"Linux pre-installation checklist"

from
Algologic Research & Solutions

How many times have you found yourself fumbling in the middle of a Linux installation process, because some vital information about the target hardware is not known ?

Have you ever crossed your fingers when you were asked by the installation procedure, a simple question, like: "to which COM port is the mouse connected ?" ?

Let's face it, all of us have, at one time or another, felt we should have been better prepared before starting to install Linux. Here is a simple solution, brought to you by

Algologic Research & Solutions.

What does this checklist achieve ?
Who must use this list ?
Japanese version of the checklist
The check list
Give us your feedback

What does this checklist (aim to) achieve ?

This is an aide-memoire which may make installation of Linux a pleasant experience for you. It fills an important role in the promotion of Linux.
It will help you to be prepared with all the answers which may be needed during the course of installation of Linux on your machine or on anybody else's machine. Sometimes, it is very inconvenient and even impossible to find out some details in the middle of an installation procedure. This becomes all the more difficult when you are installing Linux on somebody else's machine, and in somebody else's office.
This checklist, when filled up, will help you go through your Linux documentation and verify in advance whether certain hardware are supported by the distribution you are planning to install. It will also help you to be prepared with the packages you would need to install, and the configuration choices which need to be done.
The idea is to reduce the chances of frustrating surprises.
This checklist is only for installing Linux on PCs. You may use this checklist as a model for other classes of machines (e.g.SUN, Alpha, ...).

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Who must use this checklist ?

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Japanese Version

This checklist is also available in Japanese. The Japanese translation is available as: a plain text file, or as a html file, at the URL given below: Click here to send a mail to Mrs. Chie Nakatani who did the translation into Japanese. You can also visit her home page, by clicking here.

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Linux Pre-installation checklist

    
    -------------------------------------------------------------                              
                                LINUX
            PRE-INSTALLATION CHECK LIST CUM QUESTIONNAIRE
                       (Ver. 1.7 of 1998-01-27)
    -------------------------------------------------------------
                             prepared by          
         Algologic  Research  &  Solutions,   Secunderabad, 
                                India            
                                
                           S. Parthasarathy
                       algolog@hd1.vsnl.net.in

    Updated versions of this checklist will be posted at:
             http://members.tripod.com/~algolog/lnxchk.htm

    Please  make  sure that you have the latest version  of  this 
    checklist.

    -------------------------------------------------------------

                               Welcome

    Welcome to the world of Linux. Your first step in  installing 
    Linux on your PC will begin by answering a few (?), simple(?) 
    questions about your hardware. 

    This checklist will make it easy for you and us to go through 
    the  installation, painlessly and without  surprises.  Please 
    take  your  own  time and fill up  the  following  checklist. 
    Wherever   possible,  and  necessary,  we  have  given   some 
    suggestions and hints, for your convenience.

    If you don't know all the details, you should be able to find 
    them  in  your  computer's manuals.  Or,  ask  your  hardware 
    vendor, or your local hardware "guru".
    
    If  you still have problems finding answers, don't  worry  -- 
    you   can  just  ignore any areas you don't know.  Bring   in 
    your   machine  and  ALL manuals you have.  The  installation 
    may succeed with some trials and  a lot of luck.

    Remember,  Linux,  like many other software  products,  is  a 
    growing  product.  Some  of your hardware may  still  not  be 
    supported  in  the version of Linux which is being installed. 

    This  is a FREE service from Algologic. Algologic offers   no 
    warranties, and accepts no  liabilities  in  this exercise.

    Each question below can be identified by a letter followed by 
    a numeral (e.g. G4 is a question on processor speed). If  you 
    need any assistance/clarifications about the questions  asked 
    in this form, please specify the chapter identifier(an alpha) 
    and the question number (a numeral), and send an e mail to:
         
                       algolog@hd1.vsnl.net.in

    ------------------------------------------------------------

    Assumptions:

    1. You  are  interested  in installing Linux  on  a  PC  (386 
       upwards).

    2. You have a CD ROM drive on your PC. 

    3. You  have at least one 3.5" floppy diskette drive on  your 
       system.

    4. The 3.5" diskette drive is a BOOTABLE drive.

    5. You will keep readily available, three, blank, bad-sector-free,
       formatted  (3.5")   diskettes,  for use in the installation 
       procedure.

    If  your answer to any one of the above assumptions is a  NO, 
    please get in touch with Algologic first.

    -------------------------------------------------------------
                            CHECKLIST


    A. ABOUT YOU       
           
        1* Your Name ____________________

        2* Your contact phone numbers:


        3* Your email adress ____________________

        4* Have you used Linux before ? What distribution? 

        5* Have you used any version of Unix before ? Which one ? On
           what platform ?

        6* Is this an upgrade to an existing Linux distribution ?

        7* What will be the end-use of this Linux installation ?

        8* Do you wish to retain DOS/Win along with Linux, on your
           system ?

        9* Any other detail you want to add:

           _____________________________________________________
     
           _____________________________________________________
    
    -------------------------------------------------------------

    G.  GENERAL

        1* CPU type [i386, i486 DX2...]:

        2* Bus type [ISA, EISA, VESA, PCI, MCA ... ]:
         
        3* Processor speed (MHz) ?
        
        4* What size is your RAM (minimum 4 MB needed) ?         

        5* Do  you  want  X Window System (i.e. GUI for  Linux)  to  be 
           installed on your system ?

        6* How many serial ports do you have on your PC ? 

