On Oct 19, 1996 at 10:21, Paul Edwards of 3:711/934.9 wrote:

 PE> Jesus Christ this is a nightmare.

I always said you'd enjoy it.  ;-)

You want a nightmare?  Try installing Linux via NFS through an unsupported
network card - *that's* a nightmare (and I've got four of these blasted
things to build).

 PE> The linux quick installation guide says to refer to the linux-howto
 PE> file.

Or rather, one of the many topic/subject-based how-to documents - they're
on the CD-ROM.  There is no single "How-To" that covers
everything, each "How-To" is devoted to specific topics (like
Ethernet device drivers, installation, working with fdisk/lilo, &c.).

 PE> I've spent about 2 hours trying to find that file!

You've got the Aug/Sep 1996 InfoMagic Linux Developers' Resource, right?  Let's see:

* The QuickStart booklet says (page 1):

  "Two series of documents available on the web and in the \DOCS directory
  on InfoMagic's CD-ROM set, are the FAQ (Frequently Asked Questions) and
  the `HOWTO' documents."

* Check disc 1 - nope, no "\DOCS" directory there.  What's the README say?

  "The Linux How To documents can be found below the `docs' directory on
  disc 3.  They are provided in a number of formats."

* Insert disc 3 - ahh, there they are in the "\DOCS\HOWTO" directory!

 PE> Could you please summarize what I need to do?  I have a 2 * 2.5 gig IDE
 PE> drives, both of them LBAed.  On the second physical drive, I have two
 PE> partitions - one of them 1.5 gig, the other 1 gig.

Firstly, two points:

1.  Older versions of Linux insist on the boot partition starting below the
    1,024 cylinder mark (the rest can be above it if you like);  the reason
    for this is simple - brain-dead LILO needs to be able to locate and
    bootstrap the kernel (which doesn't care where everything exists on the
    disk) using the BIOS alone.  The newer version may have changed this, I
    haven't checked (since my partitions already start that low).

2.  You'll need to decide where to stick LILO.  If you're already using the
    OS/2 Boot Manager, then the choice is simple - LILO will go in the boot
    sector of your Linux root partition.  If you plan on booting OS/2 from
    LILO, then may the force be with you.  I boot OS/2 and Linux (LILO) from
    the OS/2 Boot Manager and all works fine.

 PE> I want to install linux on this latter partition.  I do not want
 PE> anything to go wrong with the partitions.

That's asking a bit much, isn't it?  ;-)

What type of CD-ROM drive?  ATAPI or SCSI?  Either way, create two disks:

* Boot disk, using the apropriate kernel;  see the doco ("readme.txt" and
  "which.one") in the directory (on disc 1):

  /slackwar/bootdsks.144  (or bootdsks.12 if you boot from 5.25")

  The boot disk is used to, as it says, bootstrap the system;  it gets the
  kernel (roughly configured for your system) into memory.

* Root disk (see /slackwar/rootdsks);  chances are, you'll need "color.gz".

These two diskettes should enable you to bootstrap and install Linux.  One
of the first things you then do is build a customised kernel for your
machine, and subsequently a one (or two) bootstrap set of floppies
(customised for your machine).

 PE> On the CDROM I borrowed from a couple of years ago, they said that I
 PE> needed to tell fdisk or lilo or both (can't remember) what my real
 PE> geometry was (by going into expert mode).

Chances are, this won't be necessary.  I've certainly never had to do this,
not with Linux 1.2.13 (InfoMagic November 1995) or newer;  I'd say it's
only for older hardware.

What you will need to do is boot from the diskettes, login as
"root", run "fdisk" and mark the apropriate second
partition on your second drive as a Linux native file system (type 83). 
Write the partition table change, reboot and go through the install as per
normal.

Which reminds me - where are you going to put your swap space?  You don't
appear to have allocated any partitions for it, so I assume you'd:

(a)  decided to try winging it with a Windows-style "swap file";  or,

(b)  not realised that you needed swap space in the first instance!

Well, that's not true - you could try running without it, and for the most
part that'll work;  however, as soon as RAM runs out, you're screwed.

 PE> I'm not really sure why I need to use lilo at all though, can't I just
 PE> use bootmanager by itself?

