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In other threads I have described endless problems.
So now I will try a new approach.
I will attempt to describe what I did and what happened.
Then maybe my mistakes will be obvious to you.

19:00 Booted to XP and deleted existing Linux partitions,
leaving 13GB of unallocated space at end of HDD.

19:04 Booted XP CD to Recovery Console and used fixmbr and fixboot.

19:08 Booted Sarge DVD and used hostname "debian" and no domain name -
because I didn't know what that was for.

19:12 "Installing the Debian base system"

19:15 GRUB to MBR; removed DVD; system rebooting.

19:17 "Welcome"; root pw; CDROM for apt; DVD back in.

19:19 "Scanning Disc for index files"

19:21 Selected "desktop environment" by pressing the space bar.
I hadn't realised before that you had to press the space bar - to get an
asterisk into the checkbox. The checkbox was highlighted - so I thought
you just had to press enter.

19:44 (NOW) Loads of white writing is flashing by on a black background.
This has been going on for ages. Last time I aborted at this stage -
because the messages made me think it was fetching lots of stuff from
the Internet - but maybe it wasn't? Haven't a clue what's happening!
I will wait a while and see what happens next.

19:47 (ANOTHER NOW) (This is real stream-of-consciousness writing!)
Something has happened.
"Configuring xserver-xfree86"
Well ... there is a driver called ati ... so I'll go for that.
The card is an ATI Radeon 7000.

19:53 Do I want the mouse and monitor autodetected?
Yep - might as well. Scrubbed the mouse around enthusiastically, in an
effort to co-operate.

19:56 Loads more scrolling writing on screen.
Says it's selecting things that were previously deselected.
That sounds indecisive to me!
Lets categorise that as a mystery - and relax.

20:06 "Configuring Exim v4 (exim4-config)"
I don't understand the questions here.
Mine is just a home computer - connected to an ISP via a router.
None of the options seem to apply.
I will say "no configuration at this time".

20:10 More questions about mail. Don't understand at all.
Muddled through.

20:14 Graphical login screen appeared - and I logged in as a normal
user.
WOW - Has this actually worked at last?

I'm off to play with it now - but - is there a checklist of things I
should do next?

If it was XP I would be installing ZoneAlarm and AVG antivirus etc.
and doing loads of configuring.

What's the equivalent for Debian?
--
Chris

In article <vzfkTiDZpsRDFwYy@[127.0.0.1]>, Chris <nospam@[127.0.0.1]>
writes
>In other threads I have described endless problems.
>So now I will try a new approach.
>I will attempt to describe what I did and what happened.
>Then maybe my mistakes will be obvious to you.
>
>19:00 Booted to XP and deleted existing Linux partitions,
>leaving 13GB of unallocated space at end of HDD.
>
>19:04 Booted XP CD to Recovery Console and used fixmbr and fixboot.
>
>19:08 Booted Sarge DVD and used hostname "debian" and no domain name -
>because I didn't know what that was for.
>
>19:12 "Installing the Debian base system"
>
>19:15 GRUB to MBR; removed DVD; system rebooting.
>
>19:17 "Welcome"; root pw; CDROM for apt; DVD back in.
>
>19:19 "Scanning Disc for index files"
>
>19:21 Selected "desktop environment" by pressing the space bar.
>I hadn't realised before that you had to press the space bar - to get
>an asterisk into the checkbox. The checkbox was highlighted - so I
>thought you just had to press enter.
>
>19:44 (NOW) Loads of white writing is flashing by on a black background.
>This has been going on for ages. Last time I aborted at this stage -
>because the messages made me think it was fetching lots of stuff from
>the Internet - but maybe it wasn't? Haven't a clue what's happening!
>I will wait a while and see what happens next.
>
>19:47 (ANOTHER NOW) (This is real stream-of-consciousness writing!)
>Something has happened.
>"Configuring xserver-xfree86"
>Well ... there is a driver called ati ... so I'll go for that.
>The card is an ATI Radeon 7000.
>
>19:53 Do I want the mouse and monitor autodetected?
>Yep - might as well. Scrubbed the mouse around enthusiastically, in an
>effort to co-operate.
>
>19:56 Loads more scrolling writing on screen.
>Says it's selecting things that were previously deselected.
>That sounds indecisive to me!
>Lets categorise that as a mystery - and relax.
>
>20:06 "Configuring Exim v4 (exim4-config)"
>I don't understand the questions here.
>Mine is just a home computer - connected to an ISP via a router.
>None of the options seem to apply.
>I will say "no configuration at this time".
>
>20:10 More questions about mail. Don't understand at all.
>Muddled through.
>
>20:14 Graphical login screen appeared - and I logged in as a normal
>user.
>WOW - Has this actually worked at last?
>
>I'm off to play with it now - but - is there a checklist of things I
>should do next?
>
>If it was XP I would be installing ZoneAlarm and AVG antivirus etc.
>and doing loads of configuring.
>
>What's the equivalent for Debian?

