====== Mandriva 2008.1 on the eeePC installation HOWTO ======

You may find what you need below, but NO GUARANTEES of any sort.

Also, generic Mandriva 2008.1 installation instructions can be found [[http://wiki.mandriva.com/en/Docs/Installing_Mandriva_Linux|here]].

===== Foreword =====

The following is a step-by-step guide to installing Mandriva 2008.1 on the eeePC. The writers have tried to make this guide as complete and simple as possible, so that anyone can achieve a successful install in a minimum amount of time. But note that Mandriva 2008.1 is not for absolute noobs, who are better served by the pre-installed Xandros Linux distribution. For those who feel limited by Xandros or would like to try a different full-fledged Linux distribution, Mandriva 2008.1 is an excellent choice.

===== Misc. Tips =====

==== Getting Mandriva installed on an SDHC card using an external DVD drive ==== 

  - Use quality Class 6 SDHC memory cards - avoid the cheap slow ones.
  - Avoid LG external DVD drives if you are installing from DVD (they turn themselves off part way through).
  - Follow the Mandriva 2008.1 Installation Howto and the FAQ in the Wiki.

===== BIOS setup =====

Before you begin installing Mandriva 2008.1, enter the BIOS Setup screen (press F2 after powering on the eeePC) and **enable all the devices** (Advanced tab, Onboard Device Configuration screen). __Failure to do so will result in unpredictable behavior of the Mandriva installer!__

Also don't touch the "OS Installation" option (it should say "Finished"). 

===== Hardware requirements =====

==== Running ====

Mandriva 2008.1 will run fine on any eeePC model, from the 2G to the 900. However, it might be a tight fit on the 2G SSD, so 2G owners might prefer to install on a 4GB or larger USB key or SDHC card.

==== Installing ====

Minimum requirements for installing Mandriva 2008.1 to your eeePC are a small USB key or SD card and an Ethernet internet connection. That's all!

There are many possible installation methods for Mandriva 2008.1, depending on the hardware available to you for install. A large USB key (8GB or larger), or an external USB hard disk or USB CD/DVD drive will make things a lot easier.

A Mandriva 2008.1 install on the eeePC can take anything from one hour to 10 hours or more, depending on the installation method chosen and the media where one is going to install to. An FTP install to the internal SSD with a very fast internet connection to a not-too-busy Mandriva mirror will take about an hour, 50 minutes of which will be spent downloading and installing packages to the eeePC unattended.

Described below are three foolproof installation methods:
  - Minimum hardware requirements installation method, with a small USB key and Ethernet internet connection aka "**FTP Install**" (or Internet Install).
  - Large USB key or SDHC card (8GB minimum) or external USB hard disk installation method, aka "**Hard Disk Install**".
  - External USB CD/DVD drive aka "**CD/DVD Install**".

==== Where are you installing to? ====

You can choose to install to the internal SSD on the eeePC, or on an extra 4GB (minimum) USB key, SDHC card or even an external USB hard disk. If you choose to install to the internal SSD, then the requirements above stand. If you are installing to an extra 4GB (minimum) USB key, SDHC card or external USB hard disk, you'll need to add these to the requirements above.

From this point on, we'll distinguish the "**install media**" (the media you are using for the install) and the "**Mandriva media**" (the media where you are installing to). 

For example, if you decide to install Mandriva on a 4GB USB key, and you have decided on the FTP install method, you'll need __two__ USB keys: one will be a small USB key (minimum 32MB) or SD card which we'll call the "install USB key" or "install SD card", and the other will be the USB key that will hold our Mandriva 2008.1 distribution once installed, the "Mandriva USB key" (remember, 4GB minimum).

{{mandriva:howtos:install:media_1.jpg|}}

Above are a few examples of install media (the small 128MB USB key is fine for that usage) and Mandriva media (the 4GB SD card and the 8GB Corsair Voyager USB key) - the Steinbeck book is just a very good book to read while your eeePC installs Mandriva 2008.1. :)

**IMPORTANT**: the Mandriva installer will partition and format the **Mandriva media** with the filesystem of your choice (either ext3fs or reiserfs are recommended), with a nice graphical interface so you can see what's happening. You don't need to worry about partitioning the **Mandriva media** before you begin the installation.

===== Creating the Install Media =====

You can usually create the install media on the eeePC itself (running Xandros) or on a desktop PC (running any OS). Described below is the __simplest__ method to create each install media, for the three different install methods. Feel free to modify the instructions below to suit your particular hardware and tastes.

