Problem seeing DVD player during Slackware-14.0 setup.

[Paul Dudley]

I've been trying to install Slackware-14.0 . I downloaded the kits to
the hard drive intended for the new install. My intent was to then copy
the files to usb flashdrive and have it mounted and ready for setup. One
problem I've run into is that the device associated with the flashdrive
changes all of a sudden. Example:

I do 'fdisk -l' and see the f-drive as sdd. So I do 'mkdir /mnt/sdd1'
and then 'mount -v -t vfat /dev/sdd1 /mnt/sdd1' and can then access the
f-drive for awhile. The next moment I can no longer access it. 'fdisk -l'
now shows it as sde. And it kept changing periodically. So I cannot rely
on it for the 'setup' process.

I then put all the directories including the files on a DVD ( a, ap, n,
d, etc ). But then when I boot off boot and root floppies to try to
do the install I can't find a device for the DVD. I was expecting a
directory called 'cdrom' in /dev but nothing there. At this point I
might add that the image I'm using is 'bare.i'. I downloaded 'huge.s'
but didn't know what to do with it since huge.s is actually a directory
containing a few files.

Can someone tell me what I might try now. Should I have done:
dd if=huge.s of=/dev/fd0 to get huge.s files onto floppy as I did
with 'bare.i' ? If I use 'huge.s' image floppy do I still need
the 'install.1 and .2' floppies ? And how can I access my DVD for
the Slackware files ?

TIA

Paul

[Grant]

On Mon, 10 Dec 2012 13:06:30 -0600, Paul Dudley <paulj...@earthlink.net> wrote:

> I've been trying to install Slackware-14.0 . I downloaded the kits to
> the hard drive intended for the new install. My intent was to then copy
> the files to usb flashdrive and have it mounted and ready for setup. One
> problem I've run into is that the device associated with the flashdrive
> changes all of a sudden. Example:
>
> I do 'fdisk -l' and see the f-drive as sdd. So I do 'mkdir /mnt/sdd1'
> and then 'mount -v -t vfat /dev/sdd1 /mnt/sdd1' and can then access the
> f-drive for awhile. The next moment I can no longer access it. 'fdisk -l'
> now shows it as sde. And it kept changing periodically. So I cannot rely
> on it for the 'setup' process.

Makes no sense.

>
> I then put all the directories including the files on a DVD ( a, ap, n,
> d, etc ). But then when I boot off boot and root floppies to try to
> do the install I can't find a device for the DVD. I was expecting a
> directory called 'cdrom' in /dev but nothing there. At this point I
> might add that the image I'm using is 'bare.i'. I downloaded 'huge.s'
> but didn't know what to do with it since huge.s is actually a directory
> containing a few files.
>
> Can someone tell me what I might try now. Should I have done:
> dd if=huge.s of=/dev/fd0 to get huge.s files onto floppy as I did
> with 'bare.i' ? If I use 'huge.s' image floppy do I still need
> the 'install.1 and .2' floppies ? And how can I access my DVD for
> the Slackware files ?

Why?

Just build a DVD image and burn DVD, or, build smaller CD image and burn
CD then perform an NFS install. That's what I do here.

Installing 14.0 is easy.

Grant.

>
> TIA
>
> Paul
>

[Jerry Peters]

Paul Dudley <paulj...@earthlink.net> wrote:
> I've been trying to install Slackware-14.0 . I downloaded the kits to
> the hard drive intended for the new install. My intent was to then copy
> the files to usb flashdrive and have it mounted and ready for setup. One
> problem I've run into is that the device associated with the flashdrive
> changes all of a sudden. Example:
>
> I do 'fdisk -l' and see the f-drive as sdd. So I do 'mkdir /mnt/sdd1'
> and then 'mount -v -t vfat /dev/sdd1 /mnt/sdd1' and can then access the
> f-drive for awhile. The next moment I can no longer access it. 'fdisk -l'
> now shows it as sde. And it kept changing periodically. So I cannot rely
> on it for the 'setup' process.

