Install Debian testing distribution

rocky wrote:
> Hey all,
>
> I'm going install debian testing on my Dell Inpiron 1300. I'm going to
> make it a dual boot system. Right now I have Windows XP home edtion
> loaded on the laptop. And the 60 GB hard driver is not partitioned.
> Can any of you help me on the following please?
>
> 1, How can I free some space for Debian installation? What are the
> tools I need to use? Do I need to go into DOS consle to achieve this?

I had a similar situation when installing Fedora, and used parted.

> 2, I have broad band internet connection. It is not easy for me to get
> a full installation CD. Therefore, I decided to use netinstall CD. But
> there's no Netinstall CD for testing package. The workaround I can

If you want, I'll make you a set and send them to you. I don't use
Debian, but I can download and burn you CDs. Contact me via separate
e-mail to arrange it. I'll only charge you what it costs me in CDs
and postage.

I don't know the answers to the rest of your questions.

Mike
--
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Oppose globalization and One World Governments like the UN.
This message made from 100% recycled bits.
You have found the bank of Larn.
I can explain it for you, but I can't understand it for you.
I speak only for myself, and I am unanimous in that!

--

On Thu February 15 2007 18:25, rocky wrote:
> Hey all,
>
> I'm going install debian testing on my Dell Inpiron 1300. I'm going to
> make it a dual boot system. Right now I have Windows XP home edtion
> loaded on the laptop. And the 60 GB hard driver is not partitioned.
> Can any of you help me on the following please?
>
> 1, How can I free some space for Debian installation? What are the
> tools I need to use? Do I need to go into DOS consle to achieve this?

The installer will give you an opportunity to create or format a partition to
install debian. Don't format anything you plan on keeping.. ;)

> 2, I have broad band internet connection. It is not easy for me to get
> a full installation CD. Therefore, I decided to use netinstall CD. But
> there's no Netinstall CD for testing package. The workaround I can
> think of is using Netinstall for Stable to install the base system and
> upgrade to Testing ditribution. Is this the right way?

There are a few net install images for etch. Look here..

http://cdimage.debian.org/cdimage/weekly-builds/

> 3, What is the best way for me to find out which is the fastest mirror
> for me to download the Testing distribute packages?

There is a package called aptspy that will find a good fast mirror for you. I
don't think that will help much until you get your debian system up and
running though. The installer will also let you choose from a list of
mirrors, just try one close to home. I find the .edu ones are good but YMMV.

> 4, What if I want install FreeBSD as the third Operating system on my
> laptop? What is the best partition plan?

Just leave some space on your drive to install whatever else you'd like later
on.

--

rocky wrote:
> Hey all,
>
> I'm going install debian testing on my Dell Inpiron 1300. I'm going to
> make it a dual boot system. Right now I have Windows XP home edtion
> loaded on the laptop. And the 60 GB hard driver is not partitioned.
> Can any of you help me on the following please?
>
> 1, How can I free some space for Debian installation? What are the
> tools I need to use? Do I need to go into DOS consle to achieve this?
>

The easiest way to repartition your hard drive would be to use the
GParted live CD (30MB download) or live USB (available from
http://gparted.sourceforge.net/). There is good documentation on the
website. I seem to remember reading that it is no longer necessary to
defrag WinXP first, but I cannot confirm that. Google can help you here.
Alternatively, if you have a Knoppix disc, you may find Parted on there,
possibly QtParted. Make sure that you backup first.

You might consider installing a second hard drive for Debian/FreeBSD, in
which case you can leave the WinXP partition alone. (Except: allow Grub
to overwrite the boot sector on the WinXP drive.)

> 2, I have broad band internet connection. It is not easy for me to get
> a full installation CD. Therefore, I decided to use netinstall CD. But
> there's no Netinstall CD for testing package.

