Debian Etch: So Easy A Newbie Can Do It

Debian Etch is easy install compared to Sarge.

After getting a nudge from one of our DebCentral readers, I decided to give Debian another shot. You see, I haven't messed with Debian since Woody taught me I was just a wannabe geek. As for Etch, if you've installed *Ubuntu, you can install Debian Etch. In fact, Debian may have found a new home or two or three.

*lxer.com/module/newswire/view/76754/index.html

I'm running Debian Etch 19th Dec 2006 Weekly build in my lappy now. It has a way improved installer.

The new graphical installer is buggy though. It's not detecting my Synaptics Keypad. Also the installation crashed after partition.

It is not detecting my wireless lan auto as ubuntu did. I'm searching for a workaround.

try the curses based installer.it's better.then
apt-get install xserver-xorg-input-synaptics tpconfig
there are configuring tools available like gsynaptics available.
I am running Debian Etch with Sid+experimental apt-pinned

Synaptics touch pad surely will have been auto detected na?
as far as wireless lans are -i am inexperienced and u can check for packages like pcmcia utils,wireless-tools etc installed.for firmwares available and for particular wii cards support perhaps u need to have a good sources.list with non-free enabled.
My sources.list

Code:

#Main repo
deb ftp://ftp.us.debian.org/debian/ testing main contrib non-free


#Unstable
deb ftp://ftp.us.debian.org/debian/ unstable main contrib non-free
#Experimental
deb ftp://ftp.us.debian.org/debian/ experimental main contrib non-free
#Security Updates
deb *security.debian.org/ etch/updates main
# deb-src *security.debian.org/ etch/updates main

#Debian Multimedia
deb *www.debian-multimedia.org/ etch main

#Opera
deb *deb.opera.com/opera/ etch non-free

#Unofficial
deb *ftp.debian-unofficial.org/debian/ etch main contrib non-free restricted

deb *packages.kirya.net/debian/ unstable main contrib non-free


deb *www.rarewares.org/debian/packages/unstable/ ./

# deb *getswiftfox.com/builds/debian unstable non-free

# imu's Beryl-SVN Debian-unstable Repository
# GPG key: 81836EBF
deb *download.tuxfamily.org/3v1deb debian-unstable beryl-svn
# deb *www.linux.lk/~anuradha/beryl/etch/ ./

#initng
deb *debian.space-based.de/debs/ experimental main

and my /etc/apt/preferences

Code:

 etch:~# cat /etc/apt/preferences
Package: *
Pin: release a=testing
Pin-Priority: 900

Package: *
Pin: release a=unstable
Pin-Priority: 200

Package: *
Pin: release a=experimental
Pin-Priority: 10
etch:~#

after this u can get any packages from three repos(testing,unstable and experimental) using apt-get -t unstable install foobar option.Best of Lukx

Prakash. I'm in the debian etch testing team for Malayalam language, and was testing the graphical installer in various machines.

Text install is fine. I'm already running Debian Etch 19th Dec 2006 Weekly build.

And the synaptics keypad is not detected in graphical installer. It's working fine after installation. The problem being Debian is not starting X for graphical installation. It's just a GTK workaround, and needs a lot of changes from now. As of now I'll suggest the text installer for etch installation.

All the wireless tools are installed but it's not detecting my card. i was told to install hotplug, but synaptic tells me that i need to remove a few packages for installing hotplug like

apid
gnome-power-manager
gnome-volume-manager
linux-xxxx-486 (???????????)
and a few more.

I was quite confused why it asks me for removing the kernel - so i stopped there. Most probably it need to install an hotplug enabled kernel - i need to confirm.

Thanks for the repository list.

No Hotplug pkg with latest linux kernels.use udev > 0.7 .it replaces hotplug pkg completely.In my Current System,I Use Upstart and allieds (like in ubuntu edgy) which replaces old sysVinit and is faster also.
In such a situation,u may need to try purging hotplug package and related from synaptic(easy way) and upgrade udev to the current version (0.103-1) .which is better in managing blockdevices unlike devfs.and reinstall all removed packages except hotplug.
Or
use

Code:

etch:~# dpkg --ignore-depends\=hotplug --purge hotplug

then install udev latest using apt.
make sure u have no broken pkgs after install by

Code:

~#apt-get install  -f

OR

Code:

~#dpkg  --configure  -a

Best of Lukx

BTW U need a latest kernel!