This sounds like it's disconnecting & reconnecting for some reason,
perhaps a bad cable or connector, or drawing too much current.
See if there's anything in syslog.

Jerry

[Paul Dudley]

Not sure what is meant by all the above.

> Installing 14.0 is easy.
>
> Grant.
>

For those who know what they are doing maybe... The last time I
installed Slackware it all fit on floppies and that was how I did
it.

>
>> TIA
>>
>> Paul
>>

[Michael Black]

On Mon, 10 Dec 2012, Paul Dudley wrote:


>> Installing 14.0 is easy.

>>
>>
> For those who know what they are doing maybe... The last time I
> installed Slackware it all fit on floppies and that was how I did
> it.
>

But it's probably simpler now than back then. It takes up more space, but
likely few have to fuss about a limited install. There's more to
configure, but tools to help configure. The same basics are there, it
just can do more things. I haven't really got everything right yet, but I
settled in faster than any previous release in 11 years. I had no
problems, and this time I was leaping to using wifi.

Of course, if you haven't been using linux since the days of floppies,
things may be rusty.

Michael

[Paul Dudley]

On Tue, 11 Dec 2012 07:41:32 +1100, Grant wrote:

Would you be saying that if I burned the kit files, the bare.i and the
two install files to an iso DVD that it would be bootable and allow me
to then install everything ?

Paul

[+Alan Hicks+]

-----BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE-----
Hash: SHA1

On 2012-12-10, Paul Dudley <paulj...@earthlink.net> wrote:
> For those who know what they are doing maybe... The last time I
> installed Slackware it all fit on floppies and that was how I did
> it.

That's simply not going to work anymore. I don't know what information
you're going by, but it hasn't been possible to install Slackware via
floppy disks for a very long time. Hell, the kernel alone won't even
fit on a floppy disk anymore. Bit bloat gets us all in the end I guess.

I suggest you start by reading some documentation that's slightly more
up to date.

http://www.slackbook.org/html/installation-requirements.html#INSTALLATION-METHODS

You can also take a look in the usb-and-pxe-installers directory at
your favorite mirror for information on booting the installer from the
network or from a USB flash drive if you cannot boot from a CD for some
reason.

Seriously though, booting from the DVD or CD is the easiest and
recommended installation method if your machine will do so.

- --
It is better to hear the rebuke of the wise,
Than for a man to hear the song of fools.
Ecclesiastes 7:5
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[Paul Dudley]

On Tue, 11 Dec 2012 00:59:23 +0000, +Alan Hicks+ wrote:

> That's simply not going to work anymore. I don't know what information
> you're going by, but it hasn't been possible to install Slackware via
> floppy disks for a very long time. Hell, the kernel alone won't even fit
> on a floppy disk anymore. Bit bloat gets us all in the end I guess.
>
> I suggest you start by reading some documentation that's slightly more
> up to date.
>
> http://www.slackbook.org/html/installation-
requirements.html#INSTALLATION-METHODS
>
> You can also take a look in the usb-and-pxe-installers directory at your
> favorite mirror for information on booting the installer from the
> network or from a USB flash drive if you cannot boot from a CD for some
> reason.
>

As mentioned, my usb flashdrive keeps changing its device designation,
so it is out of the question. Also, my machine doesn't even list usb
devices in the bios setup.

> Seriously though, booting from the DVD or CD is the easiest and
> recommended installation method if your machine will do so.

I would boot from DVD or CD if I knew how to make one bootable. Can
you point me to some reading on that subject.

Paul

[Aaron W. Hsu]

Paul Dudley wrote:

> I would boot from DVD or CD if I knew how to make one bootable. Can
> you point me to some reading on that subject.

isolinux/README.TXT

--
Aaron W. Hsu | arc...@sacrideo.us | http://www.sacrideo.us
Programming is just another word for the lost art of thinking.

[Kees Theunissen]

slackware-14.0/isolinux/README.TXT


Regards,

Kees.

