Trouble installing Slackware 14 using unetbootin USB on Dell Studio 15 1535 laptop
 

On my windows computer, I have created a bootable USB using Unetbootin... It is easy!

Only now while in the slackware setup, I have trouble determining what to select under "Source"

Technically I should count this as a CD/DVD since it is an .iso, right? While doing so, under "manual" and "custom", I enter the source: /dev/sdb1 and boom comes the error.

On a side note, I do not want suggestions for alienbob's method of creating a usb because it does not work.

Does anyone have any success with installing Slackware from a USB (preferably created thru Unetbootin) onto a machine, and how?

I read your post just before I tried to install Slackware. So I decide to give it a quick try. Had issue after issue but decided to try one last thing before I gave up.

Where it says setup the target partitions is what you want. I am going to assume that you know how to set up swap, / /boot and so on.

In the setup target partitions it gives you the option for a quick format on each partition. For example mine was,

/boot (dev/sda1)
/swap (dev/sda2)
/ (dev/sda3)

I had to pick the root partition which is /dev/sda3 for me. Then I picked the boot partition, which was /dev/sda1 for me. My usb card is /dev/sdb1 as your is. So what I did was from the setup target partitions I chose that one and set it up as /slack this set it up so it would be accessible through the /dev/sda3/ BUT DO NOT FORMAT sdb1, choose the third option. Then it will ask you where you want to mount it, as I said for me it was /slack

So when it asked me for the hard drive path I chose /dev/sda3 (my root) and then it asked the folder I typed in /slack/slackware

It installed fine after that.

I am in a bit of a rush so sorry if made any typos. Hopefully I was able to explain this clearly for you. Also I didn't go through with the whole install. I stopped it after a few minutes. As long as I got this to work I need to redo it on another hard drive after I set up luks+lvm.

How did you pick the root? I know you were rushed, but I need a little more detail. After awhile, it seemed to go fine, but when it came to LILO, it gave errors, and rebooting did nothing after the installation "completed".

Also, in my cfdisk, I have:

sda5 [unflagged] Logical swap 6000.0mb
sda2 [boot] Primary ext2 160000.00mb

I can make it bootable or unbootable thru cfdisk, but that's it. Also, how did you set it up as /slack?

I looked at this years ago, and couldn't get it to work. Back then the UNetbootin did NOT claim to support any version of slackware. It STILL doesn't. If you do manage to get this to actually work, please make meticulous notes of the steps and post back here. Lots of people would like to see this work.

I always had trouble with Unetbootin and Slackware. Try the supported way to install Slackware: Use the USB install image (can be found in any repository and on your Slackware DVD). Write it to the USB disk either with dd (on Linux) or with Image Writer for Windows (obviously on Windows). That always works for me.

How?

Also, here are my notes for how I used UNetbootin:

• insert usb
• run UNetbootin
• select .iso file (not linux version)
• booted completed stick onto laptop
• log in as root
• cfdisk (sda5 set as swap, sda2 set Primary and /boot)
• setup
• read HELP and continue to addswap
• I checked for bad blocks on my first round
• continued to target (formatted as ext2) bad blocks checked originally
• Source: Install form a hard drive partition
• /dev/sdb1
• /slackware64 (after this, the list of packages comes up)
• I chose terse install after this

After this, the installation just stops. ALT+4 shows me that EXT2-fs and EXT3-fs are not on my dev sdb1, which is new... Before, it would allow me to try and install the rest, leading to failure anyway.

As described in the documentation: http://ftp5.gwdg.de/pub/linux/slackw...README_USB.TXT

Nope, that doesnt work in windows, especially not dd. dd just repeats the command you just input, and thats about it. Any changes it makes are definitely not indicated through my usb drive, thats for sure.

plus what good is a bootable usb without the core packages?

As I have stated before, you can use the Image Writer on Windows instead of dd, I already gave you the link to that in a previous post.
The installer is able to use any Slackware mirror or packages on a second partition for the install. There is no need to have the packages on the USB.

Well how do I get packages on my system if I cant install them thru the USB?

specifically: the core packages?

Also, the link you gave me led me to download a program that does not have a setup or executable...

As I stated above, any Slackware mirror will do the job. You can find a list of mirrors here: http://mirrors.slackware.com/mirrorlist/
A Slackware package tree on any other medium (DVD, USB, HDD, Samba-share, ...) will also work.

If you look at the right site of that page I linked to you will find a binary download, inside a zip file. Installation is not needed.

...

I have Slackware64-14.0-install-dvd already, I meant ImageWriter for Windows.

I too.