Installing With netinst Problems

[AstroNATHAN]

I have had many problems with installing Linux. I first used Fedora but then the graphic card was not good enough. I tried CentOS but I also had a few problems. I then saw Debian and it was everything I need. Good graphics, simple, and easy to work with. I used the Netinst .iso image to try and install the OS on Microsoft Virtual PC 2007. I was able to use the graphic install and I went through all the steps. I had a few problems installing from the internet so I had to do a standard install. I am going to work with the internet problems later but I am not worried about that at the moment. It brought me to the last page and it said to reboot the system since it was finished. It started and it brought me to a boot up screen in text mode, that said please choose what you would like to boot and it listed the Debian Kernal and version number and the other choice was the same except it said (single mode) after it. I tried both booting up and it would bring me to a black screen and it would list all these files saying booting and loading this file and that. It reach the end and it said Linux Login _

I entered the username that I used for installing and pressed enter. It then said password _

I try to enter a password but nothing happens and it says log in incorrect. I read a few posts about installing Debian and the pictures showed a set up menu after the first restart, not a black text log in screen. Does anyone know the problem? What I can do to fix it?

[hazel]

NetInst gives you a lot of freedom about what and how much you install. Did you install the "desktop" package? That's the one that gives you your graphical interface. Without it, you just get text mode.

What name did you log in as? During installation, you would have been asked for a password for the "root" user which you should have written down somewhere. Are these the name and password that you used? Remember that both names and passwords are case-sensitive in Linux.

If you have really lost your root password, you should be able to get in without one by using single mode. Then you can set a new root password by using the passwd command.

To see if you have any kind of graphical desktop installed, try typing startx. If nothing happens, a quick way to install a newbie-friendly graphical interface is to type: apt-get install gnome.

Once that is done, try startx again and it should work. Then you should use the user management tool in the gnome system menu to create a non-root account for yourself with a suitable name and password. Finally you can reboot and you should be OK.

[AstroNATHAN]

I figured out log in but when I type startx it says command not found. I type apt-get install gnome and it looks like it is installing but then it says couldn't find package gnome.

[oz]

You might need to update the packages list if you haven't done so already:

apt-get update

...then try the command given by hazel again. If you have a working internet connection and your repos are setup properly, it should install the Gnome desktop environment.

Don't forget that you have to have root permissions to install software.

Here's an in-depth HowTo for using the apt package tool should you need it:

APT HOWTO

[AstroNATHAN]

I am trying but it wont connect. It says trying to connect to security.debian.org and it stays at 0%. I am using Microsoft Virtual PC 2007. I tried installing Windows 7 beta on another Virtual PC using Microsoft Virtual PC 2007 and internet works fine on it. I can even use internet on the host at the same time as the guest pc. Any suggestions on fixing this problem?