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Distribution: Ubuntu, Slack, Athena Linux (derivative of RedHat)
Posts: 35
Rep:
Boot disk problem
Newbie question...
I'm attempting (!) to install Slackware Linux to my laptop (Dell Inspiron 2500 on WinME, if it matters.) Unfortunately, my boot disk doesn't seem to be working, which also makes me wonder if the root disk I made will work when I get to that point in the installation. What I've done so far:
First I downloaded bare.i and RAWRITE.EXE from ftp.slackware.com and tried to run RAWRITE.EXE on a WinXP computer (connected to my school's network); was given the following error:
C:\WINNT\SYSTEM32\command.com
The NTVDM CPU has encountered an illegal instruction.
CS:0000 IP:3925 OP:f0 e8 ce 01 12 Choose 'Close' to terminate the application.
So...since the computer I was running was XP, and the error message suggested that perhaps the problem had something to do with some Windows NT computer that presumably exists in the network somewhere, I downloaded RAWRITEXP.EXE abd RAWRITENT.EXE and tried both of those. In both instances, I received a message that told me "This program needs to be run under Win32".
I then found rawwritewin on the following site : <oops, it won't let me put in a URL yet...it's the first result when you search google for rawwritewin, though>. It would create the boot and root disks, but when I tried to boot from this floppy, it told me that the boot failed. I took the disk out and hit enter, and it seemed to boot up (into WinME) fairly normally.
Thinking that it might have been a problem with the computer I was using, I tried RAWRITE on my laptop, with the same error; then I tried to use rawwritewin. It got to 99%, then told me that it had failed to write the image.
Thanks for any advice you can give me! I haven't used Unix/Linux-based systems for long at all (and that was just telnet'ing in; I haven't had to deal with configuring my computer yet!), but the amount I've learned in preparation for installing Slackware (dual-boot...I still need a crutch ) is incredible. I know that I'm probably insane for installing Slackware, as much of a newbie as I am, but I want a system that will force me to learn...
Distribution: Ubuntu, Slack, Athena Linux (derivative of RedHat)
Posts: 35
Original Poster
Rep:
Still doesn't work...?
I just tried another floppy, and got the same error - it doesn't seem to be a floppy problem. How do I install from the ISOs? I tried rebooting with the disk in the drive, and nothing happened. (I'm using the downloaded ISOs, not the official store.slackware.com disks.) I did set my computer to boot from the CD-ROM drive (or I think I did, anyway...pressed F2 at setup and changed the boot options). I tried this a couple times, but it didn't seem to work; do I need to make the ISOs bootable somehow? Sorry for my ignorance; I'm trying to learn...
Why are you not burning the iso to CD? Can you not boot from a CD on that computer or can you not burn a CD?
Quote:
From Slackware FAQ.txt
Q2: Is it possible to install this operating system without a floppy
drive?
A: Yes! And it's not much harder, either.
(NOTE: see rootdisks/install.zip for a new approach to this)
First, you'll need a DOS partition. Install Loadlin in a directory such
as C:\LOADLIN (the Loadlin package is available as a ZIP file in the
kernels/ directory). Once you have Loadlin installed, you'll need to
copy a Linux kernel and a Slackware installer image into the C:\LOADLIN
directory. We'll describe this process next:
You can find many kernels in the kernels/ directory on the CD. The
subdirectories have the same names as the Slackware bootdisks, and
contain the kernel used to make that bootdisk. You might want to refer to
the README files in the bootdisks directory to decide which kernel will
work best for your system. Once you've picked a kernel (zImage or
bzImage), copy it into the C:\LOADLIN directory. Next, grab the installer
image (named 'initrd.img') from the isolinux directory and copy the file
into your Loadlin directory.
Now, to start the installation process you'll need to boot DOS. If you
run Windows95, restarting the computer in MS-DOS mode is an option on the
Start button menu. (NOTE: If you miss the good-old-days when you got DOS
automatically when you booted your computer and had to type "win" to
actually start Windows, it's easy to fix Windows95 to work that way again.
Edit the file C:\MSDOS.SYS and change where it says BootGUI=1 to read
BootGUI=0)
Once you have DOS started, change into the Loadlin directory and use a
command like this one to start the installation rootdisk:
Usually the installation copies the kernel from the bootdisk, so when you
use this method you'll have to skip that menu, as well as the bootdisk
creation menu. It's also advisable to skip the LILO menu, since the
/vmlinuz will probably not be the one you want. You best bet is to use
Loadlin, since it's gotten you this far. Just edit the LINUX.BAT file to
point to your root Linux partition.
Distribution: Ubuntu, Slack, Athena Linux (derivative of RedHat)
Posts: 35
Original Poster
Rep:
My computer should be able to boot from a CD, but it isn't working this time, for some reason.
I did burn the ISO to a CD (this is what I thought h3pc4t meant by installing from the ISOs?). I suspect that I may have done it incorrectly...my CD-burning program did burn *something* to the CD, but no files or folders appear on the CD in Windows Explorer. I should probably try it again - maybe it will work this time. Do I need to specify that the CD should be bootable when I burn the CD, or is that information already included within the ISO image?
Hum.. you answered my question before I asked it. I don't know how I missed that.
Most CD burning software will burn an iso but you have to tell it to burn an iso image and not a file.
I would suggest trying to make another bootdisk using a different computer. Or try to burn another CD. You could test the CD on another computer. Also try another "bootable" CD on your computer to verify if it really can boot from a CD.
If your downloading and making the CD in Windows, what CD burner app are you using? I have Roxio EasyCD 5, and it allows you to choose the CD format - .cif or ISO9660 - when making the image file. I havne't seen the latest version of Nero. but I think it has the same feature. If not, there is a Windows version of cdrtools that can make the iso image which can then be burned in the normal way.
Have a look at - www.openbsddiary/makeisofs.html - for some usefull info on how to do this. It actually has an example using the Slackware download files. The trick seems to be making the correct directories, and having the right files in the root on the CD.
If you can get into your computers BIOS, then you can find out whether or not you can boot from a CD.
If you can (just search around a bit in BIOS and make sure to save changes so that the first boot device is the CDROM), then use an ISO which shows visible files. I made the same mistake once. I was using Nero to burn the image, but I ended up with the image on the disk and not the files that the image contains. Your ISO suffers from the same thing. Just use "burn image" in order to burn the files in the ISO to the disk. In Nero, anyway, this is a special command that you have to select from under the first (maybe files?) menu.
This same thing happened to me. One of my machines can boot off the CD, the other can't. Go figure, it's the exact same CD and the BIOS is set to go to the CD first. Anyway the RAWRITE12 may do the trick, it did for me -- J.W.
Distribution: Ubuntu, Slack, Athena Linux (derivative of RedHat)
Posts: 35
Original Poster
Rep:
*hits head, feels stupid*
Downloaded a program to check the md5 sums...corrupted.
So I just gave in and bought the disks. Installed fairly easily! Of course, now I have a 1.5-page-long list of things to fix and get working and investigate...but half the fun is figuring out what went wrong and how to fix it. ...or at least that's what I keep telling myself...
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