There is! http://www.debian.org/devel/debian-installer/

> The workaround I can
> think of is using Netinstall for Stable to install the base system and
> upgrade to Testing ditribution. Is this the right way?
>

You can do this. Change the repositories in /etc/apt/sources.list from
"sarge" or "stable" to "etch". (Do not change to "testing" or you will
not end up with Etch when it becomes stable.)

> [...]
>

Please do report back to this thread when you have been successful and
tell us what you did!

--
Chris.

--

On 15 Feb 2007 18:25:28 -0800
"rocky" wrote:

> Hey all,
>
> I'm going install debian testing on my Dell Inpiron 1300. I'm going to
> make it a dual boot system. Right now I have Windows XP home edtion
> loaded on the laptop. And the 60 GB hard driver is not partitioned.
> Can any of you help me on the following please?
>
> 1, How can I free some space for Debian installation? What are the
> tools I need to use? Do I need to go into DOS consle to achieve this?

The netinstaller (at least the daily builds, I don't know about the old
one) offers you the option to resize Windows paritions (FAT & NTFS).
There is a netinstall image for testing.

Celejar

--

On Thu, 2007-02-15 at 18:25 -0800, rocky wrote:

> 4, What if I want install FreeBSD as the third Operating system on my
> laptop? What is the best partition plan?
>

One thing to consider regarding your partitions is that you will be
dealing with some file-system incompatibility. Windows, by default,
uses NTFS; both Debian and FreeBSD can access NTFS partitions and read
data just fine, but write support is not necessarily as reliable. If
you think you are going to want to copy data to your NTFS partition(s)
from either Debian or FreeBSD, you should read up on the techniques and
limitations of that process before you lay out your partitions.

With Debian, you have a lot of file-system choices. For a triple-boot
scenario, the best bet is probably ext3, which is stable and the most
widely supported. But again, you should read up on the options and
decide what's best for your needs.

FreeBSD uses UFS (or UFS+ or UFS2, something like that) by default and
unfortunately there is no support for reading from or writing to that
file-system from Windows or Debian. You will be able to access your
NTFS (Windows) and ext3 (Debian) partitions from FreeBSD, at least to
read from them if not to write to them, but unless things have changed,
your UFS (FreeBSD) partitions will not be accessible from either Windows
or Debian.

Basically, you need to think carefully about where you want what data,
or you may find yourself rebooting multiple times throughout the day
because such-and-such a file that you need is in a place where you can't
get to it or can't edit it from where you happen to be.

--
Michael M. ++ Portland, OR ++ USA
"No live organism can continue for long to exist sanely under conditions
of absolute reality; even larks and katydids are supposed, by some, to
dream." --S. Jackson

--

rocky wrote:

> Hey all,
>
> I'm going install debian testing on my Dell Inpiron 1300. I'm going to
> make it a dual boot system. Right now I have Windows XP home edtion
> loaded on the laptop. And the 60 GB hard driver is not partitioned.
> Can any of you help me on the following please?
>
> 1, How can I free some space for Debian installation? What are the
> tools I need to use? Do I need to go into DOS consle to achieve this?

Disk cleanup wizard, uninstall programs you don't regularly use, and do a
defrag.

> 2, I have broad band internet connection. It is not easy for me to get
> a full installation CD. Therefore, I decided to use netinstall CD. But
> there's no Netinstall CD for testing package. The workaround I can
> think of is using Netinstall for Stable to install the base system and
> upgrade to Testing ditribution. Is this the right way?

That's the right way. Though since you already have Windows, you can also
try http://www.goodbye-microsoft.com/ as an alternative to dealing with
CDs.

> 3, What is the best way for me to find out which is the fastest mirror
> for me to download the Testing distribute packages?

apt-spy

> 4, What if I want install FreeBSD as the third Operating system on my
> laptop? What is the best partition plan?

If you really want to do this (NOT recommended: Pick an OS already!) you'll
need to consult your bootloader's documentation and the various multiboot
HOWTOs out there to come up with a game plan for this.

--