Re: Woody Installation
Tollef Fog Heen wrote:
Hi Tollef
Thanks for the extremely fast answer.
> You can choose kernels etc by choosing which CD to use.
But then you have to know which kernel is on which CD. So here, too, a
short note would be helpful (like kernel xxx on CD yyy)
> | As I had to disable all drives except /dev/hda I'll have to to without a
> | swap drive.
> | Mounting /dev/sda4
>
> Uhm, you are saying you only had hda here, but then continuing to mount sda4?
Sorry: all drives except /dev/sda, of course
> | Install Kernel and Driver Modules : pressed enter : skipped by install
> | routine (not good)
>
> Parse error.
What to do now? File a bug report?
> | Why not tell users how to enter parameters?
> Because it is dependend on the kernel module?
But couldn't each driver bring its own message? Would make it much more
user friendly.
> | + vfat : OK
> | (No description available) : That's a joke, isn't it
> | + nfs : OK
> | (No description available) : That's a joke, isn't it
> file bugs against modconf.
How do I do this thru windoze? Some docs available?
> | Select Installation Medium (didn't we have that before and before ...)
>
> I usually install base from the network, though I may install the
> kernel from cd, so this is a sane question.
> | So, Linux seems to scan for several scsi-adapters. How to disable this?
> Make a new initrd or compile your own kernel?
No sources on my CD set. Will try and have al look at initrd
> | hdc: [PTBL] [2491/255/63] hdc1 < hdc5 hdc6 hdc7 >
> | ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
> | What's that? Why? Seems to be Partition table / CHS, but why?
> Asking those who make the installation system why the kernel prints
> stuff in a particular way isn't too productive. I suggest you ask
> those on debian-user@lists.debian.org
Good point here. Will do this.
> | Loading modules:
> | unix af_packet ne2k-pci ne2k-pci.c: v1.02 for Linux 2.2 ....
> | ??? af_packet: what's that, who installed that?
> packet socket, iirc.
I don't want to use iirc, so can I delete it?
> | Parport? I only want to print thru my parallel port. No scanners, No
> | CD-ROMs, nothing else.
> you still need a kernel driver.
Shouldn't lp alone do the work. Normally I compile my own kernel, but
without sources...
> | Q: How secure are passwords like 'I1,just4.want4 in2 No_of_Chars11'. Can
> | they easily be cracked too? (Meaningful sentence + special chars on the
> | same key on all keyboards)
> quite. The Debian installation is not supposed to be a beginner's
> course on UNIX.
Sure, just a question along the way. Thanks
> You installed base and said no to dselect and tasksel, that means you
> have a minimal system.
I always thought less was the preferred pager in Linux, so I would
rather expect it than more.
> | How do I find out how to find out how to find out any information on
> | anything in Debian?
> Read the docs?
Where to find them (debian specific) if you don't know where to start
looking.
Serious question.
> | For some stupid reason it insists on /dev/cdrom (direct access to a dev
> | file, aaargh) which
> | points to /dev/scd0, why not to /dev/sr0 ???
> | How to get rid of ide-pci (might cause that scd0). And how to set up apt
> | so it will only access /mnt/sd32 (mount point for /dev/sr0).
>
> idepci is your kernel flavor. And if you want apt-cdrom to work
> properly, it needs to know the block device.
> | But apt insists on /cdrom. How can I change that to /mnt/cd32
> /etc/fstab.
tried that, didn't work.
> We are not your servants. We do our best. Throwing shit in our face
> is useless.
Of course not. If it came over like that, sorry.
The problems I have might also be the problems of others. Maybe
providing more info during installation might make debian more
appealing.
So far I only worked in text mode doing all the stuff that would take
far to long under windoze (especially sorting, file processing (sed /
awk etc) ). X was on my boxes, but hardly ever used.
No that I am planning to move over for good, I have to install more
stuff and will also see more points where _I_ think more information
will be helpful. I wouldn't call this throwing shit - at least that was
never intended.
> | What happens if you accidentally hit no. Will the next scan delete the
> I suggest you use dselect or aptitude, since you know what you want
> and don't want.
But the big question is: What's it called and where is it. As the
CD-structure has greatly changed from a task / field-oriented to a
first_letter_of_app_name-structure it's quite difficult to search no.
apt-cache might not always be helpful.
> | So let's try X only. (And have fun afterwards lloking for all the apps
> | one by one)
> | Eh? X installs bc, biff, binutils, bison, cpp, ispell, cpp, gdb?
> | Strange.
> Why is that strange?
I didn't expect them in X
> | xdm? I don't want any graphical login.
> Then don't install xdm.
I never asked for them. During another installation (on my laptop) I was
presented a menu from which to choose a gdm without a choice to say no,
thanks, don't want this. Somehow it seems to default to installing a
gdm.
> | Binutils: Kernel link failure info. Nice. Affects which kernels? 2.2.*,
> | 2.4.*
> | 2.2.17 in Potato (2.2.r0) did link OK). Info should be saved to disk, so
> | scribbling down again.
> It is.
Where? And (once again) how do I find out if and where something is
written?
> | Configuring Xserver-xfree84 with debconf
> | /etc/X11/XF86Config-4 : well, might really be X 4.x
> | let's say yes. How can I change this afterwards?
> dpkg-reconfigure xserver-xfree86
Will try it.
> | Framebuffer ???
> | Yes
> no, usually not.
Will try without.
>
> | b) a clear indication Linux needs much better, didactically divine
> | documentation (for users, that is people who want to know how to
> | dothings, not gurus, who just want to know that they didn't find
> | anything new in a book / article, already knew all of it, slap
> | themselves on their shoulder and feel wonderful). The only thing to
> | help me was a few years' experience in mainframes and DOS.
>
> Then I suggest you sit down and write that documentation. Scratch
> your own itch.
I would be willing to do so, but as I hate programming, I won't read
source code. If the programmers did provide at least a short (and
complete) list of keywords and an outline of the way they intend their
programs to work + how to find that list, I should be starting out quite
soon.
> uhm, what OS does _not_ have a CVS client those days?
But: I cannot connect using Linux, and it's not possible to do so under
Windows. So offering a second way of accessing them might be a good
idea.
> Have you read http://www.debian.org/releases/stable/installmanual
I thought this was the same as the book with my CD set. Will check it
out again.
In closing.
Imagine somebody new to Linux. Wouldn't you too like Linux to be easier
to install. the more information you find during installation, the
easier it will be to install. Information available AFTER you installed
will not be accessible while you install. So my plea here is to provide
more of it during installation.
No offense meant at all.
Axel Schlicht
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