VERY Well appreciated,Isaackuo. About the debian etch(4.0) I visited a few sites madtux says that you have to deal with 14 cd's set are the requirements if you download/upload to install debian 4.0 or if you buy it. Then another website says you can use jigdo or download 14 & 21 cd's set (that's too many downloads.
I will need optical networking routers(cisco ) with dwdm(oc-64) I have a friends who is at verizon & above the net . I only get access once every 4 months. Or the wikipedia debian mention that just download the 180mb cd (debian Etch )to get the basic.
There is this other site said there are 14 cd's you can start with cd1 ,cd2,cd3 etc .Or just download just one cd1 .
I need step by step on this debian etch process.

Also on the memory it works good ,new memory sticks.
It could be the computer other hardware that might be too rusty & old (1999)Built from scratch computer ,pentium 2 .



PEACE

Look on the download page at the very last option..

http://cdimage.debian.org/debian-cd/4.0_r0/i386/iso-cd/

debian-40r0-i386-xfce-CD-1.iso 648mb

If you want to use Gnome(which given your hardware limitations, may not be the best choice), the one right above it, the 256mb "Net Install", will also work. Download and burn the above image. As it goes through the detection process, watch and see if it says its "succesfully" configures DHCP. Then you will go through, partition the hard drive, set time, etc.. Once thats done, a basic system will be installed off of the CD. It will then ask you if you want to access the internet to install packages off a server. If the cd succesffully detected a connection, then click yes, choose a server, and let it finish installing(will probably take about 40min). If you didn't get a successful connection, then choose no, and it will install several packages from the CD and then you will be able to Boot the OS from the hard drive. At that point, you'll need to configure your connection, and download any additional programs/packages you want.

Sounds complex, but as long as it picks up your internet connection, its really easy.

IGF

just a question, if you get that cd(the one with the xfce desktop), do you just need that cd, no extras?

Yep.. It will install a basic xfce system, several packages. etc. As I said, if you're connection configures, and you choose to access a server, it will access a server and download a more complete pile of software.

IGF

Thanks (indygunfreak ) One small problem the pentium 2/333, is not internet connected .
Well I downloaded those files the last one & next to last one on the list (xfce & net install ) The xfce took about 4 hours to download on a friends computer at a another office with a cd burner plus a burned the iso's on to 2 good cd disks .(Debian etch )
What is the next step . Also how will I load the debian etch onto the pentium 2/333mhz with windows 2000 on it with 2 hard drives ,c drive =30 gb / d drive =10gb formatted blank . windows 2000 is on c drive .

On my newer computers ,laptop & desktop with Ubuntu , suse 10.2 & zenwalk the install & partition setup worked (dualboot) real smooth.
Debian etch can you set up this ride to dualboot smooth as possible.OR CAN ANYONE SET UP A GOOD SOLUTION

I've installed Etch on computers with existing Windows XP and Windows Vista operating systems. It worked smoothly without problems. I did do manual partitioning, though--I don't know how the guided partitioning works. I have specific ideas about exactly how I like my systems partitioned, so I always go straight to manual partitioning.

Unfortunately, the Etch servers are slow(as you found).. Definitely not like Ubuntu. Thats one reason I coudln't see downloading 15 cd's for Etch, as it would take weeks. . This was when someone explained the Net Install cd.

I know very little about partitioning and dual booting, as I've been Windows Free for over a year now. It should be fairly easy though.

As for your hard drive,if Win2k is on say, the 30gig drive, I would probably move data from the 10gig drive to the 30gig, and then dedicate the 10gig drive to Debian. When you go through the install, you'll be able to choose to simply overtake a drive, and choose the 10gig drive.

Dual booting is easiest and most reliable when both OS's are on just one hard drive. A newbie can get confused about the GRUB bootloader if the operating systems are on more than one hard drive.

I AM NEW TO LINUX . I have 2 hard drives on this pentium 2/333mhz/384mb .What is the the next step? Does Debian etch have partition installer like yast(suse) , mandriva-mandrake(control center ) . C DRIVE has win2k(30gb) ,d drive has nothing on it ,it was formatted (10gb) . Even in ubuntu ,suse,mandriva when partitioning it automated to detect that you can put a different os or linux onto the empty hard drive.
It gives you 3 or 4 options to load your os . no.1 you can resize it / no.2 erase it /no.3 free space /
no.4 change it around to a different format.

