OSDev.org

Okay, I installed Mandrake Linux 9.2. It wasn't what I thought. I must have done something wrong because it didn't start up as a GUI, just a graphical command prompt like the regular Linux. I was wondering, is there any way I can change it to boot up as a GUI or could anyone tell me how I could format my drive again so I can install Red Hat Linux?

You could search the internet if you have access and look for a command similar to startx which is used on red hat linux for starting up the grapical user interface.

When you installed mandrake, you forgot to check a box that lets you load up the GUI, so instead it loaded the command prompt.

Or re-run the install disk for mandrake, go through the steps, delete your existing linux partitions and re-create them, them finish the prompts and install it. If you have internet access or the manual handy, I would suggest looking at one of those for help on how to re-install.

There are three methods for configuring XFree86 on your machine:
$ Xconfigurator
$ xf86config
-by hand
Xconfigurator and xf86config are functional equivalents and should work equally well. A good source of additional documentation is:

http://www.xfree86.org

If you didn't install X, then I recommend reinstalling everything for ease. You could use MC (midnight commander) and mount your CDROM holding the distro and unpack the needed files to run X. This is harder if you're a beginner but would save lots of time if you know how.

You don't need to reformat your harddrive since it's already formatted for Linux. Just run the install again using (Upgrade) and install the X packages. You will want a decent window manager too. Gnome comes to mind ;D
You may be best off just poping the distro cd in and doing it all over again :-X

pfft gnome.. go kde! and while i'm at it.. go slackware too!

- Nick