***EDIT***
I put all of this information in my website at
http://shilo.is-a-geek.com/slack . It has updated info. I recommendreading this whole thread, though. Lots of great discussion.
***END EDIT***
Here's how I go about getting my Slackware box up and flying. It's a work in progress, so let me know any suggestions. Feel free to ask questions, too.
As a disclaimer, this is what works for me. Maybe it will work for you, too! Maybe not. I may use some examples which are from my current box that will seem not to make sense. For instance, I may show my /etc/lilo.conf file with a reference to a 2.6.5 kernel before I ever get around to telling you about upgrading to the 2.6.5 kernel. Don't let it throw you off. I just think it is sometimes easier for someone to see the whole file that I am talking about when I reference it instead of just showing the lines that are relevant to what I am currently talking about. Gives you an idea of where everything goes.
Hope it helps someone.
Get Slackware CDs
1) Download the Slackware ISO files. Personally, I like to use BitTorrent to get my ISO files. It's really fast. Anyways, if you want to use the BitTorrent Files, go here
http://www.slackware.com/torrents/index.html . If You want to download the usual way (it' going to take a lot longer!!!), go here
http://www.slackware.com/getslack/ and pick a server. As a note, there are two .iso files that you will need, the first two.
I used Windows ME to download mine. I used Nero to make the Cd's from the .iso files. If you don't have Nero, I'm sure you'll know what it is you do have to make Cd's, so just go with that.
After I've got my installation Cd's all made, it's time to reboot. While the computer is rebooting, I hit the delete key to enter the BIOS setup mode. You might have to press something else, I don't know. Just read the computer screen while it is booting up and it will usually give you a clue. I needed to change a few things in my BIOS to make things go smooth. First I reset the boot order. I like 1)floppy 2)cd-rom 3)hard-drive. Next, I disable BIOS virus protection. I do this because I am going to be writing LILO to the MBR. If the BIOS virus protection is enabled (at least on my computer) you won't be allowed to write to the MBR. I also disable the plug&play OS option. Don't remember why I do that. Seem to remember reading it somewhere. Try it my way and see if it works for you. Save your changes, throw your installation CD into the drive, and reboot.
Install Slackware
2) Do a full install. Don't bother with kdei, that is the internationalization package for KDE. I never need any of the international settings. I also get rid of lprng. I use CUPS. If you have trouble with CUPS, try making sure that the lprng package is removed and re-install the CUPS package. I also start up everything except rc.atalk, rc.bind, rc.lprng, rc.pcmcia, and rc.mysqld. I go about securing my box later. I just find that I have no use for any of these things. YMMV. A great website to check out for some tips on installing Slackware is
http://www.bitbenderforums.com/vb22/...?postid=311808 .
Make Searching Easy
3) After installing everything, the first thing I like to do is "touch /var/lib/slocate/slocate.db". This creates a search database. It's empty, so the next thing I do is "updatedb&". This updates your search database. It makes it very easy to find things with the slocate command.
Get Your X Server Working
4) run xf86config. This is where you set up your X server. This can be frustrating. Read a lot. I like to make sure X is working here before I go any further. If you are new to Linux, it sure is helpful to have X up and running right off the bat. One tip, if you have a scroll wheel mouse and it isn't scrolling properly, edit your xf86config file to read something like this:
Section "InputDevice"
# Identifier and driver
Identifier "Mouse1"
Driver "mouse"
Option "Protocol" "IMPS/2"
Option "Device" "/dev/mouse"
Option "ZAxisMapping" "4 5"
That last line is the important one you may have to add.
Throw in Some Nvidia Drivers
5) Install the Nvidia drivers. Now if you don't have an Nvidia video card, you can be sure that you can skip this step! Go here to get them if you need them
http://www.nvidia.com/object/linux_d..._1.0-5336.html . I just download the NVIDIA-Linux-x86-1.0-5336-pkg1.run file, change over to the directory that I downloaded it to, and type "sh NVIDIA-Linux-x86-1.0-5336-pkg1.run". End of Story. Now, sometimes I guess you have to edit your xf86config file & stuff. I didn't have to, so I wasn't too worried about it. Worked like a charm.
