Installing Linux for the first time (& dual boot)

You should have already have X-Chat installed, and if you are using Mandrake it was a binary (like an RPM). Indeed, even if you skipped that for some reason (newbiez should all do full installs of Linux if possible to get everything) then you should be able to install it from the CD. Search on the CDs for rpm files, look for one that looks like this:-

x-chat.4.9.15.i386.rpm

or something like that

make sure you are in the directory containing the right rpm (should be /mnt/cdrom/RPMS or something) and then use this command:-

rpm -Uvh x-chat.4.9.15.i386.rpm

DONT compile from source code unless you know what you are doing, and how to fix problems if they arise.

In any case, did you check you don't have X-chat already installed?

rpm -q x-chat

would have told you,
or

whereis x-chat

As to your other question, I already answered that above:-

1) X-Chat. It should already be installed. There is a #3dspotlight channel on starchat.
 
A few *more* questions

Hmm, well I went and bought "Linux for Dummies - Quick Reference" for $14.95..so far it appears to be a useful resource, but my problem is that I feel the book hasn't done a good job describing telnet and giving examples of how a remote host is put to good use. What I would like to know is how do I remotely connect to my machine via telnet, and download files from the localhost to the remote host (mainly for downloading my mp3's at school :D ) Also, can I issue ftp commands to the local host, say if i wanted to upload something from my local box, to some ftp server (my own site for instance)
Also, how do I configure the ports that i can telnet into (ports on my own machine). My school is firewalled and I don't know how to find open ports (is there a way, i have access to installing software on the computers) and configure my local box to allow those ports. And, while being connected to the shell, can I access ports that the remote host cannot (for using irc, etc..)

Also, does anyone know a way that I can have a DNS name for my computer, but not a Domain Name (i don't want to spend any money). Are there any services or programs (or both) that are free. The reason is, is because I have a dynamic ip, and i don't want to remember any numbers.

And last, say I install AOL Instant Messenger (aka AIM) on my local machine. After it installs, I can type aim in console and it starts the GUI for password/login From a remote host, logged in as root, access the aim program and connect? Again, the ports that aim uses are not accessable from school.
doh, one more...once i get xchat working, can I use it remotely?

-dan
 
Don't use telnet if possible. Use secure shell, or ssh as its called. www.ssh.com. You should already have the server available to run as a daemon on your machine. As root, run this commnad:-

ntsysv

and then make sure that sshd (secure shell daemon) is ticked. then do this:-

/etc/init.d/sshd start

now ssh to yourself to test it

ssh 127.0.0.1

exit to exit.

you can download the ssh client for windows, which has a file transfer via ssh program, as well as a pure ssh client. use that. ftp and telnet use crappy authentication that sends usernames and password in unencrypted ASCII. They are crap.

you will probably have port 22, which ssh uses, open. you could also run it on another port, say 21, which is what ftp usually runs on. I imagine that the config for the ssh port is in the sshd start up scipt, /etc/init.d/sshd

The only one who can unblock ports on your firewall at school is your school's network admin. He or she MAY consider unblocking port 22 on their firewall if you say its for ssh. say that there is some server you want to connect to do try out some stuff, demonstrate that there is nothing sinister, maybe they will do it.

Otherwise, you have to work out what ports are open. normally, this will be 21, 22, 25, 80, 8080, 8888, maybe some other things. most of these ports are linked to established protocols, such as telnet, ftp, ssh, http and https. however, you can change the port that services on your home machine run on, so for example you could run ssh on port 80 (normally http) provided you do not have any web server running on that port.

Now onto your second point - DNS. You can download a program called Dynsite for windows. Download that from here:

http://noeld.com/dldynsite.htm

Install it in your windows installation. There are a number of free domain names you can use. I use myserver.org, but there are others. You can have more than one. Works only for Windows, though, no linux version that I can see.



Now, the real question - you seem to want to make a secure connection to your machine at home, running linux, and then use other network programs that use ports which are blocked at school. Can you do this? Yes, you can.

