On my old 486 labtop, i would like to install linux (slackware) but i need to boot off the cdrom. Unfortunately, the thing is so old that there is no cdrom built in and i have an external one connected through the parallel port. Im not sure what it is called but in the bios, the only two bootable devices are the harddrive and floppy. Special drivers are used when windows boots up to use the cdrom.

My question is to you guys, how can i install linux without booting off the cdrom or how can i get the cdrom to be bootable?

btw - i did try using a floppy for the boot but it always popped up with a kernal panick error. I have a feeling the floppy thinks it needs an ext2 file system already. Im trying slackware 9.1 or if i must, i can try mandrake 9.1

install over ethernet oder just put the external cdrom in the pc should work and is not to much to do

alright, ill give it a shot thx