Installing Red Hat 9.0 on Inspiron 8600

[Charles]

I want to install Red Hat 9.0 for a dual boot with Windows XP Home on this laptop. HD has 60Gb and plenty of free space. As I understand I need to download RH then partition HD using Partition Magic then install RH to begin with. Up to this point it would help to have details about what site to download, how to partition HD, how does dual boot happens and any tips on how to get to where I can dual boot with XP or RH 9.0.

Thanks.

Update,

I downloaded Red Hat 9.0 Shrike from this website http://linuxiso.org/distro.php?distro=7
also have Partition Magic 8.0 ready to go.

[apappasmurf]

What chipset does your SATA drive have?

[Charles]

This laptop had a Dell 82855PM Chipset and the hard drive is an HTS726060N9AT00.

When using Partition Magic to allow Linux to pick the partition which format must one leave it as?

unallocated partition
lixux ext2,3
or
Extended

[rightcoast]

You've got 60 gigs right?
How full is the HDD now?
You want at least 10 gigs for the linux install, the more the better.

You need to shrink that partition using partion magic. Back up your data it may be gone when you are done. You do have a windows disk just in case right?

For your first Linux install I would suggest a large (9.5 gig at least) partition for root ( / ), using the EXT3 filesystem. and a linux swap partition amount to twice the size of your RAM

Here is a good tut on dualbooting XP and Red Hat. It says Fedora but it is for either Fedora Core 1 or Red Hat 9.
http://www.overclockersclub.com/guid..._fedora_xp.php

[Charles]

I read the article and it's written for 2 hard drives, I only have one. So I understand that I need to use PartitionMagic and make space as unallocated for Linux. Then at some point Linux is going to ask me whether I want to partition Automatically or manually. If on auto and 1 hard drive which one do you select? Is it "Keep all Partitions and select existing free space"?

Thanks.

Uddate,

Ok I was able to install Linux and have Grub working. Linux begins to boot and then at some point the graphics go bersek and stay like that. I figure it may something to do with the NVidia GeForce FX(Generic) I chose. This laptop is a DELL 8600 with a NVidia GeForce FX Go5200 adapter.'

I don't have a boot disk other than the CD since this laptop doesn't have a floppy.

How can I revover?

Update,
I am able to go to linux rescue and go to /mnt/sysimage or chroot /mnt/sysimage, but then I'm dead in the water.

Update,
Ufff, I feel like I'm beginning to learn command prompts again. I was able to go to /var/log/XFree86 and find after using cat command that I have "NV" and furthermore that it says "hsync out of range" and "widtht too large for virtual size".

Do I need to install the NVidia Drivers. Is there a guide that shows what commands you need to use that is easy to follow, or is there something else I need to do?

Thanks.

[rightcoast]

no., you need to get your hsync range for that monitor/LCD

your best bet will using google for linux, its your new best friend

www.google.com/linux

You will want to use vi, emacs joe or any plain text editor to edit the file to the correct vsnyc and hsync ranges.
same as when you used cat except it will be
vi /etc/X11/XF86Config
or emacs or whatever editor you want, instead of vi
I just know for sure you have vi installed.
Make a copy of the file before you edit it, in case you screw up while editing it.

Im sure since you got it on there you've realized by now you could have used the guide. If you remember how your C: drive is called hda, it wouldn't have mattered once you set up partitions. Linux doesn't care if it is spreads across hda and hdb or one drive.

Also a wealth of knowledge here
www.linuxquestions.org
use the google site string for there to narrow down what you need to wade through
Ex:
hsync dell inspirion 8600 site:linuxquestions.org
HTH

[Charles]

"Im sure since you got it on there you've realized by now you could have used the guide."

Which guide?

So all I need to do is to change hsync range for the monitor/LCD and it will finish booting to GNOME?

[Charles]

If you mean Red Hat installation guide what could I have realized there?

[Charles]

What are these settings range usually like. I am looking at Dell's manual and this TFT is a WXGA 1280 x 800 max res., 60Hz for refresh rate and Viewing angles are Horizontal +,- 65 degrees : Vertical +,- 50 degrees. Are these the vsnyc and hsync ranges you refer to?

Update,

Ok, right now thee settings in FX86Config are:

Horiz Sync 31.5 - 90.0

Vert Refresh 59.0 - 75.0

I also noticed when I type XF86Config it says the file is not there yet when I do a cat XF86Config I can see all the settings. I suppose this may mean I need to do the changes from vi command?

[imbest123]

i dont know much of anything when it comes to linux but isnt fedora core 3 essentially red hat but with more updates?

[Charles]

Update,

Ok, right now thee settings in FX86Config are:

Horiz Sync 31.5 - 90.0

Vert Refresh 59.0 - 75.0

I also noticed when I type XF86Config it says the file is not there yet when I do a cat XF86Config I can see all the settings. I suppose this may mean I need to do the changes from vi command?

[rightcoast]

I read the article and it's written for 2 hard drives, I only have one.

{quote}Which guide?[/quote]
This one,

Here is a good tut on dualbooting XP and Red Hat. It says Fedora but it is for either Fedora Core 1 or Red Hat 9. http://www.overclockersclub.com/gui...t_fedora_xp.php

If you mean Red Hat installation guide what could I have realized there?

That the amount of drives would have been irrelevant

I am far from a linux guru. Just minor experience configuring my own X a couple times. Make an account at linuxquestions.org
It is invalueble. I will look around after I get the son to bed and post in an hour or so with any help I can give
HTH

[Charles]

Alright got it. Called Dell and they can't provide specs for Horizontal Sync and Vertical Refresh. So I will try 31.5-50 for Horizontal
40-90 for Vertical

at the suggestion of another posting on a different site.

This is a DELL Inspiron 8600 with a WXGA TFT and a Max Res of 1280 by 800.

Thanks.

Uddate

Changed rates to:

Code:

Section "Monitor"
Identifier "My Monitor"
HorizSync 31.5-50.0
VertRefresh 40-90
Endsection

but still have the same problem

[Charles]

Ok I'm up and running with generic vesa drivers. I changed a couple of settings for the video card using vi /etc/X11/XF86Config and it allowed the booting process to go further to the point that it presented a GUI with the option to test and see what was wrong. I did and it told me I had the wrong video card drivers so it gave me the option to change them and I lowered the resolution to within range and selected a generic vesa adapter card. It still gives a couple of glitches when I go from command prompt to GUI and even when it first boots up but it fixes itself. So, thanks a bunch for sticking around.

I think I need to follow instructions on how to download and install Nvidia drivers and then deal with the horiz and vert ranges, now that I am able to boot to the OS it should be easier.

I noticed I was able to go online so my question now is do I need to update something security wise or change any security settings like firewalls or virus programs. I will be reading as I go along but I figure I would ask to get started.

Thanks.