Re: Debin Help

[Kent West <westk@acu.edu>]

jmullin wrote:

> I have been trying for a year to get a Debian distro set up on my
> computer.  At the NYC Linux World Expo, the was a Debian booth and I
> bought the lates Debian CD but when I tried to load it BANG no good. 
> No that the release was no good just it got a littel complicated.  
> Igot as far a Debian loading to the prompt stage.  I just didn't know 
> how to get the xwindows and GUi set up.
>  I have installed Red Hat and SuSE with no problem but I want to load 
> and  use Debian but it just AIN'T happening, and I don't know where to 
> turn.  I want to set my school up using Debian Linux but I am becoming 
> increasingly frustrated, who can I turn to for help.  Thanks in 
> advance.   J. Mullin
If you don't know about it, the Debian mailing list archives (follow the 
links at http://www.debian.org) are a good place to search for info on 
problems.

What do you mean by "the prompt stage"? Do you mean a login prompt, or a 
LILO prompt, or what? Is it text-only, or a graphical logon screen? Can 
you log in as both a normal user and as root?

If you can login, try "startx". This will start X if it's installed. 
Most likely, it's not completely installed/configured. In such a 
situation, as root, run "apt-get install kde"; I believe this will 
install a basic KDE setup. We'll be able to help you more once you've 
provided more details.

Kent