INTRO:
I was inspired to write this after reading Shilo's excellent installion article http://www.linuxquestions.org/questi...d.php?t=174447, a desire to help others and give back a little something to the community. Oh and also when I trash my system I have a good reference on the web to refresh my failing memory!! I had started out with Red Hat a long time ago and had been a Mandrake convert for sometime but recently I started to look about for something, how can I put this? Less commercial? I was a little intimidated by Slackwares installation reputation as being for the more 'advanced' Linux user having only recently got something resembling a graphical installation menu. Well after reading around a bit and Shilo's guide I decided to give it a go. My fears were totally allayed and if you do the prep right there is no reason why this distro cannot be installed and used by the more inexperienced user.

We all do our installs a little differently and I have deliberately tried not to cover to much of the same ground as Shilo in his guide but tried to concentrate more on pre-installation prep and walk through a couple of the problems and tweaks I did post install.

GET SLACKWARE 11
Download Slackware 11. I chose the dvd ISO image from http://ISO.linuxquestions.org/downlo...nstall-dvd.ISO
Then I burned it to DVD using DeepBurner, a good FREEware or trial version cd/dvd burner from http://www.deepburner.com

PREPARATION
I have a 40gig hd with XP spread over most of it. I wanted to 'move' all the files to the first half of the partition and then carve it up. First step was turn off hibernation and delete the hiberfil.sys file (hibernation file, don't delete if you still want to use XP's hibernation function). Then turn off the pagefile.sys (you need to do this as it cannot be moved when you defrag the drive. As mine was in the center of the drive it had to go, no great loss). Boot up into safe mode, F8 key on my machine, delete pagefile.sys (maybe able to do this from within Windows, may disappear on its own accord when you turn of the page file, didn't check).

Then defragged a few times but still some of my files were spread towards the end of the drive. Then found an excellent defrag utility, O&O Defrag V8.5 Pro,free 30 day trial, from http://www.oo-software.com/en/products/oodefrag/ which did a great job of getting my files to the first half of the drive. From the 'cluster view; you can even work out how many clusters are in use, work out the size of the used portion of the drive and so roughly work out where you can partition the drive without loosing your data, allow a bit obviously!

AT THIS POINT YOU SHOULD BACK UP AT LEAST YOUR VALUABLE DATA IF NOT YOUR WHOLE DRIVE!!

PARTITIONING
AT THIS POINT YOU SHOULD BACK UP AT LEAST YOUR VALUABLE DATA IF NOT YOUR WHOLE DRIVE!! Did I already say that??
So having got all my data to the first half of the drive partitioning was next. Didn't really fancy using fdisk so downloaded gpart live cd, http://gparted.sourceforge.net, and burned to disk. Changed my laptop to boot up from the cd drive in the bios (F2 on my machine), booted from the gparted cd and then it was easy enough to partition my drive as I desired as follows.


Make a note of the mount points and the dev, you will need this when you install.

Now when you have done remove the disk and reboot. If you did it right XP will cough a little, run a file system check and then bootup without a hitch. So you should have lost nothing. If you did you have your important details backed up, right??

INSTALL SLACKWARE 11.
OK I was going through this step by step but it was quite terse and really not necessary as installation is quite straight forward and menu driven. So deleted all that and started again. Just add a few notes instead.

You really are advised to do the full install if you have the room, not really any reason not to! I spent a whole day trying to figure out why something would not configure and it was because I left out x11 bevel libraries :-(

Because we were smart we don't need to deal with that intimidating disk utility. When you get to the section 'TARGET' if you made a note of the mount points you want to use with their corresponding partion name, dev/hda??, this step will be a breeze!!

X can be a bitch and usually is for me so I was very happy that this time it all configured without a hitch.

I have an ADSL connection and the network config utility did not work for me, see below.

Thats it, easy peesy!

Last but not least. On the install media is a file called INSTALL. Read it for all the nitty gritty or better still print it off so you have it for reference during the install.

