Apologies if this has been covered before but I did a search and couldn't see anything related.

Anyway, due to space issues, the Slack 9 ISO lacks the kernel source group. Fair enough, it's no big deal for the most part. However, when I finally get around to installing Slack on my new system in a couple of months I'll need the kernel source (the nForce driver source tarballs specifically rely on it) and I really don't want to have to fiddle about to get it installed.

My question then is this: Given that without the kernel source, the CD is only about 662Mb and the kernel source only adds about 32Mb on top of that, can I add the 'k' directory to the ISO (using WinImage) and burn the whole lot to a 700Mb 80min CD and if I do that, will the Slack installer pick it up and give me the option to install it?

I do not know if it is possible to reauthor the CD under WIndows. I understand there is a mkisofs for the Windows platform but I have never used it. Others here may have. I would not attempt it using anything else. Besides I do not know how you could do much with the CD image without being able to mount it, Windows does not offer any kind of loopback device support for mounting an image file. I suppose you can burn the image to a CD and then transfer the files from the CD back to the hard disk. In doing that you would loose the Rockridge extensions if any. The image file as it is now requires a 700 MByte CDR. Of course other stuff could be deleted if you did not require them.

If you do not have a Linux system to work with to reauthor it properly I would recommend to simply burn the install image as provided, download the kernel sources and perhaps anything else you like from the extras tree like CUPS and mpg123 for example and then burn them to a second CD. When the first install has completed, mount the 2nd CD and use pkgtool to install the other packages. At the low costs for CD's, it doesn't sound like it is really worth the effort just for an install.

WinISO (just noticed I put WinImage up there, I meant WinISO) handles the mounting and manipulation of the ISO, I've used it several times in the past to make bootable, slipstreamed Windows 2000/XP CDs so I'm not particularly worried about that aspect of it -- in fact, I even have the ISO made already -- what I'm worried about (and what's prevented me burning it to CD already) is whether or not the Slack installer is smart enough to find the extra disk set and give me the option to install it.

The only real way to answer that would be to boot the install CD and read through the setup script code. If you follow through on this then the worse case is that it will not detect it and then you will need to use pkgtool to install it manually after the setup has completed. To determine that after the install is complete look in /mnt/usr/src/linux and see if the kernel sources are present.

You will be so close to the limit of the CD it may not fit. Be careful.

I cutomized my own Slack 9.0 CD. I left out tetex and emacs which I don't use (about 78MB) and included kernel source and some extra programs.

It works. I had to install the extra programs with pkgtool after installation.

Bill

You could always order the CD set when you get ready. ia m sure the folks at Slackware would appreciate the support. It's like $40, so if you can't swing it right away you can sock away $10 a week for the next month....We aren't talking about windows here.....that would be $40 and your first three children and your house and car and.......


Just my 2 newbie cents. I'll shut up now as I need to go RTFM. Cheers

Dave

OK, WinISO didn't complain when I added the 'k' directory (it said I'd used about 98% of the 700Mb) and shortly after replying to Excalibur the first time I remembered I had an old version of VMWare floating around so I used that to mount and test the resulting ISO. It booted (which was the part I was worried about the most, WinISO doesn't generally fiddle with the boot stuff but I wasn't sure how it'd go when presented with a Linux CD) and seemed to install everything (even the grafted kernel source) alright so I then tried burning it to CD and Roxio didn't complain before I started nor did it appear to fail to complete so I'm almost certain the CD is OK.

ummm just go to kernel.org and get the source

But then I'd be in the same position I was in with the standard Slack 9 ISO and still need to install it seperately. This way, it appears as an option in the Slack installer and installs along with the rest of Slack 9 which is what I want.

well, i needed the kernel sources to install alsa on slack 9 and i just downloaded them from kernel.org, and then i had to do "make dep" inside the kernel directory in order for alsa to install.

why is it that it is important to get the system installer to offer you kernel sources?

edit: and it looks like you made it work anyway, so good for you.

In a months time 2.4.21 will be out, so you might as well just download it then..and you'll be wanting 2.4.21 for the improved nforce2 chipset support.

To get back on topic, I have three slackware 9.0 iso's,
1) The official release - 662.8MB
2) A remastered official with /k - 688.7MB
3) My own slackware-current iso - 699.7MB

*groan*

I want the system installer to offer it to me so I don't have to go to kernel.org, so I don't have to download the source, so I don't have to install it after I install Slack and so I have one less thing to worry about then.

You dont have to go to kernel.org Youd want to go to the slackware ftp and download their kernel, as it is prepatched to fix some problems. Its a TGZ, so its only a installpkg away. Cant get simpler.

*sigh*