New User Install FAQ

Question: General: MD5SUM Check.

Answer: When you download the ISO file to burn to CD, you should first check the md5sum of the file. This is done by opening a terminal (command prompt in windows), moving to the directory you downloaded the ISO to and typing md5sum the_name_of_the.iso . Check the output of this against the md5sum file on the download site, if they do not match exactly then something went wrong with the download and all sorts of problems could arise if you try to use this ISO.


Question: General: vasm.

Answer: When instructions involving the use of vasm are suggested in this FAQ, do not use vasm from within X, use it from the command line outside of X. If vasm appears to be doing nothing then this is most likely why.


Question: Is there some way I can resize my NTFS (windows XP) partition to make way for a linux install (without buying partition magic)?

Answer: You can download/burn a system rescue CD from here http://www.sysresccd.org/. It includes several useful programs, including QtParted, a free partition magic clone capable of creating/resizing NTFS partitions (as well as many other file system types).


Question: How can I share my files with windows?

Answer: Windows can't read linux filesystems, but linux can read windows filesystems. If you're using windows 95/98 then it is installed on a FAT32 partition, which your linux system will be able to read and write to. Windows NT/XP however uses the NTFS filesystem, which (using the installed linux kernel) is read only from linux. You might find it easiest to create a new FAT32 partition for your data which both windows and linux can use. To add extra partitions to mount from linux at boot time, edit your "fstab" file using nano /etc/fstab and follow the comments.


Question: What is swap space? / How much swap space do I need?

Answer: Swap space is linux's way of implementing virtual memory by using a special small partition on your hard drive. How much space to allocate to this swap partition is not clearly defined, but an old rule says double the amount of physical RAM you have. Chances are if you have a lot of RAM you have hard drive space to burn anyway so it can't hurt.


Question: How much space do I need to install this?

Answer: This will vary with what extra programs you want to install and mainly by the amount of data (documents, videos, etc.) you want to keep. I currently have VL4 running with the whole of KDE3.2 installed and using up 1.5GB of my 10GB partition. Note that I have a seperate FAT32 partition for all my data to share with windows.


Question: How do I install on a machine with no CD drive?

Answer: If you have another machine with a CD drive then you can get around this by plugging the target computers hard drive into the other machine and using it to install. When the system tries to reboot, power down and replace the hard drive in the target machine. Vector versions 3.2 and under can also be installed without any CD drive using the instructions in the install document.


Question: Why do I get a "file not found" error during the install?

Answer: If you are using your secondary CD drive, try using your primary one, Vector linux will only install from the first CD detected on the IDE/SCSI channels.


Question: Why does my system keep freezing during/after the install?

Answer: This could be a power management problem, try booting with the noacpi or noapm options. E.g. at the lilo prompt type optionname noacpi where optionname is the name of your linux installation in the lilo menu.


Question: Why does the screen start filling up with numbers when I reboot? / Where did my LILO menu go?

Answer: Chances are you just did a fresh install and skipped installing LILO because you did it last time, or got rid of a partition bootable from lilo. Boot from the rescue CD (the install CD) with the command "linux root=/dev/hda3 ro" (replacing hda3 with the partition you installed to) to get into the system then as root run nano /etc/lilo.conf to open your lilo config file and check that it still applies to your system. Once you're happy with that run /sbin/lilo to reinstall lilo. Don't forget to reinstall lilo!


Question: Why can't I type my password when trying to log in?

Answer: You can! The system does not give any indication on screen that you are typing your password but it is paying attention, so just try it.


Question: Why does X start up in a low resolution?

Answer: Basically the X setup just tries to use the best safe settings that the monitor reports back through the video card. Increase the resolution by running vasm as root and choosing "X setup", then "Set up screen" and choosing the resolution/colour depth you want. If this doesn't work you may need to alter settings in "Set up display" and "Set up video card" as well.


Question: Why does my soundcard not work/exist?

Answer: This could be a power management problem, try booting with the noacpi or noapm options. E.g. at the lilo prompt type optionname noacpi where optionname is the name of your linux installation in the lilo menu. To get my laptops soundcard working I had to compile APM out of and ACPI into the kernel.


Question: Why does my mouse keep jumping to the bottom-left of the screen in X?

Answer: This is down to a line in the X config file, so if you have this problem then as root type nano /etc/X11/XF86Config-4 to open the file for editing and look for the mouse section. If there is a line saying "Option "Protocol" "IMPS/2" " then change the IMPS/2 to PS/2.


Question: Why does the keymap I selected during the install not work in X?

Answer: This only sets the keymap for outside of X, to get your keymap working in X, you will need to edit the X config file with nano /etc/X11/XF86Config-4 , find the section about the keyboard and add a line saying Option "XkbLayout" "uk" where "uk" can be replaced with the country code that your keymap needs. So when you're done you end up with a section like this:
Quote:

Section "InputDevice"
Identifier "Keyboard0"
Driver "keyboard"
Option "XkbLayout" "uk"
EndSection


Question: How do I boot to the command line when I have set the system up to boot straight to X?

Answer: If things go wrong with X you'll be glad of this tip, from the lilo prompt type optionname 3 where optionname is the name of your linux system in the lilo menu. This will boot you into runlevel 3, a console login.