ADSL CONNECTION;
As root run 'pppoe-setup' and follow the instructions. Will ask you for your ADSL user, pw, dns, etc. Also sets up a basic firewall which is nice! Very easy and straight forward.

BOOT INTO GRAPHICS;
As root edit /etc/inittab.
Change the line....

# Default runlevel. (Do not set to 0 or 6)
id:3:initdefault:

# Default runlevel. (Do not set to 0 or 6)
id:4:initdefault:
.
Next time you boot you'll be greeted by the familiar graphical login manager.

ANIMATED BOOT SPLASH!
Well what is Linux for if you cant tweak and experiment??
Want a cool graphical boot screen? With animation?? OK so here is what you need to do.
First off make a boot disk if you do not already have one. This could prevent tears if things go pear shaped. Run 'makebootdisk'.
As another precaution I like to make a copy of /etc/lilo.conf to somewhere safe on the system.
Then goto http://members.optusnet.com.au/rkelsen/lilo.html and download lilo-22.3.2.51-i586-1.tgz. Then run....

mv /path-to/lilo-22.3.2.51-i586-1.tgz /
cd /
tar -xvzf lilo-22.3.2.51-i586-1.tgz

This will extract all the new files to the correct locations. Now fire up your favourite editor and edit /etc/lilo.conf.example. Ideally you should have a copy of your original lilo config open aswell and then you can check/copy the values from your original lilo.conf file to the example lilo conf file. This is how my lilo.conf.example file looks after editing using the old values from the original lilo.conf file.

# LILO configuration file
#global section
#
boot=/dev/hda
lba32
timeout=400
prompt
default = Slackware
#
# Boot screen section.
#
# Note: Uncomment only ONE of the following:
#
message=/usr/share/lilo-bootscreens/penguins.boot
# message=/usr/share/lilo-bootscreens/xray-blue.boot
# message=/usr/share/lilo-bootscreens/xray-green.boot
# message=/usr/share/lilo-bootscreens/breakout.boot
#
# Linux kernel image:
#
image=/boot/vmlinuz
root=/dev/hda7
label="slackware"
read-only
#
# Yes, we can boot windoze too....
#
other=/dev/hda1
label="windows"
table=/dev/hda
#

The important part is the Boot screen section, just select one. Make sure all the /dev entries are right or you wont be able to boot. After saving the file move it to the correct system location with.... (make sure you back up the original first)

mv /etc/lilo.conf.exammple /etc/lilo.conf

Then....

lilo

and you should have no errors reported. Reboot and you will be greeted with a jazzy new boot screen (hopefull!!). If not put in your boot disk you made earlier, you did make a boot disk? and move the original lilo.conf file you made a copy of back to /etc and try to work out what went wrong.


THE SOUND OF SILENCE!!.
We all need sound and the best and easiest way to get it on Linux is to use Alsa.

As root run 'alsaconf' and this will set up the alsa sound system for you.
Next you need to unmute all channels. Missing this step can be VERY frustrating for Newbs, how do I know??
So as root AND normal user run alsamixer, use 'm' key to unmute each channel, up arrow to turn up volume. Be sure to scroll all the way to the right, some controls get hidden. When you are done press ESC twice.
Then the mixer settings need to be saved so next time you boot you do NOT get the silent treatment.
As root run 'alsactl store'

Then you can do a quick check to see if all went well by running 'lspci' and it will list your pci devices. You should have something similar to.......

