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2.2 Collecting Information About Your System

Before you launch into the installation process, you should collect some basic information about your system. Generally, Red Hat's installer will successfully probe your system and discover its configuration, but when it fails to do so, you must be prepared to supply the required information. Otherwise, you'll be forced to terminate the installation procedure, obtain the information, and then start all over again.

2.2.1 Information You Need

Table 2-1 specifies the configuration information you need and gives you space to conveniently record the information as you gather it. If your system currently runs Windows, you can obtain much of the needed information by using Windows utilities, as explained in the next section. To obtain the remaining information, you can consult your system documentation and the documentation for any devices installed by you. If your documentation is missing or incomplete, you may need to contact your hardware vendor or manufacturer. Alternatively, you may be able to find the needed information on the manufacturer's web site; use a search engine such as Google (which is powered by Linux) to discover the URL of the web site.

Sometimes, you'll need to examine your system's BIOS settings or open your system's case and examine the installed hardware; consult your system documentation to learn how to do so. Finally, if you're installing Linux in a large organization such as a business or a university, your system administrator might be a sympathetic (or not always sympathetic) source of the information you need.

Table 2-1. Configuration information needed to install Red Hat Linux

Device

Information needed

Hard drive(s)

The number, size, and model of each hard drive.

Which hard drive is first, second, and so on.

Which adapter type (IDE or SCSI) is used by each drive.

For each IDE drive, whether or not the BIOS is set for LBA mode.

The number and type of each existing partition and the amount of free disk space.

CD-ROM drive(s)

Which adapter type (IDE, SCSI, or other) is used by each drive.

For each drive using a non-IDE, non-SCSI adapter, the make and model of the drive.

SCSI adapter (if any)

The make and model of the adapter.

RAM memory

The amount of installed RAM.

Video adapter

The make and model of the adapter and the amount of installed video RAM.

Video monitor

The make and model of the video monitor and the manufacturer's specifications, if available, especially the horizontal and vertical sync (refresh) rates.

Mouse

The type (serial, PS/2, or bus).

The protocol (Microsoft, Logitech, MouseMan, etc.).

The number of buttons.

For a serial mouse, the serial port to which it's connected (COM1 or COM2).

Sound adapter (if any)

The make, chipset, and model of the adapter.

Network adapter (if any)

The make and model of the card.

IP address

The dotted-quad number, such as 10.1.2.7, that identifies your system to other Internet hosts. Many Internet Service Providers (ISPs) assign IP addresses dynamically, by using a DHCP server; in that case, you don't need to know the IP address of your system.

Netmask

A dotted-quad number that identifies the portion of your system's IP address that specifies its network address. The number typically contains one or more instances of the value 255. If your ISP is using DHCP, you don't need to know the netmask.

Gateway IP address

The IP address of the host that routes traffic between your system and the Internet. If your ISP is using DHCP, you don't need to know the gateway IP address.

DNS server

The IP address of one or more Internet hosts that provide domain name services (DNS) for your system. If your ISP is using DHCP, you don't need to know the DNS servers.

Domain name

The domain name of your system. This generally looks like xxx.net or xxx.com, with xxx identifying your Internet Service Provider. If your ISP is using DHCP, you don't need to know the domain name.

Hostname

The hostname of your system. You can generally find the hostname prefixed to the domain name. If your ISP is using DHCP, you don't need to know the hostname.

2.2.2 Collecting Configuration Information from Windows

If you run Windows 95/98, 2000, or XP, you can obtain much of the information needed to install Linux by using the Windows System Properties dialog box, which you can launch by using the Control Panel. Get the information as follows:

  1. Click on the Start menu. A pop-up menu appears.

  2. Select Settings on the pop-up menu and click on Control Panel in the submenu. The Control Panel appears.

  3. Double-click on System. The System Properties dialog box appears. If necessary, click on the General tab, so that the dialog box resembles the one shown in Figure 2-1.

    The General tab of the System Properties dialog box shows the type of your system's processor and the amount of installed RAM.

    Figure 2-1. The General tab of the System Properties dialog box
    figs/rh3_0201.gif

  4. Click on the Device Manager Tab (Windows 95/98) or Control Panel Administrative Tools Computer Management Device Manager (Windows 2000/XP) tab. The path you use to find the Device Manager may vary a bit, depending on your operating system and its configuration. The Device Manager appears, as shown in Figure 2-2.

    You can double-click on an icon (or single-click on the Plus key adjacent to an icon) to obtain additional information.

    Figure 2-2. The Device Manager
    figs/rh3_0202.gif

    You can gather the following information from the Device Manager tab:

    • The number and type (IDE or SCSI) of your system's hard drives

    • The make and model of CD-ROM drives

      Some installed CD-ROM drives do not appear in the Device Manager tab of the System Properties dialog box. Often the C:\CONFIG.SYS file will contain clues that help you learn more about such drives.

    • The make and model of SCSI adapters, if any

    • The make and model of the video adapter

    • The type of mouse installed

    • The make and model of multimedia adapters, such as sound cards, if any

    • The make and model of network adapters, if any

    When you've recorded the information provided by the Device Manager tab, click Cancel to exit the System Properties dialog box.

Red Hat Linux supports dial-up networking, as explained in Chapter 10. But the installation program doesn't configure dial-up networking, so you don't need to collect information about dial-up networking prior to installation. However, if your computer is attached to a network, you should collect information describing your network adapter:

  1. In the Control Panel, double-click Network or Network and Dial-up Connections to launch the Network and Dial-up Connections dialog box, as shown in Figure 2-3.

    Figure 2-3. The Network and Dial-up Connections dialog box
    figs/rh3_0203.gif

  2. Double-click your Ethernet adapter and then the associated Internet Protocol (TCP/IP) entry, launching the Internet Protocol (TCP/IP) Properties dialog box, shown in Figure 2-4. This dialog box tells you the IP address and subnet mask (netmask) of your system. If the "Obtain an IP address automatically" button is selected, the IP address and subnet mask will be blank. In that case, you don't need to be concerned about them because a DHCP server on your network supplies the network configuration automatically; Red Hat Linux can obtain its network configuration from this same server.

    Figure 2-4. The Internet Protocol (TCP/IP) Properties dialog box
    figs/rh3_0204.gif

  3. Click the Advanced button and then the DNS tab of the Advanced TCP/IP Settings dialog box. This tab, shown as Figure 2-5, provides the Host (hostname), Domain (domain name), and DNS Server information you'll need during installation.

    Figure 2-5. The DNS configuration tab
    figs/rh3_0205.gif

  4. Finally, click Cancel once to close the Advanced TCP/IP Settings dialog box and again to close the TCP/IP Properties dialog box. Clicking Cancel again closes the Network dialog box.

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