Now the problem is i am looking at is .What do you do when you need to do for boot/root/ swap /or home /
Otherwise c drive ,30gb / d drive=,9.4gb to 10gb = empty
Please correct me
win2k=30gb,c drive d DRIVE boot 100mb / ROOT or home =7.5 gb / swap 800mb or 1gb / ( total 8.6gb )


How does this goes step by step
for debian etch )

The Debian installer has a partitioner. It has some "guided partitioning" options for newbies, but I'm not familiar with them myself. I always use manual partitioning because I have very specific ideas about exactly how I like my systems partitioned.

Unless you have any special reasons why you want to split up the OS into boot/root/home/whatever, just put the entire OS in a single partition. I always do it that way.

I'd suggest you shrink the Windows partition to 34gigs, and then use Debian's partitioner to create two new partitions. One will be a 5gig ext3 partition for "/" (the OS partition). The other will be a ~1gig swap partition.

This results in a drive with 3 partitions--an ntfs Windows OS partition, an ext3 Linux OS partition, and a Linux swap partition.

The other drive, you can format with a single FAT32 partition, so that either Windows or Linux can natively read/write data on it. Out-of-box, Debian 4.0 does not support ntfs.

What's up /(indygunfreak ) The debian etch doesnot work on the pentium 2/333
For about 3 minutes it reads lots of text then stops at : Starting system log daemon : syslogd,klogd .

I tried the last 2 files(2cd's) on the list ,xfce & netinstall . I have no internet on the pentium 2/333 .
I do not know what to do. Also after dealing with debian etch no linux works on the computer only windows 2000 . Before when i had just 190 mb on the pentium 2/333 I was able to check out d.small linux & mepis . Then i improved memory to 384mb on the pentium 2/333 at first was able to get d.small linux & mepis .
When working with mepis the text reads:
hdd: cdrom_pc_intr: the drive appears confused
(ireason = oxo1 )
I need help


peace

THANKS

Debian etch doesnot work with the pentium 2/333mhz/384mb
Somewhere when going thru with the process in linux a matrix type number & text took the system over .

At a stand still do not what to do next .

It sounds like you might be having bad RAM issues. Maybe the RAM you're using is PC100 or PC133 SDRAM which can't operate reliably at 66mhz (the speed that your Pentium II motherboard is using). Maybe the memory timings in the BIOS need to be adjusted.

Troubleshooting RAM hardware can be a frustrating experience if you're not a seasoned computer hardware technician. There are all sorts of arcane settings to worry about, and mystifying incompatabilities between RAM sticks.

Reduce the RAM to 190megs, or even just 64megs of RAM. For maximum reliability, use one of the memory sticks for the install. Debian will install just fine with only 64megs of RAM (it will do the install in "low memory mode", which is slower but still gets the job done).

Also, you might be having issues with a flakey CD-ROM drive. I have about a dozen old CD-ROM drives and only 2-3 of them can be used to successfully install an OS.

YOU ARE CORRECT . I HAVE A FRIEND WHO IS A HARDWARE TECH PRO .
He was telling me about the old cd-rom & ram .He said I can replace cd-rom with a newer cd-rw . I WILL LET HIM LOOK AT YOUR ANALYSIS . When my & his schedule slows up .I will put this Linux project on the backburner for a later date. /Also what type of memory do i need to the pentium 2/333 . Is the memory called pc300 or something else-it has to be double sided(128mb-memory stick ) THOSE PC100 & PC133 that i have are a problem .Let me know i have to go by this so called electronics store to exchange it .
THANKS A LOT TO SUCCESS & GREATNESS

Do you know if i can setup an external cd-rw onto to the pentium 2/333 to install debian ,zenwalk etc.
I also tried this on a pentium 3/500mhz the debian etch doenot install . This pentium 3 at lease let me go to your cd-rom couln't be mouted . Fedora core 3,pclinuxos,mandriva, & debian etch did the same thing wouldnot let me install with the cd-rom .
The pentium 3/500 system is small & tight inside the case hard to take out cd-rom & memory a real problem . The pentium 2/333 has good amount of space inside the case . The best is a new external cd-rw/ usb 2.0 ports. I have access to about 10 of these type computers .Now i had some pros & cons on this pentium 2 & 3 issues . Windows hardware technicans tell me only internal cd-rw will work with them(pentium 2 & 3 that i have, also they have no knowledge of linux. Is there a solution ?