Any idea how long an average (basic-not too many packages, etc...) install
of Debian (Sarge) takes ?

I have a second hard drive that I am attempting to install Debian to and the
partition part of the install is incredibly long. Only 25% complete after
4hrs! I know this would be fine if my hard drive was huge, however it is
only 40gb. I am letting Debian's partition mgr set up the swap and the rest
of the drive. Do I need to change the "Ultra DMA" mode for this drive
(currently on)? Drive is empty, clean, etc.

System-

Via P4PB Ultra - MB
P4 3.06mhz
3x 256mb ddr333

160gb WD Hard drive (2 partitions = 10 gb (fat32) + 150gb (ntfs) = Master
40gb Maxtor Hard drive (awaiting Debian) = slave

DVD r/w Sony DRU 510a
Plextor cd/rw px-w4824a

CMI8738/c3dx PCI Audio
NVIDIA GeForce fx 5200 ultra
ATI TV Wonder Pro
Canopus ADVC1394

On 2006-04-26, Orv <pcbidder@hotmal.com> wrote:
> Any idea how long an average (basic-not too many packages, etc...) install
> of Debian (Sarge) takes ?

Is it a net install?

>
> I have a second hard drive that I am attempting to install Debian to and the
> partition part of the install is incredibly long. Only 25% complete after
> 4hrs! I know this would be fine if my hard drive was huge, however it is
> only 40gb. I am letting Debian's partition mgr set up the swap and the rest
> of the drive. Do I need to change the "Ultra DMA" mode for this drive
> (currently on)? Drive is empty, clean, etc.

Four hours is a looong time. The typical install from 1 CD should be some
minutes, maybe <1/2 hour on a slow system, until you are told to reboot into
your new Debian system. After that you just download the rest from a mirror
or you get prompted for more CDs if that's what you have.
I had a problem, once, (my own fault)-I had the HD as master, CD as slave on
the same cable and I had IRQ timeouts a lot. Even that didn't take 4 hours.

> System-
>
> Via P4PB Ultra - MB
> P4 3.06mhz
> 3x 256mb ddr333
>
> 160gb WD Hard drive (2 partitions = 10 gb (fat32) + 150gb (ntfs) = Master
> 40gb Maxtor Hard drive (awaiting Debian) = slave
>
> DVD r/w Sony DRU 510a
> Plextor cd/rw px-w4824a
>
> CMI8738/c3dx PCI Audio
> NVIDIA GeForce fx 5200 ultra
> ATI TV Wonder Pro
> Canopus ADVC1394

And you booted from a CD?

--
Can you try a live CD first and see how knoppix sees your system?

I'm starting to wonder if the problem is with my IDE setup.

The partition shows up as IDE5. I created a 2gb swap, and then 38gb = ext.
Is this correct?

Is there a boot option to add prior to install to make?

I'm trying to install Debian (Sarge) from the DVD (2 actually). And yes
Knoppix, Berry, Unbuntu, etc (Live CDs) work fine.



"Jimchip" <jimchip@ifthisisavalidhostname.com.invalid> wrote in message
news:124v175ajf1bd0c@news.supernews.com...
> On 2006-04-26, Orv <pcbidder@hotmal.com> wrote:
>> Any idea how long an average (basic-not too many packages, etc...)
>> install
>> of Debian (Sarge) takes ?
>
> Is it a net install?
>
>>
>> I have a second hard drive that I am attempting to install Debian to and
>> the
>> partition part of the install is incredibly long. Only 25% complete after
>> 4hrs! I know this would be fine if my hard drive was huge, however it is
>> only 40gb. I am letting Debian's partition mgr set up the swap and the
>> rest
>> of the drive. Do I need to change the "Ultra DMA" mode for this drive
>> (currently on)? Drive is empty, clean, etc.
>
> Four hours is a looong time. The typical install from 1 CD should be some
> minutes, maybe <1/2 hour on a slow system, until you are told to reboot
> into
> your new Debian system. After that you just download the rest from a
> mirror
> or you get prompted for more CDs if that's what you have.
> I had a problem, once, (my own fault)-I had the HD as master, CD as slave
> on
> the same cable and I had IRQ timeouts a lot. Even that didn't take 4
> hours.
>
>> System-
>>
>> Via P4PB Ultra - MB
>> P4 3.06mhz
>> 3x 256mb ddr333
>>
>> 160gb WD Hard drive (2 partitions = 10 gb (fat32) + 150gb (ntfs) = Master
>> 40gb Maxtor Hard drive (awaiting Debian) = slave
>>
>> DVD r/w Sony DRU 510a
>> Plextor cd/rw px-w4824a
>>
>> CMI8738/c3dx PCI Audio
>> NVIDIA GeForce fx 5200 ultra
>> ATI TV Wonder Pro
>> Canopus ADVC1394
>
> And you booted from a CD?
>
> --
> Can you try a live CD first and see how knoppix sees your system?

