am in the process of downloading 12.2 at the moment as a file tree, not an iso, 'cause all the cd/dvd burners in the house are inop at the moment.... is it possible to do an upgrade from slackware 10 to current version without losing all my config? system is a dual boot system w/ w2k. just added an 80G hdd (gotta love dead tivos).

i have done that before in Zenwalk (slack's relative) i think its possible. . .

Yes, it is possible. See my post on this page:

http://www.linuxquestions.org/questi...o-12.2-694687/

You need to do a lot of preparation. Read the information provided with each release to understand the sequential changes in each update. Then carefully plan the sequence of the upgrade.

If I was to make the decision again I would back up my '/etc' directory somewhere then do a fresh install of the new version. Then I would refer to the backed-up '/etc' files to restore some of my 'old' configuration as required.

Bill.

One can upgrade either with slackpkg or accurately reading upgrade notices for all versions between 10 and 12.2

Being on the paranoid side I would strongly recommend doing such a major version jump manually rather than leaving it to automated tools such as slackpkg. The reason is that Slackware has undergone some major changes from 10 to 12 such as udev, kernel 2.6 etc.

If you want to play it safe and have the time and bandwidth, I'd strongly recommend going from 10x->11.x and then once its stable go form 11.x to 12.x

tnx. a couple of other questions i have are:
1) drive capacity, i have 3 drives in this machine set up like this
hda total capacity 6.8g
hda1 4g linux slack 10
hda2 10m win2k c: boot partition
hda3 2g linux swap
hdb total capacty 10g
hdb1 10g win2k d: (system files and installed software for win2k)
hdc total capacity 80g
hdc1 30g win2k e: (currently where the slack 12 download is kept)
hdc2 50g linux (empty)

what is the best way to utilize the linux partitions when i install 12.2 since i'm already 97% full on hda1? and can i do this without disturbing the win2k partitions?

second, related to the first. can i just do a fresh install of slack 12 on hdc2, and just add it as an option in lilo?

I don't understand... What configs are you worried about??? It's a dual boot machine so you're not running a server... After that, the only configs that you might want to have the same would be:

xorg.config

After that...? ftpd or sshd config files maybe???

If I were you, I'd backup:

/home/*
/etc/X11/xorg.conf

...and then just do a fresh install.

If you're not running servers, how much can you have custome configured?

There's a plethora of files and configurations to change in a "normal" Slackware installation, ranging from xorg.conf as you mention, to wireless settings in wpa_supplicant.conf, network settings in rc.inet1.conf, terminal configurations, font setup, resource managers etc etc...
If OP has been running Slackware 10 for a long time it's a good chance that lots of changes have been made to the system over time without documentation, and it could take quite a while to restore whatever peculiarities (if any ;-) ) that have been made over the years if one were to do a complete re-install without taking note of said changes...

Proceeding with caution seems like a very sensible approach

i've decided to do a second install on hdc from hdc1 (fat32 partition) to the linux partition hdc2.
is there any way to start the install from my existing linux system? win2k does not provide enough memory under CMD to run loadlin (and this includes "safe mode command prompt").

If your system is able to boot from an USB key, you will better off installing directly Slackware 12.2.

Read the file README_USB.TXT in the folder /usb-and-pxe-installers of Slackware 12.2

I've had good luck using QEmu to install slack to another partition whenever I want to upgrade. You've got to fix up the fstab and boot loader afterward. It's tricky to do without a live CD, but possible if you're careful.

just finished attempting a usb boot.... no dice..... even though the bios in the machine has a boot from removeable devices option, it doesn't work with usb.

i've been using linux for years as a repair and testing tool, so i'm not a total noob, but i really am not an expert either. in a way it's rather amusing that an OS with the flexibility that linux has, doesn't have a "native" method of starting an install, but for most of the install methods requires a very old version of DOS.

anybody ever try running loadlin from DosBox?

i'll let y'all know if it works...... bbl8r......i'm off to win2k land for an experiment.....

ok, that didn't work.

also tried QEmu with the usb image. any suggestions on how to do this with QEmu? kernel boots and will even start the setup program, but sees no disks.

I use the dvd iso. There's no point making it any more complicated than it has to be.