Installing & Running Pardus

[deerb]

I have just downloaded Pardus 2011 with a view to installing it on a 20Gb spare disk on my computer, so that I can complete anOU Linux course. Because I use the computer a lot, and cannot afford to have it malfunction because of any mistakes that are made. I therefore require help on the following points

1. Can the Pardus iso file be burnt to a rewritable DVD so that I don't have to print out a new label every time I download a new version.

2. Is is possible to run Pardus directly from the DVD before it is installed, so that you can actually get used to it before finally installing it on the spare hard drive, as you are able to do with some other distros

3. How easy is it to intall it onto a seperate drive as opposed to a partition of an existing drive

4. Does YALI automatically create a duel boot system automatically, or do you have to create one, and if so, how?

Thanking you in anticipation of a speedy reply

deerb

[Freebird]

 I would think that Pardus should burn to a rewritable DVD same as a regular one but I haven't actually done this. Your CD burner probably won't care either way.
 You can run Pardus from the "Live" version off of DVD but you will not be able to install from that version. You will have to download the regular install package for that. Works for testing it out.
 It will install on either a separate partition or to a different hard drive. You will be given the option to pick which hard drive on your computer you would like to install to. After choosong yur hard drive of choice you will be given the option to use "unallocated" space or to wipe and use the whole hard drive. So, if sharing with another operating system make sure to prepare your drive with free space (unallocated) before booting with the install CD.
 I installed both ways at different times and it took care of my boot options on install without a hitch. No problems should occur if Windows is the first install. If windows is installed "after" the Pardus install that may create a different issue.
 Pardus comes in a 32 bit version and a 64 bit version. The use of WINE on 64 bit is not worked out yet so if you want to run Windows programs in Wine on Pardus this is something to consider. 32 bit runs great for me.
 I found Pardus to be my pick of the various Linux distros and I'm loving it.
This has been my first experience with Linux in years.
Hope everything goes well for you.

[kalwisti]

Hi, deerb,

I don't know the answer to all your questions, so I will stick to the ones I'm comfortable with answering ...

2. Is is possible to run Pardus directly from the DVD before it is installed, so that you can actually get used to it before finally installing it on the spare hard drive, as you are able to do with some other distros

Yes, there is a Pardus 2011 Live DVD available for download:

http://www.pardus.org.tr/eng/download/

This would allow you to try out the OS before installing it to your hard drive. However, if memory serves, you cannot install from the Live DVD itself; you would also need to download the Install DVD if you wish to install Pardus.

If I'm wrong on this point, I hope that someone will correct me.

4. Does YALI automatically create a duel boot system automatically, or do you have to create one, and if so, how?

By "dual-boot," I'm assuming that you mean a dual boot with Windows ... Although I don't run Windows at home, I believe that Pardus's YALI should detect your Windows system and offer to help you set up your Pardus boot accordingly.

Again, hopefully another forum member with a Windows dual-boot setup will post here to confirm that, and offer you specific help if you need it.

With regard to multibooting Linux distros with Pardus 2011, Pardus handles that very nicely. I currently multiboot four other Linux distros and I have Pardus's GRUB Legacy controlling them all. Its built-in Boot Manager utility (Computer > System Settings > Boot Manager) makes it convenient and painless to manage things.

HTH,
=david

[kalwisti]

So, if sharing with another operating system make sure to prepare your drive with free space (unallocated) before booting with the install CD.
 I installed both ways at different times and it took care of my boot options on install without a hitch. No problems should occur if Windows is the first install. If windows is installed "after" the Pardus install that may create a different issue.

Since it sounds like you may be a new Linux user, I'd just like to add some extra clarification to Freebird's good advice. To prepare your hard drive before you attempt to install Pardus, i.e., to create free space ("partitions") onto which Pardus can be installed, there a couple of user-friendly tools available:

http://gparted.sourceforge.net/
GParted Live CD

or, a Puppy Linux Live CD will also have GParted (along with other goodies):

http://puppylinux.org/main/How%20to%20download%20Puppy.htm

Basically, what you will do is shrink your existing Windows partition and create two new partitions for your Pardus installation.

I don't know the capacity of your current hard drive, but just to give you an idea / initial suggestion for partition type(s) and sizes, I think this would be a reasonable starting point:

a root partition (labelled as "/") of 10-12 GB in size, with an ext4 file system

(My root partition is 12 GB, but if your space is tight, you can probably get by with a root partition of 2-3 GB).

a home partition (labelled as "/home") for your personal files (Documents, Photos, Downloads, etc.) of 10-20 GB, with an ext4 file system

(My /home partition is 25 GB, but if you need to make it smaller and don't plan on saving a lot of files here, you could create a 2-3 GB partition).

These are only suggestions which are worth about 0.02's each ...  

For extra help, please read the Installation Instructions on the Pardus Wiki:

http://en.pardus-wiki.org/Installation:Contents

HTH.

P.S.
The Installation Instructions for Pardus 2009 are still available. You might want to look at them also, because they are more detailed than the 2011 instructions -- especially with the partitioning steps. If I remember correctly, there have not been major changes made to YALI.

http://en.pardus-wiki.org/Pardus:Installation2009