptop?
Paul
Ooo! Ooo! I know this one!!!
An n, 2 o's, an e, 1 b, 1 k, (1) l, 2 p's.
Other than that - not much.
Is one typically more compact than the other, at least? Paul
* Paul W. Abrahams <abrahams@acm.org> [03-14-05 12:53]:
Is one typically more compact than the other, at least?
*Only* in the spelling.... -- Patrick Shanahan Registered Linux User #207535 http://wahoo.no-ip.org @ http://counter.li.org HOG # US1244711 Photo Album: http://wahoo.no-ip.org/gallery
Paul W. Abrahams wrote:
And by the way (I know that this is off-topic), what's the difference between a notebook and a laptop?
Once upon a time, there were laptop computers, that were small enough to fit on your lap. Then came a smaller and thinner computer, which was called a "notebook".
Mon, 14 Mar 2005, by james.knott@rogers.com:
Paul W. Abrahams wrote:
And by the way (I know that this is off-topic), what's the difference between a notebook and a laptop?
Once upon a time, there were laptop computers, that were small enough to fit on your lap. Then came a smaller and thinner computer, which was called a "notebook".
Shouldn't that then be called "crutchbook"? :-P Theo -- Theo v. Werkhoven Registered Linux user# 99872 http://counter.li.org ICBM 52 13 26N , 4 29 47E. + ICQ: 277217131 SUSE 9.2 + Jabber: muadib@jabber.xs4all.nl Kernel 2.6.8 + See headers for PGP/GPG info.
On Tue, 2005-03-15 at 23:04 +0100, Theo v. Werkhoven wrote:
Mon, 14 Mar 2005, by james.knott@rogers.com:
Shouldn't that then be called "crutchbook"? :-P
And if it gets hot enough and you keep it in your (males) lap long enough it could be used for birth control. :-) -- Ken Schneider UNIX since 1989, linux since 1994, SuSE since 1998 * Only reply to the list please* "The day Microsoft makes something that doesn't suck is probably the day they start making vacuum cleaners." -Ernst Jan Plugge
On Sunday 13 March 2005 11:17 pm, Dennis J. Tuchler wrote:
On Sunday 13 March 2005 21:52, Paul W. Abrahams wrote:
I've just ordered a Dell notebook computer, an Inspiron 1000 (looks like a bargain at $579 after all the rebates, with free shipping). Of course it comes with WinXP, and of course I want to set it up for dual boot with Linux (SuSE 9.1 for now, probably). <snip> Paul
I installed SuSE 9.2 on an inspiron 8600 with Windows already installed and the installation worked without any problem.
Are you guys using a network install? Or is there someway to get the cd/dvd to boot on a lappy? Most I've looked at just can't .. at least the ones where I could get a look at the bios or boot settings. I don't want to dual boot, but if I could get the cds/dvd to load from a windows prompt and run install as per usual, it could save some money .. well up to $150 which is what most people who sell linux pre-installs want to put Suse9.2 on it, instead of some system they have done to avoid paying for anybodies pre rolled version. Seems a tad pricey, even if they do give me the box.. I already own it here. -- j My ears are bleeding now.. this line may be left empty for a while ahhhhh silence!
jfweber@bellsouth.net wrote:
Are you guys using a network install? Or is there someway to get the cd/dvd to boot on a lappy? Most I've looked at just can't .. at least the ones where I could get a look at the bios or boot settings.
Most newer laptops do have an option for booting from cd/dvd. I have installed on a couple brands (not Dell, E-Machines and IBM), and they had that option and were almost as easy as a desktop. They often have a different F key for boot options, like F10, F11, or F12. HTH. -- Joe Morris New Tribes Mission Email Address: Joe_Morris@ntm.org Registered Linux user 231871
* Joe Morris (NTM) <Joe_Morris@ntm.org> (Tue, Mar 15, 2005 at 08:07:48AM -0600)
jfweber@bellsouth.net wrote:
Are you guys using a network install? Or is there someway to get the cd/dvd to boot on a lappy? Most I've looked at just can't .. at least the ones where I could get a look at the bios or boot settings.