On 2006-04-27, Orv <pcbidder@hotmal.com> wrote:
> I'm starting to wonder if the problem is with my IDE setup.
>
> The partition shows up as IDE5. I created a 2gb swap, and then 38gb = ext.
> Is this correct?

How does it show up? Not /dev/hdb1 or something similar. Swap might be
/dev/hdb2, for example.

>
> Is there a boot option to add prior to install to make?

Not really, Do you have the base system installed yet? (even though it took
4 hours). If you do, you might want to:

apt-get install hdparm

in order to get the hdparm utility. It will let you fiddle with the DMA
settings if that is the problem.
http://www.linuxdevcenter.com/pub/a/...29/hdparm.html


> I'm trying to install Debian (Sarge) from the DVD (2 actually). And yes
> Knoppix, Berry, Unbuntu, etc (Live CDs) work fine.

How do they read your linux drive?

>
>
> "Jimchip" <jimchip@ifthisisavalidhostname.com.invalid> wrote in message
> news:124v175ajf1bd0c@news.supernews.com...
>> On 2006-04-26, Orv <pcbidder@hotmal.com> wrote:
>>> Any idea how long an average (basic-not too many packages, etc...)
>>> install
>>> of Debian (Sarge) takes ?
>>
>> Is it a net install?
>>
>>>
>>> I have a second hard drive that I am attempting to install Debian to and
>>> the
>>> partition part of the install is incredibly long. Only 25% complete after
>>> 4hrs! I know this would be fine if my hard drive was huge, however it is
>>> only 40gb. I am letting Debian's partition mgr set up the swap and the
>>> rest
>>> of the drive. Do I need to change the "Ultra DMA" mode for this drive
>>> (currently on)? Drive is empty, clean, etc.
>>
>> Four hours is a looong time. The typical install from 1 CD should be some
>> minutes, maybe <1/2 hour on a slow system, until you are told to reboot
>> into
>> your new Debian system. After that you just download the rest from a
>> mirror
>> or you get prompted for more CDs if that's what you have.
>> I had a problem, once, (my own fault)-I had the HD as master, CD as slave
>> on
>> the same cable and I had IRQ timeouts a lot. Even that didn't take 4
>> hours.
>>
>>> System-
>>>
>>> Via P4PB Ultra - MB
>>> P4 3.06mhz
>>> 3x 256mb ddr333
>>>
>>> 160gb WD Hard drive (2 partitions = 10 gb (fat32) + 150gb (ntfs) = Master
>>> 40gb Maxtor Hard drive (awaiting Debian) = slave
>>>
>>> DVD r/w Sony DRU 510a
>>> Plextor cd/rw px-w4824a
>>>
>>> CMI8738/c3dx PCI Audio
>>> NVIDIA GeForce fx 5200 ultra
>>> ATI TV Wonder Pro
>>> Canopus ADVC1394
>>
>> And you booted from a CD?
>>
>> --
>> Can you try a live CD first and see how knoppix sees your system?
>
>

I have never waited for the completeion of the partitions. When I set up the
swap & ext I beleive it shows that it will be "hdf".
Not sure what else the problem could be.


