Installing Slackware Linux 12.0
Vwaju
ago) and Slackware Linux 12.0 with The Official Guide to Slackware
Linux (a month ago).
I just reinstalled Slackware Linux 9.1 on my old Dell Dimension
L500r. No problems with this: I insert Disk #1 ("Installation"),
boot bare.i, and everything works without a hitch.
Now I'm trying to install Slackware Linux 12.0 on my old Dell
Dimension 4100. I load Disk #1 (also labeled "Installation") from
this version, but the CD is bypassed -- the computer boots Windows XP
from the HD. (As a test, I then inserted Disk #1 from the 9.1
version, and I get the prompt to boot bare.i, as expected).
Should I conclude that my Disk #1 of the 12.0 version is defective, or
am I doing something wrong?
Thanks & Best Regards,
Vwaju
New York City
Michael Black
You need to make a floppy with the Smartbootmanager.
This has all been discussed before, and I don't remember and don't care
about the specific reasons why there is a problem, but it is that the
computer can't boot the thing on the CD or DVD. It's expecting a certain
format, and SLack 12 has advanced a little bit.
I have a Dell Dimension 4100 and I suffer the same problem. Making a floppy
with the smart book manager, so you boot from the floppy which then loads
from the CD or DVD, works fine.
I forget where the image to copy to the floppy is on the Slack 12 CD or
DVD, but it might be in with the kernels.
Your computer boots to Windows because the BIOS goes through a sequence,
looking for something that's bootable. Assuming you have the BIOS set
to boot from the CD/DVD drive first, if it's unsuccessful there it will
try the next thing on the list, which must be the hard drive in your case.
Note that when using the smart boot manager on the floppy, you will have
to set the BIOS to boot first from the floppy drive, if that's not already
set, or else it may never get to a point where it loads and launches
the smart boot manager.
Michael
Douglas Mayne
Because the computer is refusing to boot from a _bootable CD_, it looks
like that computer could have a broken BIOS, as has been discussed here
before. This problem cropped up right away when Slackware 12.0 was
released. This post on linuxquestions discusses the problem:
http://tinyurl.com/36bkcv
That post includes this explanation of the problem (quoted from Alien
Bob's response):
<quote>
Now, if that CD won't boot on your computer, the computer suffers from
the "incompatible because broken" BIOS syndrome. The Slackware 12.0 boot
CD uses a bootloadsize of 32kB which causes problems for some computers
with older BIOS. Previously, the bootloadsize was 4kB which worked better
for older computers. The value of "32" is standards compliant, and may
have been chosen because Slackware 12.0 is meant to be installed on modern
computers...? You can instead try to copy the USB boot image "usbboot.img"
inside the "/usb-and-pxe-installers/" directory to a USB stick if your
computer support booting from USB, or create your own compatible ISO image
for the boot-CD using the instructions in "/isolinux/README.TXT"
<end quote>
There are various solutions, including booting from smartbootmanager from
a floppy. Another option is to remake the first CD manually (use mkisofs
and specify -boot-load-size=4.) Unfortunately, this throws a
significant roadblock in your way. At least you have a running Slack 9.1,
should you opt to remake the boot cd.
--
Douglas Mayne
Tom N
> On Tue, 22 Jan 2008 09:21:31 -0800, Vwaju wrote:
>
>> I purchased the official CD sets for Slackware Linux 9.1 (a few years
>> ago) and Slackware Linux 12.0 with The Official Guide to Slackware
>> Linux (a month ago).
>>
>> I just reinstalled Slackware Linux 9.1 on my old Dell Dimension
>> L500r. No problems with this: I insert Disk #1 ("Installation"),
>> boot bare.i, and everything works without a hitch.
>>
>> Now I'm trying to install Slackware Linux 12.0 on my old Dell
>> Dimension 4100. I load Disk #1 (also labeled "Installation") from
>> this version, but the CD is bypassed -- the computer boots Windows XP
>> from the HD. (As a test, I then inserted Disk #1 from the 9.1
>> version, and I get the prompt to boot bare.i, as expected).
>>
>> Should I conclude that my Disk #1 of the 12.0 version is defective, or
>> am I doing something wrong?