00:1f.5 Multimedia audio controller: Intel Corporation 82801CA/CAM AC'97 Audio Controller (rev 02)

and check if the modules are loaded correctly with 'lsmod'........

slhc 4496 0 [ppp_generic]
snd-seq-oss 23104 0 (unused)
snd-seq-midi-event 3208 0 [snd-seq-oss]
snd-seq 33552 2 [snd-seq-oss snd-seq-midi-event]
snd-seq-device 3716 0 [snd-seq-oss snd-seq]
snd-pcm-oss 28928 0
snd-mixer-oss 11928 0 [snd-pcm-oss]
usb-storage 63520 0
snd-intel8x0 19188 3
snd-ac97-codec 68160 0 [snd-intel8x0]
snd-pcm 52804 1 [snd-pcm-oss snd-intel8x0 snd-ac97-codec]
snd-timer 13168 1 [snd-seq snd-pcm]
snd 34304 1 [snd-seq-oss snd-seq-midi-event snd-seq snd-seq-device snd-pcm-oss snd-mixer-oss snd-intel8x0 snd-ac97-codec snd-pcm snd-timer]
soundcore 3300 6 [snd]
snd-page-alloc 4980 0 [snd-seq-oss snd-seq snd-seq-device snd-mixer-oss snd-intel8x0 snd-pcm snd-timer snd]
8139too 13672 1


If all went well you need to add each user to the group 'audio'.

Now with my Panasonic CF T1 after all this I still had no sound??!!! So spent almost half a day trying to figure it out before I managed to recall I had stumbled upon this problem and the solution a long,long time ago when I had a similar experience installing Mandrake. Solution?? Unmute the f***** sound in XP first!!!! Don't know how this works. No fluke as I can loose my Slackware sound again by muting the sound in XP and then rebooting. If anyone knows why this happens I would be very interested to know, thanks.

SWARET
Swaret is a package management system for Slackware that keeps track of installed packages, keep track of dependencies and download/install packages automatically for you.

Downloaded Swaret from sourceforge
cd to download dir
su root
Install with 'installpkg swaret-1.6.3-noarch-2.tgz'
edit file /etc/swaret.conf.new
change the version to current,
if not already uncomment the line REPOS_ROOT=LinuxPackagesDOTNET%http://www2.linuxpackages.net/packages/Slackware-11.0
change DESC from 0 to 1 so you get a short description of the packages while installing.
change DSEARCHM to 1 so it will use slocate to check for missing libraries.

Then..
mv /etc/swaret.conf.new /etc/swaret.conf
run 'swaret --update'
run 'swaret --upgrade -a'

This will update the swaret data base files and upgrade all your packages to the latest versions. This could take a while so go grab some shut eye.

Now installing new packages is child's play! Be sure to read the man though first.


REALPLAYER PLUGIN WITH SEAMONKEY BROWSER
Go get Realplay 10 from http://www.real.com/linux?pcode=rn&am.
After running the binary exe and the setup config script I found it would not work. After some investigation I found there were a couple off errors in the install script so after making some new sym links all was well....

ln -s /usr/local/share /usr/local/share/realplay
ln -s /usr/local/realplay /usr/local/bin/realplay
ln -s /usr/local/lib /usr/local/lib/realplay

You also need to set the sound system to auto detect, not alsa, as the Realplayer plugin uses OSS.

Well that is about it for now. By this time you should all be up and running, connecting to the net, playing pornos on Mplayer :-), watching DVD's and all with a cool animated boot up screen aswell. Hope you found it usefull and I really do recommend you give Slackware a try. For me it was one of the easiest installs I have ever done!!

BashTin.

i think i may have just killed my lilo... please help


i did:

then modified lilo.conf appropriately (?)
but when i root@qwrty#/sbin/lilo #my shell just sits there...

i also tried: #lilo and #lilo -C lilo.conf

the only thing that seems to do anything is:
I'm used to seeing lilo do its 'added Windows ... added vmLinuz ... etc'

I have left my computer hoping it was just thinking or something but 10-15 minutes no apparent activity in the shell.

I did maybe screw this up as before I saw your post I came across the webpage, d/led and tar xjf'd the file w/o moving to / directory?

I do lilo -v:
where it promptly hangs up again.. argh. i am hoping someone can 1) help me fix what i've screwed up, and 2) provide some further guidance on installing this graphical boot loader thingy..

would it be easier to just install GRUB?

my guess on your sound card is that when you mute it in xp it some how sets a switch on the sound card its self disabling it from playing sound. only way i know of it could transfer over.

