These are 1.44 MB bootdisk images for Slackware Linux 3.9.0. These disks use Linux kernel version 2.0.37pre10. You'll need one of these to get Linux started on your system so that you can install it. Because of the possibility of collisions between the various Linux drivers, several bootkernel disks have been provided. You should use the one with the least drivers possible to maximize your chances of success. You will be using the bootdisk to load and start a rootdisk. See the /rootdsks directory for these. A bootdisk is created by writing the image to a formatted floppy disk with RAWRITE.EXE under DOS. For example, to use RAWRITE.EXE to create the bare.i bootdisk you'd put a formatted disk in your floppy drive and issue the following command: C:\> RAWRITE BARE.I A: Tip: If you have no idea which bootdisk to use, start with "bare.i". This is the correct disk to use for most systems with IDE peripherals. Note: If you need to support an unusual hardware combination during the installation (for example, you want to do an NFS installation using a SCSI card and network card that aren't both in the scsinet.s image), then you may need to use a generic bootdisk like "bare.i" and load the additional drivers as kernel modules before running "setup". See the README files in the ../modules directory for details on how to do this. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Here's a description of the disks: These are the bootdisks for IDE based systems. All IDE bootdisks support IDE hard drives and CD-ROM drives, plus additional support listed below. aztech.i CD-ROM drives: Aztech CDA268-01A, Orchid CD-3110, Okano/Wearnes CDD110, Conrad TXC, CyCDROM CR520, CR540. bare.i This is the disk to use for installation on most IDE based PCs. It includes support for IDE/ATAPI CD-ROM drives. Most CD-ROM drives made today fall into this catagory. bareapm.i This disk is the same as the bare.i image, with the addition of Advanced Power Management support. This is usually used on laptops to check the battery level, or to put the machine in standby or sleep mode. On machines that aren't laptops, it can cause booting problems. This is the correct disk to use for a PCMCIA install. cdu31a.i Sony CDU31/33a CD-ROM. cdu535.i Sony CDU531/535 CD-ROM. cm206.i Philips/LMS cm206 CD-ROM with cm260 adapter card. goldstar.i Goldstar R420 CD-ROM (sometimes sold in a 'Reveal Multimedia Kit'). isp16.i Supports ISP16/MAD16/Mozart CD-ROM drives. Boot time command line options (or 'append=' options in /etc/lilo.conf) are: isp16=,,, Valid values for drive_type include: Sanyo, Panasonic (same as Sanyo), Sony and Mitsumi. Default values are: port=0x340, irq=0, dma=0, drive_type=Sanyo. lowmem.i This is a really stripped-down Linux kernel which might be useful for installing on IDE systems with a low amount of RAM (less than 8MB). If bare.i runs into problems, you might try this. NOTE: On systems with extremely low memory (4MB), ZipSlack plus the fourmeg.zip add-on (found in the zipslack directory) may boot and run even in cases where lowmem.i doesn't. mcd.i NON-IDE Mitsumi CD-ROM support. mcdx.i Improved NON-IDE Mitsumi CD-ROM support. net.i An IDE/ATAPI bootdisk with Ethernet support. Use this for installing over a network to an IDE hard drive. NOTE: net.i, while a nice shortcut if it works, does not work on every machine, nor does it include every Linux network driver. Because of the large number of devices it looks for, it can hang the machine or cause other problems if it misidentifies something. This is an unavoidable risk when probing for hardware on the PC platform. If you run into problems with net.i (or it doesn't see your network card), don't panic, just use a disk with less drivers. If you're not installing over the network, bare.i is probably the right choice. If you need network support, use bare.i, plus put 'insmod' and the required network modules on another floppy to load before running setup. The README files in the ../modules directory explain this process in detail. This disk also includes PLIP support, but you'll need to pass a parameter to the kernel to tell the parallel port driver which IRQ to use. For example, if you want to use a parallel port on 0x378, IRQ 7, you would use this command on the bootdisk's 'boot:' prompt: ramdisk parport=0x378,7 You may also use this command to make the driver autodetect your port and IRQ: ramdisk parport=auto no_kbd.i This version of bare.i is a workaround for a problem: Some newer P2/Celeron systems have been known to reboot themselves as the kernel is starting up. This seems to happen as the keyboard LEDs are reset. The no_kbd.i does not reset the keyboard LEDs, and will boot correctly on most machines with this symptom. A BIOS upgrade from the motherboard manufacturer may fix the problem. no_pci.i If you're having problems with a hang during PCI probing, try this IDE-supporting bootdisk without PCI BIOS support. Some old PCI motherboards have BIOS bugs and may crash if "PCI bios support" is enabled, but they run fine without this option. In many cases the BIOS