Installing Linux

previous Linux All in One-Emmett Dulaney

Most PCs come with Microsoft Windows pre-installed; if you want to use Linux, you usually have to install it.

You may feel a tad worried about installing a new operating system on your PC because it’s a bit like brain surgery — or, rather, more like grafting a new brain because you can install Linux in addition to Microsoft Windows. When you install two operating systems like that, you can choose to start one or the other as you power up the PC. The biggest headache in adding Linux to a PC with Windows is creating a new disk partition — basically setting aside a part of the hard drive for Linux. The rest of the installation is routine — just a matter of following the instructions. If you want to try any of the Live CDs, you don’t have to do any disk partitioning; just boot your PC from the Live CD. But first, take a deep breath and exhale slooowwwly. You have nothing to worry about.

Following the Installation Steps

Installing any Linux distribution involves a number of steps, and I will walk through them briefly, without the details. Then you can follow the detailed steps for the specific distributions and install what you want from flash or optical media.

Some Linux distributions require that you have quite a bit of information about your PC’s hardware on hand before installation. If you plan to install Debian, go ahead and gather information about your PC and its peripheral components before starting the installation. Luckily, most Linux installation programs can detect and work with most PC peripherals. Nevertheless, it’s a good idea to figure out your PC’s hardware so that you can troubleshoot in case something goes wrong with the installation.

The very first step is to burn the CD or DVD for your distribution. You can burn the CDs on any system that has a CD/DVD burner. (You must have a DVD burner if you want to burn a DVD, but a DVD burner can burn both CDs and DVDs.) Typically, if you already have a Windows PC with a CD/DVD burner, you can simply use that system to burn the CDs. Remember that you must have a DVD drive as well because you have to burn the CDs from this book’s companion DVD-ROM. A PC with a DVD burner or a combination DVD-ROM and CD burner is adequate for this task.

The second step is to make sure that your PC can boot from the DVD/CD drive. Most new PCs can boot directly from the DVD/CD drive, but some PCs may require your intervention. Typically, the PC may be set to boot from the hard drive before the DVD/CD drive, and you have to get into Setup to change the order of boot devices.

To set up a PC to boot from the DVD drive, you have to go into Setup as the PC powers up. The exact steps for entering Setup and setting the boot device vary from one PC to the next, but typically they involve pressing a key, such as F2. When the PC powers up, a brief message tells you what key to press to enter Setup. When you’re in Setup, you can designate the DVD/CD drive as the boot device. After your PC is set up to boot from the DVD/CD drive, simply put the DVD or CD in the DVD/CD drive and restart your PC.

If you plan to try a Live CD distribution, the third step is to boot your PC from the Live CD or DVD. Otherwise, the third step is to make room for Linux on your PC’s hard drive. If you’re running Microsoft Windows, this step can be easy or hard, depending on whether you want to replace Windows with Linux or keep both Windows and a Linux distribution.

If you want to install Linux without removing (or disturbing) Windows, remember that your existing operating system uses the entire hard drive. That means you have to partition (divide) the hard drive so that Windows can live in one part of it, and Linux can live in the other. Doing so can be a scary step because you run the risk of clearing the hard drive and wiping out whatever is on the drive. Therefore, always make a backup of your system before undertaking any significant changes.

To set aside space on your hard drive that the Linux installation program can use, you should use a partitioning program to help you create the partition. If your PC runs Windows 7, Vista, or XP (as well as the much older NT or 2000), you might want to invest in a commercial hard drive partitioning product. On the other hand, you can repartition your PC’s hard drive by using a GUI (graphical user interface) tool called QTParted, which comes with Knoppix and a number of other distributions.

Note that the installers for some Linux distributions, such as openSUSE and Xandros Desktop, can automatically create partitions for Linux by reducing the size of a Windows partition. In that case, you don’t need to use a tool such as QTParted to shrink the size of the existing Windows partition on your hard drive.

