Have you tried using a boot floppy?
--Lawrence

(edit)
oops didn't read the whole thread, duh, i've been searching for a few days for this fix. thanks guys

I spent several hours trying to install Slackware 12.0 on an older machine. Only recently did I learn about the "-boot-load-size 4" vs "-boot-load-size 32" issue. Apparently, older BIOS can't do the 32. Slackware and Slackware 12 official ISO images were both made with 32. My solution was to mount the standard Slack 12.0 DVD on a different machine, copy the contents to a directory, then create a new iso image with "-boot-load-size 4":

$ cd /path/to/directory/

$ mkisofs -o /tmp/slack12.iso -R -J -A "Slackware Install" -hide-rr-moved -v -d -N -no-emul-boot -boot-load-size 4 -boot-info-table -sort isolinux/iso.sort -b isolinux/isolinux.bin -c isolinux/isolinux.boot -V "SlackDVD" .

That will build a slack12.iso in /tmp, which you can burn with your usual dvd burner.

Hi,
Did you try booting with another earlier Slackware release install cd then swap with Slackware 12 cd1?

Well done jessica6--sounds like you're going to enjoy Salckware..

Happy Slacking,
--Lawrence

Yes, I tried booting a 10.2 CD and installing, but that version is 2.4 kernel; slack 12.0 is 2.6 kernel. It complained during the install about incompatible glibc (wrong kernel).

I'm curious about the reason why they started using the larger "boot-load-size 32" in Slack 11. Is there any advantage?

here's a link from much earlier in this thread:
http://www.linuxquestions.org/questi...69#post2577469
The slack 10.2 isolinux readme is the only place I know of where Pat V.
discusses this...

--Lawrence

Hi,
I should have been specific with the release. If you use the Slackware 11 then swap out with the Slackware 12 cd1, you will be able to boot. Read the Slackware 11 Release Note.

Obvious as to why the increase from 4 to 32!

Thank you so much for posting this. I've had problems with my old Pentium III ever since Slackware 11 was released. I did what you posted and it worked like a charm! I did some tweaks to it. Instead of just copying to kernels, and I just went ahead and copied the whole cdrom and burned it. That worked just fine.

Thanks again for posting this!

stormtracknole posted:

You're very welcome...this was an interesting problem since
it required not just that one read the readme's and release notes
and the isolinux readme for Slack 10.2 -- 11.0 But to notice
what was changed! If not for the slack usenet group and
William Hunt's post on alt.os.linux.slackware that lead me to this,
I'd still be scratching my head :-)

Actually, its kinda fun to burn your own custom slackware iso's :-)

--Lawrence

Still not clear to me why 32 is better than 4. With 4, it installed great. I'd imagine the installation would have been satisfactory with 4 on a newer system as well. Sorry if I missed something in the translation!

But I'm happy with my slack12 DVD that works on all systems, new and old alike.

Jessica6 posted:
I mount cd's on /mnt/cdrom, so with the first install cd for Slackware 10.2 mounted, consider this quote from the *isolinux* readme at:
/mnt/cdrom/isolinux/README.TXT

I should note that this is not a part of Slackware 11.0. Seeing that
as a difference in Slack 10.2 vs. 11.0-12.0 is the clue that solves the
mystery...

In the *isolinux* readme for Slack 11.0, this is the mkisofs example:

Note the boot-load-size...

The deeper question is why do different bios versions require different
sizes...beats me :-(

--Lawrence

Hello all. Just like to say this is my first post, and what a helpful bunch of people this looks like!

Anyway, here's my problem...


I currently have an old computer lying about which I want to run Slackware 12.1 (to be used mainly for web surfing etc). Specs:

PIII 450MHz
SuperMicro P6SBA motherboard (BIOS updated to latest official version)
Plextor CD-RW drive (bit vague I know, but issue is with BIOS)

I can boot Slackware versions up to 10.2, but no later. I have come to the decision that I am faced with the boot sector problem discussed earlier (yep - I read the whole thread).

I have tried the following with no success:-
Booting with a Slackware 10.2, then swithcing to 12.1
Booting from USB or other devices
Using Smart Boot Manager (and other boot programs, actually)

I have read the instruction on how to create an image with a smaller boot sector, but I have absolutely no idea how to do this. I only have one computer (the one mentioned above) and it is currently running Windows XP Pro, so the image-making instructions make no sense to me!

Is there a simple way for me to create a CD which will boot on my old machine from within windows?

Thanks for reading.

Hi darkglobe87,

Annoying problem isn't it? Let me clear this away first: is the
Slackware 12.1 install disk a CD image, and not a DVD, and does it
have the correct md5 checksum? I know this sounds obvious, but if
you or someone else burned the disk from the web, mistakes are possible.

I read that you only have the one computer, but if you have access to
another newer one, a quick check is to try the 12.1 disk in a newer
computer to see if it boots.

When a 10.2 disk boots, you mentioned that swapping to the 12.1
disk did not work. Jessica6 reported that the installer complained
about the glibc version. Is that what happened? I.E,, after
linux loads, and the welcome text and boot prompt appears, and you
accept the default bare.i kernel for 10.2 by hitting enter, what
happens when you swap out the 10.2 disk and type setup?

Note that the 12.1 default smp kernel will not work for your hardware.
If you get that far, later you must use huge.s for 12.1 on your
machine.

Oh, let me speak to your question about creating an altered 12.1
boot disk on windows: I don't know how to do that. (sorry)

Just as an aside, if you only wish for limited uses, why not use 10.2?
It kept me happy for quite awhile :-)

Finally, if all else fails, and 10.2 installs, 10.2 can be used to
create a boot disk with the -boot-load-size 4 attribute that might
work for you to get 12.1 Check the instructions in
12.1 dsk1 /isolinux/README

You could also use the upgrade procedure from 10.2 to 12.1, but
carefully read the instructions first. This does involve a 2.4
to a 2.6 kernel, maybe a new initrd and some lilo edits. The docs
are in 12.1 install dsk1 UPGRADE.txt

HTH,
--Lawrence

I have ISO files for a "mini" CDROM installer here - for several Slackware releases: http://www.slackware.com/~alien/slackboot/mini/ mirrored here: http://slackware.org.uk/3rd-party/alien/slackboot/mini/

The ISO size is about 30 MB for the Slackware 12.1 install ISO. These ISOS were built with the -boot-load-size 4 so they may just boot on your computer.
What you need is a copy of the Slackware DVD's /slackware directory somewhere on the hard disk. The ISO is so small because it does not contain a single package, just the kernels and the setup files. During installation, you can point setup to a "pre-mounted partition"... which implies that after booting and before running 'setup' you must manually mount the disk partition (can be vfat or ntfs too) where you copied the Slackware package directory.

Eric