Re: [-?-SPAM-?-] Hello! from a newbie+ problems with debian for amd64+can't boot debian for i386 on amd64 from cd+can't extract sbm.bin from cd
Hi Martin,
If you are new to linux, I would definitely suggest to start with i386 Debian.
amd64 is not officially supported, and it still is a little bit tricky to get
everything working.
If your PC is booting any CD, it should also be able to boot the i386
installation CDs, I have done this many times on AMD64 systems! Therefore, I
would suspect a defect in the burned CD. Does it boot on any other PC? If
not, try burning a new CD or download the iso file again. If you have a fast
network connection, try one of the small minimal bootable CD images
(40/180MB; see Debian homepage).
For a start with KDE, just install the "kde-core" metapackage, which will give
you a basic KDE system without any thrills.
Regards, Clemens
On Sunday 27 November 2005 22:19, Martin Baldan wrote:
> Hello everyone!
>
> I've been wanting gradually move to linux for years, but was afraid
> because, due to academic requierements (specific applications I *must*
> use), I still need to have winXP installed on my computer for some time to
> come. I tried dual boot with Suse and it was more or less ok, but I
> preferred two independent hard drives. One reason is that Debian was the
> distribution I most looked forward to trying, but I had heard that
> partitions, dual boot and several other issues could be tricky. I've
> recently bought a new computer, and decided it was the time to put my
> scheme into practice. I felt adventurous, so I also decided to move from
> intel and give amd a try :D
> I've downloaded both the unofficial Debian net installation cd iso image
> for AMD64 and the official Debian 3.1 (Sarge) net installation for i386
> (I've read it works also on AMD64) and I've burnt the cd's.
> So I decided to try the official Debian Sarge for i386, to see if it works
> on my amd computer. The problem is that my BIOS won't boot from the CD (but
> it DID boot from the unofficial cd !!). I've read that the reason may be
> that some old BIOS (old?? Ha! :P ) can't read isolinux files. The
> sollution, if I got it right, is to open the iso image, find the "sbm.bin"
> file and copy it to a floppy disk, then boot with both the floppy disk and
> the cd in my computer.
> 2) I there another way to install Sarge for i-386 that works in my
> computer, apart from booting from the installation cd?
>
> 3) How can I use kde instead of Gnome as a GUI? (some say it works better)
>
> Again, my kindest greetings to everyone, sorry for every piece of missing
> information or dumb questions.
>
> Regards,
>
> Martin O.B.
--
Clemens Bergmann
Schwertlilienweg 14
68259 Mannheim
mail@clemens-bergmann.de
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