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Table of Contents
Booting Installation Environment from HDD
This article shows how to boot Slackware installation environment from hard drive (don't ask why).
To boot Slackware installation environment you need image of environment, suitable Linux kernel, and boot loader.
Image of Environment
All software you can use after booting Slackware installation media resides in initial ramdisk image. You can found it as /isolinux/initrd.img
on installation media or at the same path at one of Slackware mirrors.
Linux Kernel
Slackware uses (at least now) one of it's huge kernels to run installation environment. You can found kernel bzImage
s in sub-directories of /kernel
directory on installation media or at the same path at one of Slackware mirrors.
Getting The Files
If you already have iso image of Slackware install media you can mount image with loop option and copy the files, for ex. to /boot/swsetup
directory.
Slackware 14.0 64-bit:
# mkdir -p /mnt/tmp /boot/swsetup # mount -o loop /tmp/slackware64-14.0-install-dvd.iso /mnt/tmp # cp /mnt/tmp/isolinux/initrd.img /mnt/tmp/kernel/huge.s/bzImage /boot/swsetup/ # umount /mnt/tmp
Slackware 14.0 32-bit:
# mkdir -p /mnt/tmp /boot/swsetup # mount -o loop /tmp/slackware-14.0-install-dvd.iso /mnt/tmp # cp /mnt/tmp/isolinux/initrd.img /mnt/tmp/kernel/hugesmp.s/bzImage /boot/swsetup/ # umount /mnt/tmp
You can also download kernel and initrd image from one of Slackware mirrors. There are some examples below.
Slackware 14.0 64-bit:
Slackware 14.0 32-bit:
Boot Loader
There are many boot loaders around. Slackware uses SYSLINUX to boot from install media, installs LILO to boot installed system, provides GRUB-legacy package in /extra (32 bit only). Many distributions use GRUB (renamed from GRUB2) as they main boot loader. If you use a Linux system you probably already have suitable one. You need to put bzImage and initrd.img to right place and instruct boot loader to boot them.
Note parameters passed to kernel in /isolinux/isolinux.cfg
, you need them to properly configure your boot loader.
LILO
Add to /etc/lilo.conf
something like:
image = /boot/swsetup/bzImage initrd = /boot/swsetup/initrd.img addappend = "load_ramdisk=1 prompt_ramdisk=0 rw printk.time=0 SLACK_KERNEL=huge.s" label = SwSetup
and run
# lilo
GRUB
Add to /boot/grub/grub.cfg
something like:
menuentry 'SwSetup' { set root='(hd0,2)' linux /boot/swsetup/bzImage load_ramdisk=1 prompt_ramdisk=0 rw printk.time=0 SLACK_KERNEL=huge.s initrd /boot/swsetup/initrd.img }
GRUB-legacy
Add to /boot/grub/menu.lst
something like:
title SwSetup root (hd0,1) kernel /boot/swsetup/bzImage load_ramdisk=1 prompt_ramdisk=0 rw printk.time=0 SLACK_KERNEL=huge.s initrd /boot/swsetup/initrd.img
Test It
Reboot your system and select SwSetup at boot prompt.
If you have unused partition you can install Slackware on it right now.
Using ISO Image as Source
If you downloaded Slackware DVD iso image you can use it as package source. On “SOURCE MEDIA SELECTION” step select “2 Install from hard drive partition”, type in partition name with image file, for ex. /dev/sda2
, then type in path to directory with DVD iso image, for ex. /tmp/
, and agree with prompt to use image as package source:
┌──────────────────────SOURCE MEDIA SELECTION────────────────────────┐ │ Please select the media from which to install Slackware Linux: │ │ ┌────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐ │ │ │ 1 Install from a Slackware CD or DVD │ │ │ │ 2 Install from a hard drive partition │ │ │ │ 3 Install from NFS (Network File System) │ │ │ │ 4 Install from FTP/HTTP server │ │ │ │ 5 Install from Samba share │ │ │ │ 6 Install from a pre-mounted directory │ │ │ └────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘ │ ├────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┤ │ < OK > <Cancel> │ └────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘
┌────────────────────INSTALLING FROM HARD DISK───────────────────────┐ │ In order to install directly from the hard disk you must have a │ │ partition (such as /dev/sda1, /dev/sdb5, etc) with the Slackware │ │ distribution's slackware/ directory like you'd find it on the FTP │ │ site. It can be in another directory. For example, if the │ │ distribution is in /stuff/slackware/, then you have to have │ │ directories named /stuff/slackware/a, /stuff/slackware/ap, and so │ │ on each containing the files that would be in that directory on │ │ the FTP site. You may install from FAT or Linux partitions. │ │ │ │ Please enter the partition (such as /dev/sda1) where the Slackware │ │ sources can be found, or [enter] to see a partition list: │ │ ┌────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐ │ │ │/dev/sda2 │ │ │ └────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘ │ ├────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┤ │ < OK > <Cancel> │ └────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘
┌───────────────────SELECT SOURCE DIRECTORY─────────────────────┐ │ Now we need to know the full path on this partition to the │ │ slackware/ directory where the directories containing │ │ installation files and packages to be installed are kept. │ │ For example, if you downloaded Slackware into the /stuff │ │ directory on your hard drive (so that you have the │ │ directories /stuff/slackware/a, /stuff/slackware/ap, and so │ │ on each containing the files that would be in that directory │ │ on the FTP site), then the full path to enter here would be: │ │ │ │ /stuff/slackware │ │ │ │ What directory are the Slackware sources in? │ │ ┌───────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐ │ │ │/tmp/ │ │ │ └───────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘ │ ├───────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┤ │ < OK > <Cancel> │ └───────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘
┌────────────────────────USE ISO IMAGE──────────────────────────┐ │ │ │ An ISO image of Slackware's install DVD was found. │ │ Do you want me to mount the ISO image and use this as the │ │ package source? │ │ │ ├───────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┤ │ < Yes > < No > │ └───────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘
Slackware setup automatically finds iso image named as slackwar*-install-dvd.iso
.
You can also mount your image by hands before starting setup or after that from another console (use Alt+Fn to switch)
# mkdir /hd /iso # mount /dev/sda2 /hd # mount -o loop /hd/tmp/slackware64-14.0-install-dvd.iso /iso
and on “SOURCE MEDIA SELECTION” step select “6 Install from a premounted directory” and type in path to packages /iso/slackware64 for 64 bit system or /iso/slackware for 32 bit.
Sources
- Originally written by Serg Bormant