This is a method on how to install Mandrake from the hard drive and
would be of use to those who for what ever reason can not boot off
of CD-1 - or - from a Boot floppy made from the cdrom.img on CD-1

NOTE: you still have to be able to boot from a floppy to do this.

I say following to make and use a FAT-32 partition, but if you know
how you could make and use a Linux Ext2/3 partition as the installer
does not care what the file system is. As long as it is not NTFS.

I am not 100% sure about the NTFS file system as Mandrake 9.0 + 9.1
can read from NTFS but not write to a NTFS. You can try if you want?

------------------------------------

This method I have used on a laptop (it would also work on desktop)
NB: I have used the following method with both Mandrake 9.0 and 9.1

(1) Create a FAT-32 partition at least 2 Gig in size, or bigger
(NOTE: I "believe" that you can not use NTFS type partition ?)
If you have the space on C: you could use that if you want but
by using a dedicated partition it will be a lot easyer to follow

(2) copy from CD-1 the file VERSION to the start of the partition

(3) copy from CD-1 the whole of /Mandrake (include all sub-directorys)

(4) copy from CD-2 the whole of the sub-directory /Mandrake/RPMS2

(5) copy from CD-3 the whole of the sub-directory /Mandrake/RPMS3

You will end up with a structure something like this on the partition:-

VERSION <- this is just a Text file
/Mandrake
/Mandrake/base
/Mandrake/mdkinst <- this also includes the sub-directorys off it
/Mandrake/RPMS
/Mandrake/RPMS2
/Mandrake/RPMS3
/Mandrake/share <- this also includes the sub-directorys off it

NOTE:- you do not require any other files or directorys off the CD's

(6) use rawwrite (or rawwritewin) to create boot floppy using " hd.img "
(or make the boot floppy in Linux, if you know how)

(7) ensure your BIOS is setup so you can boot from a floppy - then boot
with the floppy, select partition where the install files are located
(typically /dev/hda7 or /dev/hdb8 <- whatever your one is )
(if the dierctorys and files were copied to C: it will be /dev/hda1)

This will let you install Mandrake with all of the CD's installer files
on a HDD partiton (ie. the floppy image " hd.img " = hard drive install)

If it works for you, then if you leave all the install files on the hard
drive partition - you can use it to add extra things later if you want.
ie:- re-use boot Floppy and use UPGRADE opton - Or you can even add it
into the Software Sources Manager if you want. ie. ADD "as if" they were
the 3 CD's with /Mandrake/boot/hdlist1.cz + hdlist2.cz + hdlist3.cz

NOTE:- The rawwrite.exe or rawwritewin.exe are in /dosutils of CD-1
and the floppy images including " hd.img " are in /images of CD-1

PS. The principle of this method could probably be used to install
other distro's like RedHat ? That is, if there is a "hd.img" on CD-1

hi
I'm a noob in those stuffs here and i wonder how do i have to do stap 1:

(1) Create a FAT-32 partition at least 2 Gig in size, or bigger
(NOTE: I "believe" that you can not use NTFS type partition ?)
If you have the space on C: you could use that if you want but
by using a dedicated partition it will be a lot easyer to follow

I'm still running windows now, so how do i have to make FAT-32 partition and i've just downoad one file of a linux version and it's Mandrake9.1-CD1.ISO.
So how do i install it with my HD ('cuz i haven't any cd-rom drive)
thx..

Wimpie
You will need to create a boot disk with the HD.img. You can go to one of the FTP download sites that is NOT an ISO and get rawritewin from the /dos/utils directory, hd.img from the /images directory and maybe fips (for resizing FAT32 partitions).

Create the boot disk as in step 6 and you should be ready to go.
Remember where the ISO image is located on your windows drive.

Don't worry about creating a FAT32 partition. Do you have enough space for all 3 ISO's?

Yes i have plenty of space on my HD, that's not a problem...
But do i have to download all of the 3 ISO of mandrake ?
and after i made a FAT partition
(wich program do i have to use for that?)
i just have to copy the ISO via the network on the HD
(will i still be able to enter the HD via network, if I made those FAT partition?, or how does that work?)
thx..

You only NEED the first cd of mandrake and when I tried installing with just the isos the install won't find the second or third iso anyway. You'd have to unpack the iso images. If you already have the fat partition you do not need to create another one. Also if you only use the first cd during install you can just use mandrake's software package manager to download all the progs you want after the install.

Any any case most of this is detailed in the README or install.html on the first mandrake cd.

Just you guys know I said this:-
QUOTE
(1) Create a FAT-32 partition at least 2 Gig in size, or bigger
(NOTE: I "believe" that you can not use NTFS type partition ?)
If you have the space on C: you could use that if you want but
by using a dedicated partition it will be a lot easyer to follow
END QUOTE
Because when I did it on my Laptop I only had WinXP on it with a NTFS file system. As I knew that their are issues with Linux and NTFS file systems I choose to create another FAT32 partition right at the end of my 30 Gb HDD.

NB: following I have rounded up/down sizes, so they maight not add up exactly.

I had already re-installed WinXP from scratch and had allocated 15 Gb to WinXP NTFS and left all the rest (15 Gb) as unpartitioned space.
I had first installed Debian because that would install from CD's, with / as 4 Gb ext3 logical partition and SWAP = 256mg and /home ext3 as all of the last partition = 10.5 Gb.
So when I wanted to install Mandrake. I resized down the Debian /home partition to about 2 Gb. (I used Partition Magic 8) so I had about 8.5 Gb space. Made another 4 Gb ext3 for the new Mandrake / partition and another 2 for the new Mandrake /home
This left me with just over 2 Gb of unused space, this I made my FAT32 partition where I copied the contence of the 3 CD's to as discribe before.
As you can only use 1 distro at a time, I only required one SWAP partition for both Debian and Mandrake. Then I installed Mandrake 9.0 using the hd.img boot floppy to get it started. For a while I was multibooting WinXP + Debian 3.0r0 + Mandrake 9.0.
Recently I have ditched Debian and installed Mandrake 9.1 in its place. I did have to delete all the Mdk 9.0 CD's files from the FAT32 and replace it with the Mdk 9.1 - 3 CD's files (same concept as I wrote befor, I used a hd.img boot floppy.
In a while I hope to ditch Mandrake 9.0 and replace that with maybe a Hard Drive install of Knoppix 3.2 - but that will be another story and a different method completely:-)