If you are trying them on a LiveCD, and you are rebooting like they say… the changes will be lost… you need to try them on a LiveUSB (with persistence).
i tryed to install them. I know about rebooting them. But shouldnt the light on my laptop come on?
Is wireless enabled in the BIOS?
BTW, you can extract the firmware from the Windows driver in Fedora…
You need to install the b43-fwcutter tool (which will extract firmware from the Windows driver) and wget.
With working Internet access (via wired Ethernet, for example), run the following commands:
su
yum install b43-fwcutter wget
Next, download the Windows driver to your home folder:
wget http://downloads.openwrt.org/sources/broadcom-wl-4.150.10.5.tar.bz2
Next decompress, extract and copy firmware to /lib/firmware directory:
tar xjf broadcom-wl-4.150.10.5.tar.bz2
cd broadcom-wl-4.150.10.5/driver
b43-fwcutter -w /lib/firmware/ wl_apsta_mimo.o
OpenSUSE 11.0 and above include a utility that will automatically download the firmware and install it into its proper location. With working Internet access (via wired Ethernet, for example), run the following command:
sudo /usr/sbin/install_bcm43xx_firmware
yeah its enabled in the bios because windows is fine with it. It’s just Linux it hates 
I’ve tried both of them and they don’t work. I’ve proberly said this but ive tried to install fedora and opensuse and they both fail
Fedora complains about not enough disk space - which isnt true! and opensuse just fails toterly.
Again, thanks for your help and support
How did you install Ubuntu… with the WUBI installer?.. from within Windows?
Have you created any Linux partitions?
I can install ubuntu. I used the live cd. i want to try fedora and opensuse because i really like them lol.
Ubuntu isnt really a problem, it’s just i dont want to sound picky, but its nt my cup of tea xD
Yes but HOW did you install Ubuntu?.. from within Windows using WUBI, or did you boot from the CD?
and did you create any Linux partitions?
I used the live cd.
OK… what I’m trying to get at is… there are 2 ways to install Ubuntu as a dual boot set up.
-
WUBI… you insert the LiveCD into a system that has been booted to a Windows desktop, the WUBI installer autostarts and walks you through the installation.
This installs Ubuntu into a folder (C:\Ubuntu) on your Windows (NTFS/FAT) partition and adds an option in Windows Add/Remove Programs to remove Ubuntu… it DOESN’T create any native Linux partitions… and leaves Ubuntu open to Windows viruses and malware. -
The correct way… Tell you BIOS to boot directly from the LiveCD, and select “Install Ubuntu”, answer a few questions and when you get to the part about partitions… resize your Windows partition leaving room on the hard drive to create a Linux native partition… create an ext4 partition for Ubuntu and mount it as / … continue with the installation.
(hint - you could create 2 other ext4 partitions at the same time and leave them empty and unmounted and later install Fedora and OpenSUSE into them)
In option 2 there are many partitioning schemes, mount points and file systems you could employ, using ext4 and mounting the whole partition as / is just the simplest.
The point I was trying to make is that if you installed Ubuntu using WUBI, your hard drive will contain NO Linux native partitions, which would explain why Fedora complains about not having enough space, and OpenSUSE failing to install.
So I repeat… How did you install Ubuntu?
and did you create any Linux partitions?
Ok thanks, i dont get, why can’t you install linux in1 partition?
You can… but only 1 distribution/version.
If you set WindowsXP/Win7 up as dual boot, they would need separate partitions too.
It would technically be possible to share a /home partition between Linux distro’s/versions but you’d run into a lot of configuration issues… to save a little space, you could create a /swap partition and share that between the distro’s/versions, but as it wouldn’t save much room (unless you are going to have quite a few distro’s installed) I wouldn’t bother.
Far better to keep them completely separate, and use UID’s, mount points and symbolic links to keep your documents, pics, videos, etc. all in one place and usable from any of the booted distro’s/versions.
Hey, i meant in why when you install linux, why does it have to install so many partitions? Why can’t it just install it in 1 like windows?
