posted
I have decided to go for it! I found an old 900 mgz computer with a 9G HD. It had windows 98. I used Fdisk to wipe the hard drive. I have a 3 disk .iso image of Mandrake 10.0.
I want to start using Mandrake.
I put in the disk and got this error message:
quote:Boot from ATAPI CD-ROM: Faliure
I made another copy of the discs and got the same error.
Does anyone have any pointers for starting on Linux? What do you use? Mandrake? Debian? Fedora?
posted
Ubuntu is currrently the clear best choice for starting to use Linux, except in unusual situations. They have a LiveCD that works nicely for testing if your hardware will work. Plus, they'll ship you free CDs.
Posts: 15770 | Registered: Dec 2001
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posted
The CD burning software is actually making that into a real CD, not just copying the .iso to the blanks, right? If it's done right, you may need to make a boot disk to use it. Normally if you put disk 1 in on a windows machine, it will give you that option. May be available at the Mandrake site also.
Posts: 5422 | Registered: Dec 2001
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posted
Oh, if you verify you have hardware that doesn't work with ubuntu's autodetect capabilities (not much, but some), but does with, say, knoppix's autodetect.
Or if you want to learn a particular aspect of linux or run a particular sort of linux, different distributions have their strengths and weaknesses.
A few other reasons, but nothing big. The best general linux starter distribution is definitely ubuntu.
A valuable resource for ubuntu and linux in general can be found here: http://ubuntuguide.org/
(oh, and I'm likely not installing ubuntu, at least not just ubuntu, when I get an x86 computer; instead, I'll run Red Hat Enterprise Linux because my school has a site license, including support and a local package repository).
(yet more editing: that is, until we finish the IU Linux distribution we're working on, based on knoppix, then I'll run that).
posted
Ubuntu has better support, and works better (as in, better hardware detection, better software integration, et cetera). Fedora actually has a lot of issues right now, and is likely to for a while as there isn't any decent sized organization putting all that much effort into it.
Posts: 15770 | Registered: Dec 2001
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posted
Oh, and Ubuntu also promotes better social capital, being more widely adopted. Additionally, Ubuntu has a more well-defined philosophy, which is a significant resource in the long run (towards decision making, for instance). Fedora's philosophy amounts to "Software, basically free software, for the community, but it might be put into Red Hat later". Not exactly strong stuff.
lem: the ISOs are all you want, don't worry about the other stuff. They're various other formats, metadata about the ISOs, and other methods of downloading the ISOs.
Posts: 15770 | Registered: Dec 2001
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posted
Well, I am back to my original problem. I put in the Ubuntu install disk and rebooted. I still got the "Boot from ATAPI CD-ROM: Faliure" error.
I followed the Ubuntu documentation and downloaded "rawwritewin" and made an image of "sbootmgr." When I use that to boot from the CD I get "Disk Error: Ax00."
posted
The fact that he's getting the message means the bios supports it (and it's set to do so)...hmmm.
Posts: 5422 | Registered: Dec 2001
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It won't boot from CDs Someone gave me this computer (it is 450 MGZ not 900) with a fresh install of 98. I assumed they reformatted from a cd. I tried putting in my xp CD and I got the same error message.
In BIOS I have it set it to boot from CDROM-Harddrive-A.
I guess it can't. IS there anyway to change it to boot from CDS? I have deleted the OS in preperation for the install.
On this computer I am trying the "live version," but it says, "The Operating system denied acces to specified file."
posted
If the computer is that old, you may have to update your BIOS and CD firmware. The mere fact that the BIOS gives you the option does not mean that the option works without an update -- something that I discovered myself, back in the day.
Posts: 37449 | Registered: May 1999
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posted
Would you recommend I flash my bios, or is there a way to make a generic boot disc with cd rom support?>
Posts: 2445 | Registered: Oct 2004
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posted
Actually, it sounds like a cdrom problem. Is this drive an older drive? Some don't like to read bootable cds. I would see if you could find any other cdrom drive to test in it. (To me it sounds as though the bios is fine, but the drive isn't able to read the boot information.) Especially if you have burned multiple boot cds and you still get this error. Your windows CD having the same issue confirms my suspicions.
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Someone gave me this computer (it is 450 MGZ not 900) with a fresh install of 98. I assumed they reformatted from a cd. I tried putting in my xp CD and I got the same error message.