After you set aside a hard drive partition for Linux, you can boot the PC from the selected distribution’s CD and start the Linux installation. Quite a few steps occur during installation, and they vary from one distribution to another. When you’ve come this far, it should be smooth sailing. Just go through the installation screens, and you’ll be finished in an hour or two. Most installers, such as the openSUSE interface in Figure 2-1, display a GUI and guide you through all the steps.

Figure 2-1: The GUI walks you through the installation.

One key step during installation involves partitioning the hard drive again, but this time you simply use the extra partition you created previously. Figure 2-2 shows the actions recommended for this step by the openSUSE installation interface.

Figure 2-2: The system’s recommendations for the partitions.

After a few configuration steps, such as setting up the network and the time zone, select the software packages to install and then let the installer complete the remaining installation chores. Some distributions make it even easier and do away with the software selection step and instead install a default set of software packages.

At the end of the installation, reboot the PC. Rebooting is sometimes required as a part of the installation process, as shown in Figure 2-3.

Figure 2-3: A reboot is needed during this openSUSE installation before the automatic configuration can run.

When Linux runs for the first time, you get a chance to perform some more configuration steps and install additional software packages.

Checking Your PC’s Hardware

If you’re concerned that your PC may not be able to run Linux, here are some of the key components of your PC that you need to consider before you start the Linux installation:

• DVD drive: You must have a DVD drive (either DVD-ROM or DVD burner), and the PC must be able to boot from that drive.
  The exact model doesn’t matter. What does matters is how the DVD drive connects to the PC. Most new PCs have DVD drives that connect to the hard drive controller (IDE, for Integrated Drive Electronics, or ATA, for AT Attachment). If you add an external DVD drive, it most likely connects to the USB port. Any IDE/ATA or USB DVD drive works in Linux.
• Hard drives: Any IDE disk drive works in Linux. Another type of hard drive controller is SCSI (Small Computer System Interface), which Linux also supports. To comfortably install and play with Linux, you need about 5GB of hard drive space. On the other hand, to try the Live CD versions of Linux, you don’t need any space on the hard drive.
• Keyboard: All keyboards work with Linux and the X Window System.
• Modem: If you plan to dial out to the Internet, you need a modem that Linux supports. For software-based modems, called softmodems or Winmodems, you may have to download a driver from the manufacturer or the Linux modem sites (such as www.linmoderm.org). A download may or may not be freely available.
• Monitor: The kind of monitor isn’t particularly critical except that it must be capable of displaying the screen resolutions that the video card uses. The screen resolution is expressed in terms of the number of picture elements (pixels), horizontally and vertically (for example, 1024 x 768). The installer can detect most modern monitors. If it doesn’t detect your monitor, you can select a generic monitor type with a specific resolution (such as 1024 x 768). You can also specify the monitor by its make and model (which you can find on the back of the monitor).
• Mouse: The installation program can detect the mouse. All types of mouse (such as PS/2 or USB) work with Linux and the X Window System.
• Network card: Not all PCs have network cards, but if yours does, the installer can probably detect and use it. If you have problems, try to find the make and model (such as Linksys LNE100TX Fast Ethernet Adapter) so that you can search for information on whether Linux supports that card.
• Processor: A 400 MHz Pentium II or better is best. The processor speed, expressed in MHz (megahertz) or GHz (gigahertz), isn’t that important as long as it’s over 400 MHz. But the faster the better. Linux can run on other Intel-compatible processors, such as AMD and VIA processors.
• RAM: RAM is the amount of memory your system has. As with processing speed, the more RAM, the better. You need a minimum of 256MB to install both Linux and the X Window System. With some distributions, the minimum amount has climbed to 384MB, and you’ll want still more memory to be able to comfortably run a GUI desktop.
• SCSI controller: Some high-performance PCs have SCSI controllers that connect disk drives and other peripherals to a PC. If your PC happens to have a SCSI controller, you might want to find out the make and model of the controller.
• Sound card: If your PC has a sound card and you want to have sound in Linux, you have to make sure it’s compatible. You can configure the sound card after successfully installing Linux.
• Video card: Linux works fine with all video cards (also known as display adapters) in text mode, but if you want the GUI, you need a video card that works with the X Window System. The installer can detect a supported video card and configure the X Window System correctly. However, if the installer can’t detect the video card, it helps if you know the make and model of your video card.
• Printer: In addition to this hardware, you also need to find out the make and model of any printer you plan to use in Linux.
  