The absolute minimum Linux needs to install is 2 partitions. 1 partition will be the root filesystem, /, and everything will be mounted underneath it on the same physical filesystem. The second partition must be formatted as swap. There is nothing technically wrong with a 2-partition set up, especially for a desktop installation, but it certainly isn’t the most flexible method. I’ll tell you why…
For my laptop, which at the moment is running Ubuntu 10,04 as it happens, I set up 4 partitions:
/boot (200mb, ext4)
/ (10gb, ext4)
/home/antony (40gb, ext4)
swap (2gb)
/boot contains the Linux kernel as well as initial files required to bootstrap your OS.
/ is the main Ubuntu OS
/home/antony is separate and contains my user data
swap is separate
The reason I did it this way is because when a new version of Ubuntu is released, or indeed a new version of another distro which I would like to install, I can boot from the live CD, choose install to hard disk and tell the installer to format all partitions except my /home/antony partition. As long as my user ID (UID) remains the same once I have finished installing, all my data and settings will be in tact when the new system has been installed.
I have /boot separate due to force of habit. When I build servers, /boot is separate, then the rest of the OS is mounted under a volume group called rootvg so it can dynamically expand (and shrink if I choose to). But my choice of a separate /boot has carried over to my personal machines.
There is nothing wrong with having the minimum partition layout, but its not the recommended way to install Linux.
Because Windows was designed by idiots, for idiots 
Linux doesn’t have to have more than 1, but it makes sense… you can just have 1 partition and a swap partition.
Swap performs better in its own partitiion, even in Windows.
The rest is up to you… (ignoring swap) you can have 1 single partition mounted as /
or better would be to have at least 1 other mounted as /home for your user files (docs etc.) so if you want to format and install a different distro you won’t have to loose/backup your files.
Also depending on what you’re going to use the system for, you might want to mount /tmp on its own partition for security purposes… say on a mail server, as the /tmp directory may be world writeable.
or you might want to keep the boot files on their own partition etc.
for an average desktop this isn’t necessary, but the distro developers don’t know what you are going to use the system for, so some err on the safe side by default, and others go for ease of setup, but it’s up to you and they all allow you to decide whilst installing (ie. override the default partitioning scheme).
[EDIT]
Heh… pretty much what UnixAnt wrote… we must have been writing at the same time… 
Ok, couple of points;
a. Linux does not need a swap partition to run, it will run quite happily without one, but is IS strongly recommended
b. Linux will run off one partition with or without swap space, swap space can sit on a partition or indeed on a standard file
(swap partitions are faster, swap files are a little more dynamic and easier to expand if you run short on swap space!)
c. On ‘older’ systems, computer BIOS’s could only ‘see’ the first part of very large disks with regards to booting. Hence it is traditional to create the first partition on the disk and call it /boot to ensure that the system can read the files required to boot the system in instances where the disk is bigger than the BIOS’s ability to read it.
d. If you see your computer using it’s swap space - buy some more memory …
Hey thanks for all your help/advice
Sorry if i seam to go on lol, But would it it be possible, lets say, i install ubuntu/fedora. and could i use 1 partition for my data? say this partition
/home/Nick (40gb, ext4)
Would Ubuntu and fedora be able to see it and write to it?
Short answer… Yes it’s possible, but unless you know what you’re doing, or use different account usernames I wouldn’t advise it… more than just your files are saved in the /home/username/ directory, a bunch of configuration files are also in hidden directories and these are bound to clash between the distro’s
Because either distro will be able to see the others partitions it will probably be best to just install them both with just 1 partition, mounted as / … and just save your files to the home folder on 1 of the partitions… if you run into UID issues they can be fixed
Either of the Linux distro’s will be able to see, read and write to ALL of the partitions including any Windows partitions
Possibly a better option (!) store your “data” on a USB stick … then you’ll see it from whatever you decide to boot … or even better still, if you buy a laptop hard drive for about £25, then go to Amazon you’ll find a bunch of vendors selling external USB drive cases for under a tenner. So for £35 you’ll get 200G you can plug in where-ever you want that’s small enough to put in your pocket if you want to work elsewhere.
And if you’re paranoid like me, you can unplug it before you start any sort of system upgrades or if you’re leaving the house …
Hey thanks, i’ve chosen to go for OpenSUSE. Did anyone tell you that USB sticks have a limited life??