Slackware Installation B

Slackware Installation B

Now that you've created the partitions needed on the hard disk it's finally time to actually install Slackware Linux onto your machine.

From the linux prompt (root@slackware) type SETUP and you will be greeted by the spartan blue 'somewhat graphical' screen of the slackware setup program.

Hit the down arrow button and select the ADDSWAP option and then hit ENTER.

When we created the linux 'swap' partition earlier with CFDISK it was created as 'hda3' on the drive. Linux will address that partition as '/dev/hda3' . (please ignore the /dev/hda4 in the image to the right as it was taken during a different Linux installation).



We need to tell the setup program that this is what we want. Setup will generally find our swap partition and present the proper information, hit ENTER if what is presented on the blue screen is appropriate. (it should be!) It will automatically format
the swap partition for you.When you get to the screen 'swap space configured', hit ENTER to continue.

You will now be given the opportunity to tell SETUP which partition to use for the main Linux installation (often called 'root') partition. The root partition is denoted as '/' and is where the main operating system (Linux) files will be put.

In CFDISK we created this root partition as 'hda2' and we will want the SETUP program to identify it as /dev/hda2.Make sure the /dev/hda2 is highlighted and then hit ENTER.

You will be prompted if you wish to format the new partition. Since most of us are in a rush, the quick format is OK.

If you suspect your hard drive is flaky and are too stubborn to toss it in the dumpster (where bad hard drives belong) then select the full check. Either way, you DO want to format this partition.

You can now select what type of filesystem you wish to use. Either ext2 or ext3 will work. I've been using ext3 for no really good reason.






Now-- on the next screen you're shown some really hi-tech stuff. Block size and inodes. For the linux partition ('root' or /) where the linux system files are kept, we are best to use the default. We will NOT use the default for the Jnos partition-- as most of what Jnos puts on the hard drive are very small text files.

So, since this is the root linux partition, leave the default 4096 highlighted and hit ENTER. Slackware setup will now format the root linux partition.

When the root partition format is done we will be given the screen to 'Select other linux partitions'.

On this page we hit the down arrow if needed and highlight the /dev/hda4 partition-- that's where /jnos will be. Hit ENTER when it's highlighted.

As before, a quick format is fine, and select ext3 for the filesystem type.

This time around, when we get to the block size/inode page, we will select the 1024 setting. One 'inode' per 1024 bytes. This will allow your hard drive to be more fully packed with jnos text files.




When it has finished formatting, it will ask you for a 'mount point'. You want to enter '/jnos' in the box and hit ENTER.




When you're done adding the SWAP, ROOT, and JNOS partitions you should see this screen showing that it will be adding them to the /etc/fstab file. This '/etc/fstab' file is where Linux looks to see what drives (hard drives, cdrom, floppy) are connected to the system.
Slackware setup will now display a screen saying that a FAT partition has been detected. Oh my God-- Where's Richard Simmons when you need him!

YES you do want to add the FAT partition to your fstab file. This makes that DOS partition (known as FAT in linux-speak) available to you from within Linux (which is rather handy). Make sure YES is highlighted and hit ENTER.

Make sure the FAT DOS partition of /dev/hda1 is highlithed and hit ENTER.

You can now pick a mount point for the DOS directories. I have been choosing '/dos' or '/fat-dos' as my selections. One drawback to just calling it '/dos' is that it might bet confusing for you at some point-- you might forget you're in Linux, so /fat-dos might be better.

ou will next be greeted by a screen that will allow you to select where the 'source media' is for your Slackware-Linux installation.Since we're installing off a CD-ROM, select the SLACKWARE CD and let it automatically scan for the CD.In most cases it should find the CDrom at/dev/hdc.


If SETUP does not find your CDrom drive, then you have a major problem. Time to get out the sledgehammer and correct it. If you don't have a sledge, a 9mm piece of lead (jacketed in copper or not) through the CDrom drive should fix things good.