Most newer laptops do have an option for booting from cd/dvd. I have installed on a couple brands (not Dell, E-Machines and IBM), and they had that option and were almost as easy as a desktop. They often have a different F key for boot options, like F10, F11, or F12. HTH.
I think I've personally installed Suse on pretty much any dell brand since 1999 orso. Hit F2 (it's a Dell, so hitting DEL does not work) to get into the bios. Use Alt-P to switch pages until you come to the page where you cans et the boot order, and ensure that CD/DVD is listed above the first harddisk. Also, on most newer Dells you can hit F12 to change the boot order Kind regards, -- Gerhard den Hollander Phone :+31-10.280.1515 Global ICT manager Direct:+31-10.280.1539 Fugro-Jason Fax :+31-10.280.1511 gdenhollander@Fugro-Jason.com POBox 1573 visit us at http://www.Fugro-Jason.com 3000 BN Rotterdam JASON.......#1 in Reservoir Characterization The Netherlands This e-mail and any files transmitted with it are confidential and intended solely for the use of the addressee. This e-mail shall not be deemed binding unless confirmed in writing. If you have received it by mistake, please let us know by e-mail reply and delete it from your system; you may not copy this message or disclose its contents to anyone. Please note that any views or opinions presented in this e-mail are solely those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of the company. E-mail transmission cannot be guaranteed to be secure or error-free. The sender therefore does not accept liability for any errors or omissions in the contents of this message, which arise as a result of e-mail transmission.
On Tuesday 15 March 2005 9:14 am, Gerhard den Hollander wrote:
* Joe Morris (NTM) <Joe_Morris@ntm.org> (Tue, Mar 15, 2005 at 08:07:48AM -0600)
jfweber@bellsouth.net wrote:
Are you guys using a network install? Or is there someway to get the cd/dvd to boot on a lappy? Most I've looked at just can't .. at least the ones where I could get a look at the bios or boot settings.
Most newer laptops do have an option for booting from cd/dvd. I have installed on a couple brands (not Dell, E-Machines and IBM), and they had that option and were almost as easy as a desktop. They often have a different F key for boot options, like F10, F11, or F12. HTH.
I think I've personally installed Suse on pretty much any dell brand since 1999 orso. Hit F2 (it's a Dell, so hitting DEL does not work) to get into the bios. Use Alt-P to switch pages until you come to the page where you cans et the boot order, and ensure that CD/DVD is listed above the first harddisk.
Also, on most newer Dells you can hit F12 to change the boot order
Gerhad and all Thanks for this info I suspect I may have to give this a push up the food chain <VBG> Dell's lappys aren't as cool as the Vario's for instance. But the dif in price.. from $3200 US at the lower end, Suse 9.2 installed to the about $1k USD for the Dells, we might just have to use costuming for the cool factor and hide the lappy at the hotels <VBG> I am posting an increased good karma points to the accounts of all who answered so kindly. I guess I just might have to start managing laptops too. dammit! ( Don't we all need just one more thing to do <VBG> ??? ) BTW: Have any of you heard of a non removeable plate, that seems to be glued onto the laptop and according to the ( reformed) Thieves who are attempting to show people they really do need to lock doors and windows etc. these days cause, the thing might be worth a quick $500 to him if it has no identifying info on the box itself. I can't imagine anything that is basically glued on being impossible to remove, but if it's a good item it might slow them down. Clearly it would be wise to encrypt everything somehow as well.. Since people WILL insist on putting their banking info onto the little gems. Usually w/ some form of "remember me" login page kindly bookmarked for them. <Sigh> Thanks a lot guys. -- j That's why I wander & follow la vie dansante on the nightwind that takes me to where I want that's all I want .. la vie dansante.
On Tue, 2005-03-15 at 08:02, jfweber@bellsouth.net wrote:
On Sunday 13 March 2005 11:17 pm, Dennis J. Tuchler wrote:
On Sunday 13 March 2005 21:52, Paul W. Abrahams wrote:
I've just ordered a Dell notebook computer, an Inspiron 1000 (looks like a bargain at $579 after all the rebates, with free shipping). Of course it comes with WinXP, and of course I want to set it up for dual boot with Linux (SuSE 9.1 for now, probably). <snip> Paul
I installed SuSE 9.2 on an inspiron 8600 with Windows already installed and the installation worked without any problem.
