Which Linux

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Which Linux

Postby jbob0124 » 06 Jul 2009, 21:43

I've got YDL6.1 on my PS3, but I don't get alot of time to play around on it. Im starting to loose what little I have learned due to lack of inactivity on it. I've been debating installing Linux on my main PC so that I could continue to learn, and keep what I have learned in the poor memory that I do have :lol:

Which version of linux would you suggest? I've used Ubuntu in the past and that didn't seem to bad. Just looking for others opinions on their choice...

Thanks!
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Re: Which Linux

Postby ppietro » 06 Jul 2009, 23:20

jbob0124 wrote:I've got YDL6.1 on my PS3, but I don't get alot of time to play around on it. Im starting to loose what little I have learned due to lack of inactivity on it. I've been debating installing Linux on my main PC so that I could continue to learn, and keep what I have learned in the poor memory that I do have :lol:

Which version of linux would you suggest? I've used Ubuntu in the past and that didn't seem to bad. Just looking for others opinions on their choice...

Thanks!


Well - if you want to stay in sync with YDL, go for one of the Red Hat Enterprise distributions. Either Red Hat Enterprise Desktop (which costs a little money) or CentOS (free to download - it's a recompile from the RHEL source code without the branding). I've heard good things about Scientific Linux - another RHEL derivative - but haven't installed it yet.

For the record: YDL is based on CentOS.

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Re: Which Linux

Postby jbob0124 » 07 Jul 2009, 00:21

I think I might go with the CentOS...I want to do a net install, I've downloaded the CentOS-5.3-i386-netinstall ISO but can't figure the rest out for the life of me...I did it once with the PS3, I think I remember having to make a folder called bootloader, but I can't remember which files I needed specifically...Any help?
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Re: Which Linux

Postby ppietro » 07 Jul 2009, 06:16

jbob0124 wrote:I think I might go with the CentOS...I want to do a net install, I've downloaded the CentOS-5.3-i386-netinstall ISO but can't figure the rest out for the life of me...I did it once with the PS3, I think I remember having to make a folder called bootloader, but I can't remember which files I needed specifically...Any help?


Net install? Sorry - I've never done one of those. I usually do HTTP or FTP installs if I don't feel like burning a full DVD.

If I remember correctly, for those, you use the same netinstall ISO, but instead of pointing it at a folder on your network, you point it at an external FTP server or HTTP server.

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Re: Which Linux

Postby jbob0124 » 07 Jul 2009, 15:26

I was able to find an old Rom drive in my "spare parts" box which actually worked :D I burned the ISO to a disc and did the HTTP install...Its loading as we speak. Now you say that YDL is built off of CentOS, so then figuratively speaking I would be able to apply what I see here in the PS3 threads onto the CentOS?
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Re: Which Linux

Postby ppietro » 08 Jul 2009, 01:56

jbob0124 wrote:I was able to find an old Rom drive in my "spare parts" box which actually worked :D I burned the ISO to a disc and did the HTTP install...Its loading as we speak. Now you say that YDL is built off of CentOS, so then figuratively speaking I would be able to apply what I see here in the PS3 threads onto the CentOS?


More or less, yes. The same limitations on external repos apply - i.e. you can't use modern ones. You'll have to add yum-protectbase, too.

IIRC, yum-protectbase was originally designed by the CentOS folks for just this reason. Standard RHEL installations have custom, locked down repos that ordinary folks can't access. The CentOS folks were forced to use Fedora-extras, Livna, etc., and ran into trouble, necessitating some sort of RPM protection.

Just for the record, here's what I use on my x86 CentOS box:

Code: Select all
::::::::::::::
/etc/yum.repos.d/CentOS-Base.repo
::::::::::::::
# CentOS-Base.repo
#
# This file uses a new mirrorlist system developed by Lance Davis for CentOS.
# The mirror system uses the connecting IP address of the client and the
# update status of each mirror to pick mirrors that are updated to and
# geographically close to the client.  You should use this for CentOS updates
# unless you are manually picking other mirrors.
#
# If the mirrorlist= does not work for you, as a fall back you can try the
# remarked out baseurl= line instead.
#
#

[base]
name=CentOS-$releasever - Base
mirrorlist=http://mirrorlist.centos.org/?release=$releasever&arch=$basearch&repo
=os
#baseurl=http://mirror.centos.org/centos/$releasever/os/$basearch/
gpgcheck=1
gpgkey=http://mirror.centos.org/centos/RPM-GPG-KEY-CentOS-5
protect=1