You need to export your X display. On your local machine, do this:-

xhost +

And then on your machine you have connected to, in the ssh prompt, type this:-

export DISPLAY=192.168.0.1:0

Where 192.168.0.1 is the IP address of your local machine you are on.

You need sufficient connection speed between both machines to get this to work at any useable speed. So don't hold your breath unless you have a fat pipe at school and broadband at home.

You also need a working X-Server on the local machine (i.e. the one connecting to your home ssh server on) - therefore that local machine needs to be a linux machine, or some other UNIX machine with X Windows, or you need a Microsoft Windows based X-Server emulator, such as X-Vision.

So, there are a number of issues to think about. All of what you want is possible, you just need a few certain things and certain conditions fullfilled.
 
telnet is not a good idea unless you have absolutely no concerns about security. You should set up a SSH server.

In order to upload stuff via ftp, you need an ftp client. The command line client "ftp" is probably installed you your system. Just open a command prompt and type ftp..
There are plenty of tutorials on how to use a standard ftp client. If you want us to tell you how to use it, just make a new thread here.

In order to log in to your computer, you have to run a SSH daemon. SSH distros come with neat scripts that pretty much automate setting up the thing. You can set any ports you like in the configuration file.

Yes, everything you do in a remote shell happens on the remote machine, so you can use any ports you have allowed on your computer.

If you want a dynamic hostame, go to www.dyndns.org

You can use GUI programs remotely only if you allow X forwarding and the host you are connecting from has X installed and willing to accept connections. Most likely you don't have that luxury at your school.
 
I DO NOT RECOMMEND THAT ANYONE RUNS AN FTP SERVER OR TELNET SERVER UNLESS YOU KNOW EXACTLY WHAT YOU ARE DOING. THERE ARE ENTITIES ON THE INTERNET TRYING TO HACK ANY FTP SERVERS THAT THEY CAN FIND TO TURN THEM INTO KIDDIE PORN SERVERS. SOMEONE TRIED TO DO THIS TO ME. YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED!
 
when i mentioned this :-

Now, the real question - you seem to want to make a secure connection to your machine at home, running linux, and then use other network programs that use ports which are blocked at school. Can you do this? Yes, you can.

You need to export your X display. On your local machine, do this:-

xhost +

And then on your machine you have connected to, in the ssh prompt, type this:-

export DISPLAY=192.168.0.1:0

Where 192.168.0.1 is the IP address of your local machine you are on.

I forgot to mention that you need an ssh port AND another port for the X server to talk down as well, and both of these have to be open.

However, if you are using Linux to Linux, or I imagine a good SSH client for Windows, you can have that X server traffic ride on the same port as the ssh traffic. In linux, you give this command when you make the ssh command in a terminal window;-

ssh -x 192.168.0.1

where 192.168.0.1 is the IP of the host you want to connect to. The -x flag enables X with ssh.
 
more questions

Hmm, how do I place shortcuts to programs on my desktop (xchat and AIM for instance)

Also, how do I move a directory to another directory...i want to move mnt/files to my sites directory (can't think of it off the top of my head)..basically I want those files (mostly mp3's) to be seen in an index when i access my http://localhost

Also, how can I setup a program to launch on boot up (xchat for instance)

-dam
 
1)Right click on desktop, new link to application.

2)mv /mnt/files /newparent/

this will move the files/ directory from /mnt/files to /newparent/files/

obviously, substitute /newparent/ for some other directory you want to put files/ into.
 
video driver problems..

Well, i decided it'd make sense to install the latest drivers, so i went to www.nvidia.com and downloaded the driver from this page :

http://www.nvidia.com/view.asp?IO=linux_display_ia32_1.0-4363

i downloaded driver, but when I go and run it it tells me that X-server is running and basically it won't work..however, upon reading the README (probably what I should've done in the 1st place) i noticed that it said:



Before beginning the driver installation, you should exit the X server. In addition you should set your default run level so you will boot to a vga console and not boot directly into X (please consult the documentation that came with your Linux distribution if you are unsure how to do this; this is normally done by modifying your /etc/inittab file). This will make it easier to recover if there is a problem during the installation.