>>
>> Thanks & Best Regards,
>>
>> Vwaju
>> New York City
>>
> Because the computer is refusing to boot from a _bootable CD_, it looks
> like that computer could have a broken BIOS,
If the 9.1 CD boots from that BIOS, and the 12.0 CD doesn't, then it would seem to me
that it's the 12.0 CD that is broken, not the BIOS.
A lot of computers don't even have floppy drives anymore, so the Smartboot floppy isn't
going to people with those computers a lot of good.
Tom
--
calhobbit
at gee mail dot com
Beej Jorgensen
>If the 9.1 CD boots from that BIOS, and the 12.0 CD doesn't, then it
>would seem to me that it's the 12.0 CD that is broken, not the BIOS.
This problem happens with other boot loaders, too. It's not
Slackware-specific at all. It's BIOS-specific.
There was a change in how the CD was burned that caused this to
manifest, but it was a matter of Patrick doing was was technically
correct versus bending over backward to cater to old broken BIOSes.
One thing I've always liked about Un*x was its tendency to do the right
thing.
Search for "boot-load-size" for details.
>A lot of computers don't even have floppy drives anymore, so the
>Smartboot floppy isn't going to people with those computers a lot of
>good.
True. But, as we've seen from the link posted elsewhere in this thread,
a CD-ROM drive can also be used to around the issue. And fortunately
this is something that affects older computers that are more likely to
have floppy drives.
-Beej
Joost Kremers
> If the 9.1 CD boots from that BIOS, and the 12.0 CD doesn't, then it
> would seem to me that it's the 12.0 CD that is broken, not the BIOS.
why? it could be that the 9.1 cd simply didn't trigger this bug, while the
12.0 cd does.
or, life has moved on, and the requirements of a modern OS have made it
impossible to remain backward compatible with all BIOSes ever created.
--
Joost Kremers joostk...@yahoo.com
Selbst in die Unterwelt dringt durch Spalten Licht
EN:SiS(9)
notbob
> Now I'm trying to install Slackware Linux 12.0 on my old Dell
> Dimension 4100. I load Disk #1 (also labeled "Installation") from
> this version, but the CD is bypassed -- the computer boots Windows XP
> from the HD.
I experienced this on an ancient 440BX mobo when the new 12 boxed set CD didn't
boot, but a 12 ISO I burned on an XP box (much newer) booted just fine. Try
burning a CD with burnatonce, a freebie iso burner that works great.
http://www.burnatonce.net/downloads/
...then just sub in the newer boxed set CD as you progress with the install.
nb
Tom N
> Tom N <t...@somewhere.invalid> wrote:
>>If the 9.1 CD boots from that BIOS, and the 12.0 CD doesn't, then it
>>would seem to me that it's the 12.0 CD that is broken, not the BIOS.
>
> This problem happens with other boot loaders, too. It's not
> Slackware-specific at all. It's BIOS-specific.
>
> There was a change in how the CD was burned that caused this to
> manifest, but it was a matter of Patrick doing was was technically
> correct versus bending over backward to cater to old broken BIOSes.
>
> One thing I've always liked about Un*x was its tendency to do the right
> thing.
If the 'smart boot' floppy works for the older computers, then the
right thing was done.
If it doesn't, then what PV has done is to prevent most people with
older computers from installing a recent Slackware, which is wrong.
>
> Search for "boot-load-size" for details.
>
>>A lot of computers don't even have floppy drives anymore, so the
>>Smartboot floppy isn't going to people with those computers a lot of
>>good.
>
> True. But, as we've seen from the link posted elsewhere in this thread,
> a CD-ROM drive can also be used to around the issue. And fortunately
> this is something that affects older computers that are more likely to
> have floppy drives.
Indeed. If the 'smart boot' floppy works with them. It didn't here.
The CD wouldn't boot either.
My BIOS isn't broken. It works just fine.
PV used to cater to these 'broken BIOSES', why is it suddenly not
okay to do so? Doesn't make much sense.
You are saying that he was doing something wrong, for years and
years and years.
Tom N
> Tom N wrote:
>> If the 9.1 CD boots from that BIOS, and the 12.0 CD doesn't, then it
>> would seem to me that it's the 12.0 CD that is broken, not the BIOS.
>
> why? it could be that the 9.1 cd simply didn't trigger this bug, while the
> 12.0 cd does.
