Mandrake 9.2 Installation

With the release of Mandrake 9.2 a few months ago, many are now trying there hands out on this new distros. In this article we are going to take a look at the installation and configuration of Mandrake 9.2 from the Windows user's perspective. For those of you who want to get hands-on facts on working with Mandrake 9.2, you can take a look at our multimedia training on this month at

If you are a graphical interface fan like me, you will be glad to know that the installation of Mandrake 9.2 can be done entirely through the graphical user interface similar to that found in Windows. For anyone who has installed an operating system before in will be a walk in the park.

Mandrake 9.2 comes on three CD's. With CD 1 and 2 housing most files depending on what options you have selected during the installation. Remember that Mandrake, like most Linux distros, can be optimized for games, server or workstation. Another huge advantage of Mandrake 9.2 is the vast array of languages that comes with it. You can choose to install and run Mandrake on more than 50 languages. The documentations are however in English.

Mandrake 9.2 installation consists of 11 easy steps that I am going to show you in this article: These steps are as follows:

1. Language 2. License 3. Security 4. Partitioning 5. Install System 6. Root Password	7. Add Users 8. Install Boot loader 9. Summary 10. Install Update 11. Finish Setup

The Installation

We are going to install Mandrake 9.2 on a clean hard disk and clean partition. I will tell you later how to setup Mandrake 9.2 on another partition next to another operating system. Since Mandrake 9.2 is probably the easiest distro for newbie to install, we are going to start right away with the installation procedure.

Assuming you have the Images on CD, which is easiest way to install Mandrake 9.2 then boot your computer with disk 1 and follow the instruction on the screen. The first screen you get is the initial splash screen that gives you the option to select the install mode by pressing F1. You have four install modes: the default 800 x 600 default mode, the lower resolution of 640 X 480 mode or a higher resolution of 1024 X 768 Graphic. The fourth option is to carry out the installation using the text mode. For this article you can choose to install using the default mode.

After the initial splash screen has been loaded you are prompted with the screen to accept the language you want to setup Mandrake with. Although you will get full installation guidance on any language chosen, you will not be able to run Mandrake fully utilizing another language except English because some information will still be popping up in English language.

The licensing option will be presented and then you can proceed with the selection of the other installation options. After accepting the licensing you will come to the screen where you need to set up security, and add users to the system.

When the partition has been successfully created, you can then proceed with the selection of the packages to be installed.

The package selection screen

You can choose to setup Mandrake 9.2 as a Workstation or a Server and for every system you can select the applications or packages you want to install. You can then choose which desktop you want to install. If you are new to all of this then you can choose to install both GNOME and KDE desktop.

When you are finished with the selection you can proceed with the installation of the OS and grab yourself a cup of coffee. From here on it is a straight forward procedure, you will only be required to change the disk when it is time. As soon as you change the second disk that will signal the round up of the installation.

When the partition has been successfully created, you can then proceed with the selection of the packages to be installed.

Here you can see the configuration of the system and make some adjustments

You are now ready to customize the hardware on your system. You will notice that all devices will be automatically detected but you may have one or two devices that will not be detected correctly; these devices will be marked red. Just go there with your mouse and correct it and accept the configuration.

Finally, you are done and you will see a screen that gives you a complete summary of the installed hardware. At this time you are ready to go. Select yes as to the question if you should keep the changes made and proceed to complete the installation.

Summary

The next screen of the Mandrake 9.2 setup will ask you to decide if you want to start Mandrake with the graphical interface. I will choose yes because we came from a Windows environment.

After this the installation will be completed and you are ready to get updates from the Internet and if you are not connected to the Internet you can skip that part and go on to conclude the installation. Reboot the system and you are ready to go.

The welcome screen of KDE

Like you can see, the installation of Mandrake 9.2 is like taking a walk in the park. Gone are the days when you need to be a hacker to be able to install Linux. Today Linux has come of age. Next we are going to take a look at the KDE graphical user interface.