Reinstalling Fedora Core 3 on a Toshiba Satellite M35-S320
Updated: 2/9/05
For some reason I still don't understand, I began seeing font rendering problems a couple of days ago on my FC3 laptop. Must be time to rebuild my system, so here we go in 11 easy steps.
This install guide assumes that you have been running FC3 on this machine before, so some of the descriptions might seem abbreviated. To start from the beginning, you can read about installing FC2 for the first time, and then upgrading that machine to FC3.
1. Back up my home directory and other files. I'm not sure what's causing the font problem — file corruption, or maybe a mysterious config file change, so I want to completely reformat the linux partitions. Some of the files I'm backing up: my home directory, /etc/X11/xorg.conf, /usr/local/apache/conf/httpd.conf (I run 1.3.xx, not the 2.0.xx version that comes with FC3), /etc/hosts, everything in /usr/local/src, and some shell scripts I put into /usr/local/bin. I also get a record of what services I am currently running.
chkconfig —list | grep "3:on" > ~/services_level3
chkconfig —list | grep "5:on" > ~/services_level5
2. Install FC3 from the CDs. I'm lazy, so I do any everything install. My laptop had a live network cable plugged in as well as a USB mouse when I start the installation. Nothing special to note about the process, but I do disable SELinux this time around (enabled is the default).
3. Preliminary configuration. X doesn't work right at this point, but you're booted into it anyway after the CD install finishes. su to root, then run visudo to set up your user account with admin powers. Now edit /etc/inittab to set the initial run-level to 3, and reboot.
4. Run up2date. I use the default config, except I clear the list of packages not to install because HAL depends on the most recent kernel (as of 1/20.05). Then:
up2date-nox —update —force
This might take a few hours. For me, there were 323 packages to download and install. Reboot to run the new kernel.
5. Get X working. Get the latest nVidia driver and follow the directions. Move the xorg.conf file that you backed up to /usr/X11/. Edit /etc/sysconfig/desktop to set it to KDE. Reboot just for fun. There is still a problem with udev and loading the nVidia module at startup, so do this:
/sbin/modprobe nvidia
cp -a /dev/nvidia* /etc/udev/devices
chown root.root /etc/udev/devices/nvidia*
Run startx and enjoy the view.
6. Shutdown unneeded services. Run system-config-services to get a nice GUI. I run the following services at startup in run level 3:
- acpid
- anacron
- atd
- autofs
- cpuspeed
- crond
- cups
- cups-config-daemon
- haldaemon
- iiim
- iptables
- kudzu
- messagebus
- named
- network
- portmap
- rhnsd
- sendmail
- martd
- syslog
- sysstat
- xfs
- xinitd
When starting in run level 5 (which I don't really), I add:
- readahead
- readahead_early
At this point, I also tweak a few settings in KDE: background, screensaver, number of desktops, etc.
7. Get wireless working. I'm using the FC3 RPMs from ATrpms, linked from the main ipw2200 page. Since I'm not using eth0 anymore, edit /etc/sysconfig/network-scripts/ifcfg-eth0 and set ONBOOT to no. Unplug your network cable and reboot.
8. Restore personal data. You did back up your whole home directory, right?
9. Restore application settings. I use Kmail for email, so I move the old .kde/share/config/kmailrc from the home directory backup to the new home directory. I use vim, so I do the same with .vimrc. I run ssh-agent when starting KDE, so I restore .xinitrc as well. Same with my keys in .ssh, my old Firefox bookmarks file in .mozilla, and my IM client settings in .gaim.
10. Install extras. Based on Mauriat Miranda's FC3 install guide, I do the following:
- Install XMMS's MP3 plugin
- Install Flash plugin
- Install Java
- Install MS TT fonts
- Install RealPlayer
11. Play audio CDs. I use KsCD. Go into the config dialog and check "Use direct digital playback. Set the audio backend to "arts".