Re: [TCLUG:9836] new install

["Carl Wilhelm Soderstrom" <carls@agritech.com>]

>Please bear with me......(linux newbie)
        hey, we all started there. :) some of us <points at self> are still
there.  :)
        more than any other OS, Linux is one of those cases where "the more
you learn, the less you know", because you learn how much *more* there is to
know. :)
        Linus Torvalds himself doesn't like to answer questions about
anything but hardcore kernel stuff; b/c he claims to not know anything about
any of the other stuff. :)

>I just installed Redhat6.1.  Upon restart it froze with "LI".  From what
>I understand (from looking up in sites) either the LBA mode is not
>enabled or the kernel is residing below cylinder 1023.
        you need to have LBA mode *disabled*. otherwise you're likely to
have filesystem problems of some sort or another. LBA mode is a BIOS
setting. hit the <esc> or <delete> or <F1> or <F2> or <F10> (for Compaqs)
keys at boot time (it'll usually say which) to access your BIOS.
        a possibility is that you might not have the right partition set
bootable. if you have more than one partition set bootable (Caldera 2.2's
partitioner will let you do this), you will get that error. also, if you
have *no* partitions set bootable, it may give that problem. (tho I admit to
a lack of understood experience in that regard).

        be reassured, I still boot our webserver here at work with a floppy
(first Linux box I ever built.. it was a floppy-booted dual-boot machine
originally); and I have met other Linux users with far more experience than
myself, who do the same thing. :)

>I am unable to find a "howto" get into the bios and check/change the LBA
>mode and am leary of reinstalling under the "expert" mode to designate
>partition space for the kernel to reside fully below cylinder 1023.
        don't be afraid of "expert mode" in anything. IMHO, RedHat's "expert
mode" is only marginally more complicated than installing DOS. :) (more
extensive, but not more complicated, except for the partitioning; which Disk
Druid makes *very* quick to learn).
        remember that Micro$quish considers anyone an 'expert' if they're
capable of installing win95. Linux is not significantly more complicated. :)
        if you actually bought the boxed set; the book RH gives you is
actually really good doco for a beginner. it explains the basic process of
installing; and the list of packages and what they do is invaluable to a
beginner. :) I haven't really looked at a copy since the RH5.1 edition; but
I hear it's just gotten better. :)

Carl Soderstrom
System Administrator	307 Brighton Ave. 
Minnesota DHIA		Buffalo, MN	
carls@agritech.com	(612) 682-1091