can be fixed with a flash update from the motherboard manufacturer's web site. optics.i Optics Storage 8000 AT CD-ROM (the 'DOLPHIN' drive). pportide.i This is an extended version of bare.i will support for a wide variety of parallel-port IDE devices. Supports parallel-port products from MicroSolutions, Hewlett-Packard, SyQuest, Imation, Avatar, and other manufacturers. sanyo.i Sanyo CDR-H94A CD-ROM support. sbpcd.i Matsushita, Kotobuki, Panasonic, CreativeLabs (Sound Blaster), Longshine and Teac NON-IDE CD-ROM support. IMPORTANT! I can't possibly stress enough that this disk is *not* for IDE/ATAPI CD-ROM drives, which include nearly all of the drives made by these manufacturers recently. For IDE/ATAPI CD-ROM drives, use bare.i. smp.i This disk is the same as the generic bare.i bootdisk, but adds support for motherboards with multiple CPUs. (symmetric multiprocessing, or SMP) xt.i MFM (very very old) hard drive support. The bootdisks listed below are for systems that contain a SCSI controller. All SCSI bootdisks feature full IDE hard drive and CD-ROM drive support, plus additional SCSI drivers. 7000fast.s Western Digital 7000FASST SCSI support. advansys.s This bootdisk supports all AdvanSys SCSI controllers, including some SCSI cards included with HP CD-R/RW drives, the Iomega Jaz Jet SCSI controller, and the SCSI controller on the Iomega Buz multimedia adapter. aha152x.s Adaptec 152x SCSI support. This supports the AHA-1510, AHA-1520, AHA-1522, and AHA-2825 SCSI host adapters. aha1542.s Adaptec 1542 SCSI support. aha1740.s Adaptec 1740 SCSI support. aic7xxx.s Adaptec AIC7xxx SCSI support. These include the 274x EISA cards, 284x VLB cards, 294x PCI cards, 394x PCI cards, 3985 PCI card, and several versions of the Adaptec built-in SCSI controllers on various PC motherboards. am53c974.s AM53/79C974 SCSI support. buslogic.s This supports BusLogic MultiMaster and FlashPoint SCSI controllers. dtc3280.s DTC (Data Technology Corp) 3180/3280 SCSI support. eata_dma.s DPT EATA-DMA SCSI support. (Boards such as PM2011, PM2021, PM2041, PM3021, PM2012B, PM2022, PM2122, PM2322, PM2042, PM3122, PM3222, PM3332, PM2024, PM2124, PM2044, PM2144, PM3224, PM3334.) eata_isa.s DPT EATA-ISA/EISA SCSI support. (Boards such as PM2011B/9X, PM2021A/9X, PM2012A, PM2012B, PM2022A/9X, PM2122A/9X, PM2322A/9X) eata_pio.s DPT EATA-PIO SCSI support. (PM2001 and PM2012A) fdomain.s This supports Future Domain's 16-bit SCSI host adapters (TMC-1660/1680, TMC-1650/1670, TMC-3260, TMC-1610M/MER/MEX) and other adapters based on the Future Domain chipsets (Quantum ISA-200S, ISA-250MG; Adaptec AHA-2920; and at least one IBM board). gdt.s This is a bootdisk for all SCSI Disk Array Controllers (EISA/ISA/PCI) manufactured by ICP Vortex. ibmmca.s This is a bootdisk based on a development kernel which supports MicroChannel Architecture, found in some IBM PS/2 machines and laptops. It is a bus system similar to PCI or ISA. Support for most MCA SCSI, Ethernet, and Token Ring adapters is included. in2000.s Always IN2000 SCSI support. iomega.s IOMEGA parallel port SCSI support. This supports the parallel-port Zip drives as a Linux SCSI device. This disk supports the older PPA parallel Zip drives. n_5380.s NCR 5380 and 53c400 SCSI support. This is the generic NCR family of SCSI controllers, not to be confused with the NCR 53c7 or 8xx controllers. An example of a controller that uses the NCR53c400 chip is the Trantor T130B. n_53c7xx.s NCR 53c7xx, 53c8xx SCSI support. (Most NCR PCI SCSI controllers use this driver, or the driver below) n_53c8xx.s This is the FreeBSD NCR driver adapted to Linux for the NCR53C8XX family of PCI-SCSI controllers. This driver supports parity checking, tagged command queuing, fast SCSI II transfer up to 10 MB/s with narrow SCSI devices and 20 MB/s with wide scsi devices. It also supports Ultra SCSI data transfers with NCR53C860 and NCR53C875 controllers. The following Symbios/NCR chipsets are supported by the driver in this bootdisk: 810 810A 815 825 825A 860 875 876 895 896 no_kbd.s This version of scsi.s is a workaround for a problem: Some newer P2/Celeron systems have been known to reboot themselves as the kernel is starting up. This seems to happen as the keyboard LEDs are reset. The no_kbd.s does not reset the keyboard LEDs, and will boot correctly on most machines with this symptom. A BIOS upgrade from the motherboard manufacturer may fix the problem. no_pci.s If you're having problems with a hang during PCI probing, try this SCSI-supporting bootdisk without PCI BIOS support. Some old PCI motherboards have BIOS bugs and may crash if "PCI bios support" is enabled, but they run fine without this option. In many cases the BIOS can be fixed with a flash update from the motherboard manufacturer's web site. old_cd.s This disk is provided in the unlikely event that someone needs to install from an old CD-ROM drive on a proprietary (*not* SCSI or IDE/ATAPI) interface to a hard drive on a SCSI controller. This disk supports most Linux supported SCSI controllers, plus the CD-ROM drives supported by these