Linux Installation Question.

I downloaded the Slackware 9.1 ISO image and burned it to a cd along with Dropline Gnome. I am really looking forward to installing it but I am not perfectly sure what hardware the computer I am going to install it has. I have read that knowing the monitor specs and video card specs are a must for running X. I know that my video card is a TNT2 with 16MB of ram but I don't know the specs for my monitor. Are there any "generic" settings I could use to test my monitor? Also is there any other hardware info I should know other than my drive locations and the like? All help will be greatly appreciated I am looking forward to running Linux!

hobbdebub,

Looks like you need to delete one of the posts there mate (must have click fever...lol). Just click on edit and there should be a delete post option.

Most newer distros will probe your computer and search out your current hardware and provide recommended settings. Only a few times, mostly with much earlier versions, did I really need the info. However, you should have it available if you are quiried about it or need to make some changes to maximize the quality. If you don't have the manual on your monitor, use www.google.com and just enter your monitor and you should be able to find the specs pretty easy.

cheers

Edit: Please see Poo Sun Tzu's post below. Thanks for correcting my mistake.

Hobbdebub your Slack 9.1 will not probe your computer.

Yeah, thanks for the tip. I deleted it ;) . So there should be an automated program to help me with the monitor? I was worried about that. I forgot you can find anything on the net. Common sense is something that I don't have a whole lot of yet. Gotta love being young :D . Thanks for the help!

Quote:

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Most newer distros will probe your computer and search out your current hardware and provide recommended settings.

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Very few distros do that, and slack 9.1 is one that doesn't.

A few questions:

1. Can your monitor do 1024 by 768? Can it do 800 by 600?

Depending on which one you know it can do, an option will come up (later on) to choose "800 by 600 @ 60hz" or "1024 by 768 @ 60 hz" choose the appropriate one according to which one you remember your card being able to handle.

2. Horizonal refresh rate, 50 - 90 are what most monitors can handle and this is a safe setting. When you run xf86config (before you install dropline) Be sure to choose this setting "50-90"

3. What other things do you need to know? Just have fun, and attempt installing :) I actually recommend downloading a Knoppix iso (http://www.knoppix.org) and burning it to a CD, just in case you have any further questions about the slackware installation and would rather not install an entire OS just to come back and ask those questions.

In case you are unfamiliar with what knoppix is, it is a cd that contains a preinstalled version of Linux that runs straight from the CD. It uses only RAM and thus never touches the harddrive. It will detect your hardware, internet, etc and give you a temporary Linux enviroment to get a few important things done (like what I mentioned above)

4. Welcome to slack :)

edit :
5. Dropline rocks. A few shots of my slack + dropline desktop:

http://www.deviantart.com/view/7422779/
http://www.deviantart.com/view/6572585/
http://thetao.no-ip.com/screenshots/newerscreenshot.png

So far so good with your suggestions pooh sun tzu . My monitor worked right off. I got slack installed just fine and now I am installing Dropline Gnome. It feels good to take part in making my computer work! :) What all goes into helping with the development of the kernel? How can I help? I don't currently have any programming experience (I don't know where to start!). Also should I learn C or C++ to help with development? Thanks!