To boot Linux, you need to bootstrap the kernel.  OS/2's Boot Manager
doesn't know how to read the Linux file system, and therefore it can't
bootstrap the kernel.  That's LILO's job (in reality, it does something
like read raw sectors into memory, but anyway).

You can do what I've done - install LILO into the boot sector of your root
Linux partition, then have the OS/2 Boot Manager start that.  When I power
up the machine, the OS/2 Boot Manager appears with options something like:

                          MS-DOS 5
                          QuickIPL
                          OS/2 3.0
                          Linux

I just select "Linux" and then the LILO screen appears (with my
own customised message).  At this point, you can select which kernel to
boot (which is important when you're experimenting with things, or
upgrading your kernel - you want a fall-back position).  After selecting a
kernel (or waiting for the timeout so the default is selected), it boots
and you're away.

 PE> Here is my guess at what I need to do (I want to use Slackware, because
 PE> I've done it before, and also I think you need to use it in order to get
 PE> the 2.0 kernel):

You can use the 2.0.x kernel with any Linux distribution, it's just that
with the CDs you probably have, only Debian and Slackware have the 2.0.x
kernel by default.  I've run up RedHat 3.0.3 on two machines in the past
and it's not bad (graphical X-based install application, like commercial
Solaris), but I still use Slackware for the time being.  RedHat is the only
major distribution (of which I am aware) which is cross-platform (Intel
iAPX family, Sun SPARC family and Digital Alpha AXP family).  Recent
benchtests showed Linux on the SPARC outperforming both SunOS 4.x and SunOS
5.x on the same hardware, with much smaller code and executables, too.  Not
bad at all... and with FreeBSD and NetBSD also growing in popularity,
commercial Unicies have to seriously watch out.

 PE> 1. Create a boot + root floppy.
 PE> 2. Boot off these floppies.
 PE> 3. Run fdisk

Yes, yes, yes...

 PE> 4. Tell it my real disk geometry in expert mode.

...most probably not needed (see above).

 PE> 5. Create a linux partition of /dev/hdb2 (???).

I thought you said the partition already exists?  In that case, all you
need do is change the partition type (see above).  As for the device name,
then IDE devices are named as per:

    IDE primary master              /dev/hda
    IDE primary slave               /dev/hdb
    IDE secondary master            /dev/hdc
    IDE secondary slave             /dev/hdd
        [...]

The partition numbering goes like this (there may be some numbers missing,
depending on how you have your system partitioned):

    1   First primary partition
    2   Second primary partition
    3   Third primary partition
    4   Fouth primary partition
    5   First logical partition
    6   Second logical partition
    7   Third logical partition
        [...]

So, if that second partition on your second IDE drive is a primary
partition, and that second IDE drive is the slave on the primary IDE
channel, then the device name is:

    /dev/hdb2

If the drive is the master on the secondary channel, and the partition is
the first logical partition (ie., it exists in an extended partition area):

    /dev/hdc5

Get it?  SCSI disks are easy (/dev/sda, /dev/sdb...).

 PE> 6. Run the "install" script...

"setup" (it tells you when you're ready to login).

 PE> ...to get it to read the CDROM, and write to /dev/hdb2 (about 600 meg...

Much less (chances are you won't install everything - you *really* don't
need everything, certainly not on a single partition).

 PE> ... of data), and ask it to install lilo in the boot sector of that
 PE> partition, with the 5-second-timeout option.

Yes, yes.

 PE> 7. Go into OS/2's fdisk, and reinstall bootmanager (by using OS/2's
 PE> fdisk) and add the linux partition to the bootmanager menu.

You won't need to "reinstall" the OS/2 Boot Manager unless you've
previously removed it (Linux won't touch it).  Just add Linux to the menu.

 PE> Is this right?  If so, can you tell me why I need lilo at all, when I
 PE> have bootmanager?

Yes, as above.

 PE> I sort of expected bootmanager to directly boot linux.

It probably would if Linux's boot code fit all in one sector (which is,
guess what - the job that LILO performs!);  once LILO loads, it reads the
kernel straight into memory which runs, and starts directly mounting the
root disk.

Cheers..

    - dave
    d.begley{at}ieee.org

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