--
Kees Theunissen

[Grant]

On Mon, 10 Dec 2012 17:52:35 -0600, Paul Dudley <paulj...@earthlink.net> wrote:

[...]

> Would you be saying that if I burned the kit files, the bare.i and the
> two install files to an iso DVD that it would be bootable and allow me
> to then install everything ?

See scripts I posted earlier for generating .iso image, burn with your
favourite tool (ZOMG! Grant still uses Windows to burn CD/DVDs! ;)

Grant.
>
> Paul

[Grant]

Here's a script I use for DVD:

grant@deltree:/home/mirror$ cat make-boot-dvd
#!/bin/bash
#
# build a slackware boot dvd, from isolinux/README.TXT
#
# Specify boot load size, this is count of virtual 512 byte sectors loaded
# to memory, use multiple of 4 as CD sector is 2K.
BOOT_LOAD_SIZE=4
#
# Adjust to match boot file size, comment out if it not work for you
### BOOT_LOAD_SIZE=$(((($(stat -c %s ./isolinux/isolinux.bin)+2047)/2048)*4))
#
mkisofs -o /home/common/slackware-dvd.iso \
-R -V "SlackwareInstall" -v \
-no-emul-boot -boot-load-size $BOOT_LOAD_SIZE -boot-info-table \
-sort isolinux/iso.sort \
-b isolinux/isolinux.bin -c isolinux/isolinux.boot \
-x ./source \
-A "Slackware Install DVD" .
#
echo "Image written to /home/common/slackware-dvd.iso"
# end

Or this for minimal CD and NFS install:

grant@deltree:/home/mirror$ cat make-boot-cd
#!/bin/bash
#
# build a Slackware boot cd image, derived from isolinux/README.TXT
#
# Copyright (C) 2005-2009 Grant Coady <gr...@bugsplatter.id.au> GPLv2
#
# Last edit: 2009-10-06
#
# This script produces an ISO image of Slackware install tree that can be
# used:
# a) as a boot CD for network (NFS) install, this is a good option for
# following slackware-current as the boot + install section rarely
# changes
#
# b) to install a minimal text-only Slackware system
#
# Usage
# ``````
# Place this script in your local mirror root directory, for example on my
# system I have:
# /home/mirror/
# |-- make-boot-cd
# |-- make-boot-dvd
# |-- slackware-11.0
# |-- slackware-13.0
# |-- slackware-current
# |-- slackware64-13.0
# `-- slackware64-current
#
# Run script by cd'ing into desired mirror top-level directory and issuing
# the command as ../make-boot-cd
#
# Notes
# ``````
# Joerg Schilling says following options not required
# -hide-rr-moved -d -N -J
#
#-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
# User values
# ````````````
# Specify directory and filename for output .iso file, directory may also
# be specified on command line:
output_dir="/home/common"
output_file="slackware.iso"

# Use slackware-$version.iso for output filename
output_file="${PWD##*/}.iso"
#
# Specify volume label (max 32 chars):
volume_id="Slackware_Install"

# Use directory name (eg. slackware64-13.0) for Volume Label (or comment out)
volume_id=${PWD##*/}
#
# Specify application ID 'This should describe the application that will be
# on the disc.' --man mkisofs
application_id="Slackware Install CD"
#
# Specify boot load size, this is count of virtual 512 byte sectors loaded
# to memory, use multiple of 4 as CD sector is 2K.
boot_load_size=4
#
# Adjust to match boot file size, comment out if it not work for you
#boot_load_size=$(((($(stat -c %s ./isolinux/isolinux.bin)+2047)/2048)*4))
#
#-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-

do_fail() # reason
{
printf "\n\tfatal: %s\n\n" $1
exit 1
}
# Perhaps use CLI parameter for custom output directory
[ -n "$1" ] && output_dir="$1"
#
# Check we got output directory
[ -d "$output_dir" ] || do_fail "no destination directory $output_dir"
#
output_path="$output_dir/$output_file"
#
# Autodetect Slackware64
disk_set_path="slackware"
[ -d "slackware64" ] && disk_set_path="slackware64"