"Jimchip" <jimchip@ifthisisavalidhostname.com.invalid> wrote in message
news:12504rt74a7h55d@news.supernews.com...
> On 2006-04-27, Orv <pcbidder@hotmal.com> wrote:
>> I'm starting to wonder if the problem is with my IDE setup.
>>
>> The partition shows up as IDE5. I created a 2gb swap, and then 38gb =
>> ext.
>> Is this correct?
>
> How does it show up? Not /dev/hdb1 or something similar. Swap might be
> /dev/hdb2, for example.
>
>>
>> Is there a boot option to add prior to install to make?
>
> Not really, Do you have the base system installed yet? (even though it
> took
> 4 hours). If you do, you might want to:
>
> apt-get install hdparm
>
> in order to get the hdparm utility. It will let you fiddle with the DMA
> settings if that is the problem.
> http://www.linuxdevcenter.com/pub/a/...29/hdparm.html
>
>
>> I'm trying to install Debian (Sarge) from the DVD (2 actually). And yes
>> Knoppix, Berry, Unbuntu, etc (Live CDs) work fine.
>
> How do they read your linux drive?
>
>>
>>
>> "Jimchip" <jimchip@ifthisisavalidhostname.com.invalid> wrote in message
>> news:124v175ajf1bd0c@news.supernews.com...
>>> On 2006-04-26, Orv <pcbidder@hotmal.com> wrote:
>>>> Any idea how long an average (basic-not too many packages, etc...)
>>>> install
>>>> of Debian (Sarge) takes ?
>>>
>>> Is it a net install?
>>>
>>>>
>>>> I have a second hard drive that I am attempting to install Debian to
>>>> and
>>>> the
>>>> partition part of the install is incredibly long. Only 25% complete
>>>> after
>>>> 4hrs! I know this would be fine if my hard drive was huge, however it
>>>> is
>>>> only 40gb. I am letting Debian's partition mgr set up the swap and the
>>>> rest
>>>> of the drive. Do I need to change the "Ultra DMA" mode for this drive
>>>> (currently on)? Drive is empty, clean, etc.
>>>
>>> Four hours is a looong time. The typical install from 1 CD should be
>>> some
>>> minutes, maybe <1/2 hour on a slow system, until you are told to reboot
>>> into
>>> your new Debian system. After that you just download the rest from a
>>> mirror
>>> or you get prompted for more CDs if that's what you have.
>>> I had a problem, once, (my own fault)-I had the HD as master, CD as
>>> slave
>>> on
>>> the same cable and I had IRQ timeouts a lot. Even that didn't take 4
>>> hours.
>>>
>>>> System-
>>>>
>>>> Via P4PB Ultra - MB
>>>> P4 3.06mhz
>>>> 3x 256mb ddr333
>>>>
>>>> 160gb WD Hard drive (2 partitions = 10 gb (fat32) + 150gb (ntfs) =
>>>> Master
>>>> 40gb Maxtor Hard drive (awaiting Debian) = slave
>>>>
>>>> DVD r/w Sony DRU 510a
>>>> Plextor cd/rw px-w4824a
>>>>
>>>> CMI8738/c3dx PCI Audio
>>>> NVIDIA GeForce fx 5200 ultra
>>>> ATI TV Wonder Pro
>>>> Canopus ADVC1394
>>>
>>> And you booted from a CD?
>>>
>>> --
>>> Can you try a live CD first and see how knoppix sees your system?
>>
>>

On Wed, 26 Apr 2006 21:03:05 -0400, Orv wrote:

> I have never waited for the completeion of the partitions. When I set up the
> swap & ext I beleive it shows that it will be "hdf".
> Not sure what else the problem could be.
>
>
>

How many IDE controllers and devices do you have? hdf would indicate it is
the secondary device on the third IDE controller. hda is primary on first
controller, hdb is secondary on first controller, hdc is primary on second
controller, etc.

In message <cpSdncPRaYgClM3ZnZ2dnUVZ_tGdnZ2d@comcast.com>, Orv
<pcbidder@hotmal.com> writes
>I'm starting to wonder if the problem is with my IDE setup.
>
>The partition shows up as IDE5. I created a 2gb swap, and then 38gb = ext.
>Is this correct?
>
>Is there a boot option to add prior to install to make?
>
>I'm trying to install Debian (Sarge) from the DVD (2 actually). And yes
>Knoppix, Berry, Unbuntu, etc (Live CDs) work fine.
>
Did you say 2GB swap????

I've got a 600MHz 384MB PC
I loaded the Debian core from CD and quite a lot of packages via FTP.
Total time was under 2 hours.

I would suggest you create a small /boot partition (preferably in a
primary partition). If you have a decent amount of memory and run single
user then you don't need a swap partition - although you could create a
small one if you like.

--
Jeremy Boden

I think I found the problem......and explains why it shows up as IDE5.

