Mandrake 9.2 install on Satellite 2180CDT

[Bower]

Mornin'

I am a complete Linux newbie so please forgive me if this is a easy question. I am trying to learn the Linux OS hands on and have an old Toshiba Satellite laptop I'd like to put Linux on to play with and get my bearings. I was given a copy of Mandrake 9.2 from a friend to install on the machine but I'm having a little bit of difficulty. If I boot straight to the CD rom drive, the "Cooker" starts up and detects USB devices but then says "No CDROM device found". I've tried to pick various .ko files listed on the following screen but none have detected the drive. I downloaded another .img file and made a boot disk and that seemed to work better but right after I accepted the liscense it told me the kernal files did not match and to make a "newer" boot disk. Can anyone point me to where I can get another .img file to boot from? None of the .img that came with the disks detect the cdrom drive and none of the ones I've found on the net seem to match the kernal I have.

Thanks

Bower

 

[fmiller]

I tend to use a Knoppix Linux CD to test compatability, especially on a laptop. Go to

http://www.knoppix.com,

download the latest iso, and burn it on a CD. It can boot directly from the CD, no installation required, and does a great job of detecting devices.

BTW, my main personal machine is an old Acer Travelmate laptop running Mandrake 9.2,so I know that it is possible to get Linux running on these old machines.

Frank Miller
Systems Consultant
FOSSCom