From 2168ea8b1650198e0b91215adc5ad52c42651440 Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001 From: Robby Workman Date: Mon, 11 Jan 2010 23:22:22 -0600 Subject: Initial commit of the slackbook sources from Alan's master copy. --- chapter_02.xml | 295 +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ 1 file changed, 295 insertions(+) create mode 100644 chapter_02.xml (limited to 'chapter_02.xml') diff --git a/chapter_02.xml b/chapter_02.xml new file mode 100644 index 0000000..7df4c57 --- /dev/null +++ b/chapter_02.xml @@ -0,0 +1,295 @@ + + + + +Installation + + +Slackware's installation is a bit more simplistic than many other Linux +distributions use, and is very reminiscent of installing one of the +varieties of BSD operating systems. If you're familiar with those, you +should feel right at home. If you've never installed Slackware or used +a distribution that makes use of a non-graphical installer, you may +feel a bit overwhelmed. Don't panic. The installation is very easy +once you understand it, and works on just about any x86 platform. + + + +The latest versions of Slackware Linux are distributed on DVD or CD +media, but Slackware can be installed in a variety of other ways. This +book will only focus on the most common way: installing via optical +media. In order to install Slackware, you'll need at least an Intel +486 or equivilant CPU, but we recommend you obtain a 586 or better CPU +if at all possible. Slackware can be pared down to run on as little as +32 MB of RAM (or even less), but with the size of the 2.6 kernel and +user-space applications, you will find yourself having a much easier +time if you have a minimum of 64 MB of RAM. If you wish to use +anything older than these, you might want to obtain an older copy of +Slackware which will perform better with fewer CPU Megahertz and less +RAM. + + +
+Booting the Installer + + +FILL THIS IN! FILL THIS IN! +FILL THIS IN! FILL THIS IN! +FILL THIS IN! FILL THIS IN! +FILL THIS IN! FILL THIS IN! +FILL THIS IN! FILL THIS IN! +FILL THIS IN! FILL THIS IN! +FILL THIS IN! FILL THIS IN! + + +
+ +
+Partitioning + + +Unlike many other Linux distributions, Slackware does not make use of a +graphical disk partitioning tool in its installer. Rather, Slackware +makes use of fdisk(8) and +cfdisk(8), both console tools. +cfdisk is a curses-based partitioning tool +while fdisk is not. Whichever you choose to +use should only rarely matter. In this book, we'll only discuss +fdisk. + + + +In order to partition your hard drive, you'll first need to know how to +identify it. In Linux, all hardware is identified by a special file +called a device file. These are all (typically) located in the +/dev directory. If your hard drive is IDE, you +will most likely find it as /dev/hda; however, +many hard drives today including SATA disks are identified as SCSI +devices by the kernel. If you don't know what your hard drive is +identified in Linux as, fdisk can help you +out. + + +root@slackware:/# fdisk -l + +Disk /dev/sda: 72.7 GB, 72725037056 bytes +255 heads, 63 sectors/track, 8841 cylinders +Units = cylinders of 16065 * 512 = 8225280 bytes + + + +Here, you can see that my system has a hard drive located at +/dev/sda that is 72.7 GB in size. You can also +see some additional info about this hard drive. (In my case, this is +actually three SCSI hard drives on a hardware RAID controller that +makes them appear as a single drive.) The -l argument to +fdisk tells it to display the hard drives +and all the partitions it finds on those drives, but won't make any +changes to the disks. In order to actually partition our drives, we'll +have to tell fdisk what drive to operate on. + + +root@slackware:/# fdisk /dev/sda + +The number of cylinders for this disk is set to 8841. +There is nothing wrong with that, but this is larger than 1024, +and could in certain setups cause problems with: +1) software that runs at boot time (e.g., old versions of LILO) +2) booting and partitioning software from other OSs + (e.g., DOS FDISK, OS/2 FDISK) + +Command (m for help): + + + +Now we've told fdisk what disk we wish to partition and it has dropped +us into command mode after printing an annoying warning message. The +1024 cylinder limit has not been a problem