setting up partition for dual boot

[DUSTIN]

hi
right now i'm running windows xp pro. i want to dual boot with linux, i was thinking mandrake 9.0. i am using partition magic to set up the partition. i go through the partition wizard and i'm unsure of a few things. i think it has to be on an ext2 file system, right? should it be a logical partition? it asks where i want to place the partition and the only option it gives me is "before C:", which is where windows is stored...is this what i want to do? thanks.

[Scat Cat]

Hi there,

It's really easy. Get your Mandrake 9 cds. Set up your bios to boot from cd. Load the 1st mandrake cd and reboot your machine.
Setting up petitions is all taken care of as you go through the installation process, as is eveything else.

There are several ways to install and one of them is the 'complete novice do it all for me option' all you have to do is decide how much disk space you want to give over to Linux. 6 gig should be enough but if you have space to spare go higher.

I did this the first time I went for dual booting. Once you get a hang of Linux you can easily get rid of it and reload it on expert mode and muck about with the partitions along the way.

Incidentally go to www.linuxquestions.org it's as good as this site but dedicated to Linux.

[DUSTIN]

k
the installation went pretty well. the only problem i've having so far is that my sound doesn't work. i have an intel motherboard with the ac 97 onboard sound. i don't know a whole lot about linux, but i tried messing with the driver a little, but couldn't get it to work. i don't see any drivers for linux on intel's website. any ideas? thanks

[Computer Hobbyist]

I'd suggest you go to mandrake's web site. www.mandrake.com

They have a product support page (www.mandrakeexerpt.com) where you do a search.

CH

Thinking about this for a second and I seem to remember a similar problem when I installed. I have onboard sound too. It turned out that the audio mixer was muted by default. All I had to do was turn it on. If you are using KDE go to multimedia -> sound -> aumix and check to see if your sound is muted. if it is turn it on.

By the way, do you get any sound at when KDE loads up?

CH

[DUSTIN]

i'm using gnome, and no i don't get any sound. any suggestions? thanks.

[Computer Hobbyist]

I would:

1. start KDE to see if you get a sound check there.

2. check to see if my audiomixer is muted.

3. check my cabling (plugging your speakers into the wrong slot can give you the same symptoms).

4. read what they have to say at the alsa site. They can point you to lots of drivers.

CH

[jglen490]

Originally posted by DUSTIN i'm using gnome, and no i don't get any sound. any suggestions? thanks.

I'm not a Gnome kinda guy, but one tool you might try, if you can't go the "KDE go to multimedia -> sound -> aumix " equivalent route in Gnome, is to use the sndconfig utility. This is run at the command line (or in a terminal window) as the root user (type in: su -, followed by the root password when prompted. Don't forget the "-" after the su) and will find your sound card and attempt to configure it.

But when it comes right down to it, CH is undoubtedly right that the mixer is simply muted.