ooook, so i open up my inittab file and it reads:
# Default runlevel. The runlevels used by Mandrake Linux are:
# 0 - halt (Do NOT set initdefault to this)
# 1 - Single user mode
# 2 - Multiuser, without NFS (The same as 3, if you do not have networking)
# 3 - Full multiuser mode
# 4 - unused
# 5 - X11
# 6 - reboot (Do NOT set initdefault to this)
id:5:initdefault:
----------------------------------------
that's not all of it (as if you guys didn't know that) but it appears to be relevant section..

what do I edit, so that I can install my driver?

thx,
-dan
 
1: You can run "telinit 3" from command prompt as root, this will drop you to runlevel 3.

2: you can boot up linux with "single" added to kernel parameters (consult your bootloader help)

3: you can forcefully kill X server by pressing ctrl+alt+backspace (you may have to do it several times) - very dirty, but works
 
Originally posted by Nodsu
1: You can run "telinit 3" from command prompt as root, this will drop you to runlevel 3.

2: you can boot up linux with "single" added to kernel parameters (consult your bootloader help)

3: you can forcefully kill X server by pressing ctrl+alt+backspace (you may have to do it several times) - very dirty, but works

Hmm, is that the order in which I need to do that, or 3 different available options? I'm stumped on #2...my bootloader is LILO if it helps any.

-dan
 
as you get the LILO boot screen, if its graphical I think you have to press CTRL+X for the prompt. Anyway, it tells you. You then get a

boot:

prompt. Type "linux 3" without quotes. You will be taken to a text based log in screen.

You should now be able to install the drivers, which you do by running the shell script as root from the command prompt, where X Windows is not running. Ensure that you have a working X configuration first.

After the drivers are installed, try to start X. If it fails, post back, as you may have to edit your XF86Config-4 file.

Before you do ANYTHING, check that you have a command prompt based text editor called PICO installed. Try this, in your home directory;-

touch test.txt
pico test.txt

If you don't already have pico installed, download it from this link:-

ftp://rpmfind.net/linux/sourceforge/crux/pico-4.33-37.i386.rpm

Download the file, and then, as root, in the directory that you saved it to, type this:-

rpm -Uvh pico-4.33-37.i386.rpm

This will install Pico. try the test I mentioned above.

IF YOU ARE GOING TO EDIT YOUR X CONFIGURATION BY HAND - WHICH YOU MAY HAVE TO - THEN YOU NEED A TEXT EDITOR THAT'S EASY TO USE THAT YOU CAN USE IN THE COMMAND PROMPT IN RUNLEVEL 3 WHEN THE X SERVER IS NOT RUNNING. IF YOU ARE RELIANT ON GRAPHICAL EDITORS, WHICH NEED X WINDOWS TO RUN, THEN YOU WILL BE UNABLE TO FIX X RELATED PROBLEMS.
 
bah :-(

when the lilo graphical menu comes up, ctrl+x doesnt do anything :[

Also, for games like quake3 is there any other driver/patch/program i need to install, or will the nvidia display driver take care of everything for me?

Also, I'm planning on setting up a 2nd box, solely for the purpose of running my web/quake3/ftp server..what distro would you recommend?

-dan
 
Originally posted by darkdan
for games like quake3 is there any other driver/patch/program i need to install, or will the nvidia display driver take care of everything for me?
The driver should take care of it, as long as you have GLX and DRI extensions enabled on X - if things seem to work well, then they are.

Also, I'm planning on setting up a 2nd box, solely for the purpose of running my web/quake3/ftp server..what distro would you recommend?
Red Hat 7.3 with updated kernel :)
 
Yeah, Mickey is right about Red Hat 7.3 with a recompiled kernel. That's your best bet for a server. Oh, and install Ximian Red Carpet as well ( www.ximian.org ) in order to get all of the latest security patches and fixes installed. That's very important.

