I'm new to Linux. I've downloaden the slackware 9 iso-file and put it on CD. I want to install it on a quite old machine. Because I don't have a bootable CD-drive, I used superbootmanager.dsk to boot from the slackware CD. After that, I used the standard kernel (bare.i) for the install. However, about 10 sec. after the proces started, it froze at the following lines:


partition check:
hda: hda1
hdc: _ (flikkering underscore)

I'm quite eager to install Slackware, so any help would be appreciated

Did you make a Linux partition to install into? If not, use fdisk to do so.

Am I supposed to do that before running the slackware CD?
I didn't mention this, but I've also got Win 95 on that pc and I want to keep Win 95 and install Linux on it as well

if u don't understand about partitions and how to handle them ur going for a tought time...

That remark doesn't help me at all! I don't have much experience in partitions, but I have enough knowledge to be able to make them.
The guide I using, I clearly states that after you start the boot process, you should use fdisk to make parttions...

hdc is probably your old 'unbootable' cdrom. Maybe it's causing some problems. Have you looked for an alternative kernel to try

For an old PC, bare.i is almost certainly the kernel to use. I'd be willing to bet that the problem stems from trying to force a boot from the CD. Instead of doing that, why don't you make boot and root disks using the images from your favorite Slackware download site. You are correct in that you need to boot before you can run fdisk, and in my experience the disks work. Also check out the book at Slackware for good installation instructions.

Slack works well on old equipment. I'm running it on a P133.

I am also trying to install slackware on a P133, with 64 RAM and one harddisk with 3 Gig of space and another with 1 Gig of space.

The problem is when I boot the CD-Rom (using sbootmgr.dsk), It freezes when it's checking my second harddisk (1 Gig) for partitions...

If I understand the thread correctly, it sounds like the kernel is NOT booting and you are NOT getting to a login prompt. Disconnect the second hard disk to see if the kernel will boot. It may be a bad hard disk or not jumpered correctly and the kernel is unable to read it.

Use bare.i as your boot floppy. Follow by install.1 and install.2 root disk. You should be able to boot up your system. (It should in your disk 2 of your Slack).

However, there are some rare situation where the latest bare.i unable to boot. This is due to the IDE controller does not work under kernel enhance driver. You will need to build a custom boot disk for your system. This maybe tricky, but the basic idea is to get the kernel that enable with "Use old disk-only driver on primary interface" under IDE, ATA and ATAPI Blick devices.

I know of this, coz' was trying to install Slack in an old box, which failed to boot during the IDE detection phase. After some trial, found the problem with this.

Hope you are not facing what I faced... Coz' the system really slow for disk access...

Good luck!

I'm still betting that it is sbootmgr.dsk that is causing the problems. A lot of machines of this vintage weren't capable of booting from the CD so I'm guessing that sbootmgr is trying to fake the BIOS by pretending that the CD is a hard disk. Really, try the bare.i boot disk followed by the install.1 and install.2 root disks as suggested by ghostdancer.

As an alternative, maybe leave the 1 Gig drive out of the initial install. Just load Slack onto the 3 Gig and then work on the 1 Gig once you have a working system.