Linux Distributions

[Carl Martin]

Just burned and booted-up from Ubuntu Live CD but the link I used was to version 6.06. Nevertheless, I have to say I'm impressed. It found all my devices and they work properly. (Can't say XP did this, even for my MS keyboard and mouse.)

Couldn't access the files on my hard drives, which raises a question: Will an installed version of (K)ubuntu be able to access my music and photos on my storage drive (NTFS format)?

[gvblake22]

Originally Posted by Carl Martin

Couldn't access the files on my hard drives, which raises a question: Will an installed version of (K)ubuntu be able to access my music and photos on my storage drive (NTFS format)?

Oh dang, I didn't even think about that! I'd like to hear an answer on this too!

[yurimxpxman]

Feisty Fawn (Ubuntu 7.04) recognizes NTFS drives right off the bat, and it even gives you a chance to import your settings from Windows. NTFS support is still available, though, in 6.06. Run sudo apt-get install ntfs-3g and then you can use the mount command on your NTFS partition.

[Jokerswild]

Originally Posted by yurimxpxman

Feisty Fawn (Ubuntu 7.04) recognizes NTFS drives right off the bat, and it even gives you a chance to import your settings from Windows. NTFS support is still available, though, in 6.06. Run sudo apt-get install ntfs-3g and then you can use the mount command on your NTFS partition.

Yuri you will probably have to go into more detail on how to do it, like a step by step guide.

[screwballl]

the installed version should allow the NTFS... if not then the simple command of "sudo apt-get install ntfs-3g" will do it or go to Synaptic Package manager and search for ntfs-3g will show you the related tools. Usually installing one will also choose the needed dependencies (which are like certain programs in winblows that require MS .NET Framework, or like how GAIM requires the GTK+ stuff in windows).

Also I myself had issues with Ubuntu 6.10 and 7.04beta so I am sticking with 6.10 Kubuntu for now

[yurimxpxman]

Open a terminal. The sure fire way to do this is to push CTRL+Alt+F1. Type your username and password to login. To return to the graphical environment at any point, push ALT+F7.

Run this command:

sudo apt-get install ntfs-3g

That installs the NTFS driver. Now you need to know where your partition is, so you need to run this:

sudo fdisk -l

That command will show you a list of all your partitions. It will look something like this:

yurimxpxman@joshpc:~$ sudo fdisk -l
Password:

Disk /dev/sda: 400.0 GB, 400088457216 bytes
255 heads, 63 sectors/track, 48641 cylinders
Units = cylinders of 16065 * 512 = 8225280 bytes

   Device Boot      Start         End      Blocks   Id  System
/dev/sda1               1       31995   256999806   83  Linux
/dev/sda2           31996       32371     3020220    5  Extended
/dev/sda3   *       32372       48641   130688775   bf  Solaris
/dev/sda5           31996       32371     3020188+  82  Linux swap / Solaris
yurimxpxman@joshpc:~$

Of course, I don't have an NTFS partition, so you will probably see at least one line that looks sort of like this:

/dev/sda1               1       31995   256999806   83  NTFS

Take a look at that /dev/ part at the beginning. That tells you where your partition is located. In my example, I will use /dev/sda1, but be sure to replace it with the location of your partition. Now you need to run this:

sudo mkdir /mnt/windows
sudo mount /dev/sda1 /mnt/windows

That's the basics. I could go into more detail about automatically mounting the partition when you start it and such, but I believe that should be enough to get you going. To access your files, just open a file browser window (like nautilus if you're in GNOME [Ubuntu]) and browse to /mnt/windows.

[Jokerswild]

Man it's great having screwball and Yuri around when you have a linux question. Without you two penguin's would be walking off cliffs everywhere.

[screwballl]

Originally Posted by Jokerswild

Man it's great having screwball and Yuri around when you have a linux question. Without you two penguin's would be walking off cliffs everywhere.

no thats a lemming... penguins do it on occasion but usually into water and more for fun

[Jokerswild]

Originally Posted by screwballl

no thats a lemming... penguins do it on occasion but usually into water and more for fun

See you guy's have all the answers.

[Carl Martin]

I'd like to install a few distros, but first I need to partition my primary hard drive. Right now only 11.4 Gb of 150 are being used. Questions: How many partitions should I make, and what size should they be? Will the utility in Windows do the job, or should I use another program such as GParted?