Slackware - InstallationThis forum is for the discussion of installation issues with Slackware.
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First time on these forums, so Hello! : )
Im going to get straight to it, I've been a windows user all my life and one day i just had this notion to try out a UNIX. So i picked up a couple of books and i tried Ubuntu and now I'm using PClinuxOS. Now i want to switch so Slackware because i keep hearing everyone saying
"If you learn Fedora, You know Fedora, But If you learn Slackware
You Know Slackware
(plus the fact that my PCLinuxOS doesn't have any man pages)
So i downloaded the discs from 1-6 (13.1) and i want to install from a usb, by the way i`ve read a few guides on how to do it and searched up my questions but I still cant figure them out! So here they are...
Will my USB be useless after using it to install Slackware ?
Do i have to make a partition and put all of the Slackware
disks on the computer that i`m installing it on?(If so will Slackware install on the said partition ?) ( I have an 8 gig usb so can`t i just put all the files on that???)
Will Slackware uninstall PCLinuxOS ( If No how do i do it?)
(BTW i have no LAN or any sort of connection to my linux PC)
What is a swap partition, what is its purpose and how big is it supposed to be?
A lot of sites say that the usb image is included with the Slackware installation, how can i get access to that?
Also, im on windows so how do i get the usb image on to my usb
(copy paste??? or some mounting stuff??)
Slackware will not wipe anything off your harddisk unless you tell it to. First stage of the installation (before starting "setup") is to use fdisk or cfdisk to create any partitions you need. If you want Slackware to re-use your existing PCLinuxOS partition(s) then all you need to do is to run the "setup" right away and tell the installer to use the existing Linux partition.
Hey, thanks for the guide but i still have one problem,
The guide says "Use Winimage to extract the content of the image file “D:\usb-and-pxe-installers\usbboot.img” to the newly created directory “U:\boot\syslinux\” on the stick"
Problem is, i downloaded Disk 1-6, not the full dvd set, so i just have the ISO's, where is this image???
Also for every ISO image i have i have an .asc and a .md5 file too, what are those for??
EDIT
Okay sorry i figured it out, i mounted disk 6 and found the usb and pxe file
Okay, I have successfully made my usb, but now when im installing i cant figure out the instruction you directed me to.
PHP Code:
When booting this USB installer (the version containing the Slackware packages), you have to mount the USB partition before starting “setup” because you can access your packages only after mounting it. You cannot use the directory “/mnt” to mount this partition because the Slackware installer uses “/mnt” already. After the booting has finished and it delivers you to a command-prompt, you create a new directory in the installer, for instance “/usbinstall“:
mkdir /usbinstall
After you have created this mount point, you have to find out the name of your partition (you can run “fdisk -l” or “blkid” to find out) and then use the following mount command to preserve upper case filenames:
The “shortname” option used in that mount command is required, and Slackware installation will fail if you forget it.
If you labeled the stick’s partition “USBSLACKINS” in step 7 above, then you can use the following command instead of the previous mount command. It will find the correct partition automatically (note that what follows is a single command line !):
Then afterwards, when it is time to specify the package SOURCE directory, you type:
/usbinstall/slackware-13.0/slackware
The rest of the installation will proceed as usual. Give me feedback in the comment section below if you encounter any problems. [/CODE]]
can someone explain this to me a bit easier please??? also why is his code (mount -t vfat -o ro,shortname=mixed $(/sbin/blkid -t LABEL=USBSLACKINS | cut -f1 -d /usbinstall) identical in both spots where he mentions it??? Please hellp!!!
Eric has changed his method slightly, to make it easier, but has left some stuff from the previous instructions that is causing your confusion.
What you want to do is:
Boot the USB installer and wait until booting has finished and delivers you to a command-prompt. (Look for a line ending with # and a flashing cursor.)
Create a new directory to use as a mount point using the command:
Code:
mkdir /usbinstall
Mount the appropriate partition.
If you labeled the stick's partition “USBSLACKINS” in step 7 above, then you can use the following command that will automatically mount the appropriate partition.