20:57 Diary continued ...

Same problem as with Ubuntu - in that monitor resolution is wrong.
It's a TFT Hansol H530 which should run at 1024x768 - and it's at
800x600 with no option to change.
What do I need to do?

Also - I would like to start posting to this newsgroup from the Debian
machine - because then I could copy and paste things into articles - but
Debian doesn't seem to have a news client installed.
Advice welcomed and appreciated.
--
Chris

Chris wrote:
>
> 20:06 "Configuring Exim v4 (exim4-config)"
> I don't understand the questions here.
> Mine is just a home computer - connected to an ISP via a router.
> None of the options seem to apply.
> I will say "no configuration at this time".
>
> 20:10 More questions about mail. Don't understand at all.
> Muddled through.
>
That's a big minus on Debian: It installs some mail-services. I didn't
figure out how to disable them on installation, but you can safely
remove the packages after finishing the install

>
> If it was XP I would be installing ZoneAlarm and AVG antivirus etc.
> and doing loads of configuring.
>
> What's the equivalent for Debian?
Haha, yor're done
Maybe you want to remove some unused packages like exim and install nice
things like KDE, ...

Chris wrote:
>
> If it was XP I would be installing ZoneAlarm and AVG antivirus etc.
> and doing loads of configuring.
>
> What's the equivalent for Debian?

Antivirus ? What's that ??

On Fri, 7 Oct 2005 20:19:53 +0100, Chris <nospam@[127.0.0.1]> wrote in
alt.os.linux.debian:

> In other threads I have described endless problems.
> So now I will try a new approach.
> I will attempt to describe what I did and what happened.
> Then maybe my mistakes will be obvious to you.
>
> 19:00 Booted to XP and deleted existing Linux partitions,
> leaving 13GB of unallocated space at end of HDD.
>
> 19:04 Booted XP CD to Recovery Console and used fixmbr and fixboot.
>
> 19:08 Booted Sarge DVD and used hostname "debian" and no domain name -
> because I didn't know what that was for.
>
> 19:12 "Installing the Debian base system"
>
> 19:15 GRUB to MBR; removed DVD; system rebooting.
>
> 19:17 "Welcome"; root pw; CDROM for apt; DVD back in.
>
> 19:19 "Scanning Disc for index files"
>
> 19:21 Selected "desktop environment" by pressing the space bar.
> I hadn't realised before that you had to press the space bar - to get an
> asterisk into the checkbox. The checkbox was highlighted - so I thought
> you just had to press enter.

This is counter-intuitive and, in my opinion, ought to be changed.

> 19:44 (NOW) Loads of white writing is flashing by on a black background.
> This has been going on for ages. Last time I aborted at this stage -
> because the messages made me think it was fetching lots of stuff from
> the Internet - but maybe it wasn't? Haven't a clue what's happening!
> I will wait a while and see what happens next.
>
> 19:47 (ANOTHER NOW) (This is real stream-of-consciousness writing!)
> Something has happened.
> "Configuring xserver-xfree86"
> Well ... there is a driver called ati ... so I'll go for that.
> The card is an ATI Radeon 7000.
>
> 19:53 Do I want the mouse and monitor autodetected?
> Yep - might as well. Scrubbed the mouse around enthusiastically, in an
> effort to co-operate.
>
> 19:56 Loads more scrolling writing on screen.
> Says it's selecting things that were previously deselected.
> That sounds indecisive to me!
> Lets categorise that as a mystery - and relax.

It's just the way the installer works. The scripts add selections that
weren't previously selected.

> 20:06 "Configuring Exim v4 (exim4-config)"
> I don't understand the questions here.
> Mine is just a home computer - connected to an ISP via a router.
> None of the options seem to apply.
> I will say "no configuration at this time".
>
> 20:10 More questions about mail. Don't understand at all.
> Muddled through.

You ought to configure Exim if you want the system to be able to
inform you of problems. It looks as if you want the "local delivery
only" option.

