complete nub needs a little help

[portaloo]

this may sound stupid, but all the info i have found regarding a dual installation of linux refers to using a single hhd. sod that i've got 2 hdds and want to try linux on my secondary hdd so i can still work if something doesn't go right.
now i am assuming (but we all know assumptions are the mother of f***ups) that when i install linux, i'll be using mandrake 9 by the way, all i need to do is point the installation to the correct drive (secondary, not master) which from what i can work out is hd1.
like i say i think this is right. but what about lilo? will it install itself onto my master or secondary drive?
will this affect ntldr?

any help for this noob would be appreciated

[ December 02, 2002: Message edited by: portaloo ]

[Doogee]

hda = primary master
hdb = secondry master
hdc = primary slave
hdd = secondary slave


and so on, i dont think they use numbers

[portaloo]

cheers 4 that

[Calum]

the numbers refer to the partitions (if any) on each drive. hence:

hda1 = first partition on first drive
hdb3 = third partition on second hard drive

If you use GRUB as your bootloader then the syntax is a bit different, but the above is the correct syntax for LiLo.

If you're using mandrake, then you get a bit in the installation procedure where you can point and click and slide your partitions around a bit. If i were you i'd have windows on a single partition on hard drive one, then have three partitions on hard drive two.
The first partition should be about 5 to 9 GB and it should be ext3 and it should be mounted on /
The second should take up the rest of the partition except the last 200 to 600 MB and should be ext3 as well, and it should be mounted on /home
and finally, the last bit of your second hard drive should be the swap partition.

That's just my opinion/advice. I am sure you have read up on this already and don't need me poking my nose in, but that's what i would do.  

[portaloo]

Cheers Callum,

coming from windows it all seems a bit wierd, slowly becoming used to the nomenclature but there are things that throw me. i'm downloading the entire three discs for mandrake 9 so i'm learning as i download, got a bit of time 'cause i'm using a 56k modem  :eek:  

1.8 gigs, jesus it's taking it's time, but at least it will give me a little more time to prepare    

ta very muchly

[Doogee]

good luck mate, your about to learn a lot about computers that you couldnt learn before!

[portaloo]

i already know quite a lot about computers, mainly on the hardware side, but a fair bit about software too.

i don't hate windows, i don't love it either. this'll probably get me booted but i do like xp. i like it because i've pretty much never had a problem with it. my oc'd duron 800 with 512mb ram runs it fine, i constantly have many applications running at once, not small ones either, i haven't turned it off in about 4 months and it's still going strong.
dunno, maybe i've just been lucky.

i've installed huge games, played them, had the occasional game crash too but that's just crappy coding. i've killed a few processes along the way. testing mysql and apache at the mo 'cause iis is a slow as a sloth on valium.
uninstalled some stuff, ripped a few dvds defragged a few times and not one os crash.
mu flatmate though has almost the same system, pretty much except his is an athlon and his crashes all the time. odd.

my main gripe with windows is that it's full of holes, security wise.

as for learning linux, well i want to. i'm tired of paying so much money for software that everyone else is downloading from open source but need a different operating system to run. i'm still going to use some version of windows though.
i don't think it would go down too well at redmond if i emailed them asking for drivers for my sidewinder wheel lol.

damn this is turning into a blog.
sorry 'bout that.

ha ha my 50c worth

[Calum]

well, hope you enjoy having a choice!

you will find it frustrating though, if you know stuff from windows and not from other systems, since things you once took for granted will expect you to learn new ways of doing them.

Honestly though, once you've made yourself comfortable you'll probably never look back.

i think it's healthy to get to a point where you see your windows knowledge as a marketable skill rather than a requirement for your own computing.

ps:- if you already know stuff, why'd you call yourself a complete nub in the title?

[ December 02, 2002: Message edited by: Calum ]

[Master of Reality]

maybe a nub is an advanced version of a newb?

[portaloo]

just a lazy version of newb as The Master points out.
i do know a lot about windows yes but this is my first try with linux, frankly, i'm looking forward to it as i always relish a challenge

[ December 02, 2002: Message edited by: portaloo ]