>
> or, life has moved on, and the requirements of a modern OS have made it
> impossible to remain backward compatible with all BIOSes ever created.
Well, Slackware installation CDs worked just fine with them until a very short time ago.
With all the space on a CD/DVD including that 'old' software is hardly a problem.
What happenned? Did the computer manufacturers pay PV a lot of money to try and
force people to buy new computers?
Richard James
> On 2008-01-22, Joost Kremers <joostk...@yahoo.com> wrote:
>> Tom N wrote:
>>> If the 9.1 CD boots from that BIOS, and the 12.0 CD doesn't, then it
>>> would seem to me that it's the 12.0 CD that is broken, not the BIOS.
>>
>> why? it could be that the 9.1 cd simply didn't trigger this bug, while
>> the 12.0 cd does.
>>
>> or, life has moved on, and the requirements of a modern OS have made it
>> impossible to remain backward compatible with all BIOSes ever created.
>
> Well, Slackware installation CDs worked just fine with them until a very
> short time ago. With all the space on a CD/DVD including that 'old'
> software is hardly a problem.
Actually it is the boot code, you can make two different DVD versions but
you cannot fit both onto one DVD.
> What happenned? Did the computer manufacturers pay PV a lot of money to
> try and force people to buy new computers?
Back when Slackware moved from Floppy/CD to CD only not many people
complained. No-one complains today that you can't fit a Slackware package
onto a 1.44MB floppy.
Change is often hard to accept
Just think in a few years time you'll complain because X.org 10 crashes
because it confused a CPU for a GPU because they are all embedded in a
large multicore chip.
Did you know you can use the unused RAM on a video card as SWAP space?
Richard James
Tom N
> Tom N wrote:
>
>> On 2008-01-22, Joost Kremers <joostk...@yahoo.com> wrote:
>>> Tom N wrote:
>>>> If the 9.1 CD boots from that BIOS, and the 12.0 CD doesn't, then it
>>>> would seem to me that it's the 12.0 CD that is broken, not the BIOS.
>>>
>>> why? it could be that the 9.1 cd simply didn't trigger this bug, while
>>> the 12.0 cd does.
>>>
>>> or, life has moved on, and the requirements of a modern OS have made it
>>> impossible to remain backward compatible with all BIOSes ever created.
>>
>> Well, Slackware installation CDs worked just fine with them until a very
>> short time ago. With all the space on a CD/DVD including that 'old'
>> software is hardly a problem.
>
> Actually it is the boot code, you can make two different DVD versions but
> you cannot fit both onto one DVD.
Then why arent't both isos available? The only difference is a little boot
code. It's not as if disk space on servers is expensive.
>
>> What happenned? Did the computer manufacturers pay PV a lot of money to
>> try and force people to buy new computers?
>
> Back when Slackware moved from Floppy/CD to CD only not many people
> complained. No-one complains today that you can't fit a Slackware package
> onto a 1.44MB floppy.
Yes they do.
>
> Change is often hard to accept
Bad changes, bad choices, are hard to accept. For good reasons.
There are a lot of people around who are blind worshippers of technology,
falsely believing that it will solve all of our problems. They think
that all new technologies are improvements, which is nonsense.
>
> Just think in a few years time you'll complain because X.org 10 crashes
> because it confused a CPU for a GPU because they are all embedded in a
> large multicore chip.
Maybe. The projections and predictions of the scientists have often
failed to materialize. In fact, the history of science _is_ a history
of failed projections and promises.
These worshippers can't tell the difference between real science and
the promotional materials from corporations trying to sell stuff.
>
> Did you know you can use the unused RAM on a video card as SWAP space?
:-) That's really off the wall. I don't have any video RAM to spare
for that and have plenty of swap space on my disk. I've never even
used all of my RAM and barely used that swap space, even when
compiling a large app from source.
Beej Jorgensen
>Indeed. If the 'smart boot' floppy works with them. It didn't here.
>The CD wouldn't boot either.
The workaround, if you'll be so kind to notice, utilized an old Slack
CD, which the OP would not have trouble booting.
>You are saying that [PV] was doing something wrong, for years and years
>and years.
