Help: Installation of Mandriva 2006

[Quadophile]

[font=verdana, arial, helvetica]I have the home rig in dual boot mode with Mandrake 10 installed. Although the dual boot works fine but the Mandrake does not load properly, I plan on putting Mandriva 2006 on it and retain the dual boot advantage.

I have many questions at the moment which are bothering me, I would appreciate if someone can answer them.

1. If I install Mandriva 2006 on top of Mandrake will it cause any problems? Ideally I like to retain the partitions as they are and overwrite Mandrake 10.

2. My system has a Sata drive (120GB) on which I have created the MBR and also where the partitions of Linux reside. The Pata drive (80GB) has Windows XP installed. This configuration helps in avoiding problems of accessing the Windows should something go wrong with the Linux MBR. The active disk is SATA and if it gives me problems I can deactivate it and make the PATA drive as active and boot with windows. Is this a good way of doing things? Are there any issues that I should be aware of?

3. I am a bit hesitant in installing Linux on my newly acquired IBM T43 as I cannot afford to loose the installed software and my data which is working fine with standard installation. I have a 40 GB Mobile Drive with USB configuration which ideally I can use to install Mandriva on but boot with USB option in the setup when required. Is this possible without disturbing the origianl 80 GB drive installed and not creating an MBR on that? It would be rather a stand alone option, do I have that?

4. Finally which is the best place to download the Mandriva 2006 as I have max download speed of 15K? I will need a few days to download ISO's by using the Leechget Download Manager which I am prepared to do. I will also leave the system on overnight for it so that it is quicker.

Thanks for any input.[/font]

 

[muckshifter]

OK, I'll do my best ... but please wait for someone with a little more experience than I before diving in.

[font=verdana, arial, helvetica] 1. If I install Mandriva 2006 on top of Mandrake will it cause any problems? Ideally I like to retain the partitions as they are and overwrite Mandrake 1

MD 2006 will give you an option to 'upgrade' from 10 ... however, as always, it would be better to do a clean install. This should not be a problem as you just tell MD 2006 to use existing partitions.

Q 2 ... Can't help you with that ... I don't do dual-boot. However, MB 2006 has no problems in using a SATA drive.

Q 3 ... if you don't want to 'mess' with the T43, then DON'T ... better to have a working system that a doorstop.

Q 4 ... MD 2006 is only available to club members at the moment, there is an FTP download available, but it took me nearly 2 hours @ 230Kb/s to install.


Suse EvalDVD 10 is good.
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[Quadophile]

Thanks for that, Yes there are many issues to deal with, I will be patient this time and before attempting anything prepare a complete plan of what I need to do and what to avoid. I will wait for others to give their opinion as well.

 

[tjm4fun]

ok, I'll give it a shot...

1. Not a problem installing over 10. the safest way is to choose format the partition so no old settings accidentally get left from the old version.
Only stumbling block with sata is being sure the chipset has support in linux, which you no doubtedly already know about, most are supported, but there are a couple that have no support yet. That could be your mdk 10 problem, or not. Be sure you install a new bootloader during the install, and obviously to the sata drive's mbr.
As per other posts, I always recommend that you have a "data" partition seperate from the os install, handy to store your bookmarks on, and other documents and pdf's you may have in your home directory. You also have the option of saving your hidden folders for your apps, but that is really only valid if the new release is using the same versions of a particular app.
Don;t try kde, as the settings are often very different and can cause problems.

2. That is a sound setup. should not create any issues, as you never touch the mbr on the windows disk. that should always remain bootable.

3. the t43 supports boot from usb, but don;t expect blazing performance. even usb2 is slower than a native hdd. it is an option tho.
The t43 should alow you to create a cdset of the restore partition, which I do recommend you doing, as if the hdd craps out, you'll have restore media.
on the r40 I gave my daughter, I made the set, then removed the 5 gig partition. (I believe if you don;t have the set, they now charge you for the restore set if they ship it to you. Bastids!!) then I moved the os down, and created a hidden 5 gig parition that I set driveimage to create images to, a much more practical solution as I can then restore all the stuff installed on it. that was a 20 gig drive. on an 80, I would just leave it, and chop out a 20 gig partition for linux and install it on hdd. The fdisk /mbr from a boot of a xp cd will put it back. I can honestly say that any lilo problems I've had has ever effected the windows boot.
But if you are that concerned, I would install the os on the hdd partition, and set a usb key up with a bootloader. stick the key in, boot from usb, and select your os from there. there should be plenty of tips for this out there, google em up.

4. With that speed limit on d/l, any mirror should be ok, tho I try to find one that is in the 100+ KB/s range.

Any other?'s, or if I was unclear, just gimme a shout!

 

[Quadophile]

tjm4fun,

Thank you for taking time out and explaining things to me. I am at the moment in process of gathering information and would ideally go at it when I feel I have enough knowledge to tinker and not make a mistake at any stage of the inslallation/upgrade.

Thanks again