for some time, and +Slackware's boot loader will have no trouble booting disks larger than +this. Typing m and hitting ENTER will print out a helpful +message telling you what to do with fdisk. + + +Command (m for help): m + +FILL THIS IN! FILL THIS IN! +FILL THIS IN! FILL THIS IN! +FILL THIS IN! FILL THIS IN! +FILL THIS IN! FILL THIS IN! +FILL THIS IN! FILL THIS IN! +FILL THIS IN! FILL THIS IN! +FILL THIS IN! FILL THIS IN! + + + + +Now that we know what commands will do what, it's time to begin to +partition our drive. At a minimum, you will need a single +/ partition and should create a swap partition. +You might also want to make a seperate /home +partition for storing user files (this will make it easier to upgrade +later, or install a different Linux operating system by keeping all of +your users' files on a seperate partition). So, let's go ahead and +make three partitions. The command to create a new partition is +n (which you would have noticed if you read the help). + + +Command: (me for help): n +Command action + e extended + p primary partition (1-4) +p +Partition number (1-4): 1 +First cylinder (1-8841, default 1): 1 +Last cylinder or +size or +sizeM or +sizeK (1-8841, default 8841): +8G + +Command (m for help): n +Command action + e extended + p primary partition (1-4) +p +Partition number (1-4): 2 +First cylinder (975-8841, default 975): 975 +Last cylinder or +size or +sizeM or +sizeK (975-8841, default 8841): +1G + + + +Here we have created two partitions. The first is 8GB in size and the +second is only 1GB. We can view our existing partitions with the +p command. + + + Command (m for help): p + +Disk /dev/sda: 72.7 GB, 72725037056 bytes +255 heads, 63 sectors/track, 8841 cylinders +Units = cylinders of 16065 * 512 = 8225280 bytes + + Device Boot Start End Blocks Id System +/dev/sda1 1 974 7823623+ 83 Linux +/dev/sda2 975 1097 987997+ 83 Linux + + + + +Both of these partitions are of type "83" which is the standard Linux +filesystem. We will need to change /dev/sda2 to +type "82" in order to make this a swap partition. We will do this with +the t command. + + +Command (m for help): t +Partition number (1-4): 2 +Hex code (type L to list codes): 82 + +Command (me for help): p + +Disk /dev/sda: 72.7 GB, 72725037056 bytes +255 heads, 63 sectors/track, 8841 cylinders +Units = cylinders of 16065 * 512 = 8225280 bytes + + Device Boot Start End Blocks Id System +/dev/sda1 1 974 7823623+ 83 Linux +/dev/sda2 975 1097 987997+ 82 Linux swap + + + +The swap partition is a special partition that is used for +virtual memory by the Linux kernel. If for some reason you run out of +RAM, the kernel will move the contents of some of the RAM to swap in +order to prevent a crash. The size of your swap partition is up to +you. A great many people have participated have participated in a +great many flamewars on the size of swap partitions, but a good rule of +thumb is to make your swap partition about twice the size of your +system's RAM. Since my machine has only 512MB of RAM, I decided to +make my swap partition 1GB. You may wish to experiment with your swap +partition's size and see what works best for you, but generally there +is no harm in having "too much" swap. + + + +At this point we can stop, write these changes to the disk, and +continue on, but I'm going to go ahead and make a third partition which +will be mounted at /home. + + +Command: (me for help): n +Command action + e extended + p primary partition (1-4) +p +Partition number (1-4): 3 +First cylinder (1098-8841, default 1098): 1098 +Last cylinder or +size or +sizeM or +sizeK (1098-8841, default 8841): 8841 + + + +Now it's time to finish up and write these changes to disk. + + +Command: (me for help): w +The partition table has been altered! + +Calling ioctl() to re-read partition table. +Synching disks. +root@slackware:/# + + + +At this point, we are through partitioning our disks and are ready to +begin the setup program. However, if you +have created any extended partitions, you may wish to reboot once to +ensure that they are properly read by the kernel. + + +
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+The <application>setup</application> Program + + + +
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