He was doing something wrong by his own admission: "Techincally [sic]
the --boot-load-size should be a lot bigger, like 20 or so in order to
hold the isolinux.bin boot block. However, setting it to 4 causes it to
load on more BIOSes. [...] If it's going to be broken for some BIOSes
either way, I'd rather be correct."
-Beej
Dan C
>> Because the computer is refusing to boot from a _bootable CD_, it looks
>> like that computer could have a broken BIOS,
> If the 9.1 CD boots from that BIOS, and the 12.0 CD doesn't, then it
> would seem to me that it's the 12.0 CD that is broken, not the BIOS.
Wrong, n00b. You're fucking clueless. It's an obvious BIOS issue.
http://brandybuck.890m.com/pics/stfun00bsmallsz7.jpg
--
"Tom N" - the latest nymshift of "Alan Connor".
Read more about the netkook Alan Connor here:
http://www.pearlgates.net/nanae/kooks/ac/fga.shtml
Richard James
> Then why arent't both isos available? The only difference is a little boot
> code. It's not as if disk space on servers is expensive.
good question.
>> Back when Slackware moved from Floppy/CD to CD only not many people
>> complained. No-one complains today that you can't fit a Slackware package
>> onto a 1.44MB floppy.
>
> Yes they do.
Yes they do what? Yes they complain? Or yes they fit on a floppy? I said
both. No-one complains today that you can't fit a Slackware package onto a
1.44MB floppy.
Sure there are a few packages that fit on floppies but for the most
important diskset A there are many important packages that don't fit like
glibc.
So the set of people that complain would be equal to the set of people
installing from floppies.
>> Change is often hard to accept
>
> Bad changes, bad choices, are hard to accept. For good reasons.
>
> There are a lot of people around who are blind worshippers of technology,
> falsely believing that it will solve all of our problems. They think
> that all new technologies are improvements, which is nonsense.
This is true but also there are some people who are so afraid of change they
will do anything to stop it from occurring. Both are delusional.
>> Did you know you can use the unused RAM on a video card as SWAP space?
>
> :-) That's really off the wall. I don't have any video RAM to spare
> for that and have plenty of swap space on my disk. I've never even
> used all of my RAM and barely used that swap space, even when
> compiling a large app from source.
Always there will be people who think outside of the box, without them we
would still be sitting outside the cave, without fire and eating raw fish.
Richard James
Massimiliano Vessi
> On Tue, 22 Jan 2008 09:21:31 -0800, Vwaju wrote:
>
>> I purchased the official CD sets for Slackware Linux 9.1 (a few years
>> ago) and Slackware Linux 12.0 with The Official Guide to Slackware
>> Linux (a month ago).
>>
>> I just reinstalled Slackware Linux 9.1 on my old Dell Dimension
>> L500r. No problems with this: I insert Disk #1 ("Installation"),
>> boot bare.i, and everything works without a hitch.
>>
>> Now I'm trying to install Slackware Linux 12.0 on my old Dell
>> Dimension 4100. I load Disk #1 (also labeled "Installation") from
>> this version, but the CD is bypassed -- the computer boots Windows XP
>> from the HD. (As a test, I then inserted Disk #1 from the 9.1
>> version, and I get the prompt to boot bare.i, as expected).
>>
>> Should I conclude that my Disk #1 of the 12.0 version is defective, or
>> am I doing something wrong?
>>
>> Thanks & Best Regards,
>>
>> Vwaju
>> New York City
>>
> Because the computer is refusing to boot from a _bootable CD_, it looks
> like that computer could have a broken BIOS, as has been discussed here
> before. This problem cropped up right away when Slackware 12.0 was
> released. This post on linuxquestions discusses the problem:
> http://tinyurl.com/36bkcv
>
YESSSSS!
Finally I can boot a SLackware 12 DVD:
mkisofs -o /home/pub/tmp/slackware-custom-1.iso -R -J -A "Slackware
Install 1" -hide-rr-moved -v -d -N -no-emul-boot -boot-load-size
4 -boot-info-table -sort isolinux/iso.sort -b
isolinux/isolinux.bin -c isolinux/isolinux.boot -V "SlackDVD" .
YES! YES! YES! YES!
I have a notebook of 2003 and with Slack 9 CD boot, but with Slack 12 didn't
boot!
Thank you! Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!
Max
--
Cerchi informazioni su Linux?