Many distributions, such as Debian GNU/Linux, work on any hardware that’s compatible with the Linux kernel. For information on Linux-compatible hardware, see www.tldp.org/HOWTO/Hardware-HOWTO.

To check whether your PC’s hardware is compatible with individual distributions, visit that vendor’s site and find their hardware compatibility list.

Trying the Ubuntu Live CD

Before you install anything, you’ll find it worthwhile to try out Ubuntu from the companion DVD. In addition to getting a feel for a Linux desktop, you can perform a few additional pre-installation chores from Ubuntu.

To start Ubuntu, boot your PC from DVD. A menu will appear from which you can enter various options to control the boot process or check your system to see if it meets hardware requirements. You should choose the default option of booting Ubuntu (this option is automatically performed if you don’t make a selection before the menu times out in 30 seconds).

A few minutes later, you see the GNOME GUI desktop, which Ubuntu uses. You can now start exploring Ubuntu. If you click the Examples folder, you’ll find a number of things that Ubuntu can do. You can also choose GParted (the partition editor) from the System, Administration menu (System➪Administration➪GParted) to reconfigure the hard drive.

When you finish using Ubuntu, choose System➪Quit. After Ubuntu shuts down, remove the DVD and press Enter. Should you decide you want to install Ubuntu, click the Install icon on the desktop to begin the process.

Burning CDs or DVDs from ISO Images

You can find Debian, openSUSE, and Xandros distributions in the form of ISO images from their home pages. To install any of these distributions, you must first burn the selected distribution’s ISO images onto CD or DVD. You can typically perform this step on a PC with a CD/DVD burner, most likely while using Microsoft Windows because most new PCs come with Windows pre-installed.

Using a Windows CD burner application

In Microsoft Windows, you can use a CD burner application, such as Nero, to burn ISO images onto recordable CDs. If you don’t have a CD burner application for Microsoft Windows, boot Ubuntu from the DVD and choose Places➪CD/DVD Creator from the GUI desktop to start the CD/DVD burning application. The exact steps for burning a CD from an ISO image depend on the CD burner application that you use. The general steps follow. (Use the same instructions to burn a DVD, provided you have a DVD burner.)

1. Place the companion DVD-ROM into the PC’s DVD drive.
   
   If your DVD drive is a combination DVD/CD burner, you have to first copy the ISO image files of the Linux distribution from the DVD to the PC’s hard drive so that you can use the same drive to burn the CDs.
2. Start the CD burner application.
3. From the CD burner application, open the image file.
   The exact steps depend on the CD burner application.
   
4. Place a blank, recordable CD in the CD burner.
   
5. Burn the ISO image to the recordable CD.
   
   Typically, the CD burner application has a toolbar button that you can click to start burning the ISO image onto the blank CD.
6. If the distribution has more ISO images, repeat Steps 3–5 for the remaining ISO images.
   
   Live CD distributions come in a single ISO image that you can burn on a single CD. Other distributions typically come in multiple ISO images, and you have to burn each image file onto a separate CD.

Setting Aside Space for Linux

In a typical Windows PC, Windows is sitting on one big partition, taking over the entire hard drive. You want to shrink that partition and create room for Linux. During Linux installation, the installation program uses the free space for the Linux partitions.

To try out any of the Live CD distributions — such as Ubuntu — you don’t have to repartition your hard drive. Just boot your PC from the Live CD. The installers can nondestructively shrink a Windows partition, so you don’t need to perform the repartitioning step beforehand. If you plan to install Fedora, Debian, or any other Linux distribution on the hard drive, you have to repartition your hard drive. If you want to resize the disk partition under Windows, you can use a commercial product, or boot Ubuntu from and then use GParted, the partition editor, to resize the Windows partitions. GParted can resize NTFS (NT File System) partitions, which are used by most newer versions of Windows.

