[ILUG] For BLG

[Niall Walsh]

Posting this out to the list to get some eyes over it before I put it 
onto the site.   Given the general silence I am assuming no news is good 
news and haven't asked Ken to pull the previous 2 pieces he's now 
included on the site!

I guess if no-one responds about this either I will assume it is ok and 
put it up.

I want to linkify this lot up a bit more, but in some places I want to 
write what it's linking to (or put in place holders that someone else 
might fill in) and the occasional time I want to put in external links.

Now I have figured out again how to get in and make the changes myself 
on the site perhaps I'll do more of this sort of thing.

For example I want to put/link in some good simple examples for grub and 
lilo multi-booting, including using a rescue disk to boot up and edit 
their configs and update the boot record.  I'd also like to have the 
examples of using the NT loader or loadlin.   If anyone knows some great 
sources we should use ... Anyone know about (don't laugh as much as I 
am) using the Windows ME boot loader to boot Linux (didn't ME kill dos 
and hence loadlin)?   And what about OSX or Solaris or ... ?

Comments on style, content and slepping and grammer as always welcome 
:-)   And plenty expected, unlike the none I've recieved on the first 
lot (well sorry, have gotten some comments from Ken now), something 
makes me doubt I am writing perfect pieces :-)

I am proposing this replaces the section on boot floppies at the top, 
which could be moved into a seperate section as the basic idea of the 
advice is still valid (though it needs an overhaul).

Next stop "The Install Process" and then I'll be through the first 
stage, the general background type info.   Of course I'd be delighted if 
someone beats me to it :-)   Just let me know if your having a crack at 
it so I don't start at it before you post!  Not sure when I'll get to it ...

Snap if anyone wants to propose a new outline for the guide, even if it 
needs many pieces written. Linux has changed since 1999/2000 when most 
of this was written, lots of the guidance on setting up hardware is (or 
should be) irrelevant.   A section on connecting to networks would be 
nice (modem, isdn, dsl, ethernet).  The command line stuff .... what's 
there I'm sure is still valid, it could probably do with some more 
extension like perhaps a guide to simple editors (i.e. how to find one 
and how to use them, things like pico which are just plain less cryptic 
for a gui user stuck at a terminal trying to edit lilo.conf) or mounting 
disks, images, partitions etc.

Hardware issues which would be relevant may include sata drives, raid 
controllers (and not really raid controllers), ati and nvidia binary 
video drivers, usb dsl, softmodems, wireless ...

A section on downloading and burning iso images under various OS would 
also be valuable (can you use wget and cdrecord on OSX? if so would that 
cover all bases in one document, I know it does windows no problem).  
Even a general guide to burning cd/dvd disks under linux would be good 
(a pointer to k3b, a few tips through the _key_ jargon and some cdrecord 
lines for buring cd/dvd data, audio, video).

Some security pages on using a firewall (perhaps as part of the 
networking section), file permissions and getting security updates?   
Just installing new software alone could be a section, even if it's just 
a couple of screenshots and command lines for each different distro to 
show you how to get started, though this could branch of into a few 
other areas.

A section on using a basic desktop would be nice also, just so people 
don't feel scared off by only seeing how to rename files at a command line!

I would love to see a page on distributions, to help new users choose 
one for their desktop (home primarily)!   Would anyone like to make 
pitches for different distros for new users, perhaps we can whittle it 
down to a list with some strengths and weaknesses (or costs) for each?   
The bottom line is always the Freedom of choice for the user so lets 
outline the options (as they stand).

I'm sure lots of you could see things there, even if you don't feel you 
can write it yourself, put the idea out there, perhaps someone will sit 
down and do it!   If you see something you reckon you can handle, give 
it a go!

Niall "wik-wik-wikitty" Walsh


Booting Up

If you want to run Linux on your computer, first you are going to have 
to learn how your computer chooses what operating system to run, so you 
can make it run Linux.

When your computer is powered on, the bios (basic input/output system) 
takes control of your computer.   The relevant fact for us now about the 
bios is that it decides where to look for software on the computer and 
what order to look at these places in.   Usually computers will look to 
the hard disc for the software they will run, though often they will 
also check for a floppy disk, cd/dvd, network connection or flash memory 
which can be used to start the computer.   Usually when you are 
installing an Operating System on to your computer, you will boot up 
from an installation cd/dvd to perform the installation, so your bios 
will need to be setup to check the cd/dvd before the hard disk.   If you 
want to try out a LiveCD version of Linux, you will also need to have 
your bios setup similarly.

If you are planning on installing Linux or running a LiveCD, you may be 
lucky and already find that your computer will boot from the cd/dvd 
drive.   There is no harm in trying to put the cd in and then restarting 
your computer, if it starts up as normal then you will need to check and 
probably change the bios, if you see some new massages (probably 
mentioning Linux somewhere) then you can leave the bios alone and 
continue on to install Linux or try out that cd.

To check or change the setup in your bios, you will need to restart your 
computer, and press a key to enter the setup function, before it starts 
to load any operating system.   Usually you will need to press F1, F2, 
Escape or Delete, if there are no messages on the screen to tell you 
what to press (or if they go to fast to read them) you may have to 
consult your motherboard or computer manual.   Once you enter the bios 
setup, you should look for instructions on how to use the setup, and 
ensure you do not save any changes you did not mean to make, as this 
could prevent your computer from booting up properly.   Generally you 
will be looking for an option called "boot order" or similar and here 
you should have the chance to ensure the computer will check the cd/dvd 
drive before the hard disk.   If you have to change the boot order, you 
will need to save your changes before you leave the bios setup (there is 
usually a "save and exit" option which will ask you to confirm that you 
want to make the changes). If you are unsure ask a friend to help!

When your bios is starting up the software on your computer, what it 
actually does is attempt to get a small piece of code, called a boot 
loader from each place it has been told to look, one at a time, in 
order.   It uses the first copy of the information it finds to start 
loading software on to the computer.  When the bios comes to look at 
hard disks for a boot loader, it looks at the very start of the disk, a 
space on the disk called the master boot record or mbr.   Unless you 
have scsi hard disks (and if you don't know what this means assume you 
don't) then the bios will actually just check for an mbr on the "first" 
hard disk (the master disk on the first controller to be more precise). 
If you only have one operating system installed on your computer, all 
the software in the mbr needs to do is start that system.    If you have 
multiple Operating Systems installed on your hard disk(s) then this mbr 
needs to offer you a way to choose between them and then start them 
up.   When you are installing Linux, you will usually be given the 
chance to install grub or lilo as your boot loader, and also the chance 
to make a boot floppy (to use this your bios would need to check for 
floppy disks to boot from before the hard disk).   Both grub and lilo 
will happily start other operating systems, and many Linux distributions 
will set this up automatically and so the recommended approach is to 
install one of these into the mbr.   Alternatively you can install lilo 
or grub to the same partition as Linux (and NOT the mbr) and make the 
Windows NT/2000/XP boot loader offer a choice to start Linux.   Finally 
on Windows 95/8 you can use loadlin to start Linux from dos.

Always remember that if your computer is set to boot first from a 
removable device (cd/dvd or floppy) then it will always boot from this 
device if it can, so you will normally want to ensure there is no 
bootable disk in the drive when you start the computer.   When you are 
finished installing Linux, or using a LiveCD, you should remove the 
cd/dvd from the drive before restarting your computer, letting your 
system boot up normally from the hard disk.   Keep the disk safe though 
as in the event of a problem with your computer, you know have a rescue 
disk you can use to boot up and fix problems.