Use the lokkit firewalling utility to block all unneccesary ports and regularly check the log files under /var and messages in pine, plus do the last command and lastb command to monitor who is logging on and when. Disable ftp and telnet and only use ssh.
 
yay!..but i still have a problem

Great to see you guys didn't disappear..if i can, i'll be using this thread to get help from you guys for a while =-)

Onto my problem, I still can't find a way to shutdown X so that I can install my drivers..until I have the parts to build my 2nd box, I'm gonna have to run my listen server on this one...once my 2nd box is setup, I'll most likely just use windows to play quake...I'm used to look and feel of it, mouse settings(drivers) in all. Any help in this matter would be greatly appreciated.

-dan
 
Next time you reinstall, try to untick "Start XWindows Automatically".

You can also edit /etc/inittab as I said to stop this behaviour. Linux has a wonderful modularity where is the GUI isn't strictly tied to the OS, so its nice to be able to start in a command prompt and then manually bring up the GUI, with this command:-

startx

I've already posted in this thread how to edit the /etc/inittab file.

Edit that and then reboot, instead of auto loading the GUI, you will just a text based command line prompt. You log in with your username and password as normal, but have to use the startx command to get the GUI. Of course, all the UNIX like command line stuff like ls, cat, more, man, etc all still work in this environment.
 
If anyone is reading this, try to read ALL OF THIS THREAD FROM THE BEGINNING - its loaded up with lots of good stuff to get started with Linux.
 
Hi guys, maybe you can help me.

I've got an 80GB HDD running XP Home, and a 40GB one, with a 10GB and 40GB partition. I formatted and installed Mandrake 9.1 on the 40GB. However, when I boot up I get the LILO heading, but then I get Error 0X01. Should I try reinstalling Linux? I'd really like to use it. However, I really don't want the XP HDD's data to be lost, trying to boot just with that HDD inserted I just get 01 01 01 and then boot failed. Any ideas?
 
I think you will need to pass the lba32 parameter to lilo. Boot from the CD again, choose recovery, it should mount your linux partition under something like /mnt/sysimage or somesuch. Change root to /mnt/sysimage with this command:-

chroot /mnt/sysimage

now edit /etc/lilo.conf to include

lba32

under the first sort of paragraph bit before the sections containing entries for the variable boot options. then reinstall lilo with this command

/sbin/lilo

now type exit, then press return, then exit and return again.

if this does not work, try using another boot loader such as grub.
 
Lo and behold I went to boot up and up comes a graphical boot menu. Tried linux and failsafe, 0X01 error again. But I tried Windows, and it all works, no data lost. :) I'll give your suggestion a try yet.
 
Yeah, I am sure that lilo needs to know about your lba32 being on. Making that change should be your first stop.

You should go from having a lilo.conf like this one:-

prompt
timeout=50
default=REDHAT9
boot=/dev/hda5
map=/boot/map
install=/boot/boot.b
message=/boot/message
vga=773

image=/boot/dragonkrnl2
label=REDHAT9
initrd=/boot/initrd-2.4.21.img
read-only
append="hdd=ide-scsi mem=1024M root=LABEL=/"

image=/boot/dragonkrnl2_ide_raid
label=IDE_RAID
initrd=/boot/initrd-2.4.21.img
read-only
append="hdd=ide-scsi mem=1024M root=LABEL=/"

other=/dev/hda1
optional
label=BACK_TO_MENU

to having one like this:

prompt
timeout=50
default=REDHAT9
boot=/dev/hda5
map=/boot/map
install=/boot/boot.b
message=/boot/message
vga=773
lba32

image=/boot/dragonkrnl2
label=REDHAT9
initrd=/boot/initrd-2.4.21.img
read-only
append="hdd=ide-scsi mem=1024M root=LABEL=/"

image=/boot/dragonkrnl2_ide_raid
label=IDE_RAID
initrd=/boot/initrd-2.4.21.img
read-only
append="hdd=ide-scsi mem=1024M root=LABEL=/"

other=/dev/hda1
optional
label=BACK_TO_MENU
 
OK, I can't get to the Lilo edit area. The options under rescue are reinstall boot loader, restore Windows boot loader, mount partitions under /mnt, go to console or reboot. I'm lost here, chroot /mnt/sysimage under console said that no such directory exists.
 
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