Installing Linux in external drive

[vovan]

So, I have this laptop. And I need to install Linux on it. But I really don't want to go into reformatting the hard drive right now. Mainly because I don't have the CD's for the programs I use all the time, so reinstalling windows isn't an option.

Now, I have recently bought an external firewire hard drive. I partitioned into two halves, and formatted one partition into NTFS, for windows, and the other half is as of yet unformatted - meant for Linux.

And that's where I want to install it.

Now, I have the CD's for RedHat 8.0 and everything and was going to install that, but Anaconda (or whatever the installer is called) doesn't see the external hard drive... (Or rather the partition manager, Druid. It doesn't see the external drive.) Is there then no way to install RedHat on that drive, or can I somehow load some drivers or something so that the installer would recognize the drive?

[Solver]

Hard one. My experience with external drivers is zero, but I know that some Linux boxes will allow you to load setup with some additional drivers... my recommendation would be finding a RedHat forum or USENET group, and doing a search there.

[vovan]

Originally posted by Solver
I know that some Linux boxes will allow you to load setup with some additional drivers...

Do you know which versions of Linux those are? Because I really don't care if I get RedHat, Solaris, or SuSe, or whatever other Linuxes there are. I only need Linux for this one class I am going to take this summer, because I don't want to do all my homework in the library.

[Ted Striker]

Go with Red Hat. It's probably the most painless.

Just keep in mind that the driver support in Linux is a fraction of what it is in Windows. The firewire might be tough to get working.

[vovan]

Originally posted by Ted Striker
Go with Red Hat. It's probably the most painless.

Just keep in mind that the driver support in Linux is a fraction of what it is in Windows. The firewire might be tough to get working.

I thought since it is all open-source somebody would have already come up with drivers for everything.

Any way, I guess I could just wait till the break between classes, when I get home, and then reformat everything... For now, any more feedback would be great though.

[Urban Ranger]

It's not they don't have drivers for Firewire, just that they aren't loaded for installation.

[vovan]

I realize that, UR, as I indicated in the very first post in the thread.

I was responding to Ted's statement that the driver support in Linux is a fraction of what it is in Windows.

Now, if you could maybe enlighten me as to how to go about loading the drivers for installation, I would be quite grateful.

[Urban Ranger]

I have never needed to do it. Let me see if I can find anything.

[Urban Ranger]

Found!

It's for Mandrake, though.

[Ted Striker]

The drivers are still a fraction of what they are in Windows, though.

[vovan]

Originally posted by Urban Ranger
Found!

It's for Mandrake, though.

Aha. So now I know of at least one Linux that can see my firewire during installation. Thanks a bunch, Ranger!

I'm off to download MDK.

[Atahualpa]

It would however be interesting how you would boot up Linux once you installed it. I hope your Bios supports booting from Firewire Drives!

There is another option by the way. It is called Knoppix. It is a Linux-on-CD version where everything is on one CD. Just insert it and it boots Linux and gives you a preconfigured Desktop and everything. It is based on Debian 3.0.
The only problem is of course that you cannot write to the CD, so you need to save your files to floppy disk.
Another drawback is that starting programs can be quite slow, since everything is compressed onto the CD. But for getting experience with Linux and not risking an installation it is great!

The URL is: http://www.knoppix.net/
It is of course free to download from a list of mirrors.

Have fun!
Ata

[vovan]

Originally posted by Atahualpa
It is a Linux-on-CD version where everything is on one CD.

There is also the Live-Eval version of SuSe, which also botts up from the CD and provides a pre-configured environment. At least that' what I am taking a look at right now.

[CapTVK]

Knoppix is the best field test for laptop. No setup hassles whatsoever (excluding the floppy with your personal settings). Version 3.2 has just been released.

Plus it comes with Freeciv.

[vovan]

Well, I formatted the second half of the external harddrive with FAT32, and use the SuSe 8.1 Live-Eval CD to boot and save stuff on it (since it can recognize FAT, but not NTFS. ) So, now I can pretty much use SuSe for what I need it for. And then when I am done with the summer class, I will be able to painlessly remove it (since I didn't install it in the first place ). A perfect solution really.

Thanks for the input, folks.

Vovan,
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