Are you guys using a network install? Or is there someway to get the cd/dvd to boot on a lappy? Most I've looked at just can't .. at least the ones where I could get a look at the bios or boot settings.
I don't want to dual boot, but if I could get the cds/dvd to load from a windows prompt and run install as per usual, it could save some money .. well up to $150 which is what most people who sell linux pre-installs want to put Suse9.2 on it,
If they want $150 for pre-installed SuSE I would shop elsewhere. Sounds fishy to me. -- Ken Schneider UNIX since 1989, linux since 1994, SuSE since 1998 * Only reply to the list please* "The day Microsoft makes something that doesn't suck is probably the day they start making vacuum cleaners." -Ernst Jan Plugge
On Tuesday 15 March 2005 8:02 am, jfweber@bellsouth.net wrote:
Are you guys using a network install? Or is there someway to get the cd/dvd to boot on a lappy? Most I've looked at just can't .. at least the ones where I could get a look at the bios or boot settings.
The machine hasn't arrived yet. Perhaps you've given me something to be concerned about. I was hoping to boot off the SuSE DVD, though if that doesn't work there are, I suppose, other options. Paul
On Sunday 13 March 2005 09:52 pm, Paul W. Abrahams wrote:
I've just ordered a Dell notebook computer, an Inspiron 1000 (looks like a bargain at $579 after all the rebates, with free shipping). Of course it comes with WinXP, and of course I want to set it up for dual boot with Linux (SuSE 9.1 for now, probably).
I have several dual-boot machines, but none of them started out with a standalone Win system on them. I remember that the installation DVD has a procedure for this particular case, though. My question is: are there any gotchas I need to know about? I don't want to find out that I've hosed Win in the process of setting up Linux, and then be unable to do anything about it. As an example: is YaST able to cope with the filesystem that typically comes with a new Win system and shorten the partition without corrupting it?
Paul
I put it on a dell 1150. I defragged the xp partition several times before shrinking and installing 9.1. My only real problem was with the video sharing memory. The bios had not been updated and until it was, I had some real nasty looking video. Recently I added 512 mb of ram and a fast harddrive. Made a new machine for me. Snappy as can be now. The installation of 9.1 was pretty easy, after updateing the bios. It is now running 9.2 and still quick.Follow the other's advice about partitioning and you should have no problem. One little hitch was the touchpad. I lost the tap to click until I installed the synaptics driver. One other suggestion. I have been having problems on this and other machines with reiserfs getting corrupted, especially with improper shutdowns. I have switched to using jfs and so far no problems. Others on this list have reported similar problems. Good luck, Richard -- Old age ain't for Sissies!
How do I get a serial port card recognised on an already built machine? When YaST builds a machine it notices it and it is there in a hardware probe (YaST - Hardware - Hardware Information) When I put it into another (Suse9.2 or SLES) machine hwscan doesn't see it nor does Hardware Information. Worse still, it doesn't work. I suppose I'm asking if I can trigger a deeper probe than hwscan? TIA, michaelj -- Michael James michael.james@csiro.au System Administrator voice: 02 6246 5040 CSIRO Bioinformatics Facility fax: 02 6246 5166
On Mon, 14 Mar 2005 17:35, Michael James wrote:
How do I get a serial port card recognised on an already built machine?
When YaST builds a machine it notices it and it is there in a hardware probe (YaST - Hardware - Hardware Information)
When I put it into another (Suse9.2 or SLES) machine hwscan doesn't see it nor does Hardware Information. Worse still, it doesn't work.
I suppose I'm asking if I can trigger a deeper probe than hwscan?
The settings will end up in the /etc/modprobe.conf so it might be easier to compare the two and see what YaST has added. There is documentation if you installed the Kernel source under /usr/src/linux/Documentation although you will have to do a bit of searching as it is not all ways logical where they put the details. There are a couple of serial utilities on the distribution from memory but I doubt they will help. -- Regards, Graham Smith ---------------------------------------------------------
The Monday 2005-03-14 at 17:35 +1100, Michael James wrote: You hijacked the thread "Linux on new Dell notebook computer", by the way.