I built this system a while ago, and don't know why I did this but I did. I
opened the case and noticed the following:

On the primary IDE I have the Sony DVDrw as the master, and the Plextor CDRW
as the slave....wait it gets better......
Nothing on the 2nd IDE.
Then I noticed I put a SCSI card (PCI slot ..giving me 2 more IDE slots) to
which I have the WinXp hard drive as master and the Maxtor hardrive as
slave. Nothing on the 2nd IDE.

I guess this explains the long time for the partitioner, huh?
My next question, although not sure if this is the right group is this:

If I move the cable (with the DVDrw and the CDrw) from primary IDE to the
2nd IDE (on mb) and then move the cable (with the hard drives) from the pci
card to the primary IDE (on the mb) will it boot normally? Do I risk messing
up my WinXp hard drive?

I think once I straighten this out, loading Debian won't be a problem. For
the life of me I don't know why I threw the scsi pci card in there let alone
connect the hard drives to it and not the motherboard.

Thanks for all the help.

"Jeremy Boden" <jeremy@jboden.demon.co.uk> wrote in message
news:RNx72XCu$OUEFwJI@jboden.demon.co.uk...
> In message <cpSdncPRaYgClM3ZnZ2dnUVZ_tGdnZ2d@comcast.com>, Orv
> <pcbidder@hotmal.com> writes
>>I'm starting to wonder if the problem is with my IDE setup.
>>
>>The partition shows up as IDE5. I created a 2gb swap, and then 38gb = ext.
>>Is this correct?
>>
>>Is there a boot option to add prior to install to make?
>>
>>I'm trying to install Debian (Sarge) from the DVD (2 actually). And yes
>>Knoppix, Berry, Unbuntu, etc (Live CDs) work fine.
>>
> Did you say 2GB swap????
>
> I've got a 600MHz 384MB PC
> I loaded the Debian core from CD and quite a lot of packages via FTP.
> Total time was under 2 hours.
>
> I would suggest you create a small /boot partition (preferably in a
> primary partition). If you have a decent amount of memory and run single
> user then you don't need a swap partition - although you could create a
> small one if you like.
>
> --
> Jeremy Boden

On 2006-04-27, Orv <pcbidder@hotmal.com> wrote:
> I think I found the problem......and explains why it shows up as IDE5.
>
> I built this system a while ago, and don't know why I did this but I did. I
> opened the case and noticed the following:
>
> On the primary IDE I have the Sony DVDrw as the master, and the Plextor CDRW
> as the slave....wait it gets better......
> Nothing on the 2nd IDE.
> Then I noticed I put a SCSI card (PCI slot ..giving me 2 more IDE slots) to
> which I have the WinXp hard drive as master and the Maxtor hardrive as
> slave. Nothing on the 2nd IDE.
>
> I guess this explains the long time for the partitioner, huh?
> My next question, although not sure if this is the right group is this:
>
> If I move the cable (with the DVDrw and the CDrw) from primary IDE to the
> 2nd IDE (on mb) and then move the cable (with the hard drives) from the pci
> card to the primary IDE (on the mb) will it boot normally? Do I risk messing
> up my WinXp hard drive?

Check your BIOS and see how it reads but I don't see anything wrong with
your plan. You won't lose your WinXP HD- You can always go back to the way
it was if you get desparate.

>
> I think once I straighten this out, loading Debian won't be a problem. For
> the life of me I don't know why I threw the scsi pci card in there let alone
> connect the hard drives to it and not the motherboard.

I'll guess that you in a hurry and thinking about an expansion that never
happened.
[snip]

--
Take notes: Before and After.

On Thu, 27 Apr 2006 17:23:10 +0100, Jeremy Boden wrote:

>If you have a decent amount of memory and run single
> user then you don't need a swap partition - although you could create a
> small one if you like.

Just curious. I am just wondering what you would consider a decent amount
of memory?

I ran a few tests with diff amounts of memory, not diff swap.

http://www.linuxquestions.org/questi...d.php?t=377255

In that thread someone was good enough to post a couple of links for more
info. One deals with swap.

http://sourcefrog.net/weblog/softwar...rnel/swap.html

I was playing with one of the newer Debian net install cds and I let it
partition to see what it'd do. It set my swap at approx 2.7 Gigs.

Steve