Setting Up Pentium 2 400MHz Web Server - Help Needed

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Discussion Overview

The discussion revolves around setting up a web server using a Pentium 2 400 MHz computer. Participants explore various operating system options, primarily focusing on transitioning from Windows NT to UNIX-like alternatives, and address issues related to installation and configuration.

Discussion Character

  • Exploratory
  • Technical explanation
  • Debate/contested
  • Homework-related

Main Points Raised

  • Tom inquires about the steps needed to create a web server on his Pentium 2 machine running Windows NT.
  • Some participants suggest upgrading to Windows 2000 or 2003 Server for better IIS support, while others recommend switching to UNIX-like systems such as FreeBSD, Solaris, or Linux.
  • There is a discussion about which Linux distribution to use, with recommendations for SuSE and Fedora due to their user-friendliness for newcomers to UNIX.
  • One participant mentions Gentoo as an option, highlighting its minimal installation and customization potential, but also notes the complexity of its setup.
  • Tom expresses concerns about hard drive space and considers upgrading his internet connection for better server performance.
  • Participants discuss issues Tom faces with burning ISO images, including errors during installation and the need for verification of the downloaded files using MD5 checksums.
  • There are multiple suggestions on how to burn the ISO files correctly and troubleshoot the installation errors.

Areas of Agreement / Disagreement

Participants generally agree on the need to switch from Windows NT to a more suitable operating system for web hosting, but there are competing views on which UNIX-like distribution is best. The discussion around installation issues remains unresolved, with various troubleshooting steps proposed but no consensus on the solution.

Contextual Notes

Limitations include potential misunderstandings about partitioning and the specifics of error messages during installation. The discussion also highlights the importance of verifying downloaded files, which some participants are unfamiliar with.

Who May Find This Useful

This discussion may be useful for individuals interested in setting up older hardware as web servers, those exploring different operating systems for server use, and users facing installation challenges with Linux distributions.

  • #31
db8c7254beeb4f6b891d1ed3f689b412 FC3-i386-disc1.iso
2c11674cf429fe570445afd9d5ff564e FC3-i386-disc2.iso
f88f6ab5947ca41f3cf31db04487279b FC3-i386-disc3.iso
6331c00aa3e8c088cc365eeb7ef230ea FC3-i386-disc4.iso

What do I do with this information
 
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  • #32
Compare those strings to that on the website:

db8c7254beeb4f6b891d1ed3f689b412 FC3-i386-disc1.iso
2c11674cf429fe570445afd9d5ff564e FC3-i386-disc2.iso
f88f6ab5947ca41f3cf31db04487279b FC3-i386-disc3.iso
6331c00aa3e8c088cc365eeb7ef230ea FC3-i386-disc4.iso

It looks like the cd images you downloaded are good.

Here is a gui md5sum tool for windows xp:

http://www.irnis.net/gloss/md5sum-windows.shtml
 
Last edited:
  • #33
Well those numbers where What I got directly from the site I have yet been able to generate one of those for my iso's I downloaded
I am dlling the windows GUI based one to see If I can try it.
 
  • #34
HAHAHAHa

Somehow I managed to create this

db8c7254beeb4f6b891d1ed3f689b412 *FC3-i386-disc1.iso
2c11674cf429fe570445afd9d5ff564e *FC3-i386-disc2.iso
f88f6ab5947ca41f3cf31db04487279b *FC3-i386-disc3.iso
6331c00aa3e8c088cc365eeb7ef230ea *FC3-i386-disc4.iso

file was md5sum.lst
 
  • #35
When I burn the iso I keep getting a fixation error now
 
  • #36
What program are you using to burn the images with? Have you tried lowering the write speed?
 
  • #37
My 2 cent: Switch to Suse or Debian. 15Mb initial download(for Suse). The rest is downloaded as you need during the install. Suse is easy to install but the download on demand thing means the install will take a little longer--(about as long as an XP install :) ). Debian can be a little daunting but it's do-able even for a neophite. Both are fast and apt-get/YaST are excellent software instillation schemes.
 
  • #38
Nero-- I have slowed it down to 16 x from a 48 x burner... I am having my friends burn it for me now to see if that was the problem. I am getting rid of the nero I have and getting a newer version
 
  • #39
This is making me very frustrated...

I found a great md5 checksum and checked all the images with another program... they are all correct. Then I figured maybe it was my burning program... so I upgraded to Nero 6 Ultra Edition. This allowed me a successful burn of the CD, but when I put it in the new computer to start the set up, if failed again. It had the same hardrive error that there may not be ennough space on the harddrive. Anyway I was getting curious as to what was on the harddrive, so I pluged it into this computer. The hardrive 40 gigs is completely blank, and it is not formated. So what do I do now? I have tried to format the the drive using right click format but when I do this nothing comes up.
 
  • #40
It shouldn't matter if the hard drive isn't formatted. During the install everything is loaded into RAM.
 
  • #41
You seem to be stuck in a rut, trying basically the same thing over & over. Well, if it didn't work the first 10 tries, it probably won't work on the 11th.

A few months ago, I was trying to install the gentoo that dduardo knows & loves on a machine with all pretty new (but not 'brand new' so I knew the hardware was all working) hardware: an Asus motherboard & nvidia nforce chipset. I burned about 6 copies (md5sum checked) of their minimal install cd using 3 different cdr drives on 3 different machines and 4 different cd burning programs. None would even boot the nvidia machine, although they did boot just fine on the 2 other machines I was using for burning. And there was nothing wrong with the nvidia machine either -- it was already running Windows XP and another linux distro just fine. Eventually I found that other people were having the same problem with that .iso on that particular motherboard model. The solution turned out to be simply to download & burn the Gentoo "universal live cd" (the "full" install cd) & after that everything worked. AFAIK Gentoo never acknowledged that there was a bug in the minimal cd. It seemed to work for other motherboards. Apparently there was just some incompatibility between it and something on that Asus A7N8X motherboard.

Anyway, back to your situation. Try something different. Maybe there's something wrong with that harddrive, maybe something wrong with the controller (on the mb). Maybe something in the fedora installation is incompatible with something in your bios. It could be any number of things. I think you said you had a few machines available. So why not try: a different hard drive in that box; a different box altogether; a different version of fedora (maybe try one with a 2.4 kernel instead of 2.6); a different linux distro.
 
  • #42
I got fedora installed and runninng... that was a pain in the ass. The main problem was it was using my swap partion as the main partion instead of vise versa so I poped in a windows 95 or 98 cd (can't remember now) delted the partision table then recreated the partisions. Then it was just a matter of finding a computer that burned isos properly and VOLLA

Fedora is ready to go...

Now about how to set up the server.
 

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