If you aren't able to install THE DEFAULT SLACKWARE BOOTLOADER, then you don't have a full install.

Actually yes, you have. That Lilo is not installed to the MBR does not mean that the Lilo package isn't installed, you have the same number of packages, so it is a full install.

Then why is the OP unable to install lilo?

Probably a problem with the configuration? Without more information we can only guess.

I thought it might help to expand the size of the partition. I adjusted the partition to which I targeted /root to be 10000M (this for an install that claims to require 7.8G). I don't know what the sizes of LILO and GRUB are, but it didn't turn out to matter since the entire install process was stopped short by a segfault. I don't actually know what a segmentation fault is, and I certainly don't know how to solve it. Might it mean there's not enough free space?

Does the installer overwrite whatever might be on the target partition, or does it try and use only empty space? Does this mean I should check for bad blocks next time? Delete everything on the device?

As pointed out by TobiSGD, we need more information to be helpful: we are really in the dark about what you did yet and your installation.

So please answer following questions:

1. Were you successfull in launching pxesetup, in other words can you see Slackware installer's greeting screen on the CF-29? Or did you manage to make a boot floppy and with that can you see installer's greeting screen?
2. How did you adjust the target partition? With what tool?
3. Do you intent to install Slackware Linux alongside Windows WP or to wipe out Windows XP, in which case you would devote all the space on your hard disk to Slackware Linux?
4. What is the size of your hard disk? do you have more than one?
5. What is your hard disk's layout at present? To tell that, once logged in the installer but before running "setup" type:
   Code:

   cfdisk

   then please post back the output.

To begin answering your questions:

1. What did you do exactly just before the segfault occurred?
2. I'm not sure, but don't think that a segfault can be caused by a lack of space on disk. In any case 10 G is enough to install Slackware, if not to add a lot of data afterwards.
3. The target partition should be empty (at least for a fresh installation) and of type Linux before you begin installing. When you set the target partition in the installer, it looks for Linux partitions and propose them as possible target. When you pick one it asks if you want to format it: say yes and choose ext4 as file system. This will wipe out all that was on that partition, of course.
4. The installer *can* use only the free space on the target partition if you tell it not to to format it. This is provided for updating or re-configuring an existing Slackware system but this is *not* your use case.
5. Checking for bad blocks on a hard disk, as doing a 'memtest' before installing, never hurts.
6. The answer to your question "should I delete everything on the device" depends on your answers to questions above.

I can launch a PXE server from my spare computer, an Asus UX50V, and boot the CF-29 that way. During the install, I remove the USB disk from the UX50V and put it in the CF-29 so as to make it easier to access the packages.

I used fdisk to create the partition table I'll give you in a second in response to your later question.

I reformatted the hard drive completely and erased XP. I don't intend to reinstall it.

The total hard drive space is 40 GB. I also have an external 16GB USB thumb drive.

cfdisk 2.21.2
Drive: /dev/sda
Size: 40007761920 bytes, 40.0 GB
Heads: 255 Sectors per track: 62 Cylinders: 486

Name Flags Part Type FS Type Label Size (MB)
sda1 swap 1011.71 (this is my swap partition)
unusable 0.71 (dunno what this is)
sda2 bootable ext4 10485.78* (this is my /root partition)
sda3 ext4 1048.58* (this is my /var partition)
sda4 ext4 27461.56* (this is my /usr partition)
(I don't know why it calls the harddrive sda and not hda.)

I had run setup on the CF-29 and I was in the middle of installing the packages. A number of packages had failed to install. I walked away and came back to find that the installer had quit and a number of the lines on the screen read "segmentation fault." I haven't tried again, but when I do, I'm going to change those ext4s to Linux and see if that helps. Maybe it doesn't reformat a drive (and thus erase the data) if it's already a drive of the FS it wants? I'm also going to take the time to check for bad blocks. I'll do those two things right now and see if that improves the situation.

You certainly do not need separate partitions for /root, /var and /usr and 40 G is not much space nowadays, so first run fdisk or cfdisk again and wipe out /dev/sda2, /dev/sda3 and /dev/sda4, then use all the free space to make a single Linux partition (partition type: Linux or 83) of around 39 GB that will host everything in your system.

BTW it calls the drive sda instead of hda because it is a SATA disk, not an IDE one.

After that , during setup, tell the installer to reformat the big partition (probably it will be named /dev/sda2) and choose ext4 as file system.

"Change ext4 to Linux" doesn't mean anything as ext4 is a file system, not a partition type and this kind of file system is to be installed on a partition of type Linux.

The installer will reformat it even if it is already formatted as Linux and includes an ext4 files system, if you request it to do that

Also, before doing this you could first check your memory with 'memtest' as soon as the greeting screen shows.

Good luck.

PS don't confuse the root Linux partition / (root of your file system) with /root (the directory where the super user, also named "root", store its files). And again, /root do not need to be on a dedicated partition.

Okay, I did this and the installation was successful! I didn't install every package, but I'm going back and doing that now. Presently having some difficulty with X Windows, but that's a different subject and I'll start a new thread for it.