Configuring drives on SuSe 7.0

[Xpander]

I've got a copy of Suse 7.0. It's an old version but it's an old PC so it's not a bad mix. But my problem is the cd drives and the floppy don't register. If i put a music cd or data cd in the drives and open the cd folder it always comes up empty. I can't transer files over or anything. I can't even get it to boot from the cd. I configure the BIOS and the boot from cd fails.

So how do i configure the drives in SuSe 7.0? I've gone through the manuals that came with the OS and they are pretty slim manuals in the firstplace and don't say much of anything.

[edit] oh, and i can't figure out how to mount the cds, so that might be my problem too. any help would be appriciated, i'm pretty much a Linux n00b.

[Telexen]

Well if it wont' boot from the CD it sounds like a hardware problem...you won't be able to access it in an OS if you can't before.

[Xpander]

i could boot from the cd before i installed SuSe 7.0? so are you sure it's the hardware or have i just not configured SuSe enough?

if it is the hardware how can i fix it? is there any way to install another OS on the machine if i can't boot from the cd?

[CMonster]

i could boot from the cd before i installed SuSe 7.0?

It is likely that there was no OS on the hard disk and the computer's BIOS boot order was set to boot 1.floppy 2. hard disk 3. CDROM, so it jumped to the the SuSE CD when it found nothing on the hard drive, but now that you have a bootloader and OS there it boots the hard disk first. Enter the BIOS setup of the machine and see if there is a boot order option and set it to boot first from the CDROM, then you should be able to boot from the CD again.

I've got a copy of Suse 7.0. It's an old version but it's an old PC so it's not a bad mix.

It probably is a "bad mix" since SuSE 7.0 is very behind the times. The older kernel and drivers will likely be sluggish and bug riddled, there will not be default driver support of many hardware items, and most of the easy configuration tools are missing. It will likely be a difficult learning experience.

Tell us about this PC -what kind of hardware does it have? Perhaps we can recommend a more current version of Linux.

[Xpander]

Let me back up a bit and explain again.

When installing SuSe 7.0 I went into the BIOS and had it boot from the cd first. After installation was complete I went and put the BIOS back to boot from the hard drive first. Once I uncovered that my cd drives weren't working properly i was going to install win98 for a little while cause SuSe without cds is kinda boring and i configured the BIOS to again boot from the cd drive first and everytime i booted up the comuter it would recognized the cd drive but the boot from it would fail.

I think you're right that the problem lies in SuSe 7.0 being a little too old for my machine, but it's better than Red Hat 5.1 which was the other copy of Linux i had at the time. But good news, i got Red Hat 8.0 as a birthday gift so do you think that would work wel with a machine 4-5 years old? How do i go about removing SuSe 7.0 if the cd drives are messed up?

[edit] i'll have to dig up the specs on the hardware since this isn't my main computer anymore.

[CMonster]

Okay, just the CPU type should do. RH8 is pretty good but perhaps you would also find Mandrake 9.1 or SuSE 8.1 attractive - you should be able to pick up a copy of these on cheapbytes for next to nothing, or find some other Linux users in your area.

Someone on this forum might even be inclined to send you the CDs for free if you asked them.

[Xpander]

a friend of mine has the discs to update 7.0 to 8.0 or 8.1, but how would i get the update to work if i can't read the disc in the drive?

[Xpander]

holy crap....it just worked for me. It's booting from the cd-rom right now. sw33t. thanks for the help anyways.