<---------------->
ATI Drivers
Now here is a little something contributed by dawizman. He realized that not everyone is using the Nvidia video cards, so he was nice enough to give me these steps for getting the ATI drivers working. If you use this, make sure you pay attention. Following my directions will have you upgrading to xfree86 4.4, then to the xorg Xserver, and also using the 2.6.5 kernel. Looks like the ATI drivers wouldn't be to happy about that.
Note: You cannot use Xfree 4.4 or kernel 2.6 with these drivers.
Download the proper drivers for your X-Free version off of ATI.com (
http://ati.com/support/driver.html )
Then login as root
Then cd into the directory containing the drivers and run the following:
Code:
rpm2tgz filename.rpm
installpkg filename.tgz
cd /lib/modules/fglrx/build_mod
sh make.sh
cd ..
sh make_install.sh
Make sure in your Kernel that you have the DO NOT have DRI compiled or Moduled in and that for agpgart you have it Moduled in with your correct AGP Chipset compiled in. From there type in the ATI X config command that is giving at the last command to go through there auto XF86Config maker. Then load the modules for your AGP Chipset and fglrx like so
Code:
modprobe agp-gart
modprobe intel-agp
modprobe fglrx
Then run ATI's xf-config utility
<---------------->
Moving on to Dropline
6) Install Dropline Gnome. Go here
http://www.dropline.net . Download the installer. Myself, I like to shut down X and go to the command line to install this. Use the command "installpkg dropline-installer.tgz" after that, type "dropline-installer" and go through the entire install process. Go for full.
One thing to note. I have purposely done all of my configuration to the xf86config file before I install dropline. This is important because Dropline is going to remove xfree86 and replace it with the xorg X server. When it does that, it's going to use your xf86config file to set up it's configuration file, /etc/X11/xorg.conf. I don't want to do some configuring on one file, then have to go do some more configuring on another if it can be avoided. That's why I get all my X configuring out of the way before installing Dropline.
Making Sure You've got the Latest & Greatest
NOTE: The information in this section is outdated and incorrect. If you follow this guide you will break your system!
If you wish to upgrade your system, do not use -current.
The -current branch is the testing ground for the next release of Slackware. Updates to Slackware are contained the /patches directory for their respective versions.
Also, using third party repositories can have unexpected consequences. I no longer recommend using them in conjunction with automated updates.
As this section is wrong, I am removing it from this post.
Making Sure the Latest & Greatest Works!!!
8) Here's a step everyone seems to miss. Since you have done a fresh install, the configuration files should all still be stock. When you upgrade packages, you get a lot of files that end in .new. These are the new configuration files. The updaters that you have run didn't want to get rid of possibly custom configuration files. Since none of our configuration files are custom yet, it's pretty safe to do this: updatedb to update the search database. Now type "slocate .new" Go to each one of those files and drop the .new off of the filename. You'll have to also delete the other file with the same name first.
Wanna Print?
9) Configure CUPS. I use CUPS. Maybe you prefer something else. Oh well, I can't help you too much with that. What I can help you with is setting up CUPS. Your in an X session, right? Well fire up your favorite browser. In the address bar, type "http://localhost:631". It will ask you for a username and password. username is "root" and the password is your root password. Everything from there should be easy-breezy. Just follow along on the web page and add your printer(s). Make sure you print out a test page for your printer(s) to make see if you set them up right. All there is to it. I would also like to remind you that lprng and CUPS don't get along so well. Make sure you don't have lprng running, if you even still have it on your system. Me, I like to remove lprng with pkgtool to make sure there are no conflicts.
Sounds Good to Me
10) Configure ALSA. Really easy for me. I just typed "alsaconf" and,BLAM, everything just worked. Sure, it doesn't work for anyone but root, but that is easy enough to fix. Type "chmod 666 /dev/dsp*" and "chmod 666 /dev/mixer*". Works for me. Now some people will tell you there is a better way, where you make a sound group, put all of the sound devices in that group, and add the users you want to have sound into that group. Well that works, too. Takes a whole lot more typing, and if your new like I was the first time I installed Slackware, you probably just want to get everything working as quickly and easily as possible. You've got all the time in the world once you have everything working to go back and do security tweaks.