Linuxpedia: http://maxint.dynalias.org
Tom N
> Tom N wrote:
>
> would still be sitting outside the cave, without fire and eating raw fish.
I'd rather sit outside a cave in the tropics and eat sushi
in the warm air where no fire is necessary than sit in an
artificially-heated box in an artificial desert (city) dominated
by sociopaths in speeding metal and glass cans with wheels on
them and breathing fouled and oxygen-depleted air and eating
cooked fish raised in a pen on the other side of the world and
pumped full of chemicals....
I think you are one of the blind-worshippers of technology I
referred to in the deleted portion above, though you pretend
otherwise.
The fact is, that many cultures on this planet have had
quality-of-lives for the average person that far exceeded ours.
Of course, with the bullshit histories and anthropologies we are
taught in the public schools and colleges, it is very hard to
know that.
Dan C
> I'd rather sit outside a cave in the tropics and eat sushi
> in the warm air where no fire is necessary than sit in an
> artificially-heated box in an artificial desert (city) dominated
> by sociopaths in speeding metal and glass cans with wheels on
> them and breathing fouled and oxygen-depleted air and eating
> cooked fish raised in a pen on the other side of the world and
> pumped full of chemicals....
But there aren't any Bigfoots (Bigfeet?) in the tropics, are there, Alan?
Why don't you move to one of those places, catch malaria, and die. That
would make the world a better place.
--
"Ubuntu" -- an African word, meaning "Slackware is too hard for me".
Douglas Mayne
> Douglas Mayne wrote:
<snip>
>> Because the computer is refusing to boot from a _bootable CD_, it looks
>> like that computer could have a broken BIOS, as has been discussed here
>> before. This problem cropped up right away when Slackware 12.0 was
>> released. This post on linuxquestions discusses the problem:
>> http://tinyurl.com/36bkcv
>>
>
>
> YESSSSS!
> Finally I can boot a SLackware 12 DVD:
>
> mkisofs -o /home/pub/tmp/slackware-custom-1.iso -R -J -A "Slackware
> Install 1" -hide-rr-moved -v -d -N -no-emul-boot -boot-load-size
> 4 -boot-info-table -sort isolinux/iso.sort -b
> isolinux/isolinux.bin -c isolinux/isolinux.boot -V "SlackDVD" .
>
> YES! YES! YES! YES!
>
> I have a notebook of 2003 and with Slack 9 CD boot, but with Slack 12 didn't
> boot!
> Thank you! Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!
> Max
>
Good job! Slackware 12 is a big step up from Slackware 9, especially if
you're using it as a desktop.
Thanks for posting the complete mkisofs line.
--
Douglas Mayne
Joerg Schilling
Massimiliano Vessi <max...@libero.it> wrote:
>Finally I can boot a SLackware 12 DVD:
>
>mkisofs -o /home/pub/tmp/slackware-custom-1.iso -R -J -A "Slackware
>Install 1" -hide-rr-moved -v -d -N -no-emul-boot -boot-load-size
>4 -boot-info-table -sort isolinux/iso.sort -b
>isolinux/isolinux.bin -c isolinux/isolinux.boot -V "SlackDVD" .
If you believe you need -hide-rr-moved, you are using an outdated version
of mkisofs. -hide-rr-moved did never work as expected and since 1.5 years,
there is no visible "rr_moved" directory at all.
Instead of -d -N better use -iso-level 4
use the latest source from:
ftp://ftp.berlios.de/pub/cdrecord/alpha/
--
EMail:jo...@schily.isdn.cs.tu-berlin.de (home) Jörg Schilling D-13353 Berlin
j...@cs.tu-berlin.de (uni)
schi...@fokus.fraunhofer.de (work) Blog: http://schily.blogspot.com/
URL: http://cdrecord.berlios.de/old/private/ ftp://ftp.berlios.de/pub/schily
Old Man
(some totally unhelpful stuff)
Would you please (note that I am asking politely) not attempt to insert
yourself into every thread? If you look back at this thread, you will see
that Douglas Mayne solved the OP's problem, resulting in the OP's
gratitude. You, on the other hand, just made barely relevant noises,
resulting in nothing but annoyance.
--
Old Man
"Swagger isn't courage." Lee Iacocca