BIF wrote:Tried to install both today. Each installer in turn presented me with a different yet unexplainable/unexplained question or problem that I did not know how to answer or fix. Installations have been deep-sixed for the
night week. It's only Tuesday and my patience is tapped.
1. Mint didn't see Windows 8, didn't see the MBR or other signs that another OS already exists (in two partitions) on my hard drive or that I have numerous existing data and application partitions on this drive. So Mint wants to install over my entire hard disk. There is no clear way for me to choose or create a partition, even after spending 20 minutes clicking here and there and everywhere on the installer dialog screen. I think one or more options may be mistakenly greyed out/unavailable, maybe due to my hard drive's partition layout/types. There is no help button for that dialog, no wizard (I hate that name), and the User Guide is no help for this part of the installation. The UG is clear and concise but only assumes successful paths and does not go into any detail about possible exception conditions or requirements for the hard drive.
2. 64 Studio uses a Debian installer; looks like my AMI Bios screens. So he can't find my "network card" and presents me with a list to choose from. My motherboard's Ethernet adapter is not in the list and the installer offers no clues to guide me. But it does try to be helpful and offer to install a Firewire Ethernet driver. Might as well offer to rotate my tires for all the good that will do me.
*Sigh*
Even Windows 8 installed without fuss or drama. Or making me go to school.
I'll retry another day, but for the moment, my Magic 8 Ball says... "Signs point to No". I'm trying to smile anyway...
Don't panic, usually you need to take a break, step away from PC and think what's wrong in general.
Lets start with (1).
As I understand, you booted from live DVD, and you can play with Mint, right?
So next you have to check if Mint sees the HDD. And if it does, you need to understand what's happening with partitions.
Easiest way is probably to launch gparted which is loaded into memory via live DVD.
I think you should see disk /dev/sda, with partitions /dev/sda1, /dev/sda2, plus some unpartitioned space.
If you don't see /dev/sda, or /dev/hda or something like that, there is a chance your HDD is not detected.
If you see more than two partitions, there is a chance you have used up all primary partitions. Either way, analyze the situation and tell us what you see.
If disks and partitions are good, are you sure you're clicking "Do something else" or something like that on install screen from live DVD?
Now (2)
Is Mint live DVD capable to open the Web? Firefox is loaded in memory with live DVD, try it. How do you know the network card is not detected if you haven't done the full install?
What does the ifconfig say? Do you see eth0, is the name of the eth0 that of the actual card?
Core 2 Duo E6300, MSI P45 NEO-F, Club 3D GTX 260, 4Gb DDR2-800Mhz, Audigy X-Fi Fatal1ty Champ1on ed., 0.5Tb+1Tb Seagate Barracuda 7200.12, 630W AXP, Samsung SyncMaster BX2450, ViewSonic VP171b