Also, since we're dealing with sound and Gnome (at least I am), go to the Desktop Preferences and Sound. Click "Enable sound server startup" and "Sounds for events" and close.
Going Graphical
11) Configure LILO for graphical login. I like LILO. It just makes sense to me. Maybe because that's what Slackware uses, so that's what I learned how to use. The big thing I think that turns people on about other boot loaders like GRUB is the cool graphics. Well wouldn't you know it, you can get some cool graphics for LILO, too. I sure prefer the graphics to the boring red LILO menu.
Here's what I do: Edit lilo.conf, save your changes, and run /sbin/lilo. Easy, huh? Of course it helps to know what you should edit in lilo.conf to make this work, so here is mine.
# LILO configuration file
# generated by 'liloconfig'
#
# Start LILO global section
boot = /dev/hda
#compact # faster, but won't work on all systems.
prompt
timeout = 600
# VESA framebuffer console @ 800x600x64k
vga=788
# ramdisk = 0 # paranoia setting
map = /boot/map-bmp
install=/boot/boot-bmp.b
bitmap = /boot/logo64a.bmp
bmp-colors = 15,,0;5,,15
bmp-table = 59,5,1,18,
bmp-timer= 66,28,6,8,0
# End LILO global section
# Linux bootable partition config begins
image = /boot/vmlinuz-2.6.5
root = /dev/hda2
label = Slackware-2.6.5
read-only # Non-UMSDOS filesystems should be mounted read-only for checking
# Linux bootable partition config ends
# DOS bootable partition config begins
other = /dev/hda1
label = WindowsME
table = /dev/hda
# DOS bootable partition config ends
Fire up your favorite text editor and open up /etc/lilo.conf. Most of the stuff probably already looks similar to mine. The interesting part is the line that starts "map=" through the end of the LILO global section. Now it's not going to work if you don't have the files that are being reference, namely /boot/map-bmp, /boot/boot-bmp.b, and /boot/logo64a.bmp. I'm going off of memory here, but I believe they were all already on my system after a complete install. If they aren't in your /boot directory, use slocate to find them and copy them over to the /boot directory. Edit up that /etc/lilo.conf file and run "/sbin/lilo". No errors, right? Well then, reboot and check out your cool new boot screen.
A side note, I got my /boot/logo64a.bmp file from the Internet. The one that comes with LILO just didn't float my boat. I downloaded the one here
http://users.adelphia.net/~lswysocki/downloads/lilo.bmp an renamed it /boot/logo64a.bmp. A little note if you want to use your own, make sure that the bmp file is 640X480 and has a color depth of 16. Here's some references to some others that should work, in case you wanna check them out:
http://pub84.ezboard.com/fpwnz3rslug...opicID=1.topic http://www.research.rutgers.edu/~mtp...bootscreen.bmp . I haven't tried them, but they look like they should work. I always save whichever one I'm gonn use as /boot/logo64a.bmp. Saves me the trouble of having to edit /etc/lilo. I always like to run /sbin/lilo before I reboot, too. Can't run /sbin/lilo too many time, ya know!
Now seems like as good a time as any to change my default run level. I use the graphical login as well as the graphical LILO. Why? Well I prefer to boot to console, myself. But if you're like me, you're not the only one using the computer. My friends and family that have never even heard of Linux before regularly use Linux on my computer without any problems. I think they would have been a little less willing to try out Linux if I had it booting to console. Maybe I'm wrong, but, whatever.
Anyhow, crank up your favorite text editor and open /etc/inittab . Now see that line that says:
# Default runlevel. (Do not set to 0 or 6)
id:3:initdefault:
Change it to:
# Default runlevel. (Do not set to 0 or 6)
id:4:initdefault:
Now you'll be greeted by your shiny new graphical login manger when you boot up. If you're like me, you'll have your share of troubles and wish you were logging into console. When something like that comes up, it's nice to remember that ctrl-alt-f6 opens up a text console. Ctrl-alt-f7 takes you back to X.
I Call This Section fstab
12) Edit /etc/fstab. Slackware did a pretty good job of setting things up for me. It missed my cd-rw, but as you can see in my /etc/fstab, it's really easy to add it in.