bootdisks: aztech.i, cdu31a.i, cdu535.i, cm206.i, goldstar.i, isp16.i, mcd.i, mcdx.i, optics.i, sanyo.i, and sbpcd.i. pas16.s Pro Audio Spectrum/Studio 16 SCSI support. qlog_fas.s ISA/VLB/PCMCIA Qlogic FastSCSI! support. (also supports the Control Concepts SCSI cards based on the Qlogic FASXXX chip) qlog_isp.s Supports all Qlogic PCI SCSI controllers, except the PCI-basic, which is supported by the AMD SCSI driver found on the am53c974.s bootdisk. scsi.s A generic SCSI bootdisk, with support for most SCSI controllers that work under Linux. (NOTE: This disk wastes a lot of memory, since it contains nearly *all* of the SCSI drivers. If you know which SCSI controller your system has, it's *far* better to use the disk designed especially for it. But, if you don't know, then this generic disk might just work for you.) scsinet.s Supports most SCSI controllers, plus many of the most common ethernet cards. Use this for installing over a network to a SCSI drive. (Or you can also use the bootdisk for your SCSI controller plus the appropriate ethernet module. See the README files in the ../modules directory if you want to try this approach) NOTE: Don't be too surprised if scsinet.s causes your machine to hang. It's loaded with nearly every SCSI and network driver for Linux, and unless your hardware is well behaved, the probing process can freeze your machine. If that happens, don't panic, just use a disk with less drivers. If you're not installing over the network, the disk designed for your SCSI controller is the right choice. If you need network support, use the disk designed for your SCSI card, plus put 'insmod' and the required network modules on another floppy to load before running setup. The README files in the ../modules directory explain this process in detail. seagate.s Seagate ST01/ST02, Future Domain TMC-885/950 SCSI support. smp.s This disk is the same as the generic scsi.s bootdisk, but adds support for motherboards with multiple CPUs. (symmetric multiprocessing, or SMP) tekram.s This bootdisk supports the Tekram DC390(T) PCI SCSI Hostadapter with the Am53C974A chip, and perhaps other cards using the same chip. It does _not_ support the DC390W/U/F adaptor with the NCR/Symbios chips -- for those cards, use the n_53c8xx.s bootdisk. trantor.s Trantor T128/T128F/T228 SCSI support. ultrastr.s UltraStor 14F, 24F, and 34F SCSI support. ustor14f.s UltraStor 14F and 34F SCSI support. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------- IMPORTANT HELPFUL HINTS: (AND WHAT TO DO IF THE INSTALLED SYSTEM WON'T BOOT) The kernels provided with the Slackware A series (ide and scsi) are reasonably generic to maximize the chances that your system will boot after installation. However, you should compile a custom kernel after installing, selecting only the drivers your system requires. This will offer optimal performance. You'll need to recompile your kernel to enable support for non-SCSI CD-ROM drives, bus-mice, sound cards, and many other pieces of hardware. The drivers could not be included with the pre-compiled kernels because they cause system hangs and other compatiblity problems for people that don't have the hardware installed. On a similar note, any time you use one kernel to install, and a different kernel the first time the installed system is started, you run the risk that the second kernel won't be compatible for some reason. If your system fails to reboot after installation, you'll have to compile a custom kernel for your hardware. Follow these steps: 0. If you haven't installed the C compiler and kernel source, do that. 1. Use the bootdisk you installed with to start your machine. At the LILO prompt, enter: mount root=/dev/hda1 ^^^^^^^^^ Or whatever your root Linux partition is. Ignore any error messages as the system starts up. 2. Log in as root, and recompile the kernel with these steps. (Comments will be placed in parenthesis) cd /usr/src/linux make config (Choose your drivers. Repeat this step until you are satisfied with your choices) If you are using LILO, this will build and install the new kernel: make dep ; make clean ; make zlilo rdev -R /vmlinuz 1 If you are using a bootdisk, these commands will build the kernel and create a new bootdisk for your machine: make dep ; make clean ; make zImage rdev -R zImage 1 (If you use UMSDOS for your root partition, use 'rdev -R zImage 0' instead) rdev -v zImage -1 rdev zImage /dev/hda1 (replace /dev/hda1 with the name of your root Linux partition) (Now, put a disk into your floppy drive to be made into the new bootdisk:) fdformat /dev/fd0u1440 cat zImage > /dev/fd0 That should do it! You should now have a Linux kernel that can make full use of all supported hardware installed in your machine. Reboot and try it out. Good luck! --- Patrick Volkerding volkerdi@slackware.com PS - Bug reports welcome. Requests for help may be answered if time permits. I've been happy to do this in the past, but lately I've had both a lot more work to do and a lot more mail to deal with. It's just not as possible to keep up with my mail as it once was.