@bioe007 Just try to set up lilo from the beginning using the command "liloconfig" or look for it in pkgtool. Just try if lilo installs correctly and your computer boots up like normal.

After that try again with the modified lilo-package. Comment for you and the thread author:
You don't need to mv the package to /, just install it using the command "installpkg NAME-OF-PACKAGE" , since it is a slackware file.
There is another description here: http://shilo.is-a-geek.com/slack/graphic11.html, which doesn't install a new lilo package. I think one reason why it failed is because the lilo package on the website is quite old ( Slackware 8?? )

And no it won't be easier to install grub, since you need to compile splash support in it.

vbisis

thanks, but i tried liloconfig, it hangs also.

any other ideas? I am currently leaving my PC on until i figure this out. (its a laptop so making a boot disk wasnt an option) guess i could just boot from Slack11 CD#1 if it goes bad..

Did you install Lilo in the MBR or on disk?

If you installed it to disk, you need to make the disk bootable. You can do this with fdisk. I don't remember the option, but if you type m, you should see a command to set the bootable flag. If you don't do this, you'll get a blinking cursor when you restart, and a hang.


I normally install Lilo to MBR, though, as I have no troubles with it this way.

yes, LILO is on MBR, but typically when i /sbin/lilo i get something like this:

(above is from another machine)

on the machine i did the lilo upgrade to when I run /sbin/lilo i get nothing (just a blinking cursor). but when i lilo -M i get the 'LILO has been ... to the MBR' or something (see above for direct quote) but it says nothing about 'adding ...' which is how it usually works (before changing LILO)

one thing i was pondering (which i can't check until i get to work) is if it matters that /boot and /root and /usr are on different machines?

the reason i ask is because LILO clearly gets past the 'lba32' statement but not to the 'image ...' statements. maybe i should try moving the bootsplashes to my /boot partition?

"that /boot and /root and /usr are on different machines?"

Now that sounds weird!
Why would you want to do that? I hope you don't mean partitions
But this definiately could be a problem.

sorry, i do mean partitions, not machines

for clarity sake; etc/fstab:

another error i found trying to look at my HD with fdisk:


but with fdisk i get:

i dont know what this means or if it existed prior to my LILO problems. but I dont think it is good.

Ahh ok. I think I know, and I'm pulling this from memory again (yea I know, bad idea).

Your root Linux partition needs to start somewhere before the 1024 mark. Please help me other Linux people if I have this information wrong.

I google'd the 1024 cylinder thing,

"...LILO since 21.4 are able to boot from cylinder 1024 and beyond..."
(http://multiboot.solaris-x86.org/iv/1.html)

i hope this is not the problem because my computer came w/o install cd for the make bill gates rich software foundation. and its my work computer and i can't really work without windows here.

also if i wasn't supposed to be able to do lilo install before, how come it installed fine (self configuring) from slackware 11.0 installation CD?

other stuff i've tried:
ok, now i may have more insight (?) the boot partition has somehow been switched from my /boot partiton back to windows.. not sure how/when/why that wouldve happened.

also i did finally #reboot and now i can get into windows, but not slack... aargh,im in purgatory!!!

can I just use gparted to change my boot partition again?

(moderator: i had hoped this would be a quick Q&A that was quite relevant to BashTin's original post, if you think it appropriate please move my content so I dont muddle the original thread, thanks)

I'd first try to boot your Slackware with the installation cd ( there is a line after booting with your cd which explains how to do so ), reinstall original Slackware lilo from cd ( first remove the patched version of lilo then install the orginal version with installpkg ), set up your lilo.conf with liloconf and reboot. Hopefully it will work .
Good luck anyway.

thanks vbisis, that'll definitely be my next step.

*newbie question- how do I remove a package?

(I will google this but if there is a quick and easy answer/link I'd appreciate it)

btw- changing the boot flag with gparted did not work

That will remove packages. (of course replacing package-name with lilo-whatever (tab will be your friend here) :-))