desktop June 2005

desktop@lists.fedoraproject.org

12 participants
5 discussions

Suggestion: Installation Program for Windows
by Michael 30 Jun '05

30 Jun '05

For a while, I've thought that if Windows users could install Linux as easily as they can install any Windows program, they might be more likely to give Linux a try. When I came across http://marc.herbert.free.fr/linux/win2linstall.html I realized that it could be fairly simple to create such an installation program using existing tools. Here's a rough sketch of how such an installer might work, taking advantage of WINGRUB or GRUB4DOS (http://grub4dos.sourceforge.net/) to allow a removeable media-less installation. (WINGRUB and GRUB4DOS allow a computer to boot into linux on a FAT or NTFS partion.) This system need not be wedded to any particular distribution, and different distributions will surely have varying ideas on how best to implement it. intro explanation automatic (or guided) installation? determine (confirm) language determine time, date, timezone, keyboard layout guess (confirm) good amount of space for linux partition create installation script based on previous information prompt to close programs, eject media, click restart determine whether windows=NT or =9x if NT append WINGRUB to boot.ini, set as default boot option copy kernel, initrd, linux.iso, boot.lst to \boot if 9x something similar with GRUB4DOS , never done it myself reboot user selects or defaults to WINGRUB/GRUB4DOS linux boots and autodetects hardware (logged) script removes WINGRUB/GRUB4DOS from boot.ini (if installation fails, computer will not keep booting into linux) installation program runs using install script, auto-detected hardware settings, installs GRUB to MBR (all logged) reboot next boot (windows or linux) check installation log ask to send results to database delete \boot first linux boot set up user run program to copy over all windows documents, pictures, audio files, maybe even some settings Let me explain the installation process in plain English. In the first step, I imagine that the installer will give the user the choice between accepting all of the installer's guesses or having a chance to modify those choices. The installer would then examine the registry to determine the user's language, the system time/date/timezone, and the keyboard layout. It would then determine the amount of free space on the hard drive and, based on the amount of space needed for an installation and the amount of free space remaining, make a guess as to the proper amount of space to partition away for linux. Based on all this information, the installer would then create an installation sript for anaconda or the debian-installer or whatever the distro uses. It would place this script, the kernel, initrd, and installation program, the distro's base installation packages, and either WINGRUB or GRUB4DOS (depending on what version of Windows the user is running) in the \boot directo! ry, and modify the user's startup files to boot into linux. On reboot, the computer would start up into linux and run the installation program using the installation script. In case something goes wrong and the installation cannot finish, the installer should set the computer to boot into Windows on the next boot as soon as possible. The installer would then partition the disk, install the base packages, install GRUB to the master boot record, and reboot. At startup, GRUB would greet the user and ask whether to boot into Windows or linux. Regardless of which OS the user boots, a program would run that would check the installation log to see if everything went well with the installation. With the user's permission, it would send a copy of the log to a database that would allow the distro to better assess it's installer. The program would then delete the installation program and the supporting files (like the kernel, initrd, and packages that were still on the windows p! artition). On the first linux boot, the user would be prompt! ed to cr eate a user. At this point, the user would have a workable linux distribution that would dual-boot with windows, all without having to so much as burn a CD. In an ideal world, a linux program would offer to copy over the user's files (and possibly some settings) from the windows partition. Unfortunately, although I am computer literate, I have only the most basic programming skills and do not have the knowledge necessary to create this system. Obviously a lot of the work is already done: WINGRUB and GRUB4DOS can facilitate a diskless installation, the Nullsoft Scriptable Install System could serve as the base for the Windows part of the installer, and debian-installer and anaconda could serve as the linux part of the installer. The only thing left to do is to put these pieces together. If anybody actually reads this far, what do you think? Is this even a good idea? Would you be willing to work on this? Do you have any suggestions on other places to post this message (so far, I've only posted it to the Ubuntu users list and the Fedora Core desktop list)? Thank you for taking the time to read and consider this idea. Best, Michael