When you resize the disk partition, you always risk losing all the data on the hard drive. Therefore, before you resize hard drive partitions with a disk partitioning tool, back up your hard drive. After making your backup — and before you do anything to the partitions — please make sure that you can restore your files from the backup.

After Ubuntu boots and the GUI desktop appears, follow these steps to reduce the size of the Windows partition:

1. Choose System➪Administration➪GParted from the Ubuntu desktop.

   The GParted window appears, and the tool displays the drives it finds on your PC. The first hard drive appears with a device name /dev/sda, the second one as /dev/sdb, and so on.

2. Click the hard drive from the list of devices on the right side of the GParted window.

3. From the list of partitions, click the partition you want to resize.

   This partition would normally be the largest partition. For Windows 7, Vista, or XP, the partition type is ntfs, as shown in the Type column in the list of partitions. In a typical new PC, you might see two partitions — a smaller fat16 partition and a large ntfs partition.

4. Choose Resize/Move from the GParted menu.

   The Resize partition dialog box appears.

5. Set the setting for the new size for the partition and then click Resize/Move.

   You should choose a size such that you get 4GB or more free space after the partition. You’ll see the size of the free space in the Free Space After field in the dialog box.

6. Click Apply to begin the operation after you have specified all changes you want to make. When the warning appears, click Apply and all pending operations will be performed.

   The partition is changed, and you have free space after the Windows partition.

After you create free space on the hard drive for Linux, you can proceed to install the Linux distribution of your choice using the CDs or DVD that you’ve burned from the ISO image files provided on the companion DVD.

Installing Ubuntu

The companion DVD includes a single-CD ISO image for installing Ubuntu. First, burn that ISO image onto a CD-R by following the steps outlined in the “Burning CDs or DVDs from ISO Images” section, previously in this chapter. Ubuntu is based on Debian, so the installation steps are similar to those for Debian.

To install Ubuntu on your PC, follow these steps:

1. Boot your PC from the Ubuntu installation CD.

   The initial boot screen prompts you to press Enter to start installation or press F1 for more help. You can press F1 and then look at help information by pressing the specified function key. These options are similar to what you see on the Debian installer’s boot screen because Ubuntu is based on Debian.

2. Press Enter or type a boot command followed by any options and then press Enter.

   For example, on a PC that doesn’t support ACPI (Advanced Configuration and Power Interface), type linux acpi=off to start the Ubuntu installation. The installer prompts you to select the language. For most installations, just choose Install Ubuntu.

3. Select the language and click Forward.

   For most installations, just choose Install Ubuntu. The installer displays the location based on your language choice. If release notes are available, you see them here and can also choose to update the installer should a new one be available.

4. Select the location, and then click Forward.

   The installer shows a map and attempts to guess your time zone locaion based on the current clock’s time. You can also change the default time zone to the one correct for your location if the installer did not guess correctly.

5. Select the keyboard layout, and then click Forward.

   The installer detects hardware, including the hard drive configuration.

6. (Optional) Choose how to prepare the disk space.

   You can remove the existing operating system, install in another partition, and so on. If you’ve created space for Ubuntu on your hard drive (see the “Setting Aside Space for Linux” section), select that space.

7. Click Forward.

8. Create your user account, type a host name for your system, and then click Forward.

   Enter the primary user account information for this system (the superuser) and assign a computer name that you want this system to be known as across the network.

9. Confirm the Installation, and then click Install.

   All the variables you’ve entered or choices you’ve selected are displayed one last time. You can Quit, go back to change something, or Install (you can also click the Advanced button to configure less common settings). After you click Install, the installer installs the Ubuntu base system.

10. Remove the CD and press Enter to reboot the PC.

    After the PC reboots, Ubuntu downloads and installs many more packages from online repositories. (Your PC needs to be connected to the Internet for everything to work.)

The X Window System and the GNOME GUI are among the packages Ubuntu downloads and installs. After these packages are installed and configured, Ubuntu starts a GUI login screen, where you can log in using the user account that you defined previously.

Congratulations! You can now start using Ubuntu!

next Installing Linux on a Flash Drive