Disclaimer: I'm not a Linux expert by far. Right now this book is mostly a regurgitation of the tips and information I found helpful when trying to install Linux myself.
The goal of this book is to try and provide a copy of these solutions at a centralized and concise source so new users may quickly get through the installation procedure and find answers to common problems they may likely face along the way.
a "quickstart" guide to getting Linux installed and to a well / acceptable running state
a complete (basic) install and troubleshooting guide
try to cover install issues without getting overly technical at risk of loosing the reader
avoid sending the reader off on a google hunt for answers and explanations
make sure reader at least learns enough as understand what caused the problem and how to fix it
make sure at least one type of install is fully covered before adding alternatives
Testing basic hardware compatibility with an ISO (live CD/DVD)
What you can't test
Booting from CD / DVD
Opening the BIOS
Altering the boot disk priority
Partitioning
Swap partitions
Virtual Memory or RAM
Choosing a file system
ext2, ext3, ext4, FAT, ZFS
boot loaders
What are boot loaders?
grub
Installing a boot loader
Installing the files
Why is the install taking so long?
Limited ram
Security
creating an admin account
superuser privileges
sudo
the terminal
Hardware \ Compatibility
Drivers
Driver Types
binary / proprietary drivers
binary compatibility
legacy drivers
Computer Monitor
Display Modes
VGA
DVI
Keyboard and Mouse
Mod2 issues
Sound Cards
Multiple sound card issues
Creative Audigy
AlsaMixer
Network Harware : Connecting to the net
Going wireless
WiFi drivers
MadWiFi
wlan
ifconfig
ndiswrapper
compatibility list
detecting a local network
Encryption: WEP \ WPA
Wireless passkey
Video Acceleration \ Video Cards and GPUs (Moving this to bottom as it usually requires a machine reboot, not sure about leaving it here though, closely tied with monitors)
Linux based on Unix. Originally popular for server use, but now used for desktop computing as well. Limiting factors are mainly hardware compatibility (wireless networking, graphics hardware acceleration), proprietary libraries?, running commercial games (although some possibilities exist using wine).
Can my computer run Linux?
Maybe, as mentioned before, hardware compatibility is an issue with certain components. One of the popular good way to test compatibility is by using what known as live cd. Live CD uses CDRom instead of hdd to launch OS, save problem of having to have free drive space or delete an existing OS.
Choosing a distro
Ubuntu and derivatives
Linux Mint
PC Linux
Sabayon Linux
Suse
Symphony OS
Freespire
Arch Linux
Puppy Linux
Altering the boot disk priority
To use live CDs / DVDs, the computer needs to be able to "boot" off of the disc. Sometimes the CD\DVD drive is the 1st choice for booting by default, but it's worth checking beforehand to make sure.
boot loaders
What are boot loaders?
grub
Multibooting
Multibooting issues:
Each seperate OS needs a "path" from the boot partition. Sometimes after GRUB upgrades this can become an issue as the paths are overwritten or corrupted. A possible solution is using the console utility "testdisk" to "Rebuild" the boot sectors of the non-loading OS's.
Hardware \ Compatibility
Hardware compatibility and stability is an issue for all operating systems... Linux has additional problems with hardware compatibility due to...
Drivers
Which driver do I need for my NVidia video card?
When performing a new Linux installation, there sometimes is a list of driver choices, but the difference between the choices is not obvious. The list of hardware each driver package supports can be found here
Keyboard and Mouse
Sometimes "Mod2" may show up when pressing a key or when setting keyboard shortcuts
On many setups, the Mod2 key will be mapped to the "NumLock" key by default. If the Mod2 keysym is mapped to Num Lock, hit the Num Lock key to turn off the Mod2 behavior.
AlsaMixer
Sound Cards
Multiple sound card issues
The computer has more then one sound card installed (onboard and PCI)
Creative Audigy
AlsaMixer
AlsaMixer is included with many distributions for handling sound from the console \ terminal. Sometimes if sound isn't working it could be due to an improper setting in AlsaMixer. To access AlsaMixer:
first open the "Terminal"
In the terminal, type "alsamixer" to open AlsaMixer (pictured)
Using the right and left arrow keys, select "Analog/Digital Output Jack"
When the option is selected (it should be red in color)
Press the "m" key to enable / disable the option
You may here a brief "buzz" from your speakers when this option is changed
Try playing a sound clip to see if the issue is alleviated