#released updates
[updates]
name=CentOS-$releasever - Updates
mirrorlist=http://mirrorlist.centos.org/?release=$releasever&arch=$basearch&repo
=updates
#baseurl=http://mirror.centos.org/centos/$releasever/updates/$basearch/
gpgcheck=1
gpgkey=http://mirror.centos.org/centos/RPM-GPG-KEY-CentOS-5
protect=1

#packages used/produced in the build but not released
[addons]
name=CentOS-$releasever - Addons
mirrorlist=http://mirrorlist.centos.org/?release=$releasever&arch=$basearch&repo
=addons
#baseurl=http://mirror.centos.org/centos/$releasever/addons/$basearch/
gpgcheck=1
gpgkey=http://mirror.centos.org/centos/RPM-GPG-KEY-CentOS-5
protect=0

#additional packages that may be useful
[extras]
name=CentOS-$releasever - Extras
mirrorlist=http://mirrorlist.centos.org/?release=$releasever&arch=$basearch&repo
=extras
#baseurl=http://mirror.centos.org/centos/$releasever/extras/$basearch/
gpgcheck=1
gpgkey=http://mirror.centos.org/centos/RPM-GPG-KEY-CentOS-5
protect=0

#additional packages that extend functionality of existing packages
[centosplus]
name=CentOS-$releasever - Plus
mirrorlist=http://mirrorlist.centos.org/?release=$releasever&arch=$basearch&repo
=centosplus
#baseurl=http://mirror.centos.org/centos/$releasever/centosplus/$basearch/
gpgcheck=1
enabled=0
gpgkey=http://mirror.centos.org/centos/RPM-GPG-KEY-CentOS-5
protect=0

::::::::::::::
/etc/yum.repos.d/CentOS-Media.repo
::::::::::::::
# CentOS-Media.repo
#
# This repo is used to mount the default locations for a CDROM / DVD on
#  CentOS-5.  You can use this repo and yum to install items directly off the
#  DVD ISO that we release.
#
# To use this repo, put in your DVD and use it with the other repos too:
#  yum --enablerepo=c5-media [command]

# or for ONLY the media repo, do this:
#
#  yum --disablerepo=\* --enablerepo=c5-media [command]
 
[c5-media]
name=CentOS-$releasever - Media
baseurl=file:///media/CentOS/
        file:///media/cdrom/
        file:///media/cdrecorder/
gpgcheck=1
enabled=0
gpgkey=file:///etc/pki/rpm-gpg/RPM-GPG-KEY-CentOS-5
::::::::::::::
/etc/yum.repos.d/fedora-extras.repo
::::::::::::::
[fedora-extras]
name=Fedora Extras
baseurl=http://download.fedora.redhat.com/pub/fedora/linux/extras/6/i386
gpgcheck=0
enabled=0
::::::::::::::
/etc/yum.repos.d/livna-stable.repo
::::::::::::::
[livna-stable]
name=Livna.org Fedora Compatible Packages (stable)
baseurl=http://rpm.livna.org/fedora/6/i386
gpgcheck=0
enabled=0


With this setup, you'd have to re-enable livna & fedora - I leave them disabled (i.e. enabled=0) by default.

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Re: Which Linux

Postby ppietro » 08 Jul 2009, 02:51

jbob0124 wrote:I've been in a CentOS forum, but I've gotten no where over there. I've got CentOS5.3 installed on my computer, but I can't get the GUI to load. For some reason I keep getting "Couldn't start X server on card 0" I've tried reconfiguring the display, but that doesn't seem to work either. Any suggestions, or another forum that is CentOS based that I can post?


Your best bet is Google, I'm afraid. :(

Also - you can search with Scientific Linux or Red Hat Enterprise as well as CentOS - they're all functionally identical.

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Re: Which Linux

Postby ppietro » 08 Jul 2009, 02:56

jbob0124 wrote:I think I've tried everything I've seen for the CentOS, I might move on to the Scientific Linux. Either that or just install YDL, how would it run that run on a Dell Inspirion Laptop?


Scientific Linux is identical to CentOS. If you can't get CentOS to work - you probably won't get Scientific Linux to work, I'm afraid. (Yes - I finally installed it. Seems pretty much the same as CentOS and Red Hat Enterprise Linux. :D)

Your best bet is to Google your particular video card (or video chipset) and see if you can find a solution/configuration for xorg.conf, using either Scientific Linux, CentOS or Red Hat Enterprise as terms to help refine your search.

