Hi,

I am brand new to Linux and I want to start with Slackware. I may have a problem though as I do not have a floppy disk drive. I want to install Slackware as a dual boot along side Windows XP on my Dell Latitude D600 but all I have is a CD-ROM drive. Can anyone tell me if this is possible to do with no floppy?

Thanks very much. I look forward to diving into Linux and being a contributing member of this community.

Jason

Well, installing without a floppy is preferred and Linux is usually installed from a downloaded .iso file burned to a CDRW drive...

If you don't have a floppy or a CDRW then your dependent on installing all software on your computer through Network/Internet?

If so I would first suggest getting a Writable CD drive, it would make life much easier for 30 or 40 bucks... You could do Network/Internet installs but depend on outside resourses and prone to a troubled install...

Again if you don't have any physical way to install software on your computer I would consider either getting a CDRW or Floppy or other input device...

KC

Burning the iso's isn't a problem for me, I have an external burner. My problem is that following the instructions for installation on the Slackware site require two floppy disks to be used. Can I just use cd's instead?

The Slackware install disks that you D/L and Burn should be bootable and if your computer bios permits you should not need any floppys at all... I'm not sure where you read this...

KC

There is another thread just below mine from another newbie who describes his install as involving floppy disks before being able to use the iso images and this is from the slackware sitethere is no mention on the site of how to install directly from the cd's)

Creating The Boot Disk

Once you have selected a boot disk image file from the list below, you will need to create the disk. If you are creating the image from a Linux system, the following command should work just fine:

dd if=[image file name] of=/dev/fd0

You may need to change /dev/fd0 depending on your configuration. If you are creating the image from a DOS system, the included program RAWRITE will help you make the disk. Here is the syntax for RAWRITE:

C:\>RAWRITE [image file name] [destination drive letter]:

For example, if I wanted to make a boot disk from the net.i image on a DOS system with the floppy drive as A:, I would use the following command.

C:\>RAWRITE bare.i a:

You should now have a working boot disk to use during the Slackware Linux installation.

The Image Files
IDE bootdisks (.i suffix)

bare.i This is the disk to use for installation on most IDE based PCs, with support for nearly all IDE controllers and support for IDE/ATAPI CD-ROM/DVD drives. Most CD-ROM drives made today fall into this category.
bareacpi.i This is similar to the bare.i bootdisk, but the kernel also contains support for ACPI (Advanced Configuration and Power Interface). If you aren't using a laptop, then you probably will not need ACPI (or APM) support.

This would only be the case if you could not boot from your CD drive... This is determined by your BIOS...

Can you determine if you can boot from CD or not?

If so then creating a boot floppy is not needed...

KC

Yes I can boot from my CD. I have just been unable to find any info regarding doing this to install Slackware. Every tutorial I have found says you must create these special boot disks. I am still downloading the iso's and just trying to gather all the info I can to have a smooth install.

Slack is a great distro and I don't see any problems you would have in the install... if so, first check the MD5SUM to make sure the burn was bit for bit...

KC

Do not worry : the installation of Slackware Linux is almost the same whether you boot it from floppy disks or from CD-ROM : only the boot process is different. Most tutorials describe a floppy disks boot process because there are many old computers which can't boot from a CD-ROM. The installation of Slackware Linux from a CD-ROM starts with the following steps :

1. Insert your Slackware Linux CD-ROM in the CD drive
2. Restart your computer
3. Press [ENTER] in most cases at the boot: prompt
4. Press [ENTER] at the root login: prompt
5. Now, you are logged in the installation system.

The remaining steps of the installation are the same whether you boot it from floppy disk or from a CD-ROM : (you need to partition you drive with cfdisk or fdisk before running the main installation program : setup). So, from that point, you can use the tutorials that you have found on the Web.

-- LiNuCe

Thanks LiNuCe, that was exactly what I needed to know. I can't wait to finish downloading and get these disks burned!! Cheers - Jason