Stuck on first linux install, need help asap

[Lehman]

Hey guys whats up? Well i decided to install red hat linux 7.2 so i bought the book learning red hat linux 2nd ed. from oreiley. Well i have everything setup, i am able to boot either linux or windows XP and i have grubbed on the MBR. Linux loads up but the problem is it wont load x-windows(or the gnome desktop). I ran Xconfigurator and tried to get the right video card but nothing would work. Im 100% sure my video card is the culprit. Im using a Leadtek Winfast Geforce 3 ti200 64mb with the xp detonator driver (which is prolly part of the problem). So my question is, how do i get X to work and do i need different drivers for my video card? If i need different drivers after i install them, what card and server do i need to pick or will it automatically probe the card with the new drivers. I want the driver to work with both XP and Linux cause right now im just gonna mess around with linux and probably use windows for gaming and surfing the web. I appreciate all the help, and sorry for the badly written thread, im too boggled by this to think straight .

[Statica]

Have you tried the correct drivers?
http://www.nvidia.com/view.asp?PAGE=linux

Also PLEASE do read the readme before you install the drivers.

HTH

[Statica]

This link is on the aforementioned page: http://download.nvidia.com/XFree86_4...880/README.txt

[Lehman]

No i havent tried any drivers yet cause i wanted to find out what the problem was first. Also how do download or install these drivers in linux if my x-windows isnt working? Is there any other way to download these files by using the command shell only? Im a complete linux newbie so if u could give me step to step instructions id really appreciate it .

[OOPS!]

Hi,

You can download the rpm's in windows, no problem. Then print out the readme, boot to your CLI and follow the readme. All should work out after that.


OOPS!

[Lehman]

ok oops...say i download the files in windows in the folder c:/unzipped...how would i access them from the linux CLI with them beings on the windows partition c:/ instead of the linux / or whatever its called. If you know exactly what to type thatd be great . Also how do i know which files to download, i have the redhat 7.2 from the learning redhat linux book. How can which kernel architecture i have? Sorry for the questions, im a complete linux newbie

[OOPS!]

Ok,

The rpms you need depend on your cpu and kernel. If you have a P3 or better use the i686, Athelon the Athelon rpms ect. If you have older stuff use the generic i386 rpms.

To access your win partion, at the CLI, log in as root.
Type: cd /mnt/win_c hit enter. Then type cd unzipped hit enter, to see if your rpms are there type: ls hit enter. This is like the dir command in dos. you should see your files. Then you can run your rpms according to the most excellent readme.

Hope this helps,

OOPS!

[Lehman]

I finally got it to work, i was celebrating like i won the Super Bowl...honestly. Heres why, first off i only had a c:/ for windows xp with all my hd space on it. So i decided to try partition magic and when it was resizing my c:/ so i could have a partition for linux it had an error, i tried using boot diskettes for PM but ti wouldnt work. So i had to reformat my entire HD and i just made a seperate partition for Linux using Fdisk. Luckily the only thing i had on there that i dont now is all my songs i downloaded and the rest was easily downloaded again but it was a pain reinstalling drivers and games again and redoing my game configs etc. For the past 2 days ive been trying to get Linux to run, 48 hours later i finally get linux to boot up using X-windows . So all in all, in 48 hours ive got through 72 pages of Learning red Hat Linux, 250 to go . But once again thanks for all the help, you guys have always been great since day 1 when i came here looking for info to do my first build

[OOPS!]

Congtras!!!

It's a great feeling the first time!!!! Do another Happy Dance!