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linux - please help!
 

offline r40f from qrters tea party on 2005-04-03 13:40 [#01551845]
Points: 14210 Status: Regular



i am really sorry for a non-music thread, but i am at my
wits end with linux and i can't penetrate these computer
forums whatsoever.

basically, i don't want linux anymore. i want windows
again. i hate linux and it sucks. everything about linux
is worse than windows and it has been three wasted days that
haven't accomplished anything except to irritate me.

what happened was that my computer got wrecked a few days
ago and i had to format the hd. i couldn't find my windows
re-installation cdroms, so as a temp. measure i installed
libranet (linux). this was good because i was able to get
to my e-mail account and stuff like that. but that's the
extent of it - everything else with linux has been a
nightmare. nothing works and it constantly crashes. yes,
linux crashes constantly - way more than windows ever did.

now i've just found my windows re-installation cd and i'm
hoping someone will tell me that i can use it to re-install
windows. and if i can, please give me instructions on how
to do it written as though you are talking to a slow child.
please. thank you.


 

offline ecnadniarb on 2005-04-03 13:41 [#01551847]
Points: 24805 Status: Lurker | Show recordbag



What version of windows?


 

offline qrter from the future, and it works (Netherlands, The) on 2005-04-03 13:41 [#01551848]
Points: 47414 Status: Moderator



doesn't restarting your computer with the install disc in
your disc drive work?

(just typed this over at BOH.. :) )


 

offline brokephones from Londontario on 2005-04-03 13:45 [#01551857]
Points: 6113 Status: Lurker



i was going to say what qrter said. if that doesnt work,
enter your bios and set it to boot from cd.


 

offline r40f from qrters tea party on 2005-04-03 13:45 [#01551858]
Points: 14210 Status: Regular



i had windows me.

qrter - thanks, i've tried that and it doesn't seem to work.


 

offline r40f from qrters tea party on 2005-04-03 13:45 [#01551859]
Points: 14210 Status: Regular | Followup to brokephones: #01551857



ok, i tried that, but i probably did it wrong. please tell
me how to do it?


 

offline qrter from the future, and it works (Netherlands, The) on 2005-04-03 13:46 [#01551860]
Points: 47414 Status: Moderator | Followup to r40f: #01551858



I know, I just read your reply at BOH ha ha ha.

interned is fun.


 

offline brokephones from Londontario on 2005-04-03 13:47 [#01551861]
Points: 6113 Status: Lurker | Followup to r40f: #01551859



What happened when you tried it?


 

offline r40f from qrters tea party on 2005-04-03 13:47 [#01551862]
Points: 14210 Status: Regular | Followup to qrter: #01551860



well, my bad for writing it on two forums! sorry! ;)


 

offline r40f from qrters tea party on 2005-04-03 13:48 [#01551863]
Points: 14210 Status: Regular | Followup to brokephones: #01551861



nothing - i couldn't get the screen to come up.


 

offline ecnadniarb on 2005-04-03 13:48 [#01551864]
Points: 24805 Status: Lurker | Followup to r40f: #01551858 | Show recordbag



Start Windows ME until you get to the DOS prompt (either
using a CD or startup disk) then run fdisk and remove the
linux created partitions, then create a FAT32 partition and
format the drive.


 

offline r40f from qrters tea party on 2005-04-03 13:49 [#01551867]
Points: 14210 Status: Regular



ok, so the key is getting to bios menu?


 

offline ecnadniarb on 2005-04-03 13:50 [#01551870]
Points: 24805 Status: Lurker | Followup to r40f: #01551867 | Show recordbag



No...not necessarily. When yous tart your computer up is it
going straight into linux or is it reading the CD and then
stopping?


