Failing the Linux 101 exam

Larry OConnor

I studied and took three practice exams -- certblaster, Learn Key and MeasureUp ($11 -- where I had 95 percent scores or better and still failed the cert. I only had 380 score (500 to pass). I have A+ and Net+ certifications, so it wasn't like I was blind to the whole certification process.

I think my mistake was not directly concentrating on each of the Comp-TIA objectives. I used Linux + Guide to Linux Certification as my main book.

Any suggestions for other books to use or strategies that worked for you? I'd greatly appreciate it.

log32

my advice for you is to try and review the exam questions that you had and go over the topics related (Permissions/security/networking/filesystem etc) so you can get stronger on topics you're weak on.

Flemeth

hey Larry , i ll take my lpic1/comptia exam 1 in 2 weeks , i used Linux+ complete study guide as my book , will tell you how it goes and my impressions about the book. I do have a few questions now if you can enlighten me ...
First in your test there ware any multiple answer questions ? If so how many ? I noticed that at list for me this are the hardest for some reason ...

Second question is about how hard is the exam , i used alote of tests online and i passed all of them even still i have some stuff that i did not get to in the book, i m curios how hard is the exam compared to them. The hardest i did was IT Exam Practice - Pass An Exam , can you please look over it or take the mock exam and tell me how it compares to the real thing ?

Roguetadhg

Did you use this book?
CompTIA Linux+ Complete Study Guide Authorized Courseware: Exams LX0-101 and LX0-102: Roderick W. Smith: 9780470888452: Amazon.com: Books

Im curious to see how...
Amazon.com: LPIC-1/CompTIA Linux+ Certification All-in-One Exam Guide (Exams LPIC-1/LX0-101 & LX0-102) (9780071771573): Robb Tracy: Books
...stacks up to the test.

Flemeth

can tell you now Roguetadhg as i used them both . The one by Robb Tracy is much better for complete noobs (people that know under 10 commands) .It s explains almost everything , has much more simple examples and the material is presented in a way new people can grasp well. Thats the good part, the bad part is that overall it s less effective then Smith's book , especially richness of information(like how many options are presented for each command etc) Also tests are way to easy. So all in all is a good book to learn linux but not ideal for the examination.

Smith's is more hardcore , more stuff and less noob approach. It manages to also have a smaller page count trough . On the bad side it has alote of typos and some sections seem rushed or not developed , like tar and cpio section...

I have not taken the test yet so i m not sure how complete either of the books are but Smiths seems to be better imo. If anyone did take the exam PLEASE PLEASE take the time and tell me if the questions have more then one required answer (aka select 2 from 5 possible answers etc) and if so about how many questions of this time there are... i know all about fill the blanks but for me multiple answer question fills the hardest.

lsud00d

I read Running Linux as one of my study materials and it is a hefty book, but it was very good overall and helped me pass the exam. I was new to linux before getting the Linux+ so the book was very helpful to me.

Running Linux - Matthias Dalheimer, Matt Welsh - Google Books

Roguetadhg

One of the things I look at when buying a cert book is the newness. Robb's is easily the newest. I'm not sure I could easily go with a 05 publication for 2012... Here I complain about Robb's having outdated links - I can just imagine the differences of trying to get software packages with an 05!

I'm actually coming into Linux new, so I appreciate the examples in this book (All-in-one). But I'm also concerned with studying for the exam, which is one of the major factors of taking this up in the first place!

I'm actually working on my own lab examples, based off Robbs - but with much less hand-holding.

Edit 2: I just realized you can use quotes: | grep " on". Awesome!

Flemeth

Larry OConnor is by any chance chattr command included in the first exam ? I ve looked over the detailed objectives and there is nothing about chattr there but i found it in Smith's book and there is no mention of being optional.

MeatCatalogue

Roguetadhg wrote: »

Did you use this book?
CompTIA Linux+ Complete Study Guide Authorized Courseware: Exams LX0-101 and LX0-102: Roderick W. Smith: 9780470888452: Amazon.com: Books

Im curious to see how...
Amazon.com: LPIC-1/CompTIA Linux+ Certification All-in-One Exam Guide (Exams LPIC-1/LX0-101 & LX0-102) (9780071771573): Robb Tracy: Books
...stacks up to the test.

I looked at both books in my barnes and noble yesterday and Robb Tracy's book seemed superior. I used Sybex to pass my CCNA exam and all-in-one to pass my A+ and used Exam Prep to pass my Net+. I used all in conjunction with Exam-cram study guides and created **** sheets (stuff I had to memorize) that I reviewed before walking into prometric. I don't think the exam crams are made anymore but they had about 3 practice exams in them.

Larryo61

Actually, only a few questions in on the IT Exam Practice test and I can tell this exam mirrors the real thing in terms of the dexterity of the questions asked and the knowledge required. Hope this helps....

lsud00d

Roguetadhg wrote: »

Edit 2: I just realized you can use quotes: | grep " on". Awesome!

grep is super awesome and can really do wonders...a few of my favorites:

grep -vi - Literally "inverse case insensitive", basically for when I want to remove things from my search...sometimes finding what you want in logs means removing what you don't want to see
grep -A # or grep -B # - Include x amount of lines AFTER (-A) or BEFORE (-B) the phrase you're searching for. This is helpful because in many application logs, the problem leads up to and logs after what you are searching for.
grep 'phrase1\|phrase2' - This acts as an OR operator that will return results from both phrases. You can do this as many times as you want. I also often do this with -vi (grep -vi 'phrase1\|phrase2\|phrase3') to remove multiple items from the log I'm parsing to get closer to that needle in a haystack.

There are many, many more but those are a few of the key grep's I use!

Dumpledork

I am just about finished with the All-In-One from Robb Tracy. It's a very good, well written, intro in to Linux. It's crafted in a way to be pleasing to the Linux younglings and isn't likely to ruffle any feathers. But I will not trust it as my only study source, not even with CompTIA.

As someone who has earned a number of CompTIA certs I would advise using at least two books. And when you take the practice tests, do not review your questions after each test and then think you understand - you don't. You will inadvertently memorize the answers and that will produce misleading test results that won't compare to your knowledge.

twodogs62

LPI is not an easy certification.
You need lots of hands on experience.
I've been thinking for several years to get cert.
I'm more versed in Linux now and may attempt studying for an exam soon.
5 years or so ago, there was not many study materials, BUt, there are many options now.

log32

for all my LPIC certifications I used Linux in a nutshell (101 102 201 202) and for LPIC-3 i used the LDAP System Administration book by OReilly. together with some Google.

lsud00d

@Dolev, did you get the other LPIC's for professional or personal reasons (or both), and what benefits have you seen as a result? TIA

log32

My first objective was obtaining just level 1.
and then from reviewing the objectives of LPIC2 I considered it as well, and after getting there ...the same happened with level 3
I would say that it was done especially for myself, studying for an exam always pushes me to the limits. later it assisted with job applications also which is always a benefit