==== Creating the install media for the FTP Install ====

Before you get started, check your Ethernet connection to the internet, as the FTP install method relies on a connection to a Mandriva archive mirror to download the software packages that will be installed to the eeePC.

The FTP install method requires a USB key or SD card of any size as the install media. You'll download the installer image file and write it to the USB key or SD card, then boot from it. The whole procedure to create the FTP install media takes less than 5 minutes.

  - Choose a Mandriva 2008.1 mirror nearest to you. To do so, navigate to [[http://www.mandriva.com/en/download/free|this page]] and choose your country, then select a server. Do not download the Mandriva iso file if offered to do so, but follow the link to the FTP server. Once connected by FTP, you'll be in the .../official/iso/2008.1 subdirectory, so go up two levels (up to .../official) and enter the .../official/2008.1 directory.
  - Download the all.img file (11.6MB last time I checked, should take a minute or so). The file is located in the ...official/2008.1/i586/install/images directory.
  - Raw-write the all.img file directly to the USB key or SD card device. This step is done differently if you are using Windows or Linux. If you are using Linux, use the following dd command (as root):<code>dd if=all.img of=/dev/sdx</code> where x is the device letter assigned to your USB key or SD card by the Linux kernel, usually c or d (e.g. sdc or sdd). Do not include the partition number after the drive letter! You can check the drive letter assigned to the USB key or SD card using the dmesg command, the last few lines of its output should show the USB key or SD card being detected and the device letter assigned to it.

That's all! You should now have a bootable USB key or SD card. So test it: insert the USB key or SD card, turn on your eeePC, press the ESC key to choose boot media and choose your newly created install media. If everything goes well you should see the Mandriva installer running after a few seconds. When asked, choose the FTP install method and continue with the installation procedure below.

==== Creating the install media for the Hard Disk Install ====

The Hard Disk install method requires an 8GB or larger USB key, SDHC card or USB hard disk; an extra small USB key will make things a lot simpler. The basic idea is to get the installer on the small USB key as described in the preceding section, and download the iso image for the **Mandriva Free DVD** to the large USB key, SDHC card or USB hard disk. Other iso image files (in particular those for the KDE One or Gnome One CDs) are **not** supported so don't ask!

Then boot from the small USB key and when asked, choose the hard disk install method; next point the installer to the **Mandriva Free DVD iso file** on the install media and you are set.

In other words:
  - Download the **Mandriva Free DVD iso file** to your 8GB or larger USB key, SDHC card or USB hard disk (the install media); note that this file is larger than 4GB and cannot be downloaded to a FAT partition. Reformat/repartition your install media accordingly.
  - As described in the preceding section, download and write the all.img to a small USB key, and boot from it. The install media must also be accessible at this point.
  - When asked, choose the hard disk install method; next point the installer to the Mandriva Free DVD iso file (full path).


==== Creating the install media for the CD/DVD Install ====

The CD/DVD install method requires an external USB CD or DVD drive. May not work with LG external DVD drives.
  * If you have a CD drive, download the 3 CD iso files for the Free Mandriva edition, burn them and boot from the first CD.
  * If you have a DVD drive, download the DVD iso file for the Free Mandriva edition, burn it and boot from it.

===== The Mandriva 2008.1 installer =====

Right, so you have prepared the install media following the instructions above, and by pressing the <ESC> key after turning on your eeePC, you have booted from it. The Linux kernel on the install media will load and after a few seconds you should be presented with the Mandriva 2008.1 Installer on the eeePC screen.

From this point on you are running the traditional, user-friendly, multi-language Mandriva Installer. Follow the normal installation steps, there is nothing eeePC-specific. Take your time to read carefully through all the options.

Screenshots will be added in time, but for now be advised of a few things to change from the default installer options:
  - Choose the Standard security setting (do not use the default High as it is really not required on an eeePC).
  - Choose Custom partitioning. If you are installing on the SSD, delete all the existing partitions before you try to create a new one; yes, you do __have to understand what a partition is and how partitioning works__. Create a single / partition on the Mandriva media. Choose "Journaling reiserfs" as the partition type. In the partition options set the 'noatime' option. This is important to avoid excessive wear on Flash media.
  - Choose to manually select the packages to install, and when given the choice, choose whatever Desktop Environment(s) you want to have installed by default (Gnome, KDE, Xfce, etc). At login time you'll be able to open a menu and choose the session type.
  - Do not install any server software. Running Apache, MySQL and PHP on your eeePC is not recommended (although it can be done). ;)
  - Do not, unless you know exactly what you are doing, trim down the number of packages to install; this will likely result in an incomplete setup - guaranteed headaches later. You can add packages, but keep at least 500MB free on your Mandriva media (the installer tells you how much space is used and how much you have total)
  - Check and double-check (and triple-check, please) that you are installing Grub (the bootloader) to the correct device MBR. This is the most common mistake for first-time Mandriva users, and results in a Mandriva install that cannot be booted. :(
  - Do not try to manually configure network, video, sound or any other option after downloading the packages, these get automatically configured by the installer.
  - Wireless must be configured after the first reboot, see below.

