Linux Fedora Core 4 Setup Steps


Installing Linux for Use as a Personal System

These instructions are intended for computer geeks new to Linux who want to setup a PC as an end-user system (versus a server). These instructions assume a moderate level of computer expertise and do not try to list and explain every step. Please do not email me for assistance as I will not respond.

There are many versions of Linux, I feel Fedora is the most mainstream, most user friendly, and best supported. Earlier versions of Fedora had issues, but version 4 supports things like USB memory sticks, digital cameras, and other things we take for granted in Macintosh and Windows. I've used this setup to reformat PCs for friends who were sick of the viruses and crashes in Windows (but didn't want to scrap their PC and buy a Mac). They previously knew nothing about Linux but were able to use their "new" systems with few issues. If you didn't know already, all this sofware is free!

Fedora home = http://www.redhat.com/en_us/USA/fedora/

  1. Boot from CD and select Personal/Desktop System as install type
  2. Select manual partition. Create 3 partitions and select option to make primary partition (otherwise default will format with Logical Volumes which are much slower)
    1. /dev/hda1 = /boot = 150 MB
    2. /dev/hda2 = / = (all remaining disk space)
    3. /dev/hda3 = swap = 1024 MB
  3. Install default packages and reboot
  4. Configure automatic updates by running following commmands as root
    1. chkconfig rhnsd off = disable RedHat Network (unreliable, poor GUI, times out)
    2. chkconfig yum on = enable Yum for updates
    3. yum list updates = list available updates and setup initial files for yum
    4. yum -y update = install all updates for all installed software
    5. rpm -ihv http://rpm.livna.org/fedora/4/i386/RPMS.lvn/livna-release-4-0.lvn.2.4.noarch.rpm = add livna archive (freshrpms) to yum so useful software packages can be installed easily
    6. (Optional) yum -y install yumex = GUI for yum (slower than CLI)
  5. Configure multimedia applications as root
    1. rpm -ev HelixPlayer = remove HelixPlayer (mostly useless)
    2. yum -y install vlc = installs VLC media player with required components
    3. yum -y install compat-libstdc++-33 = install GCC compatability libraries (v.4 is current, v3.3 also needed)
    4. yum -y install gstreamer-plugins-mp3 libmad libid3tag = install MP3 support for Rhythmbox (listed as Music Player in Applicatons menu > Sound/Video, FC4 default player, only player I've seen that displays song info in task bar)
  6. Manually configure more applications (download RPM version so software is registered in system log and can be easily manipulated with rpm commands; install with "rpm -ihv <package_name.rpm>")
    1. RealPlayer, download from http://www.real.com/linux/
      1. Edit ~/.realplayerrc and add "SoundDriver=2" in the [helix] section to use ALSA intead of older OSS sound driver.
    2. Java, download JRE package from http://java.sun.com/j2se/1.5.0/download.jsp
      1. Create a file called /etc/profile.d/java.sh containing the following (JAVA_HOME path will change with different Java versions):
        #!/bin/sh
        JAVA_HOME=/usr/java/jre1.5.0_05
        export JAVA_HOME
        JAVA_BIN=$JAVA_HOME/bin
        CLASSPATH=$CLASSPATH:$JAVA_HOME:$JAVA_HOME/lib
        PATH=$JAVA_BIN:$PATH
        export JAVA_BIN CLASSPATH PATH
      2. ln -s /usr/java/jre1.5.0_05/plugin/i386/ns7/libjavaplugin_oji.so /usr/lib/mozilla/plugins = create soft link to enable plugin in Mozilla/Firefox (source path will change with different Java versions)

Configure Mozille/Firefox Helpers:

Go to http://www.publicradiofan.com/ for a large list of streaming media types. Click each separate type and select the application to use for each one per table below, selecting the option to "always use".

Media Type Extensions Player Path
Real Audio ra, ram, rm, rpm, smi, smil /usr/bin/realplay
MP3 m3u, pls, mp3 /usr/bin/rhythmbox
Windows Media wax, wma (mms) /usr/bin/vlc
Windows asx, asf VLC or Mplayer?

This will edit the file at ~/.mozilla/firefox/<random>.default/mimeTypes.rdf. Copy this file to other user profiles/computers to duplicate settings easily.

Display:

Go to Desktop menu > Preferences > File Management. Set "Default zoom level" on Views tab to 75%, on Behavior tab, select box "Always open in browser windows". This makes deskop windows look and function much better and like expected as in Macintosh and Windows.

Others:

  • Wine - run Windows software, http://winehq.com/
  • Slocate - CLI search setup
  • Mplayer - AV player (plays lot but has possible copyright violations)
  • Xine - DVD/movie player (duplicates VLC?)
  • Flash - browser plugin