When I put it into another (Suse9.2 or SLES) machine hwscan doesn't see it nor does Hardware Information. Worse still, it doesn't work.
I suppose I'm asking if I can trigger a deeper probe than hwscan?
Try "hwinfo". -- Cheers, Carlos Robinson
On Sun, 13 Mar 2005 23:31:24 -0600, Richard <ratcheson@earthlink.net> wrote:
On Sunday 13 March 2005 09:52 pm, Paul W. Abrahams wrote:
I've just ordered a Dell notebook computer, an Inspiron 1000 (looks like a bargain at $579 after all the rebates, with free shipping). Of course it comes with WinXP, and of course I want to set it up for dual boot with Linux (SuSE 9.1 for now, probably).
I have several dual-boot machines, but none of them started out with a standalone Win system on them. I remember that the installation DVD has a procedure for this particular case, though. My question is: are there any gotchas I need to know about? I don't want to find out that I've hosed Win in the process of setting up Linux, and then be unable to do anything about it. As an example: is YaST able to cope with the filesystem that typically comes with a new Win system and shorten the partition without corrupting it?
Paul
I put it on a dell 1150. I defragged the xp partition several times before shrinking and installing 9.1. My only real problem was with the video sharing memory. The bios had not been updated and until it was, I had some real nasty looking video.
Recently I added 512 mb of ram and a fast harddrive. Made a new machine for me. Snappy as can be now.
The installation of 9.1 was pretty easy, after updateing the bios. It is now running 9.2 and still quick.Follow the other's advice about partitioning and you should have no problem. One little hitch was the touchpad. I lost the tap to click until I installed the synaptics driver.
One other suggestion. I have been having problems on this and other machines with reiserfs getting corrupted, especially with improper shutdowns. I have switched to using jfs and so far no problems. Others on this list have reported similar problems.
Good luck, Richard -- Old age ain't for Sissies!
I too recently installed SuSE 9.2 on an 1150. Defragged the windows install and used knoppix to shrink the partition down. It went on flawlessly, didn't even have much hassle setting up the internal wifi card. I've also not had any problems with the default reiser fs, though occassionally when I go to suspend-to-disk it hangs at one of the processes... I can't get suspend to memory to work, and closing the lid does nothing, but otherwise it's a nice setup. Mike
On March 13, 2005 10:52 pm, Paul W. Abrahams wrote:
I've just ordered a Dell notebook computer, an Inspiron 1000 (looks like a bargain at $579 after all the rebates, with free shipping). Of course it comes with WinXP, and of course I want to set it up for dual boot with Linux (SuSE 9.1 for now, probably).
I have several dual-boot machines, but none of them started out with a standalone Win system on them. I remember that the installation DVD has a procedure for this particular case, though. My question is: are there any gotchas I need to know about? I don't want to find out that I've hosed Win in the process of setting up Linux, and then be unable to do anything about it. As an example: is YaST able to cope with the filesystem that typically comes with a new Win system and shorten the partition without corrupting it?
Newer Dells will have a small partition with a ghost image of the factory install, you get at it with crtl-F11 at boot. There may also be a small Fat partition with diagnostics. I've had no problems so far with SuSE resizing the XP partition, and using the NT bootloader to start linux. Just copy the boot sector to a file and point to it in boot.ini. dd if=/dev/hda3 of=linux.boot bs=512 count=1 move the file to a location that XP can reach then add this to boot.ini c:\linux.boot \ "SuSE" -- Collector of vintage computers http://www.ncf.ca/~ba600 Machines to trade http://www.ncf.ca/~ba600/trade.html Open Source Weekend http://www.osw.ca
participants (16)
-
Carlos E. R. -
Dennis J. Tuchler -
Gerhard den Hollander -
Graham Smith -
James Knott -
jfweber＠bellsouth.net -
Joe Morris (NTM) -
Ken Schneider -
Michael James -
Mike -
Mike -
Patrick Shanahan -
Paul W. Abrahams -
Richard -
Stan Glasoe -
Theo v. Werkhoven