        7* Are you planning to add dumb terminals to your PC ? How many ?

        Please mention below, any additional details you wish  to 
        add:

           __________________________________________________

           __________________________________________________

           __________________________________________________
 
    -------------------------------------------------------------       
    M. MOUSE

        1* To which port  is your mouse connected ? What IRQ ?

        2* What type of mouse are you using 
           [Microsoft, Busmouse, PS/2 ..] ?               

    -------------------------------------------------------------     

    C. CD ROM

        1* What is the make and type of CDROM drive  
           [e.g. IDE ATAPI, Sony, S-B Pro/Panasonic,  SCSI,  true 
           IDE ..]  ?

        2* On  which drive interface [1st IDE, 2nd IDE, 3rd  IDE, 
           4th  IDE] and which drive [drive 1 , drive 2]  is  the 
           CDROM connected (e.g. drive 2 of 1st IDE) ?

    -------------------------------------------------------------       

    F. FLOPPY DRIVES
           
        1* Do you have a 3 1/2" floppy drive?

        2* Is the 3 1/2 " floppy drive a bootable drive ?
  
        3* Do you have a 5 1/4" floppy drive?

        4* Is the 5 1/4 " drive a bootable drive ?
  
    -------------------------------------------------------------       
    T. TAPE DRIVES
           
        1* What  type  of tape drive do you have (can  be   NONE) 
           [floppy interface type, SCSI, parallel port ..] ? 

        2* Do  you  have a secondary floppy controller  for  your 
           tape drive?
           
    _____________________________________________________________
           
    D. DISK

        1* What type of drive do you have [IDE, SCSI, RLL, MFM ....] ?
        
        2* How many partitions are there on your first disk drive ? 
           Name, type, size ? 
           
        3* Can  we  re-partition your disk ? (All  existing  data 
           will be lost)

        4* Which  partitions can be reformatted to  become  Linux 
           partitions ?

        5* How  much of disk space can you give for  Linux 
           [50 MB minimum] ?

        6* What is your second hard disk (if any)?

        7* What is your third hard disk (if any)? 

        8* What is your fourth hard disk (if any)? 
           
        9* Do you have any SCSI device ? Which SCSI controller do 
           you have (if any)?

    -------------------------------------------------------------

    V. VDU
           
        1* What kind of monitor do  you have [Monochrome, Colour] 
           [EGA, VGA, CGA ..] ? What make ?

        2* Size of screen [14", 15", 19"] ?

        3* What  are  the  resolutions, and  number  of   colours 
           possible on this monitor [600x480, 800x600, 1024x768]?

        4* What is your monitor's vertical refresh rate (could be 
           a range)?

        5* What is your monitor's horizontal refresh rate  (could 
           be a range) ?

        6* VDU Control card : make and model ?

        7* Chip set used in VDU control card ?

        8* Monitor's horizontal sync. frequency ?

        9* Monitor's vertical sync. frequency ?

        10* Monitor's bandwidth ?

        11* Video RAM size ?


    -------------------------------------------------------------
    N. NETWORKING

        1* Are you using an internal modem | external modem ?

        2* What make ?

        3* On which COM port is the modem connected ? What IRQ ?

        4* What is the speed of the modem [bps] ?

        5* Is it a "Windows only" modem [WIN-MODEM...] ?

        6* Which  ethernet card do you have [10base2 or  10baseT; 
           NONE for none] ?

        7* Will  this  machine  be  a part  of  Internet  or  any 
           Intranet ?

        8* Will this machine use a PPP connection to a server ?

    ------------------------------------------------------------

    P. PRINTER

        1* Have you connected any printer on the parallel port of 
           your PC ?

        2* What is the type, make of the printer ?


    ------------------------------------------------------------ 

    X. MISC.

        1* Does  your keyboard use a round connector  (DIN-5)  or 
           PS/2 connector?

        2* Do  you  plan to use keyboard mapping to  any  non-US 
            keyboards [French, Greek, Cyrillic, ..] ?

        3* Are you using any Plug & play devices ?

        4* Are  you using any sound card ? What card ? What  I/O, 
           IRQ, DMA does it use ?
                                            
        5* How many ISA spare  slots do you have ? 

        6* How many EISA spare slots do you have ? 

        7* How many VESA spare slots do you have ? 

        8* How many PCI spare slots do you have ? 

        9* How many other (describe) spare slots? 
           
        10* What  kind of other removable media do you have  (can 
            be NONE)?
        
        11* Do you have any other interesting hardware?

        12* Please add any details you wish to highlight:

           __________________________________________________

           __________________________________________________

           __________________________________________________


    Did   you  find  this  form  clear  ?  Any  suggestions   for 
    improvement ?


           __________________________________________________

           __________________________________________________

           __________________________________________________

       

    -------------------------------------------------------------       
    That  is all. Thanks for filling out the form.  
    
    Please crosscheck the above  responses, and keep the checklist
    handy at the time of installation.

                              ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS   

    Algologic acknowledges with gratitude the useful  suggestions 
    and  inputs  from many members of the  Linux  community,  for 
    preparation of this checklist. This checklist is proof of the 
    cooperation  and goodwill which exists between  Linux  users. 
    Algologic submits this checklist to the Linux community, as a 
    humble tribute to the "spirit of Linux".


    ********Endchecklist

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------ http://members.tripod.com/~algolog/lnxchk.htm -----
------- This page last modified on 1998-01-27 ----------

Thank you for your visit.
Algologic Research & Solutions.