As part of instructions from Slackware Installation site, I am trying to make a boot file from the ISO (10.2VER). The command given: 'dd if=[image file name] of=/dev/fd0'
Tried image file 'bare.i' and also 'pportide.i'
Error from Red Hat OS: "opening 'pportide.i' no such file, directory" Also tried 'C:\>RAWRITE bare.i a:' from WinXP command line with negative result.

Slackware help site:
'http://www.slackware.com/install/bootdisk.php'
I have not seen a command w/ 2 = symbols??
Installing to stand-alone desktop, PATA IDE Controllers. (ISO was copied with process: 'image burned to disk').
Please help, I am trying to get out of RH.
Thanks,
Joe

That installation guide is out of date, this is a more recent one:
http://genek.net/LinuxAdventures/sys...allation1.html

Hi Joe.

Glad to hear that you're trying Slackware.

The page you link to is rather old: it's doubtful that you'd actually need to create a boot floppy --- it sounds as though you've already successfully burnt the image to a CD. If you have a fairly modern computer you should simply be able to reboot directly from the disc (to do this, you may have to alter the boot order in the BIOS setup menu, to tell your computer to boot from the CD/DVD first).

It's good that you're "reading the manual" --- unfortunately the manual is a bit outdated (perhaps Slackware's maintainers believe that keeping the website up to date is simply not slack... ).

Also, is there a reason why you've gone for Slackware 10.2? It's about five years old, and there have been half a dozen stable releases of Slackware since then --- with another one imminent as I write. Unless you have some particular need to use an older release --- and this applies to any Linux distribution, really --- then it's generally a good idea to use the newest version. (The very latest stable release, Slackware 13.37, should be ready for download in a few days if you don't mind waiting!)

Anyway, I hope this helps.

Good luck!

1 members found this post helpful.

Ignotum,(hope that's the first name) I took 10.2 because it was short(2 disks) with good rating. Only interested in CLI at this point. An old winxp does the other stuff like IE, multimedia, etc. BrianL gave me a link that's perfect but not working yet. CD is first in line at the BIOS and Slackware tries to load for about 30 seconds then the machine goes to floppy and ultimately to HD to load RedHat. Next I will try uninstalling Red Hat. Maybe that will work. Several posts have recommended newer programs so maybe I should download another. Appreciate your comments and helpful message. I'll keep reading the you-know-what!
Thanks, Joe.

You mean formatting the partitions? If yes, then Slackware's cfdisk will help, when you boot the slack CD, it will ask for creating the partitions. cfdisk is easier to handle than the fdisk.

First verify the download with md5sum.
Then burn the iso to CD/DVD.
Make sure to burn it as ISO.
If boot from CD/DVD fails, try to burn the CD/DVD at a lower speed.

Kind regards

Unlike most other distros, some old Slackware releases are still supported with security updates.

...I'm actually called Paul, but I'll answer to anything. (Ignotum Per Ignotius was a nickname I adopted when I started tutoring mathematics --- badly...)

Ah, I see.

Two possibilities suggest themselves immediately:

1. The first is that the CD was not burnt correctly (either it wasn't burned as a bootable ISO, or perhaps an error occurred during burning --- maybe the burning options were too ambitious). This is alluded to by repo above. If you burned the CD as a data CD rather than as an ISO, then when you view the contents of the CD itself (e.g. under Red Hat or XP), you'll see just a single file called something like "slackware-10.2-install-d1.iso", instead of a list of files and folders. Also, did you verify the image on the disk after burning it?
   
2. The second possibility is that the CD's fine, but your computer just won't boot it --- this is something I myself have experienced, though if you have a newish machine, it's unlikely. In this case, you could either try creating boot & root floppies (as per the Slackware instructions) or alternatively you could try a more general boot loader such as Smart Boot Manager (ultimately this is what I opted for with my uncooperative machine, as it took up only a single floppy and I could use it to boot other CDs). There's some introductory information about it here and there's a tutorial on it here.

The presence or absence of Red Hat shouldn't affect things --- if the CD/DVD is the first boot device, then by the time the computer actually looks at the hard drive, the CD has already been bypassed (so it won't matter what's on the hard drive itself). ...And as Anisha says above, if you don't want Red Hat, then you can simply overwrite it with Slackware when you install the latter.

If you do try a newer version then, as repo has emphasised, make certain you burn it as an ISO (and it's worth burning it at a slow speed, to try to reduce the likelihood of write errors).

Glad to have helped: let us know how you get on!

Good luck!


Paul.

Here's the status at present....I used fdisk from floppy to delete partitions from Red Hat. I was hoping to use same partitions but I have to admit I panicked and reached for the "terminator". I did try to make a boot floppy from the ISO but that failed also so it does appear to be a bad copy. Plan to download Slackware again and verify with md5sum. In the meantime, my copy of Arch arrived and installation went very smoothly. It is much easier to use than Red Hat and it responds well to commands from the textbooks. The future looks bright and cheerful once again.
Thanks to everyone for advice.
Joe

I never got that far with Slackware. I think maybe the bios couldn't find the MBR. Probably a bad copy. Repo recommended verifying with md5sum. There are so many variables, it is difficult to put all the pieces together.
Anyway, I want to thank you for suggesting Arch Linux. It's a good one