**READ this note if you are using the Hard disk Install method**

There seems to be a bug in the Mandriva Installer that misidentifies the install media (the one that holds the Mandriva Free DVD iso image file). So when you are offered a choice between the various drives identified by the kernel, the correct one is not the one that has the right name! For example:
  * You wrote the DVD iso image file to your BrandX 8GB USB key. It shows up as drive sdc. When asked by the installer: "Select the disk containing the copy of the Mandriva Linux distribution install source", if you answer sdc, the installer will not find the iso and will just loop asking the same question, or will give you a message saying "no partition found". Try sdb, or sda, or sdd instead.

===== Post-Install Steps =====

OK, you have installed Mandriva 2008.1 and rebooted your eeePC successfully into Mandriva 2008.1 The following are some post-install steps required to get a smooth Mandriva 2008.1 eeePC "eXPerience". Ha! :)


==== Configuring your software sources ====

Go to the Mandriva Control Center>Software>Software sources and follow the prompt to set up a full set (Free and Non-Free) of online sources. If you installed using the Hard Disk Install or CD/DVD Install methods, you'll want to remove the original install media from the list of available sources.

Now if you are living in a country where software patents do not apply, then using Firefox or Konqueror go to [url]http://easyurpmi.zarb.org/[/url]
and press the button to add PLF sources.

That will automatically set up repositories for PLF. The Penguin Liberation Front provide packages Mandriva cannot distribute because they may violate patents in some countries.

Now using your software install GUI in MandrivaControlCentre>Software>SoftwareInstall/Remove, you can install packages from any of the defined sources. Some packages will appear twice. Once from a Mandriva repository, and once from a PLF repository. Choose the PLF version if you want the extended features.

==== Configuring your wireless connection ====

Check that __the blue LED (WiFi) is on__.

Go to the Mandriva Control Center>Network>Add Network Interface GUI and follow the prompt to set up the wireless connection (obviously you will still need to be Ethernet connected to the internet at that point). Choose the madwifi driver (the ndiswrapper option would force you to install the XP wireless drivers) and when prompted, enter the appropriate parameters for your WiFi connection.

==== Minimize disk writes to prevent flash memory wear ====

To do this edit /etc/fstab and add the following lines at the end:
<code>
tmpfs /tmp tmpfs noatime 0 0
tmpfs /var/log tmpfs noatime 0 0
tmpfs /var/tmp tmpfs noatime 0 0
</code>
Note that any files written to these directories will be erased on reboot (but are kept during suspend/resume).
Also check that your fstab file has your SSD or SDHC partitions mounted with the 'noatime' option. For example:
<code>
# Entry for /dev/sdc5 :
UUID=0c0701d1-5dc3-4c9e-982d-53ee393f1fb8 / ext3 noatime 1 1
</code>
If you are using a reiserfs partition, the options are slightly different:
<code>
# Entry for /dev/sdc5 :
UUID=0c0701d1-5dc3-4c9e-982d-53ee393f1fb8 / reiserfs noatime,nodiratime,notail 1 1
</code>

==== Disable unneeded services ====

(Check the FAQ here)


==== Configure Power Management ====

You want to get the best possible performance while maximizing battery time.
  * Disable unneeded devices (in the BIOS or using hotkeys).
  * (Check the FAQ here)




==== Installing RealPlayer ====

RealPlayer 10 installed out of the box will segfault but there is an easy fix to get that to work.  edit /usr/bin/replay and add the following lines

<code>
export GTK_MODULES=
export GTK_IM_MODULES=
</code>

Those to lines also need to be added to hxplay

To get RealPlayer 11 to work add the following lines

<code>
export GTK_MODULES=
export GTK_IM_MODULE=xim LANGUAGE=en_US.UTF-8
export LANGUAGE=en_US.UTF-8
</code>

Also go to Tools, Preferences..., Hardware and change the hardware from ALSA to OSS

==== Wireless issue on 2009.0 ====

When I installed cooker I had a problem in that the system expect the driver to be named ath5k_pci but the kernel has the ath5k.  To get it to work I had to do a "modprobe -a ath5k" and to get it to work on boot I had to add ath5k to /etc/modules