In comp.os.linux.setup, Dan Quinn uttered these immortal words:

>> > One simple question.
>> >
>> > I'd like to try a Linux System and wish to buy one that works.
>> >
>> > It must be good at e-mail and www. Who should I shop? Dan

>> One simple answer --- Debian. It is good at e-mail and www.

> OK Debian. How about some machinery? I will shop for a
> computer with Debian installed. So far I've seen no computer
> firms recommended. Dan

Ok, show me where above you stated that you were looking for a machine with
Linux pre-installed.

--
Andy.

RE: Andy Fraser <andyfraser31@hotmail.com> wrote
>
> Ok, show me where above you stated that you were looking for a machine
> with Linux pre-installed.
>
In my OP "Linux System" was mentioned. Perhaps I should have said
Linux based System.
The MS ME based machine I now run has an approximately 85% frosting
and 15% cake INSTALLED on my HD. I can install. In an effort to get the
guts of the OS only on my disk I've installed four or five times.
No luck. I think I'm blocked by a proprietary BIOS. Dan

Dan Quinn wrote:
> RE: Andy Fraser <andyfraser31@hotmail.com> wrote
>
>>Ok, show me where above you stated that you were looking for a machine
>>with Linux pre-installed.
>>
>
> In my OP "Linux System" was mentioned. Perhaps I should have said
> Linux based System.
> The MS ME based machine I now run has an approximately 85% frosting
> and 15% cake INSTALLED on my HD. I can install. In an effort to get the
> guts of the OS only on my disk I've installed four or five times.
> No luck. I think I'm blocked by a proprietary BIOS. Dan

Did you install or did you not? I.e., did you make a successful
installation or did you not. Because if not, you have not installed at
all. And if so, why install again unless you broke something after
installation.

If it did not install successfully, the thing to do is find out why. To do
that, you should look in your notebook where you entered every single
thing you did during the installation process and the machine's response
to that. I know it is boring doing that, and slows you down, but it is
better than guessing.

All BIOSs are, AFAIK, proprietary. But I have never heard of one
preventing one from installing Linux. The Linux distributions I am
familiar with boot their installer direct from the CD-ROM drive, and once
the Linux kernel is in there running, the BIOS is ignored as far as I can
tell. All you need the BIOS for, in other words, is to read enough of the
CD to get it all started. And if the BIOS is set up wrongly, you can tell
that in well under a minute.

--
.~. Jean-David Beyer Registered Linux User 85642.
/V\ Registered Machine 241939.
/( )\ Shrewsbury, New Jersey http://counter.li.org
^^-^^ 07:40:00 up 7:04, 4 users, load average: 1.02, 1.11, 1.14

RE: Jean-David Beyer <jdbeyer@exit109.com> wrote
>
> Dan Quinn wrote
> > In my OP "Linux System" was mentioned. Perhaps I should have said
> > Linux based System.
> > The MS ME based machine I now run has an approximately 85% frosting
> > and 15% cake INSTALLED on my HD. I can install. In an effort to get the
> > guts of the OS only on my disk I've installed four or five times.
> > No luck. I think I'm blocked by a proprietary BIOS. Dan
>
> Did you install or did you not? I.e., did you make a successful
> installation or did you not. Because if not, you have not installed at
> all. And if so, why install again unless you broke something after
> installation.
>

I'm responding are I not? I was trying for a guts only installation.
The etower I wish to scrap just keeps on feeding in hundreds of megabytes
of frosting.
Installed or not, with Linux I expect I can pick and choose.

>
> All BIOSs are, AFAIK, proprietary.
>

I think eMachines bribed somebody at the BIOS factory. Dan