If you have a DOS or Windows system installed on your hard drive, you can use the autoboot.bat
command in the dosutils directory to start the installation, as shown here. You have to execute this command from a DOS system or a Windows DOS window.
e:\dosutils\autoboot.bat
If neither of these options is feasible for you, you can use the install floppy disk (see the preceding section on creating a boot disk). This is perhaps the most fail-safe method of installing Linux. Insert the Linux install disk into your floppy drive and reboot your computer.
The installation program will start, presenting you with an Introduction screen. After a moment, the following prompt will appear at the bottom of your screen:
boot:
Press ENTER. (If necessary, you can enter boot parameters as described in the installation manual.)
Configuration information will fill your screen as the installation program attempts to detect your hardware components automatically
Thursday, February 14, 2008
Installing Linux
Installing Linux involves several processes, beginning with creating Linux partitions, and then loading the Linux software, configuring your X Window System interface, installing the Linux boot loader (GRUB or LILO) that will boot your system, and creating new user accounts. The installation program used on Red Hat is a screen-based program that takes you through all these processes, step by step, as one continuous procedure. You can use either your mouse or the keyboard to make selections. When you finish with a screen, click the Next button at the bottom to move to the next screen. If you need to move back to the previous screen, click Back. You can also use TAB, the arrow keys, SPACEBAR, and ENTER to make selections. The installation screens will display a help panel explaining each step in detail. You have little to do other than make selections and choose options. Some screens provide a list of options from which you make a selection. In a few cases, you are asked for information you should already have if you followed the steps earlier in this chapter. Hardware components will be automatically detected and displayed as you progress. During installation, you will be able to perform administrative tasks such as configuring your network connections, creating users, and setting the time. Keep in mind that such administrative tasks can also be performed after installation
Creating the Boot Disks
On Windows, to use the rawritewin program to create a floppy install disk, first insert the CD-ROM into your CD-ROM drive (if you are installing from the DVD-ROM disc included with this book, you would use your DVD-ROM drive instead). Change to your CD-ROM drive. Once you have changed to the CD-ROM drive, you then need to change to the \dosutils directory. The rawritewin command is in the dosutils\rawritewin directory. Just double-click it to start it. It is very easy to create a boot disk with rawritewin. Just run it from Windows and use its interface to select the floppy disk image bootdsk.img, with support disks pcmiadd.img, and drvnet.img. The image file you want for a CD-ROM or DVD-ROM installation is the boot.iso file, also located on your CD-ROM in the images directory, images/. Be sure that your floppy drive is correctly listed. The default will be A:. Then place a blank floppy in your floppy drive and click Write.
For rawrite, which you have to use on MS-DOS, at your DOS prompt, change to your CD-ROM drive,using whatever the letter for that drive may be. For example, if your CD-ROM drive is the E drive, just type e: and press ENTER. Once you have changed to the CD-ROM drive, you then need to change to the \images directory. On the DVD-ROM included with this book, the install disk image is bootdsk.img with support disks for network and notebooks, drvnet.img and pcmiadd.img. The rawrite command has to be run at a DOS prompt. Enter the full path for the rawrite command, including the CD-ROM or DVD-ROM drive letter, such as e:\dosutils\rawrite. The rawrite command first prompts you for the name of the disk image file you want to copy. Enter the full name of the install image file. The command then asks you to enter the letter of the floppy drive where you put your floppy disk. On many systems, this is the A drive.
E:\> cd images
E:\col\launch\floppy > e:\dosutils\rawrite
Enter source file name: bootdsk.img
Enter destination drive (A or B) and press ENTER: a
Press ENTER to confirm that you have a blank floppy disk in the drive. rawrite will then copy the imagef ile to your floppy disk, creating your install disk. When it finishes, remove your disk from the floppy drive. This is the disk that the installation procedure (described later) refers to as the install diskette. If you need to create a network support disk, use drvnet.img. For PCMCIA support, use pcmciadd.img.To create floppy disks on a Linux or Unix system, you use the dd command and specify the boot image file to use along with the name of the floppy device and the size of the floppy disk. You will first need to mount the CD-ROM, then change to its mount directory. On most Linux systems, the first floppy disk drive is at /dev/fd0 and its size is usually 1400 for a 1.4 floppy disk. With the if option, you specify the image file to use, the of option indicates the floppy device name, and the bs option specifies the block size. dd if=images/bootdsk.img of=dev/fd0 bs=1440
For rawrite, which you have to use on MS-DOS, at your DOS prompt, change to your CD-ROM drive,using whatever the letter for that drive may be. For example, if your CD-ROM drive is the E drive, just type e: and press ENTER. Once you have changed to the CD-ROM drive, you then need to change to the \images directory. On the DVD-ROM included with this book, the install disk image is bootdsk.img with support disks for network and notebooks, drvnet.img and pcmiadd.img. The rawrite command has to be run at a DOS prompt. Enter the full path for the rawrite command, including the CD-ROM or DVD-ROM drive letter, such as e:\dosutils\rawrite. The rawrite command first prompts you for the name of the disk image file you want to copy. Enter the full name of the install image file. The command then asks you to enter the letter of the floppy drive where you put your floppy disk. On many systems, this is the A drive.
E:\> cd images
E:\col\launch\floppy > e:\dosutils\rawrite
Enter source file name: bootdsk.img
Enter destination drive (A or B) and press ENTER: a
Press ENTER to confirm that you have a blank floppy disk in the drive. rawrite will then copy the imagef ile to your floppy disk, creating your install disk. When it finishes, remove your disk from the floppy drive. This is the disk that the installation procedure (described later) refers to as the install diskette. If you need to create a network support disk, use drvnet.img. For PCMCIA support, use pcmciadd.img.To create floppy disks on a Linux or Unix system, you use the dd command and specify the boot image file to use along with the name of the floppy device and the size of the floppy disk. You will first need to mount the CD-ROM, then change to its mount directory. On most Linux systems, the first floppy disk drive is at /dev/fd0 and its size is usually 1400 for a 1.4 floppy disk. With the if option, you specify the image file to use, the of option indicates the floppy device name, and the bs option specifies the block size. dd if=images/bootdsk.img of=dev/fd0 bs=1440
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