> 20:14 Graphical login screen appeared - and I logged in as a normal
> user.
> WOW - Has this actually worked at last?

Yes!

> I'm off to play with it now - but - is there a checklist of things I
> should do next?

Check sound - if it doesn't work, ask, giving details of your sound
card. It probably *will* work, with a little configuration.

Check printing - if it doesn't work, do as I suggested for sound.

Set up an email client. KMail? Thunderbird? Sylpheed? ...?

Set up a news client. KNode? Pan? ...?

Set up a web browser. Konqueror? Firefox? Epiphany? ...?

If you're like me, you'll want to try all the options. if you're even
more like me, you'll eventually prefer non-GUI programs for some
tasks.

> If it was XP I would be installing ZoneAlarm and AVG antivirus etc.

*Before* exposing the box to the Internet, I hope!

> and doing loads of configuring.
>
> What's the equivalent for Debian?

You probably want to configure a firewall. I suggest GuardDog, since
you're using KDE and prefer GUIs.

At a command prompt, in Konsole for instance, as root type:

apt-get install synaptic

This will give you a GUI package manager as an alternative to
"apt-get". In synaptic, search for "guarddog", install it and then
run it.

By default, GuardDog blocks absolutely everything, so you'll need to
configure it to allow the outgoing connections you want. You probably
don't want to allow any incoming connections.

You probably won't need anti-virus software until Linux viruses are
available to the average script-kiddie.

Make sure that you're receiving security updates. Look at
/etc/apt/sources.list and make sure it includes "deb
http://security.debian.org/ stable/updates main" or something similar.


Well done.

PJR :-)
--
alt.usenet.kooks award-winners and FAQ:
<http://www.insurgent.org/~kook-faq/>

On Fri, 7 Oct 2005 21:03:02 +0100, Chris
<nospam@[127.0.0.1]> wrote:
>
> Same problem as with Ubuntu - in that monitor resolution is wrong.
> It's a TFT Hansol H530 which should run at 1024x768 - and it's at
> 800x600 with no option to change.
> What do I need to do?
>
dpkg-reconfigure xserver-xfree86
You might need to download drivers from the ATI web site.

> Also - I would like to start posting to this newsgroup from the Debian
> machine - because then I could copy and paste things into articles - but
> Debian doesn't seem to have a news client installed.
> Advice welcomed and appreciated.
Install slrn, pan or evolution.


--
In fiction the recourse of the powerless is murder; in life the recourse
of the powerless is petty theft.

Chris wrote:
>
> Same problem as with Ubuntu - in that monitor resolution is wrong.
> It's a TFT Hansol H530 which should run at 1024x768 - and it's at
> 800x600 with no option to change.
> What do I need to do?
>
You've already asked that question and got an answer: Edit
/etc/X11/XF86config-4

> Also - I would like to start posting to this newsgroup from the Debian
> machine - because then I could copy and paste things into articles - but
> Debian doesn't seem to have a news client installed.
> Advice welcomed and appreciated.

apt-get install mozilla

Chris wrote:

>>19:08 Booted Sarge DVD and used hostname "debian" and no domain name -
>>because I didn't know what that was for.

Useful if your machine is a part of a domain, and has a FQDN. As a normal
home user, you need not worry about it.

>>
>>19:12 "Installing the Debian base system"
>>
>>19:15 GRUB to MBR; removed DVD; system rebooting.

If Debian is the only system, installing to MBR is ok. But otherwise it can
cause problems (Debian makes this clear at the time you select MBR vs.
first sector of boot partition).

>>19:21 Selected "desktop environment" by pressing the space bar.
>>I hadn't realised before that you had to press the space bar - to get
>>an asterisk into the checkbox. The checkbox was highlighted - so I
>>thought you just had to press enter.

That can throw a newbie

>>19:56 Loads more scrolling writing on screen.
>>Says it's selecting things that were previously deselected.
>>That sounds indecisive to me!
>>Lets categorise that as a mystery - and relax.

My main beef with that name. It nonplussed me too when I first installed
Debian. Now it just gives me reason to laugh. deselect is the name of
program (probably someone's poor idea of DEbian SELECT). Seriously, the
name of this program ought to be changed in the interest of understanding
of what it really does.

>>
>>20:06 "Configuring Exim v4 (exim4-config)"
>>I don't understand the questions here.
>>Mine is just a home computer - connected to an ISP via a router.
>>None of the options seem to apply.
>>I will say "no configuration at this time".

