DAN BRODZIK'S INSTRUCTIONS FOR A SUCCESSFUL DEBIAN GNU/LINUX SETUP ON A PENTIUM OR HIGHER, version 2.5

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1. Insert the first Debian CD.

2A. If you CAN boot from CD-ROMs, then make sure your BIOS is set up properly to do that and reboot. Skip all the way to step 5!

2B. If you run FreeDOS, M$-DOS, PC-DOS, DR-DOS, OpenDOS, or Micro$oft Wincrap (uhhh, 'Windows'... :) 3.0, 3.1, 3.11, 95, 98, Me, NT, 2000, XP, or lamer (uhhh, 'later'... :) and CANNOT boot from CD-ROMs, boot your operating system, go to the INSTALL directory on the CD and run RAWRITE2.EXE. Insert a blank floppy into drive A:. For the disk image to write, type 'sbm.bin'. Go on to step 3.

2B. If you're using Linux, BSD, Solaris, or any other Unix and CANNOT boot from a CD-ROM, then log into a console screen as root, mount the CD (usually by typing 'mount /dev/cdrom /cdrom'), type 'cd /cdrom/install',insert a blank floppy, and type 'cp sbm.bin /dev/fd0'.

3. When that finishes, reboot your system and boot off the disk you just made.

4. When Smart Boot Manager comes up, select your CD-ROM drive and say 'N' to the 'Do you want to save' prompt.

5. At the "boot:" prompt, I'd HIGHLY recommend typing 'bf24' because that kernel image is the most current and allows you to set up sound support (among other things) without recompiling the kernel. It also allows you to use the new EXT3 journaling file system (the successor to EXT2), which almost eliminates the need to run fsck (the Linux equivalent to ScanDisk) after a bad shutdown because it journals changes and can usually fix itself without data loss. Cool, huh? It actually works, too! This is *highly* recommended. (NOTE: After a Linux partition has been mounted 28 times, the next time it's mounted, fsck will run a test on the partition whether or not you're using EXT3.)

6. You should now see the Debian setup program's language selection menu. Select the language you're most comfortable with...

7. Go through the setup process. When partitioning and formatting your hard drive, you need a root partition at the least, and a swap partition is recommended but *not* required. Excluding swap, you need AT LEAST 512 MB total for Linux partitions (1 GB or more is recommended). For swap, double your physical memory and use that size. When formatting the partitions (except the swap), I recommend using EXT3 for the reasons mentioned above, but EXT2 works as well.

8. When it asks you what to do with LILO, remember this: IF YOU HAVE A BOOT MANAGER OR ARE PLANNING TO USE ONE, THEN DO NOT INSTALL LILO (OR ANYTHING ELSE) INTO THE MBR! Instead, install it to the boot/root partition's boot sector and choose to ignore the other bootable partitions. In addition, do NOT install the alternative MBR. Otherwise, I suggest installing LILO in the MBR.

9. When you're prompted to make a normal user account, DO IT! It's a VERY bad idea to use your root account for playing games, running normal applications, etc. Only use your root account to add/remove software with 'dselect,' recompiling the kernel, adding/removing/setting up users, etc. Note that the high level of security in Linux comes from the fact that vital areas of the system are protected from programs run by normal users. The root account does not have any security at all!

10. When you get to where it asks you if you have another source, insert the next CD, select <Yes>, and repeat until you used every CD. This step is there because the only CD that is required is the first one, and some people prefer downloading 650 MB to buying a set of CD's, and they don't want to download seven CD's. You get the idea, right?

11. When you get to tasksel, make sure you select these: X Window System, Desktop Environment, and ALL the development tools. X Window System and Desktop Environment are your GUI. In addition, since many (most?) Linux programs on the Internet are distributed as ready-to-compile source code, you'll need to install all the development tools to use such programs.

12. When you get to dselect, press / and type 'sndconfig' and press + to install the Red Hat sound configuration utility. SETTING UP THE SOUND SUPPORT IS *EXTREMELY* DIFFICULT FOR NEW USERS (or anyone else :) WITHOUT THIS UTILITY! If you want to try out Windows emulation, do a search (press / ) for 'wine' and install it. Select the other things you want to install.

13. When you are asked which display manager you want, I recommend kdm if you have a Pentium or better.

14. When everything is done and you see a login screen, press <CTRL><ALT><F1>, log in as root, and type 'sndconfig'. At the command prompt, type 'adduser user audio' to allow you to use the sound card even when you're not root. Substitute your normal user account name you created for user above. Type 'update-modules' and then press <CTRL><ALT><DEL>.

If you use KDE, then you may want to set the "Suspend sound server after" to 15 seconds to allow games that don't use the sound server (there are MANY of those games) to use the sound card. Look in the control center.

Another thing to remember is that most Unix programs expect you to have a three (or more)-button mouse. If you have a scroll wheel, then pushing the wheel will be your middle button. If you have a two-button mouse, then pushing both buttons simultaneously will function as your middle button.