Linux Operating Systems.

Bikeracer · February 25, 2013, 08:33:28 AM

After not knowing how to get the Mint disc going I went into the Windows7 side,put the disc in and Windows asked me if I wanted to burn the disc.

I clicked the yes button and windows the informed me that there was other stuff on the disc and would need to overwrite it so I clicked the continue button and windows started.After a short while windows stopped the burn with an error message,a load of meaningless numbers to me.

I hate having to try and install anything in windows,it's always an uphill battle.

I'll try again later and burn it to disc again on the Mac.

Allan

longbridge · February 25, 2013, 08:45:47 AM

Alan I posted the instructions on how to set up the disc to install Mint on page 4 of this topic, if you burned the disc as an "iso" file you shouldn't have any problems.

First time I burned a Linux mint iso file disc I did it in Nero, by the way once you get Mint up and running download K3b its as good as Nero and costs nothing.

Joe 90 · February 25, 2013, 10:34:01 AM

Oh Dear, I seem to have started a firestorm here with my foray into the world of Linux operating systems.

However Allan(Bikeracer), as an alternative to burning off your own boot disc you could have a look in WHSmiths' computing magazine department. Quite often they have Linux magazines that have operating systems(distros) already loaded on to the attached disk ready to load in. The other week in our store there was a magazine with 5 or more distros on the disk to try out which included MInt. However, as is my luck, when I went back to purchase it the other day they had sold out.

Regards

Malc · February 25, 2013, 05:12:43 PM

I will persevere and thanks Dave

Bikeracer · February 25, 2013, 06:17:20 PM

Well I'll definitely stay with the Mac and Windows in bootcamp, no Linux for me.

I think the Mac keyboard may be a bit different as regards the F buttons.
Anyway I hit F12 as the Mac booted up,it just ejected the disc,tried again,same result.

Tried it in windows and it just locked the screen up on the screen that says starting windows,I had to physically switch the computer off.
Switched back on and I got a screen that said startup needed repairing,did that and the system restore it recommended.
Tried again,this time it locked up again and after several minutes I just had to switch off.
Switched back on and chose the start windows normally option,windows started and I'm back in the Mac now.

Sorry,but this is the second time I've tried Linux and it's been a miserable failure both times,so I'll not be bothering ever again,at least the disc is re-writable.

Thanks anyway,but I'm not very good at being a computer geek and it just seems that I don't have the know how to make it work,and don't really see the point in having three operating systems on one computer.

Allan

red_death · February 25, 2013, 06:25:21 PM

Allan

It sounds like you were trying to stick Linux onto your Mac?
You shouldn't be getting as far as loading OSX or Windows as you need the computer to load from the disc you have made. On a Windows PC you do that by changing the BIOS setting so that the computer loads from the CD/DVD drive before a hard drive. I assume that Macs have something similar, though you might have to mess with a boot manager.

I am afraid that isn't the fault of Linux, but the choice of system you have bought.

Mike

Bikeracer · February 25, 2013, 07:06:24 PM

It doesn't matter Mike,I was just curious to try it,for me it's a no go it seems,I don't really want to be altering things that I know very little about.
The Windows partition isn't connected to the internet so I don't need all the extra software that needs to be installed in windows,neither am I pestered with the constant security patches etc.

If I could have installed XP on this computer I would have done,apparently it's possible to make Windows7 behave like XP but I don't know how to do it and find navigating the Windows7 GUI horrible to say the least.

Allan

RChook · February 26, 2013, 01:26:23 AM

Quote from: Bikeracer on February 24, 2013, 09:25:57 PM
I'm downloading 64 bit Mint iso now and will try and burn it to a disc,

Quote from: Bikeracer on February 25, 2013, 08:33:28 AM
After not knowing how to get the Mint disc going I went into the Windows7 side,put the disc in and Windows asked me if I wanted to burn the disc.

Can Win7 burn ISOs ? Or does it try to burn as a regular file system.
I dunno, I've not yet tried Win7 but earlier Wins could not and one needed special burner software to do ISOs

so,, I dunno,, check !?

Quote from: longbridge on February 25, 2013, 06:21:02 AM
Not getting into the Win vs Linux debate which is a total waste of time and breath,

At last, something we can agree upon !!

longbridge · February 26, 2013, 07:54:54 AM

Nero has no trouble burning iso files to DVD, there are several free CD/DVD burning software px for Windows including this one

http://www.freeisoburner.com/

Burn an Linux iso file at a nice slow speed ans your half way there

Bikeracer · February 26, 2013, 08:36:31 AM

Burn to disc comes as part of the Mac OS

Allan

RChook · February 26, 2013, 12:02:28 PM

Alan, I was trying to understand why MintLinux did not work for you.
I thought you were using a Windows computer, so I dont understand the reference to Mac !

Assuming that you have not walked away from Linux again ?

Try this (I hope I am not trying to teach granny about eggs

) :-

You need a computer that will boot from the CD/DVD drive (most newer computers are defaulted to check the cd/dvd drive first before going on to the C: ).
You download a Mint (or any other Live Linux) .ISO file
You then burn the .ISO as an Image not as a regular file, not like an audio or whatever file.
The two types of burn are different, that is why I asked if Win7 can burn ISOs
I have done some googling and yes, Win7 has an option to burn an image,
did you use that option ?

You then switch off your computer, put the imaged dvd in the drive, switch back on and it should boot from the dvd. It should not start up in windows ie. it should not boot from the C: drive.
If it does boot into windows then that means either your dvd burn was a dud or that your drive is not bootable and you will then have to think of going into your bios settings to enable it, which will make you very nervous!!

If it has booted from the dvd then you should have a screen showing either a Linux desktop OR a screen showing various options of running the linux. (I dont know which of these is given by the latest Mint)
You obviously did not get that screen, I suspect a burn problem.

There is another method of trying Linux, it can be put on a flash memory stick and run from a bootable USB port. I think we will leave that till another day

for the Linux advocates to talk you through

HTH

Bikeracer · February 26, 2013, 01:06:28 PM

Thanks for the effort,but I'll leave well alone now.

Allan

keithfre · February 26, 2013, 04:14:15 PM

Has anyone else tried Puppy Linux? I tried it on a cheapo Acer netbook a couple of years ago and really liked the speed and small size, but it simply couldn't remember its wireless settings from one session to the next, so I reluctantly gave up on it.

Caz · February 26, 2013, 07:20:18 PM

Just had a look at the Mint website, totally confused as to what version to go for, I'm currently running Win XP sp3 32bit on a Dell Latitude D630 laptop. How the hell do I know if my computer is PAE compatible and what is PAE? I thought Linux was supposed to be easy to use but looks like I've fallen before the race has even started.

EtchedPixels · February 26, 2013, 08:22:49 PM

DE630 should be an Intel Core 2, so 64bit with PAE.

It's like the fun of figuring out if you can run 64bit windows. Just about anything non dinosaur era (except the Pemtium M 400MHz bus version - don't ask - I worked for Intel and I don't know why either !) has PAE.

Alan