/dev/hda3 swap swap defaults 0 0
/dev/hda2 / reiserfs defaults 1 1
/dev/hda1 /fat-c vfat auto,rw,umask=000 1 0
/dev/cd-rw /mnt/cd-rw iso9660 noauto,user,ro 0 0
/dev/dvd-rom /mnt/dvd-rom iso9660 noauto,user,ro 0 0
/dev/fd0 /mnt/floppy auto noauto,user 0 0
devpts /dev/pts devpts gid=5,mode=620 0 0
none /proc proc defaults 0 0
none /sys sysfs defaults 0 0
You'll notice that for my Windows partition, I've added umask=000. This makes it so that my regular users can use the partition. Also notice that my cd-rw is read only. You don't mount it to burn Cd's, so you don't need write permission in order to use it. I also added the sysfs entry. Something you have to do if you're going to be using the 2.6.xx kernel. I like the 2.6.xx kernel because I no longer need to enable SCSI emulation in order to use my cd-rw. I believe thats all the modifications I had to make to the /etc/fstab file. I also had to create /mnt/cd-rw, /mnt/dvd-rom, /dev/cd-rw, and /dev/dvd-rom. The devices I created are links to /dev/hdc and /dev/hdd . To give you an example of how I did this, you can use a command like "ln -s /dev/hdc /dev/hdd ". While we are working on the optical drives, nows a good time to make sure that /dev/dvd and /dev/cdrom point where you want them to. Also, check to see that users have permission to use all of those devices. Will save you a lot of headaches when you are trying to figure out why you can't listen to Cd's and DVD's.
Fixing a Major Issue
13) Disable system beep. This is one of those things that just annoys me. When I'm typing away at the command line, I make a mistake and I get an annoying beep from the PC speaker. It's easy as pie to get rid of, though. Open up the file /etc/inputrc and you should see a line that says "set bell-style audible". Change that to "set bell-style none" and save the file. When you boot up again, that annoying beep is history.
Time for a New Kernel
14) Install new kernel. If your still with me at this point, I'm thinking that you might be a lot like me. You know there is something new and better than what you have out there. Why else are you using swaret to upgrade you to the latest and greatest every day? So you probably want to check out the new 2.6.5 kernel. Here's how I do it, and it has worked like a charm every time.
Maybe, like I was the first time, you are a little nervous and want to make sure you get everything just right. I do all of my kernel upgrades right inside Gnome. It just seems easier to me. First off, you need to get the new kernel. Crank up the favorite browser and point it to
http://www.kernel.org/pub/linux/kern...-2.6.5.tar.bz2 . If your setup is like mine, your going to get a pop-up window asking you where you would like to store this bad boy. A real good choice is /usr/src . After it finishes, use your file manager to open up /usr/src . Double-click on the package that you just downloaded. That will open up file-roller. Click on extract. Make sure that the re-create folders option is checked and click ok. You'll now see a new folder (linux-2.6.5) in /usr/src. While your looking, you should also see a folder with a shortcut mark named linux in /usr/src. Go ahead and delete that folder. Now, right click on the new folder that you created a second ago (linux-2.6.5) and pick "Make Link". There is a new folder now named "link to linux-2.6.5". Right click on that folder, pick rename, and change the name to "linux" (no quotes). Wow, we are moving right along here.
Now we are going to open up a terminal. Type "cd /usr/src/linux" Now we are going to type "make gconfig". As if by magic, you should see a new window pop up that is named "Linux Kernel v2.6.5 Configuration". You are going to go to that window and click "Options". Then, you need to make sure that the "Show all options" is checked. A lot of people leave that out. It's a lot easier to miss something when you don't have that checked. You see, the menus will usually only show you options that you are able to select. Some options require other options in order to work properly. As you go through the list, you may think that you've selected all of the options you need, but some obscure option is missing. That's because as you worked your way down, new options were appearing ahead of you that you knew nothing about. I try to avoid that type of situation by clicking on the "Show all options" button. It also helps to go throught the entire menu about three times. Might seem like overkill, but it sure does scuk if you don't find out you missed something until your new kernel refuses to boot.
