Today I dove into Linux. I installed Slackware 9.1. Everyhting seems to be working, although I need alot of tweaking. First of all, everytime I boot to Linux, I need to use the floppy to boot. I currently have Boot Magic installed, with Windows XP as default. Wehn I reboot, then try to go to Linux, it won't boot up. I need to reboot from the floppy to go to Linux. How can this be fixed?
Next, it won't recognize my NIC card. I have a Intel Pro100/VE. I donwloaded the drivers and put on a floppy, but how the heck do I install the drivers, or can I get the card recognized another way. for that fact, how do I install any drivers, etc?
As you can see, I'm very new to this, but it seems like a great OS so far.
Any help is greatly appreciated!

Anybody-I'll take any kind of advise to help me get mey NIC card recognized

My suggestion is to search and read.
First up, you need to compile the kernel, this is where you choose all your hardware, the kernel is the heart of linux, think of it as the device manager in windows.
When you have set this up correctly, it will reconise your hardware, and hopefully boot normally.


http://wiki.linuxquestions.org/wiki/Compiling_a_Kernel
This link is an exellent start, allthough there is some commands on it which you dont need.
I'll give you a start then...

1. you probably already have a kernel installed, so I would suggest using that...
2. The kernel is located in /usr/src/linux (linux is a symbiotic link to the actual kernel, which you will see when you are in /usr/src

go to /usr/src/linux
and type make menuconfig, or if you're in x with a console, type make xconfig
This will bring you up to a selection menu, it will take some time going trough this, and please use the ? in it, if there is something you dont understand.

Then when you're done, it's usually a good idea to backup your setup, with the backup option, so you can bring it out later, if you need to change something.

Then you need to type
make dep
make clean
make bzImage

then, copy

cp /usr/src/linux-x.x.x/arch/i386/boot/bzImage /boot/
Then
cp /usr/src/linuxx.x.x/System.map /boot/

So now yo got, bzImage, which contains all of your information..

To load this into the startup, you need to edit your bootloader, dont know how it works for you, since I've only used lilo.

Maybe someone else could fill in the rest for me here.

don't have too much expertise here, but here goes.
A. are the drivers in a 'linux' format (.tar.gz, .gz, .bz2)?
B. what was the boot location you selected on install (dual boot under slack generally defaults to the boot disk, hence your prob) recommended is /root partition, or if your primary OS will be unix, use MBR.
luck -O.

Hi kimbo.

Congrats on your decision. That said, slackware is one of the harder distros to just pick up and run with (that's probably why you picked it). If you're looking for something a little more gentle, consider Mandrake or Fedora (or heck, there's lots of other great ones, but they probably aren't Slackware or Gentoo for you at this stage).

Re: the dual boot. You'll need to instal a boot manager. The two biggest are LILO and Grub. Google will help you out on that front.

Re: the NIC. You probably need to compile whatever it was you downloaded.

Maybe the path of least resistance at this point is a less sophisticated distro?

bigVoice is actually right, it took me a great deal of reading and time to get slack going...
And Mandrake will help you, but only up to a point..

Consider downloading and installing mandrake, and take your time to read, it's really important...
The first thing you should start with in this point, is how to set up the kernel, as it is important for your hardware. Check out my link, and print it if possible, much easier to work that way..

Kan only say one more thing, you've made the right choise, and don't give up
There's a lot of really helpfull information on net, so try searching, and you will see that it might not be all that hard...

Thanks for your help. My son, who is in college, said all his friends use Slackware. He said the same thing, it is harder to setup, but they feel i is the best OS for Linux. I think that if I can get the NIC foun, I wil be able to study and learn more. I have been typing the commands you gave me in the linux console. Is this correct?
Thanks again for your help. I may switch to Mandrake, byt because I already have Slackware started, I'll give this a shot first

Good for you!

People often get frustrated when they try Linux and it just turns out to be "too hard". (I'm not suggesting this of you, only a generality). But boy, is it ever rewarding once you've gotten it down. I think you'll enjoy your new stable, secure, virus proof, machine much more then Windows after you get it set up.

From here, if you've decided to stick with Slackware, I'd start hanging out and reading the Slackware board a lot now also. If you find it isn't going as fast as you wanted... start reading the Mandrake board also. In my mind, no disto beat Mandrake for "just working" but NO distro is everything to everyone.

If in a few months you find yourself using Slack as your primary OS, consider throwing a few bucks their way as a way of saying thanks!

If you find yourself stuck, we're always here for you now kimbo, just as you are here for others. Congrats again!

slack is hard, but just about the only distro that you can setup and keep on the Bleeding Edge. check out www.swaret.org (SlackWardTool). it will keep your system right up to the most recent Linux release apps and files.
also cruise the slack forum. i had to go back to SuSE because i gotta wait for Slack 10. i got a brand new HP/Compaq, and the video and audio drivers i need are a little too new even for Slack-current. so i have, essentially, a 300 dollar paperweight.
love that slack, tho. good luck. like posted above, it is just about the most versitile and stable os you can get.