 

offline elusive from detroit (United States) on 2005-04-03 13:53 [#01551875]
Points: 18368 Status: Lurker | Show recordbag



install debian ubuntu (linux) or


 

offline r40f from qrters tea party on 2005-04-03 13:56 [#01551878]
Points: 14210 Status: Regular | Followup to ecnadniarb: #01551870



well, it first reads the cdrom drive and then floppy as a
check or whatever, but it doesn't start the installation
program in the cdrom, it just starts linux as usual.

elusive - thanks, i'm sure linux is great for many people,
but not for me. i'm really just fed up with it.


 

offline ecnadniarb on 2005-04-03 13:59 [#01551884]
Points: 24805 Status: Lurker | Followup to r40f: #01551878 | Show recordbag



It sounds as though the Windows ME disc isn't a bootable CD,
in which case you need a Windows ME startup floppy disk.

You could always go into the BIOS and check the boot up
sequence, usually pressing the Delete key or F2 or something
lets you enter Setup. IT should tell you what key on the
Post screen when you first turn you computer on.


 

offline r40f from qrters tea party on 2005-04-03 14:01 [#01551885]
Points: 14210 Status: Regular | Followup to ecnadniarb: #01551884



yeah, i don't think it is a bootable cd at all. i still
have my startup floppy - i'll give that a shot. thanks!


 

offline r40f from qrters tea party on 2005-04-03 14:28 [#01551896]
Points: 14210 Status: Regular



ok, so i got to the Setup menu and set it to boot from
floppy and it loaded linux. then i tried it again and set
the harddrive to disable and it still loaded linux. is
linux an unstoppable killing machine or what?


 

offline qrter from the future, and it works (Netherlands, The) on 2005-04-03 14:29 [#01551897]
Points: 47414 Status: Moderator | Followup to r40f: #01551896



all your base belong to linux!


 

offline elusive from detroit (United States) on 2005-04-03 14:31 [#01551898]
Points: 18368 Status: Lurker | Show recordbag



yeah winME is no good man, NO GOOD

and im no linux freak either

just saying, some distros are MUCH MUCH easier than others,
and do everything for you

why not just format and install 2k/xp?



 

offline ecnadniarb on 2005-04-03 14:35 [#01551899]
Points: 24805 Status: Lurker | Followup to r40f: #01551896 | Show recordbag



The startup disk must be whacked then. Are you sure you had
boot from floppy as the first choice in the bios?



 

offline r40f from qrters tea party on 2005-04-03 14:37 [#01551900]
Points: 14210 Status: Regular | Followup to ecnadniarb: #01551899



yeah, definitely sure. this sounds pretty bad if the
startup disk suddenly doesn't work. that's really weird.


 

offline ecnadniarb on 2005-04-03 14:38 [#01551901]
Points: 24805 Status: Lurker | Show recordbag



It was definitely a Windows startup disk? I know it sounds
obvious but sometimes people copy over the disk when they
install Linux.


 

offline r40f from qrters tea party on 2005-04-03 14:41 [#01551903]
Points: 14210 Status: Regular | Followup to elusive: #01551898



i've used everything from a commadore64 and apple ii's to
the newest macs and every version of windows since 3.1. out
of all of those, nothing i've used has been nearly as
counter-intuitive and malfunctioning as this linux nonsense.
i just don't want to deal with it anymore. and btw, the
most reliable setup i've ever used was windows me on this
3/4-year old dell. until the past month, the only times it
would ever crash was if i was doing something really, really
wrong.


 

offline r40f from qrters tea party on 2005-04-03 14:44 [#01551905]
Points: 14210 Status: Regular | Followup to ecnadniarb: #01551901



that's a valid point. it was definitely a windows startup
disk i made with my computer before i formatted it. and it
worked perfectly, giving me the dos prompt and everything
seemed fine. i installed linux... i never intentionally
made a linux startup disk - if it had asked me, i would have
used a different disk... i'm going to ask a friend who
helped install it to make sure...


