An introduction to Linux

[AhmedMostafa257]

Partitions and File Systems

As discussed earlier, Linux should be installed into its own partition. All hard drives need to
be partitioned before they can be used. When you partition a drive, you’re designating a
specific area of your hard drive for use. Partitions allow you to divide your hard drive so that not all information is stored in one area. Different operating systems write information to partitions in different ways, and these different ways are known as file systems.

Partitions
There are two types of partitions: primary and extended. Extended partitions can be
subdivided into more parts through the use of logical drives; primary partitions cannot. A
hard drive can contain both types of partitions at the same time, with some limitations. A
drive can contain up to four primary partitions. To divide a hard drive up even further, one
of these partitions may be designated as an extended partition. Each extended partition can be divided up using logical drives.

File Systems
Whereas the partition tells the operating system “Write information in this area,” a file system tells the operating system “Write the files in this format!” DOS versions 5.0–7.0 use a file system called FAT16 that allows for 512 megabyte partitions (and larger ones through some fancy footwork that are beyond the discussion of this book). Windows 95 OSR2 can use a FAT32 file system, which allows for much larger partitions. Linux primarily uses two file systems called EXT2 and SWAP.

If you are using Windows NT, OS/2, or have Windows 95 OSR2 with a FAT32 partition, you may have problems using the fips commands. You need to look to a commercial partition program (such as Partition Magic) to create the necessary space.

[Lyte]

Hey AM,

Welcome to PC101.

Thanks for contributing to our Tutorial section... good info!

Lyte

[0xide]

amazing info dude, ill have to use this sometime.

[AhmedMostafa257]

In order to install the files you need, you must load the CD-ROM for Linux to see it, then get data off of it.
Insert the Red Hat CD-ROM and at the # prompt type the following:
mount /mnt/cdrom
After a few seconds you should see some activity on the CD-ROM and the # prompt, letting you know that you can continue. Change your current working directory to that of the CD-ROM’s RPM area by typing the following command:
cd /mnt/cdrom/RedHat/RPMS
Further data, configuration options, and bug tips can be found at the following site:
http://www.xfree86.org
If no X items were installed, you need to install several RPM packages by using the rpm command. At the prompt, type the following commands one at a time, pressing Enter after each:
rpm -ivh X11R6-contrib*
rpm -ivh Xaw3d-1.3*
rpm -ivh Xconfig*
rpm -ivh XFree86-3*
rpm -ivh XFree86-75*
rpm -ivh XFree86-libs*
The preceding command lines will install everything you need except for the X server, which supports your specific video card. To install the correct server type in the following:
rpm –ivh Xfree86-YY*
Replace YY in your command line with the server name for your video card.

[firestorm]

nice info Ahmed, I will try to add some when I get done with my project. Good start!

[AhmedMostafa257]

At the # prompt, run the Xconfigurator command. You will get a welcome screen with an Ok button at the bottom, explaining the program.

Pressing Enter starts a PCI probe to see if Xconfigurator finds any video cards in your system. If it finds any, it shows which chipset and which X server need to be used. Pay special attention to this—if you installed the incorrect X server you are given the opportunity to correct your mistake. If the program can’t find a card when probing, it brings up a list of cards and servers.

If you manually installed the X server earlier and it doesn't match what the Xconfigurator finds, the configuration program aborts. Install the proper X server and then begin the configuration process again.

If you can’t find your card on the list of servers, you should try to use the SuperProbe program. Running that probes the card directly and outputs what video chipset, amount of memory, and RAMDAC chipset it found.

The SuperProbe command can lock up the machine and with a very few cards cause other problems. Read the man page on SuperProbe (man SuperProbe), and if you aren't comfortable with the possible risk, don't run it.

If you still haven’t found a chipset that matches your system, you need to use the VGA16 or Mono server, as these are the lowest common denominators available. When choosing a video card, you also should be aware that video card manufacturers like to use name
recognition but also use the best technology available for their card.

Sometimes this results in two cards with similar names having very different chipsets—and it’s the chipset Linux cares about. So, you may set up the servers thinking you have one chipset, and when finally starting the server get errors telling you that the card is not being detected.