Loading Linux on a Gateway 2000 Solo P3C

November 2003

Just upgraded to Redhat Linux 9. This went pretty smoothly, although the upgrade process to several hours.

  1. I obtained a copy of Redhat Linux 9. It consisted of 3 CDs and 2 floppy disks (boot and device driver).
  2. I grabbed the external floppy drive and parallel cable connector from my employer provided Dell laptop and plugged it into my Solo laptop.
  3. I placed the boot floppy in the diskette drive and Linux CD1 in the CD drive and turned it on.
  4. The install screen came up and I typed "linux text" to continue.
  5. After a bit the install asked me whether I wanted a new install or an upgrade, I chose upgrade.
  6. Much time passes as it does its thing. I watch football and replace CDs when requested.
  7. I restarted the laptop when all is said and done and I receive an error during boot up. The problem stems from the Apache upgrade from 1.3 to 2.0. Basically all that is required of me is the following:
    1. Rename my hpptd.conf file.
    2. Copy the new one provided in the directory to httpd.conf.
    3. Update the new httpd.conf file with the proper IP address and server name.
    4. Save the file and reboot.
  8. I logon again, typed 'setup', make sure I have the system services started that I need.
  9. All systems normal.

February 2002

I have a Gateway Solo P3C (original) laptop that I purchased in 1996. This laptop has been sitting in a drawer for atleast a year or two. I wanted to run a web server in my house but could not afford another computer nor do I have the space for one.

Here is its current relevant hardware configuration information:

  • Gateway 2000 Solo P3C
  • 120 MHz Pentium processor
  • 4.0 GB hard drive
  • Standard "1.44 MB" floppy and CD-ROM drive (not both at once)
  • 40 MB DRAM
  • 10" backlit active-matrix color LCD display
  • 1 MB video RAM, CT65548
  • 10BASET PCMCIA Megahertz Ethernet adapter

This laptop is currently running Redhat Linux 7.1 with the following services:

  • atd
  • autofs
  • httpd
  • ipchains
  • iptables
  • keytable
  • kudzu
  • network
  • pcmcia
  • random
  • rawdevices
  • sendmail
  • syslog
  • xfs (this is a must if you want your GUI to work).
  • xinetd

I could dazzle you with my ignorance and detail every misstep and blunder I made during the install process, but I won't. What I will do is give you the general steps to get your laptop up and running. I will also let you know that I installed the OS about 5 times before I really understood what I was doing wrong.

  1. I obtained a copy of Redhat Linux 7.1 from a guy at work. This copy was legally downloaded from the Redhat web site. It consisted of 2 CDs and 2 floppy disks (boot and device driver).
  2. I grabbed the external floppy drive and parallel cable connector from my employer provided Dell laptop and plugged it into my Solo laptop (it took me about a week to realize that I could do this).
  3. I placed the boot floppy in the diskette drive and Linux CD1 in the CD drive and turned it on (initially I received a floppy error, but the computer encouraged me to press F1 to continue).
  4. The install screen came up and I typed "linux dd" to continue.
  5. Inserted the "device driver" diskette when asked and continued.
  6. I elected to do a "custom system" because I wanted PCMCIA support and the ability to run the provided Apache web server.
  7. I chose to proceed the automated disk partitioning.
  8. The important hardware bits of the custom install are:
    • Make sure you F12 through the disk partitioning stuff (do not change anyting).
    • I have an external MS mouse plugged in, so I selected Generic PS/2 mouse.
    • I think it is also important to enable "3 button emulation".
    • I accepted the default Authentication Configuration
    • Select the correct video card from the list (CT65548).
  9. The important Package Group Selection bits of the custom install are:
    • X Window System
    • GNOME
    • Mail/WWW/News Tools
    • Laptop Support
    • Networked Workstation
    • Web Server (if you want to run the provided Apache webserver)
    • What ever else you think you might want or need.
  10. Then sit back and watch it go.

Post install info and things you might want to do.

  • Typing "setup" will start the configuration program. You can change a bunch of stuff here.
  • You will be Runtime level 3 (rc3.d). This is important to know. After you get your network IP stuff entered you will probably receive a "FAILED" during the boot process. This is because the PCMCIA process starts after the Network. It is not really failing, it automatically trys again after the PCMCIA is loaded and everything is great. I do not like to see the "FAILED" message so I made sure the PCMCIA service starts before the Network service. If you go into the /etc/rc3.d directory and rename S20pcmcia file to S09pcmcia it will force the pcmcia service to start before Network.
  • You can type "switchdesk GNOME" to set your X server to GNOME. Typing "xstart" after switchdesk should/may start your GUI (if you did everything right) If you get a font error then you need to make sure the xfs service is started. You may also get a signal 11 error (do a search for this).