 

offline ecnadniarb on 2005-04-03 14:46 [#01551906]
Points: 24805 Status: Lurker | Followup to r40f: #01551905 | Show recordbag



That's probably your best bet, because if you can't get the
floppy to boot there isn't much anyone here can do for you
:)


 

offline r40f from qrters tea party on 2005-04-03 14:47 [#01551907]
Points: 14210 Status: Regular | Followup to ecnadniarb: #01551901



oh fuck, you're right. my friend wrote over my startup disk
without asking me. do you know a site where i can download
one?


 

offline ecnadniarb on 2005-04-03 14:51 [#01551909]
Points: 24805 Status: Lurker | Show recordbag



I don't sorry :(


 

offline r40f from qrters tea party on 2005-04-03 14:53 [#01551912]
Points: 14210 Status: Regular | Followup to ecnadniarb: #01551909



well, i really appreciate your help thus far. seriously,
thank you very much for taking the time and all.


 

offline r40f from qrters tea party on 2005-04-03 15:09 [#01551922]
Points: 14210 Status: Regular



it's good that i know what the problem is, but i can't
believe he did that. i'm so mad now...


 

offline epohs from )C: on 2005-04-03 17:01 [#01552006]
Points: 17620 Status: Lurker



getting a wireless networking card working on linux has been
the bane of my existance for way too fucking long.

i'm close to throwing in the towel.

i feel your pain, arr fourty eff.


 

offline epohs from )C: on 2005-04-03 17:05 [#01552012]
Points: 17620 Status: Lurker



linux may very well be awesome, but it's got one hell of a
barrier to entry. frequently having no option but the
command line means that you've got to know syntax, and often
there are a thousand different ways to accomplish what your
trying to do, not all of which will work on your particular
flavor.

you basically have to know the inner workings of linux like
the back of your hand before you can pull off what should be
a rather simple task.


 

offline fleetmouse from Horny for Truth on 2005-04-03 17:14 [#01552021]
Points: 18042 Status: Lurker | Followup to epohs: #01552006



Basically if your hardware isn't supported you're fucked.

If I weren't so in love with Reaktor I'd be running Ubuntu
right now. It's really the only thing that keeps me tied to
winders.


 

offline ecnadniarb on 2005-04-03 17:19 [#01552023]
Points: 24805 Status: Lurker | Show recordbag



I've been using different flavours of Linux for years now,
and Unix before that, I think it is excellent providing you
don't want to get fancy new equipment working on it straight
away :)

I hate computers though, that's why I'm not on a tech forum
instead of here :(


 

offline epohs from )C: on 2005-04-03 17:20 [#01552027]
Points: 17620 Status: Lurker | Followup to fleetmouse: #01552021



my [current] problem is that i can't seem to find a wireless
network card that is supported. i've tried two
seperate cards, and two seperate sets of 3rd party drivers,
to no avail.

but, the error messages, when i'm able to dig them up, mean
next to nothing to me, and any commands that might remedy
the problem are completely unknown to me.

it's really been quite disheartening.


 

offline ecnadniarb on 2005-04-03 17:21 [#01552031]
Points: 24805 Status: Lurker | Followup to epohs: #01552027 | Show recordbag



See you are missing the point...what you are describing is
considered to be the fun of Linux (honestly!)


 

offline epohs from )C: on 2005-04-03 17:22 [#01552033]
Points: 17620 Status: Lurker | Followup to ecnadniarb: #01552023



yeah, i've tried several flavors of linux, and even freeBSD
once.

i figured i'd be able to trudge through it, but it has
bested me consistently.


 

offline giginger from Milky Beans (United Kingdom) on 2005-04-03 17:22 [#01552034]
Points: 26326 Status: Lurker | Show recordbag



I was about to install Linux then it gave a load of shit
about moving partitions and deleting shit and it'd got my
partitions the wrong way round so I wasn't 100% sure what it
was actually trying to delete. I didn't install it then. I
like the Live CDs though. Great for getting on to a system.

What's the name of the one that works on a Multisession CD
so you can save your settings on it and also any files you
create?


