[idunnoe]

I just got a copy of the latest fedora linux and reformatted my whole computer so i could run it and for some reason it's not wanting to work. I've partitioned my HD so i can have XP (already installed) and linux both on it.

But when I try to install linux it says:

"Warning: No hard drives have been found. You probably need to manually choose device drivers for the installation to succeed."

then it gives me the choice to choose or skip it.

first i chose to try and find what it was looking for, but couldn't ( it listed many things mostly about ethernet cards) so i chose to continue anyway.

After a few screens of stuff i got to one that said to choose how i wanted to install linux, wether i wanted to manually chose a partition or have it do it automatically.

well neither of those options work and i just can't figure it out, i tried both of them when the partition was compleatly free, then after it was formatted with NTFS, but it stil gives me the same message"

"An error has occurred- No valid devices were found on which t ocreate mew file systems. Please check your hardware for the cause of this problem."

I'm stumped, anyone have any soloutions?

[intercodes]

Linux needs an ext2 or ext3 file system to work with. You should make two drives , one with the ext2/ext3 filesystem[for installing linux] and another drive with "swap" filesystem[Temp Drive for linux]. The swap drive size is usually 3 times the size of your RAM.

I suggest you to get a partition manager software, run it from windows XP and partition drives accordingly.
Now insert the Fedora CD and continue your installation [select 'manual partition']

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[idunnoe]

so you're saying i have to re-format...again?
i can't afford the 70$ or so it would cost to get partition magic...

letme get this straight:

I have a 80gb HD so i'd want
~35gb for win xp (playing games...) ntfs format?
~35gb for linux
~1.5gb swap file system(512k ram)

how would i format the free space with ext2/3?

[intercodes]

are you using a SATA hdd? or an IDE?


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[horndude]

yes format the linux partiton as ext2 or 3 or reiserJFS

swap partition doesnt need to be that big, 256mb is fine, with all that ram you really wont even need one

[idunnoe]

i'm using SATA hdd

I didn't think i even needed anything other than a patrtition for xp and one for linux, the linux setup should have formatted it's partition anyway right?But that's beside the point it won't even let me do that, it's not recognizing my hdd in the first place i don't think, the book i got the software doesn't say anything about a no hard drave warning or about my choosing some driver, it's just suposed to go from screen to screen with me only pushing enter...

it's not the partitioning that's my problem it's linux not recognizing my hdd in the first place. (SAMSUNG SP0812c ~80gb SATA)

[Qiranworms]

At the beginning of the setup, is there something that asks if you need to make specifications about the setup, such as setting up drivers temporarily to DO the setup? Perhaps there's something for the SATA drive...sorry...I've never done a Fedora install myself...

[horndude]

your having problems because the SATA drive isnt being recognized by the generic kernel the setup disk uses, see if it lets you boot and setup with a different kernel, this is quite common with scsi drives

[idunnoe]

qiranworms: it just has a bunch of ethernet card descriptions , theres nothing for a hdd...

horndude: What? not too clear on what you're saying man, should i use a different distro? (whats a kernel =\ and how would i bootup/change it?)

[horndude]

the kernel is what makes your hardware work, typically at install most distros use a generic kernel set up for IDE drives, not scsi or SATA

if you have a working system, put the install disk in and poke around the install disk and read any docs you can find, there should be LOTS, usually at boot up there will be a prompt at which you can specify parameters to change kernels or anything else thats special.Ive never used fedora, never used SATA drives either, but Ive had to do it with scsi drives.There should be more than a dozen kernels on that disk.At least one is probably SATA compatible, probably labeled as such too.Im guessing its probably called sata.i or something like that.The usual IDE kernel is usually bare.i

You may very well have a problem with this, Id suggest going to linuxquestions.org and go to the fedora forum and searching for the answer.Also before you get much further research your hardware THOROUGHLY, you will need to know quite a bit, this isnt windows your playing with.Once you get passed the SATA problem you should be ok.You will need to know what your video card will need, what kind of sound card you have and is it compatible, your ethernet card if you have one, modems are very tough to deal with in linux, winmodems typically dont work.Im not trying to scare you, but you need to be aware of what your doing.