Now comes the most difficult part. Every computer is different, so I can't offer tons of help here. I definately recommend that you click on every single choice and read the help that is printed about it. I follow all of the recomendations that they make as to including an option or not. One thing I can say is that you should definately choose your processor and you should probably also choose the preemptible kernel option. Also, I always choose the "Prompt for development and/or incomplete code/drivers". Some more tips? Make sure you don't cofigure your filesystems as modules. You'll need the filesystems (at least one of them) a long time before your computer ever gets around to loading modules.
Anyways, spend a long time going through all of those options. If in doubt, don't leave it out. If everything works for you and you think you have a bunch of stuff you don't need, you can always recompile later. Beats the alternative of not being able to boot your new kernel. That gaurantees you will be recompiling, ya know! When you are happy with all of you choices, go ahead and click "File" and "Quit". You'll be asked if you want to save your changes. Say yes and all of your choices will be stored in a file named /usr/src/linux/.config . Of coarse, since /usr/src/linux is a link to /usr/src/linux-2.6.5, your file is really saved as /usr/src/linux-2.6.5/.config , but don't let that confuse you a bit.
We are on easy street, now. No more choices!!! Go to that terminal you have open. You should still be in /usr/src/linux (or /usr/src/linux-2.6.5 , It's the same thing). Type "echo 'You are almost done'" and press enter. You should get a motivational message. Now type "make bzImage" and watch the text fly by. When the text finally stops (it could take awhile) you need to type "cp /usr/src/linux/arch/i386/boot/bzImage /boot/vmlinuz-2.6.5". Now what I like to do at this point is use my file manager to look in the /boot directory. You should see vmlinuz-2.6.5 in there now. You'll also see vmlinuz-2.4.22, I believe. There is also a file, vmlinuz, which is a link to vmlinuz-2.4.22. Go ahead and delete /boot/vmlinuz. Now right click on /boot/vmlinuz-2.6.5 and pick "make link". Rename the link /boot/vmlinuz.
Switching back to that terminal of yours, type "make modules". After all the text finishes blowing past you, type "make modules_install". Now type "cp System.map /boot/System.map-2.6.5", and then "cp .config /boot/config-2.6.5". Now those two files aren't gonna be doin' anything for us with those names. I just like to give them names to keep track of which kernel goes with which files. You're going to need some symlinks. You can do like I did earlier with the file manager, or you can just type "ln -s /boot/System.map-2.6.5 /boot/System.map" and "ln -s /boot/config-2.6.5 /boot/config".
Now your new kernel is all in place. All you've got to do is tell LILO about it. Open up /etc/lilo.conf in you favorite text editor. See the part that looks like this:
# Linux bootable partition config begins
image = /boot/vmlinuz-2.4.22
root = /dev/hda2
label = Slackware
read-only # Non-UMSDOS filesystems should be mounted read-only for checking
# Linux bootable partition config ends
You're going to need to copy all of that and paste it at the end of the file. Then, change the line that reads "image = /boot/vmlinuz-2.4.22" to "image = /boot/vmlinuz-2.6.5" on the section you just pasted. Also, you need to change the new "label = Slackware" to something catchy, like "label = Slackware-2.6.5". Now, I could really be messing you up here. If LILO originally pointed you to vmlinuz-2.4.22, then everything is peachy-keen. If, on the other hand, it only pointed to vmlinuz, you'll remember that we changed that and made that a shortcut to vmlinuz-2.6.5. That would leave us with two choices both pointing to your new kernel. Not good if there are problems with the new kernel. Make sure that your first choice is pointing to the kernel that is running now. It should be in the /boot folder, if your having trouble figuring it out. Got that all? Save the file and let's roll.
Well, now. Go back to your terminal and type "/sbin/lilo". Make sure you didn't get any error messages. Reboot. You should have a couple o' choices, like maybe Slackware or Slackware-2.6.5. Pick the Slackware-2.6.5. Everything work? Good. If you've been following along, everything should be in graphical mode. OH, SNAP!!! I've got the Nvidia drivers, and they don't work with my cool new kernel. Oh well, easy enough to fix. Ctrl-alt-f6 takes me to a console login. I already have the Nvidia installer from when I installed those puppies the first time. You didn't delete them, did you? Great, just go to the directory that you put them in and type "sh NVIDIA-Linux-x86-1.0-5336-pkg1.run". Everything should be right in the world now.
Continued on Post #15 
