[Novalug] Getting Fedora 11 to work

[Nick Danger]

On Sat, 24 Oct 2009 18:55:37 -0400
Charles M Howe <cmhowe at patriot.net> wrote:

> Huge embarrassment. While I have no recollection of choosing one on
> Oct 10, I must have. If anybody has a suggestion, please say. But I
> expect to have to reinstall.

If you are running something like Fedora, then you have a root
password. And you want to type "su -" and enter the root password. If
you are running Ubuntu, try typing "sudo /bin/bash" and entering YOUR
OWN password. 

If you forgot either your own password, or the root password, we can
reset them. You dont need to reinstall. Restart the PC. When you get
the boot menu, press "e" which will let you edit the boot string. At
the end of the long list of stuff, type "single", then enter. this will
boot into single user mode.

> Trying to do so leads to the next problem: When I put in an install
> DVD it doesn't recognize it. I dredge up from memory that I have to
> interrupt the bootup sequence so as to edit the BIOS. I am able to

Well, thats kinda important. You say "Doesnt recognize it" as if you
are in your linux desktop, put in your CD/DVD and it never comes up?
That could mean you have a bad disk, but I'm just guessing. Here are a
few things to try though;

1) when you boot, some machines give you a "press [F12] to boot menu"
or something similar. Pressing that key will let you chose the cd/dvd
to boot from. 
2) if you dont get that option, press whatever you need to get into the
bios (F2, or DEL usually) Look for 'Boot Selection' and move the CD/DVD
drive to the top of the list.

If you want more step by step, let me know what you are running and
what kind of PC it is. I'll see if I cant do a little step by step to
get you what you want.

Nick