[TriLUG] Debian 3.1 (Sarge) install CD (Is it yours?), and help request

[erbridges88]

Thank you TriLUG for the Installfest on Saturday.  I
know Installfests take a substantial amount of time
(setting up the firewall, routers, hubs, CAT5 cables,
surge protectors, and then doing the installs) and I
appreciate your efforts.

After I got home on Saturday, I found the Debian
install CD (that had been used on my laptop) sitting
in my CD-ROM drive.  It's an install CD for 3.1
(Sarge) and it’s labeled "Disc 1."  I don't know who
the CD belongs to, but if it’s yours, please let me
know and I'll mail it back to you (or drop it off to
you in Raleigh).  

I wish I could say that everything is running
smoothly.  Unfortunately, that’s not the case.  

On Saturday, I was able to logon to the laptop.  No
problems.  However, on Sunday morning, I could not
logon under my username. (Yes, the password and
username are correct!)  

Here's what happens when I try to logon...

I type my username and password, and hit enter.  The
system deletes the username I have typed.  It does not
give me an error message.  It does not load XFCE
(which was installed on the laptop on Saturday).  I am
still at the logon screen.   

Just to experiment, I try to logon as "brown," a user
that is not set up on the system, and I type a
ficticious password.  The system responds with "Login
incorrect" (as it should).  So, the system tells me
when the login is incorrect...but when the login is
CORRECT, it responds by deleting the login name (and
it does not load XFCE).  

More experimentation...I log on as root, and type in
the password.  System logs me in, and loads XFCE.  No
problems.  

So it recognizes root, but it does not recognize my
username.  Why is this happening?  More importantly,
how do I correct this?  
 
This morning (Monday), I tried to logon again.  This
time, I didn’t even get to the logon screen.  Instead,
I receive the following message...

"ERROR  
0280: Previous boot incomplete – Default configuration
used"

The system gives me two choices...  
F1  Boot, or 
F10  Computer setup.   

I powered the laptop off, not knowing which one to
choose.  Looks like the system is telling me that I
will have to re-install Debian  b/c the first install
was not fully completed...?  Is that right?  How can
that be?     

I feel very frustrated right now, b/c I don't know
what I'm doing, and I’m afraid to poke around for fear
of messing something up.

I consider myself fairly technical...at least more so
than most people.  I run a Wordpress blog which uses
PHP & MySQL, I know HTML and CSS.  I have created
interactive games in Flash using Actionscript.  I
didn't think that installing Linux on a laptop would
be problematic.  Perhaps I was overly optimistic?! 
Are there generally ongoing issues after a Linux
install?  

Please point me in the right direction.  At this
point, it looks like I may have to re-install
everything again (given the error message I received).
 However, I don’t want to do this on my own since I'm
a "newbie."  

Help and advice would be greatly appreciated.  

Thanks,

CB





		
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