Booting problem

[FatalFusion]

OK, complete n00000b here.

Just finished installing, and ive had to reboot a couple of times already. Ive managed to actually get into mandrake once, and it was very s.l.o.w.

But now, everything starts up, then theres the black screen login, which seems to be just bypassed then it either freezes, and does nothing, or continues the the other login. If the session is set to KDE, i usually log in ok, but if its set to standard it freezes.

Any ideas. Its quite a low spec system - 700mhz p3, 64mb DDR, 64 mb graphics. Should i drop to a previous mandrake?

Help!

[drakebasher]

You really do not want to go with a previous Mandrake. While 10.1 can be difficult for a lot of users, 9.2 was a noob-killer. Since you asked about distro choice, there are other distros that have a record of easier installs, Fedora Core being one. While notebook installs can be more difficult than in boxes, due to specialized hardware and therefor specialized, often proprietary drivers, most problems can be worked out. Many have recommended Linux on Laptops as a good resource. The biggest handicap you have is your RAM: it should be at least 125Mb for graphics and, of course, more is better.

[FatalFusion]

Its sped up a bit now, and ive sorted a few of the problems. I will be adding RAM, when i get paid.

Another problem now though. My CD drive is not reading CD's, its an external drive, and i dont know what the model is, as its plastered in Dell stickers. Linux recognises it, but when it goes to mount it, i get the error message :

/dev/hdc: Input/Output error
Mount: /dev/hdc: can't read superblock
Please check that the disk is entered correctly

[drakebasher]

My CD drive is not reading CD's, its an external drive, and i dont know what the model is

How is it connected to the computer? If it's usb, I thought (I could be wrong) that it should be seen as a scsi device: /dev/sda. Also, usb devices can be tricky in Linux. I'd say peel off some of those stickers and search http://www.google.com/linux with that model number. Oh, and make sure you have a good CD in place (data, not music) and make sure the drive and CD work okay on some other computer: Windows or Linux will do.

[FatalFusion]

OK, it will read data CD's!
Just not music, whats going on there?

[drakebasher]

OK, it will read data CD's!
Just not music, whats going on there?

Sounds like progress. Now you know your hardware is okay. Maybe it's time for a new thread with a topic like "CD reads data but not music!"

[FatalFusion]

Ok thanks ill repost