Good choice.

>>
>>20:10 More questions about mail. Don't understand at all.
>>Muddled through.
>>
>>20:14 Graphical login screen appeared - and I logged in as a normal
>>user.
>>WOW - Has this actually worked at last?
>>
>>I'm off to play with it now - but - is there a checklist of things I
>>should do next?
>>
>>If it was XP I would be installing ZoneAlarm and AVG antivirus etc.
>>and doing loads of configuring.

apt-get install guarddog (I assume you will be using KDE).

That is the firewall. You do not need any anti-virus program because
(barring some academic examples) you are not affected by viruses (unless
you intend to run this machine as a mailserver or something for a bunch of
windoze machines in which case you might want to install ClamAV to protect
*those* machines).

>>What's the equivalent for Debian?
>
> 20:57 Diary continued ...
>
> Same problem as with Ubuntu - in that monitor resolution is wrong.
> It's a TFT Hansol H530 which should run at 1024x768 - and it's at
> 800x600 with no option to change.
> What do I need to do?

Look at the contents of /etc/X11/XF86Config-4.

>
> Also - I would like to start posting to this newsgroup from the Debian
> machine - because then I could copy and paste things into articles - but
> Debian doesn't seem to have a news client installed.
> Advice welcomed and appreciated.

apt-get install knode

Madhusudan Singh writes:
> My main beef with that name. It nonplussed me too when I first installed
> Debian. Now it just gives me reason to laugh. deselect is the name of
> program (probably someone's poor idea of DEbian SELECT).

The name of the program is 'dselect'. "Deselect" is just an unfortunate
choice of word.
--
John Hasler

In article <4347eba0$0$49021$14726298@news.sunsite.dk>, Madhusudan Singh
<spammers-go-here@spam.invalid> writes
>Chris wrote:
>
>>>19:15 GRUB to MBR; removed DVD; system rebooting.
>
>If Debian is the only system, installing to MBR is ok. But otherwise it can
>cause problems (Debian makes this clear at the time you select MBR vs.
>first sector of boot partition).

What problems? I have XP on C: and then another primary partition D: -
FAT32 - and then the Debian partitions - on an 80 Gig drive.
There don't *seem* to be any problems.
When I (frequently) remove Linux I just boot to the XP Recovery Console
and use fixmbr.
I didn't notice a warning - and I haven't had a problem with other
distros.
What actually *is* the problem.

>>>19:21 Selected "desktop environment" by pressing the space bar.
>>>I hadn't realised before that you had to press the space bar - to get
>>>an asterisk into the checkbox. The checkbox was highlighted - so I
>>>thought you just had to press enter.
>
>That can throw a newbie

Yes - I wonder why there are no instructions on the installation
windows?
(Mandrake has them.)

>>>19:56 Loads more scrolling writing on screen.
>>>Says it's selecting things that were previously deselected.
>>>That sounds indecisive to me!
>>>Lets categorise that as a mystery - and relax.
>
>My main beef with that name. It nonplussed me too when I first installed
>Debian. Now it just gives me reason to laugh. deselect is the name of
>program (probably someone's poor idea of DEbian SELECT). Seriously, the
>name of this program ought to be changed in the interest of understanding
>of what it really does.

Thanks for that!

>apt-get install guarddog (I assume you will be using KDE).
>That is the firewall.

Another problem. The built in repositories do not seem to work - and I
haven't been able to find what to use. Please could you suggest some
repositories or links to some.

>> Same problem as with Ubuntu - in that monitor resolution is wrong.
>> It's a TFT Hansol H530 which should run at 1024x768 - and it's at
>> 800x600 with no option to change.
>> What do I need to do?
>
>Look at the contents of /etc/X11/XF86Config-4.

Have looked. Could try guessing what to do. Bad idea!
Is there a guide anywhere?

>> Also - I would like to start posting to this newsgroup from the Debian
>> machine - because then I could copy and paste things into articles - but
>> Debian doesn't seem to have a news client installed.
>> Advice welcomed and appreciated.
>
>apt-get install knode

Knode is installed - but I couldn't get it working - which is really
surprising - because I have used lots of news clients - with never a
problem - ever.
It said it was fetching the list of newsgroups - but then didn't display
them.

If I could get apt-get working I could install another news client -
such as Thunderbird - which I have used with Windows.

Please help me to get apt-get going.
What I need is the repository addresses.
--
Chris