1 0

FC4 - Fail to install nVidia driver
by McArthor Lee 25 Jun '05

25 Jun '05

hi all, i've installed Fedora Core 4 on my box which has a Geforce2 MMX 400 card. i've installed kernel-devel rpm packege. [mcarthor@McArthor ~]$ rpm -qa | grep kernel kernel-doc-2.6.11-1.1369_FC4 kernel-2.6.11-1.1369_FC4 kernel-devel-2.6.11-1.1369_FC4 i've disabled selinux as some posts say. now i have nVidia 7667 driver also. i invoke this command: ./NVIDIA-7667-pkg1.run --add-this-kernel and no error occurs. then i run ./NVIDIA-7667-pkg1-custom.run and it gives error which is detailed in /var/log/nvidia-install.log it SEEMs that the installer cannot insmod nVidia's driver module, and that the error relates to gcc-4.0 and 4K stack, but i don't know what to do. plz help me... thx ===================== nvidia-installer log file '/var/log/nvidia-installer.log' creation time: Sun Jun 19 21:53:51 2005 option status: license pre-accepted : false update : false force update : false expert : false uninstall : false driver info : false no precompiled interface: false no ncurses color : false query latest driver ver : false OpenGL header files : true no questions : false silent : false no backup : false kernel module only : false sanity : false add this kernel : false no runlevel check : false no network : false no ABI note : false no RPMs : false force tls : (not specified) force compat32 tls : (not specified) X install prefix : /usr/X11R6 OpenGL install prefix : /usr compat32 install prefix : (not specified) installer install prefix: /usr utility install prefix : /usr kernel name : (not specified) kernel include path : (not specified) kernel source path : /usr/src/kernels kernel output path : (not specified) kernel install path : (not specified) proc mount point : /proc ui : (not specified) tmpdir : /tmp ftp mirror : ftp://download.nvidia.com RPM file list : (not specified) Using: nvidia-installer ncurses user interface -> License accepted. -> A precompiled kernel interface for kernel 'Linux 2.6.11-1.1369_FC4 #1 Thu Jun 2 22:55:56 EDT 2005 i686' has been found here: ./usr/src/nv/precompiled/precompiled-nv-linux.o-1.0-7664.1119188878. executing: 'cd ./usr/src/nv; /usr/bin/ld -d -r -o nvidia.ko precompiled-nv-l inux.o nv-kernel.o'... -> Kernel module linked successfully. ERROR: Unable to load the kernel module 'nvidia.ko'. This is most likely because the kernel module was built using the wrong kernel source files. Please make sure you have installed the kernel source files for your kernel; on Red Hat Linux systems, for example, be sure you have the 'kernel-source' rpm installed. If you know the correct kernel source files are installed, you may specify the kernel source path with the '--kernel-source-path' commandline option. -> Kernel module load error: insmod: error inserting './usr/src/nv/nvidia.ko': -1 Invalid module format -> Kernel messages: Disabled Privacy Extensions on device c03e6820(lo) IPv6 over IPv4 tunneling driver parport: PnPBIOS parport detected. parport0: PC-style at 0x378, irq 7 [PCSPP,TRISTATE] lp0: using parport0 (interrupt-driven). lp0: console ready eth0: no IPv6 routers present nvidia: no version for "struct_module" found: kernel tainted. nvidia: version magic '2.6.11-1.1369_FC4 preempt PENTIUMIII 4KSTACKS gcc-4.0' should be '2.6.11-1.1369_FC4 686 REGPARM 4KSTACKS gcc-4.0' nvidia: version magic '2.6.11-1.1369_FC4 preempt PENTIUMIII 4KSTACKS gcc-4.0' should be '2.6.11-1.1369_FC4 686 REGPARM 4KSTACKS gcc-4.0' nvidia: version magic '2.6.11-1.1369_FC4 preempt PENTIUMIII 4KSTACKS gcc-4.0' should be '2.6.11-1.1369_FC4 686 REGPARM 4KSTACKS gcc-4.0' nvidia: version magic '2.6.11-1.1369_FC4 preempt PENTIUMIII 4KSTACKS gcc-4.0' should be '2.6.11-1.1369_FC4 686 REGPARM 4KSTACKS gcc-4.0' nvidia: version magic '2.6.11-1.1369_FC4 preempt PENTIUMIII 4KSTACKS gcc-4.0' should be '2.6.11-1.1369_FC4 686 REGPARM 4KSTACKS gcc-4.0' nvidia: version magic '2.6.11-1.1369_FC4 preempt PENTIUMIII 4KSTACKS gcc-4.0' should be '2.6.11-1.1369_FC4 686 REGPARM 4KSTACKS gcc-4.0' nvidia: version magic '2.6.11-1.1369_FC4 preempt PENTIUMIII 4KSTACKS gcc-4.0' should be '2.6.11-1.1369_FC4 686 REGPARM 4KSTACKS gcc-4.0' ERROR: Installation has failed. Please see the file '/var/log/nvidia-installer.log' for details. You may find suggestions on fixing installation problems in the README available on the Linux driver download page at www.nvidia.com. ======================= Thanks & Regards McArthor Lee

3 2

screensavers in FC4
by a j 17 Jun '05

17 Jun '05

I just started working with FC4 in gnome but this is th first verison of fc that didn't have the large selection of screensaver in gnome there still in kde but not gnome?

4 3

Evolution-connector 2.2
by Anze Vidmar 16 Jun '05

16 Jun '05

Hello! FC4 came out with Evolution and evolution-connecotr version 2.2. In FC3, when I was using evolution-connector 2.0 (default for FC3) everything worked fine, but since version 2.2 I can't connect to Exchange OWA no more, getting "no mailbox for user anze" althought i can autenticate just fine. Searched google and found nothing useful. Novell don't even have docs regarding version 2.2. Any help would be appriciated. Anze

3 6

FC4 and ugly fonts on laptop
by Anze Vidmar 16 Jun '05

16 Jun '05

hello! With FC4 my screenfonts in X are really ugly. I've tried playing with font config but no luck. I din't have this kind of problems in FC3. Any ideas? Anze

2 2

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desktop June 2005