 

offline epohs from )C: on 2005-04-03 17:24 [#01552037]
Points: 17620 Status: Lurker | Followup to ecnadniarb: #01552031



agreed. that's basically why i've been playing around with
it for so long... but, it's really fucking frustrating when
you tinker for months (notice the date of that original
post), and make no progress whatsoever..


 

offline r40f from qrters tea party on 2005-04-03 17:25 [#01552040]
Points: 14210 Status: Regular



yeah, you guys are correct, i'm sure. i certainly don't
understand most of linux... it just seems to me that when
you click a button, it should launch the application instead
of doing nothing half the time. i don't know the techniques
- it just seems like it isn't working. and it randomly
resets settings and crashes for no reason... the cdrom is a
fucking struggle - much worse than the old macs i had to
deal with. it just locks up and won't eject cd's and i
can't figure out how to get the thing out. installing
things is ridiculous and i don't know why there are errors
in installing programs that came bundled with it. i could
go on and on about the problems i've been having...


 

offline fleetmouse from Horny for Truth on 2005-04-03 17:29 [#01552046]
Points: 18042 Status: Lurker | Followup to epohs: #01552027



Try googling the exact error messages in quotes. That
usually works for me. You're probably having to mess with
modules.conf or whatever it's called - fun fun fun!
Sometimes you can't use binary modules because they weren't
compiled with your exact kernel. Time for a kernel recompile
and more fun!


 

offline fleetmouse from Horny for Truth on 2005-04-03 17:31 [#01552049]
Points: 18042 Status: Lurker | Followup to r40f: #01552040



Awww sugar, you ought to feel good - you just ain't geek
enough.

Being geeky enough to work Linux gives you a 65% chance of
dying a virgin.


 

offline ecnadniarb on 2005-04-03 17:33 [#01552054]
Points: 24805 Status: Lurker | Show recordbag



Yes I was lucky enough to loose my virginity (13) before I
found out why the | symbol was useful for in command line
operations.


 

offline epohs from )C: on 2005-04-03 17:33 [#01552055]
Points: 17620 Status: Lurker



yep.

i've been suspecting for quite some time that this is a
problem with my kernel, but i have no way of knowing that.

i'll probably end up rebuilding the entire system from
scratch again soon, when i get frustrated enough.. for like
the 40th time.


 

offline epohs from )C: on 2005-04-03 17:36 [#01552057]
Points: 17620 Status: Lurker | Followup to fleetmouse: #01552049



yes, luckilly i lost my v card before i became interested
in linux.

but you are quite right in that my endeavors into *nux seem
to've ensured my abstinence.


 

offline qrter from the future, and it works (Netherlands, The) on 2005-04-03 17:38 [#01552060]
Points: 47414 Status: Moderator | Followup to ecnadniarb: #01552031



.. if you're into that kind of thing.

to people like me it's just overcomplicated bollocks.


 

offline ecnadniarb on 2005-04-03 17:40 [#01552065]
Points: 24805 Status: Lurker | Followup to qrter: #01552060 | Show recordbag



Yes if you aren't into that sort of thing then you wouldn't
be using Linux...simple as.

It's really not that complicated though...


 

offline epohs from )C: on 2005-04-03 17:42 [#01552068]
Points: 17620 Status: Lurker | Followup to ecnadniarb: #01552065



It's really not that complicated though...

D':


 

offline qrter from the future, and it works (Netherlands, The) on 2005-04-03 17:42 [#01552069]
Points: 47414 Status: Moderator | Followup to ecnadniarb: #01552065



so you see, the exact same thing that is considered to be
the fun of Linux is at the exact same time
considered to be the unfun of Linux!


 

offline fleetmouse from Horny for Truth on 2005-04-03 17:43 [#01552071]
Points: 18042 Status: Lurker



If your idea of fun is writing a Python script that
retrieves a status page and emails it to root@localhost, you
just might be a pencilneck.


 


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