I'm trying to install slackware 8.0. I created the boot and root floppies and am able to get into the setup program. I can only get as far as selecting the source then I'm stuck. Is the root floppy the source or do I need to download more files? If it is the sorce, I'm having trouble pointing linux to the floppy drive.

The source is where ever you are installing from - for example a CD or network mount. The boot and root disk just gives you a mininal operating system to allow you to install the rest of the system. If you've only got a boot and root disk then you've got a fare few hundred megs to download yet! If you have a CD writer your best bet is to download the install.iso image from your nearest mirror of ftp.slackware.com or to get your hands on the CD. The install CD is bootable too so you don't need to worry about floppies then.

Did you create any file systems using fdisk before running setup? If not you'll need to do that too. Have a read http://www.slackware.com/install/ and http://www.linuxdoc.org/HOWTO/Instal...WTO/index.html

HTH

Jamie...

Thanks for the reply. I did visit both sites and read as much info as I could find. So, if I download the install.iso file, or obtain it on CD and install it, I should have a bootable version of Linux loaded on my machine?

Where can I get a copy of the 8.0 CD?

The main site is the shop at http://www.slackware.com but there are bound to be other distributors near you in the US. Being in the UK unfortunatly I can't say I know any though!

HTH

Jamie...

I was able to download the A disk set in the hopes that I can get myself up and running with the bare minimum. I.m having trouble getting Linux to read the CD and I'm not sure if it's my hardware or if I don't have the directories correct on the CD. When I use the boot disk and go back to read the messages, Linux is assigning /dev/hdc as an ATAPI cdrom, which I have. The cdrom drive is old (>5 years) at 4x. What is the full path that Linux is looking for on the cd.

The installer will be looking for slakware/a1 on the CDROM for the A disk set. Here is the full listing for the slakware directory
HTH

Jamie...

I finally got it installed but I'm having a problem with LILO. I can deal with that later since I can boot from floppy instead. I'm able to log in and I see "root@darkstar:". It appears I only have read access and I can't mount the cdrom. How do establish read/write access. I only loaded package a1 so I'm working with the bare bones system. Is there a really good book out there. I need something to turn to when I get stuck. I anticipate getting stuck most steps of the way at first.

So you logon as root and you can't write any files? If this is the case then for some strange reason your root file system must be getting mouted read only. What do you have in /etc/fstab ?

How are you trying to mount the CD-ROM and what errors do you get? All the Slackware default kernels should have CD-ROM support.

As for a good book... uhm... dunno really. There is a book on Slackware site at http://www.slackware.com/book/ but I haven't got a clue what it's like. One of your best general resources will be http://www.linuxdoc.org and the HOWTOs that it holds. Do you realise that you've chosen one of the hardest distro's to start with? It won't do very much for you, but you'll learn a lot and pretty damn quickly. If you want a softer introduction you might want to consider Mandrake or Redhat.

cheers

Jamie...

I seem to learn the best when I jump in head first. I have the mindset to grasp this and am sure I wil. I did try both Corel and Caldera but neither would run properly on my machine (compaq P100, 28 megs ram, 1.2gb hd). That's why I figured I'd start fresh with the bare bones system. I'll keep adding packages as I go and learn. So far I have an OS that works, I just don't know what to do with it yet. Anyway, when I go into /etc/fstab I only see the Linux swap and native partition (/dev/hda1, /dev/hda2). Do I add a line in here for the cdrom? If so, how? If I want to just browse the CD in the cdrom drive, what would the command look like?

Say that your CD-ROM is the slave device on your first controller then you'll want to issue a command something like If the installer created a symlink for you at boot time the you should also be able to do a The disc will now be accessible by looking in the /cdrom directory.

HTH

Jamie...