#
# Finally, we produce the boot CD image
mkisofs -A "$application_id" -R -V "$volume_id" \
-b isolinux/isolinux.bin -c isolinux/isolinux.boot \
-boot-info-table -boot-load-size $boot_load_size \
-no-emul-boot -sort isolinux/iso.sort \
-x ./extra \
-x ./pasture \
-x ./patches \
-x ./$disk_set_path/d \
-x ./$disk_set_path/e \
-x ./$disk_set_path/f \
-x ./$disk_set_path/k \
-x ./$disk_set_path/kde \
-x ./$disk_set_path/t \
-x ./$disk_set_path/tcl \
-x ./$disk_set_path/x \
-x ./$disk_set_path/xap \
-x ./$disk_set_path/xfce \
-x ./$disk_set_path/y \
-x ./source \
-x ./testing \
-x ./zipslack \
-o "$output_path" .
#
echo "Image written to $output_path"
# end
grant@deltree:/home/mirror$

HTH!

Grant.
>
> Paul

[Ron Gibson]

LOL! I remember the floppy install old timer. These days it's a lot
easier to make a DVD which is bootable. The setup has hardly changed
over the years. Just login and run "setup".

Unless you are really strapped for space select the package groups and
do an easy install. Go ahead and install all from reach package group -
It's easy to remove unwanted stuff later but I don't bother anymore.
While it's loading have a cup of coffee.

Your biggest issue will probably be where to install the boot loader,
lilo.

[Ron Gibson]

On Mon, 10 Dec 2012 19:16:23 -0600, Paul Dudley
<paulj...@earthlink.net> wrote:

> I would boot from DVD or CD if I knew how to make one bootable. Can
> you point me to some reading on that subject.

You never burned an ISO image? It's easy and ready to boot. Here is one
source...

ftp://ftp.slackware.no/slackware/slackware-14.0-iso/slackware-14.0-install-dvd.iso

You can use free imgburn if you are short of software for ISO burning...

http://www.imgburn.com/index.php?act=download

[Paul Dudley]

On Wed, 12 Dec 2012 10:36:48 -0500, Ron Gibson wrote:

> On Mon, 10 Dec 2012 19:16:23 -0600, Paul Dudley
> <paulj...@earthlink.net> wrote:
>
>> I would boot from DVD or CD if I knew how to make one bootable. Can
>> you point me to some reading on that subject.
>
> You never burned an ISO image? It's easy and ready to boot. Here is one
> source...

I have burned a few iso images but had never created one.

[Paul Dudley]

Hey Y'alls. First I want to thank each and every one of you for your
help. Y'all're a wealth of combined knowledge. Second, I wish Y'all
happy and safe holidays.

One thing I had failed to mention throughout my ordeal is the fact that I
had to work from iso images. This posed a few problems. I would boot
Slackware 14 live image to do newsgroups but boot Parted Magic when I
needed to work with my DVD device. PM allows for ejecting the DVD.

I finally did as suggested and created a bootable iso file but I guess I
didn't have all the kits in the correct directory. When I booted the image
the first time and got into 'setup' it could not see the kits. I'm
guessing they should have been in a folder named 'slackware-14.0/
slackware' or some such name. I had them in the same directory as the
other required files. So what I did next was to put them on a premounted
16G flashdrive. But the first attempt to install got interupted by that
crazy device migration situation I mentioned previously. That the device
would all of a sudden change from sdc1 to sdd1. And so on.

After multiple attempts I finally got Slackware 14 installed. Thanks to
those script files I was able to create my first iso file. I will look
into how to include the kits so that they will be found.

It's funny about those wandering devices. It never happened when I ran
Slackware 12, and hasn't since I have Slackware 14. Only when booted on
iso images. I've seen them go from sdc1 to g1 and then start over at c1.

Thanks again,

Paul