When i enter the code mount -t vfat -o ro,shortname=mixed $(/sbin/blkid -t LABEL=USBSLACKINS | cut -f1 -d /usbinstall i egt a big long note talking about mounting and other stuff, am i supposed to use /sbin/blkid as the directory or come up with my own? Please help! BTW i only have 2 partitions and ones a swap. (if partitions have anythign to do with that code)
That command will only work if you labeled the stick's partition “USBSLACKINS”.
To explain the above command:
mount is the command name.
-t vfat tells mount that you want to mount a vfat file system.
-o ro,shortname=mixed are options for the mount. (ro is for read only. shortname=mixed is for display the short name as is; store a long name when the short name is not all upper case.)
$(/sbin/blkid -t LABEL=USBSLACKINS | cut -f1 -d is a bash command substitution. It takes the output of the /sbin/blkid command, looks for the label USBSLACKINS and then isolates the appropriate device name (e.g. /dev/sda1).
That device is then mounted to the /usbinstall directory.
If you are having problems, then it may be due to your partition name. If you have already partitioned your target system then it is likely that the stick's vfat partition is the only vfat partition available.
You could try changing to
Okay, so i tried typing /sbin/blkid and my usb is not displayed, only the two partions are.
I think this is because i am using plop boot manager in order to boot from my usb because my bios does not support usb booting.
But something interesting did happen, i tried putting my usb in various ports and one time it was detected, i messed up and tried to mount it without making a directory and my brother pulled the plug (*tough life), but it was surprising because my usb was detected.
I found out that my usb was named USBSLACKINS and also the file was something like /dev/sdba or something like that, what i mean is that the last part of the file location which could be sda1 or sda 2 had a "b" in it, thats what i remember (in case that helps anyone in solving the question.
I also tried going to the /dev directory and i found sda1 and sda two but it hink my usb may be at a higher part of the list, because i just typed "ls" and it scrolled by fast (fat chance though, because if it was in the directory it would be detected right?)
currently i have no internet connection to that computer, also i have no operating systems on it.
Any help??? That computer used to be a windows 2000 until it became a ubuntu, i formatted that in one day and installed PClinuxOS, then i formatted that because it had no man pages and decided to with slackware, im not about to quit anytime soon, so please HELP!!! BTW plop bootmanager is able to boot from my usb yet the kernel or cmd (w/e its called) cannot detect it??
hey, okay
I found that when i leave the usb in my computer for a while (an hour or two) and i come back and use /sbin/blkid
Then my usb is detected Thanks a lot, i ran the setup over night, im at school right now so il check on it when i get back home,
It was installing lilo when i checked before, so it hink it was a successful installation, thanks a lot!
Installed slackware jsut in time for march break
ARGHH!!!
Another problem, i finished installation, installed everything, it said it was succesful, i rebooted like it told me to and....
GRUB error 15 (blackscreen) wtf???! i thought lilo was my boot manager???
help please!!!
I tried both booting from hardrive AND nomrally!
bad start to march break HELP please!
It seems that you installed lilo to the root partition of your Slackware install rather than the MBR. You will need to get your bootloader to chainload the Slackware partition.
Okay so whats chainlaoding and how do i do that?
EDIT
when i use plop to boot from hda Partion 1 OR 2 i get a message saying no valid boot signature do you stilll want to boot?
i say yes but all i get is a blackscreen with a blinking cursor?
is it possible to reinstall just LILO???
EDIT
Okay forget that, i just formatted the whole drive with the setup
(luckily it detected my USB)
And my computer is currently reinstalling the whole thing
(hope it works this time ; )
Okay, problem...again!
Reinstalled slackware...lilo cant install to MBR because of video card n stuff
Then i find out i could have just pressed reconfigure system to reinstall lilo
i tried different methods of installing lilo, none worked (tried expert and simple)
LILO WILL NOT INSTALL TO MBR
Now what do i do?
Everything I find on internet about installing lilo to a cd is confusing
and constantly talks about dual booting, which i dont need.
Please explain what i should do and how??? :S
Thanks very much!
Ima stick with Slackware to the end ; )
Can i install GRUB and use it instead???It looks like that would be easier...?
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