Can't Install from DOS. Please help me.

junglemike · 04-04-2006, 08:59 PM

HI. My lapotop has no floppy, no cd-rom, no network, can't boot from usb.
So my only way is installing from dos using Loadlin.exe.
While in windows, i created
a) 4.5gb ext.2 partition for Slackware
b) 500mb swap linux partition
c) temporary 2gb fat32 partition - i extracted there contents of both 2 installation .iso files (10.2 version) - so that it would be accessible from dos and from setup.

Here's what i did:

1) I copied bzimage file to c:\ (c is fat32). I took bzimage file from BareAcpi.I directory on cd1

2) I copied initrd.img file to c:\ from \isolinux direcotry on cd1

3)Start Win98, At the very beginning press F8, and choose "command prompt only"

4) Started Loadlin, using this command:

Code:

loadlin.exe c:\bareacpi\bzimage initrd=c:\initrd.img root=/dev/ram rw load_ramdisk=1

Here is what i get:

Code:

.....
...
.. 
Uncompressing Linux...
invalid compressed format (err=1)
  --System halted

I took this parameters from some guide on loadlin.
I also tried some other parameters, but notheing works.
I'm newbie in linux.
PLEASE HELP ME.

Randux · 04-05-2006, 05:30 AM

You shouldn't need an initrd for Slackware. Try just pointing to the kernel. For a newbie, what you did so far is pretty good!

wchild · 04-05-2006, 09:27 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by junglemike

My laptop has no floppy, no cd-rom, no network, can't boot from usb.
So my only way is installing from dos using Loadlin.exe.

...

1) I copied bzimage file to c:\ (c is fat32). I took bzimage file from BareAcpi.I directory on cd1

Just curious: how did you copy the kernel image to your disk C: ?
I mean from where ?

And how are you going to install/upgrade packages in the future if you succeed with installing Linux?

Randux · 04-05-2006, 12:31 PM

He must have typed it in himself

Now that I think of it, that's a very good question.

Alien_Hominid · 04-05-2006, 02:13 PM

He said that he has usb.

MS3FGX · 04-05-2006, 04:07 PM

He never said he had working USB, he just said he couldn't boot to USB.

Windows 98 does not include USB Mass Storage drivers, so it would be entirely possible that he could not use USB storage on it.

One could assume, that since he has copied files onto it, that he has gotten the USB Mass Storage drivers installed (though he could have just have easily downloaded the Slackware kernels over an internal 56K modem), but it certainly isn't a definite.

wchild · 04-06-2006, 02:43 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by MS3FGX

One could assume ...

Let's not make assumptions to avoid sliping away from the subject

Let's wait for the guy make it clear.