As for YDL - it's PowerPC only. It only works on older Apple Macintoshes (i.e. G4, G5), PS3s, and certain IBM Blade Servers. It won't work on your Dell Inspiron laptop, since that's x86 (Intel or AMD) based. That's why I suggested you run one of the x86 parent distributions for YDL. YDL is a PowerPC conversion of the x86 CentOS Linux, with some additions.

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Re: Which Linux

Postby juanito » 08 Jul 2009, 11:08

For your dell laptop, you might want to look here - http://tinycorelinux.com - very fast and light and easy to try out from cd or usb stick before installing to your hd.

..a pity something like this isn't available for ps3 with its limited resources and all.
ps3 60gb, cechc04, fw-3.15, ydl-6.2/cblfs multi-lib dual boot
dell 2009w monitor, logitech mediaboard (usb)
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Re: Which Linux

Postby jbob0124 » 08 Jul 2009, 15:37

If I could just get the X server configured, everything would be just fine :lol:

Is tinycore based around CentOS? The whole purpose behind putting the CentOS on my laptop is so that I can keep learning that system so in the event that I actually do have time to play around on the PS3, I will know/remember what I need to...
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Re: Which Linux

Postby juanito » 08 Jul 2009, 17:36

jbob0124 wrote:Is tinycore based around CentOS?


No, it's not based around anything except linux - I'm not sure there's such a big difference between distros except in how the window manager displays/hides things...
ps3 60gb, cechc04, fw-3.15, ydl-6.2/cblfs multi-lib dual boot
dell 2009w monitor, logitech mediaboard (usb)
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Re: Which Linux

Postby jbob0124 » 08 Jul 2009, 17:55

I finally got CentOS to load the GUI using the startx command...I had to go through alot of "try this link" but I finally got it up. The screen resolution is all messed up, only about half the size of the actual screen and im still having to type in startx to get the gui up upon reboot, but im still playing around with it. Once I get it fixed I will post what I had to do.
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Re: Which Linux

Postby ppietro » 08 Jul 2009, 19:03

juanito wrote:I'm not sure there's such a big difference between distros except in how the window manager displays/hides things...


That would be normally true - except this is Red Hat Enterprise.

What this means is that RHEL is about three releases behind current Fedora. If you load the latest version of CentOS and the latest version of Fedora, and compare them, it's almost like using two different operating systems.

As an example, the current version of Fedora no longer uses the same Add/Remove Programs panel. If you are used to the YDL panel, you'll have to mentally switch gears, and re-learn the software. And, that's what the original post was about - "How can I keep my YDL skills honed?" CentOS - or any of the other RHEL derivatives - is the best fit.

Also - the older libraries present an interesting challenge. That's the whole "yum-protectbase" thing. That's not unique to YDL at all - it was originally invented by the CentOS team, and adopted by the RHEL/Fedora teams. You don't run into library issues with Ubuntu or Fedora, if you stay fully current.

For me, there's certain "power user" muscles that get exercised with the Enterprise Linuxes that you don't run into with the public Linuxes. I've had similar experiences with SuSE Enterprise as well. :D

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Re: Which Linux

Postby jbob0124 » 08 Jul 2009, 19:10

Im definitely sticking with CentOS since I've got the GUI up and running...I also got it to load without having to run the startx command. Now it is just a matter of getting the screen resolution figured out. It looks like it is stuck on 800x600 (I've got a 3 inch black border around the) :oops:

EDIT: I did a fresh install to track down what exactly it was I did to get X to start...

First I ran this to actually get X to start
Code: Select all
system-config-display --reconfig --set-resolution 1024x768 --set-depth 16


It still wouldn't hold on a reboot, and I had to run startx still. So then I put in
Code: Select all
gedit /etc/inittab


Once the that file opened up I looked for these two lines

id:3:initdefault: (which was on line 18)
x:3:respawn:/etc/X11/prefdm -nodaemon (which was on line 53)

I edited them to 3, they were 5 before. Once I edited them, saved and rebooted, the GUI loaded from the reboot.

The display is still only 800x600, I still can't get it to run anything other then that...
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Re: Which Linux

Postby jbob0124 » 09 Jul 2009, 03:37

I finally got full resolution to run, its currently set on 1024x768 and the color depth is on Millions of Colors :lol:

Under root I ran
Code: Select all
gedit /etc/X11/xorg.conf


I changed the "driver" from i810 to intel and rebooted. With the reboot, its now fullscreen :mrgreen:

Hopefully this info will come in handy for anyone else with this issue...
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