I've followed these instructions for creating a bootable USB stick with all the slackware64 directories on it for a full-on USB install of Slackware 14.1.

The disk boots fine, and I can get into the installer.

Using the command line, I type the following to create a directory and mount the usb data there:

When I run df -h, I see that /dev/sdb1 has been mounted on /usbinstall.

For the life of me, after I run "setup" to enter the installer, I can't find out how to correctly specify the source directory for the slackware64 directory, which contains all of the source files. Do I do option 3 (Hard-disk), or option 7 (Local directory)? I've tried both options with several different inputs, but every time the installer tells me that the directory slackware64 does not exist.

FYI, the source files are in this location: /usbinstall/slackware64. This directory contains the /a, /ap, etc folders required for installation.

Any help on how to do this step?

Thank you

If you already mounted it just choose "Install from a pre-mounted directory"" that will be /usbinstall.

Else choose "Install from a hard drive partition", chose /dev/sdb1 then on the next screen /.

I just installed Slackware 14.1 from a USB today.. In 14.1 I had the option to install from a USB DISK (wasn't there in 14.0)..

But what Didier said in the upper post should work... Btw.. on "Install from a hard drive partition", if I remember correctly you should enter "/slackware64"

Thanks folks. I tried both of your suggestions, to no avail.

(Typing it out since the install is on my laptop) please see below for what I'm doing:

Note that this is done after I mount the directory using the command in my first post.

Also:

The output I get is the contents of the Slackware tree on the FTP site.

I also have the option for the USB install, but for some reason this does not work--the file tree on the USB is not recognized by the installer for some reason. This was expected though, from the install guides I saw. There were different instructions for installing straight from the USB stick.

So, just to be clear, you tried using "Install from a pre-mounted directory" and then typing "/usbinstall/slackware64" ?

Also, try to not mount the usbdisk before choosing the "Install from USB" or "Install from hard drive partition" options... They will handle mounting for you (the instructions you read we're for 13.0 which didn't have this type of options, I think)

If this doesn't work than try redoing the disk.. I can't think of anything else ..

Correct. I chose option 7 "Install from a pre-mounted directory" and then typed /usbinstall/slackware64. This then takes me to the screen where I select the packages I want to install. After selecting packages, and pressing enter, I get a notice saying that I'm not ready to install yet because I have to choose the source directory (which I supposedly just did) and a target location.

I'll try doing the disk again and report back.

Just finished recreating the usb. Tried the suggestions above, again no dice. When I select option 7, and input /usbinstall as the directory to install from, the installer tells me the directory does not exist... same thing if I try /usbinstall/slackware64. This is frustrating. lol

You need some partitions to install into, don't you?

I always use the USB stick to install.. I dont mount anything after booting up on the USB stick I just go into the installer and chose the option to "Install from USB"

If you created the bootable USB, you shouldn't mount anything.
You must only create the HD partitions, and then, in the installer, choose "Install from USB"; automatically, the system will check for a USB disk which contains the packages for Slackware 14.1.
If it doesn't work, try with "Install from hard drive partition".

But, as I said, the first method should work correctly.

Option 7, “Install from a pre-mounted directory”, wants you to specify a directory into which you copied the Slackware DVD ISO file. In other words, the directory that you specify here, should contain, e.g., the “slackware64-14.1-install-dvd.iso” file (if Slackware64 14.1 is what you’re trying to install).

I got bitten by this, too, and I didn’t understand what was going on either; in fact, I had to study the install scripts to find this out. In my opinion, the description of the option could be a whole lot clearer; who would think, from the description, that the pre-mounted directory needs to have a Slackware ISO file?

If you select Option 2, “Install from a Slackware USB stick”, then you should not mount the USB stick beforehand, since the install script will scan for it, and mount it for you. The stick should contain a “slackware64” directory, with subdirectories “a”, “ap”, “d”, etc.

Option 3, “Install from a hard drive partition”, allows you to install from a directory on a harddisk partition, and seems to support a directory that contains either the ISO image file, or the “slackware64” directory tree. It appears to prefer a partition that is not yet mounted, but can handle a pre-mounted partition just fine.

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By the way, as Pat noted in another thread, you can simply use the “dd” command to copy the Slackware 14.1 ISO to a USB stick, and it will boot just fine.

Thanks a lot for all the help folks--particularly luvr's post. He is correct, it should be much more clear what the installer is looking for if this is the case.

I am going use some windows software to burn the slack .iso file to the USB and try installing that way--that is effectively what dd is doing, correct?

Yes. I suggest that you use rufus that comes handy for that.

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If your Windows software simply dumps the ISO file to the USB device, then, yes, that's exactly what dd does, too. If you want to be sure that the copy was made correctly, then, after the copy is done, you may want to mount the USB (and it doesn't matter whether you want to do so under Windows or under Linux), and verify that you find the expected directory structure there.