[SOLVED] having trouble getting started

[Crystal878]

I'm brand new to Linux, and pretty much a n00b with technical computer stuff; I learn how to use new software pretty intuitively, but beyond that I know I still have a lot to learn.

I have a desktop PC from 2005 and recently bought a laptop which I've been using instead of my PC so I decided to install Linux on the PC because I'm curious and want to learn. I've been having a lot of trouble installing Linux, I've tried several distros which kept either freezing during installation or giving me error messages, but was finally able to install Fedora. But now when I log into Fedora it either freezes or stops recognizing both my mouse and keyboard (not sure which)

So I don't know what to do now to get it to work. I'm not trying for a dual boot or anything, just let it write over the hard disk (after making sure I had all my data backed up onto my laptop) I also don't specifically have to run Fedora, I previewed a few other distros on live CDs on my laptop. I'm just looking for something that I can learn on.

I have a HP Pavillion, Intel Pentium 4, 1536 MB of memory. The computer came with XP, I later upgraded to Vista. Not sure what other information would be helpful.

Thanks.

[devils casper]

Hi and Welcome !

But now when I log into Fedora it either freezes or stops recognizing both my mouse and keyboard (not sure which)

Does press Alt+Ctrl+F3 switch to command line mode? Which Graphics Card do you have? Do you have USB Mouse and keyboard?

[Crystal878]

When should I try pressing Alt+Ctrl+F3? Once I try logging in the keyboard doesn't respond at all (not even the CAPS lock or NUM lock keys)

My keyboard and mouse are the ones that came with the computer, not USB.

Is there a way to look up what graphics card I have without opening up the computer? Does it matter since I'm not having trouble with the display? (last time I opened it it took me awhile to close the case again)

Oh, and I can run the live CD's of Damn Small Linux and Fedora but I want something actually installed on the computer.

[reed9]

The ALT+CTRL+F3 can happen as soon as the login manager starts. So if everything goes haywire once you login, try it at the graphical login prompt instead.

If it's running fine as a live cd, from the live environment, open a terminal and type
lspci

then post the output.

You can also write the output to a text file, if you want to make it easier, with lspci > lspci.txt

You can name the lspci.txt bit whatever you want. Contained in that output will be info on your graphics card.

[Crystal878]

ALT+CTRL+F3 did bring me to command line mode, though I have no idea what to do from there. And this is the information I got from lspci:

[liveuser@localhost ~]$ lspci
00:00.0 Host bridge: Intel Corporation 82915G/P/GV/GL/PL/910GL Memory Controller Hub (rev 04)
00:02.0 Display controller: Intel Corporation 82915G/GV/910GL Integrated Graphics Controller (rev 04)
00:1b.0 Audio device: Intel Corporation 82801FB/FBM/FR/FW/FRW (ICH6 Family) High Definition Audio Controller (rev 03)
00:1c.0 PCI bridge: Intel Corporation 82801FB/FBM/FR/FW/FRW (ICH6 Family) PCI Express Port 1 (rev 03)
00:1d.0 USB Controller: Intel Corporation 82801FB/FBM/FR/FW/FRW (ICH6 Family) USB UHCI #1 (rev 03)
00:1d.1 USB Controller: Intel Corporation 82801FB/FBM/FR/FW/FRW (ICH6 Family) USB UHCI #2 (rev 03)
00:1d.2 USB Controller: Intel Corporation 82801FB/FBM/FR/FW/FRW (ICH6 Family) USB UHCI #3 (rev 03)
00:1d.3 USB Controller: Intel Corporation 82801FB/FBM/FR/FW/FRW (ICH6 Family) USB UHCI #4 (rev 03)
00:1d.7 USB Controller: Intel Corporation 82801FB/FBM/FR/FW/FRW (ICH6 Family) USB2 EHCI Controller (rev 03)
00:1e.0 PCI bridge: Intel Corporation 82801 PCI Bridge (rev d3)
00:1f.0 ISA bridge: Intel Corporation 82801FB/FR (ICH6/ICH6R) LPC Interface Bridge (rev 03)
00:1f.1 IDE interface: Intel Corporation 82801FB/FBM/FR/FW/FRW (ICH6 Family) IDE Controller (rev 03)
00:1f.2 IDE interface: Intel Corporation 82801FB/FW (ICH6/ICH6W) SATA Controller (rev 03)
00:1f.3 SMBus: Intel Corporation 82801FB/FBM/FR/FW/FRW (ICH6 Family) SMBus Controller (rev 03)
02:01.0 FireWire (IEEE 1394): VIA Technologies, Inc. IEEE 1394 Host Controller (rev 80)
02:02.0 Ethernet controller: Realtek Semiconductor Co., Ltd. RTL-8139/8139C/8139C+ (rev 10)
02:03.0 PCI bridge: PLX Technology, Inc. PEX 8111 PCI Express-to-PCI Bridge (rev 21)
02:04.0 Communication controller: Agere Systems V.92 56K WinModem (rev 03)
02:05.0 Network controller: RaLink RT2561/RT61 802.11g PCI
03:00.0 VGA compatible controller: ATI Technologies Inc RV516 [Radeon X1300/X1550 Series]
03:00.1 Display controller: ATI Technologies Inc RV516 [Radeon X1300 Pro] (Secondary)
[liveuser@localhost ~]$

[computerophil]

Hallo,
a strange thing you are telling us:
I usually recommend to try out liveCDs first - you did already.
It doesn't freeze as LiveCD but while installation. That never happened to me.
Normally errors occur already with LiveCD if it doesn't fit with the hardware.

An excellent hardware recognition in my opinion has OpenMamba, Mandriva, Knoppix,
aaaand laaaast but nooot leeeast: Puppy worked always fine with me (I also started with it)

[Crystal878]

I tried Mandriva, Knoppix, and Puppy and none of them would start on my computer. I got most of what I've tried from a book I bought, the Linux Bible 2009 that a DVD and CD included with live versions of multiple distros, that's what I was able to install Fedora from. But I also tried downloading and burning several to DVDs from their websites.

Working on downloading OpenMamba now, see if it works.

[Crystal878]

OpenMamba didn't work either. I've been working on trying to install Linux for almost a week now.

[reed9]

Frequently, everything freezing is indicative of a problem with the graphics driver, and ATI cards can be fairly troublesome.

I would try the Ubuntu Alternate Install CD

This does not boot as a live CD, but is an ncurses based installer. Make sure you're burning the ISO to disk correctly as well.
https://help.ubuntu.com/community/BurningIsoHowto

Since only disc that (semi)successfully installed was purchased, it's possible something is going wonky in the burning process.

If you're really game to learn, I would recommend giving Arch Linux a try. But it's not for the impatient the first time out. It does not boot into a graphical environment at all when you boot the disk or after install, so if it is a graphics card problem with the X Windows system, this would avoid it. Once you have your base system, you can install all those graphical frills. I don't normally recommend it for people new to linux, but it will teach you a lot.

If you choose to try this, please follow the beginner's guide step by step.

[computerophil]

OpenMamba didn't work either. I've been working on trying to install Linux for almost a week now.

Describe the non working - please .

Do the CDs boot? Does there come an error message?