If your system cannot boot from the CD-ROM you will need to create a floppy boot disk. The CD-ROM contains all of the image files and utility programs needed to do so.
The floppy boot disk images are in the
CD-ROM's install/images/
directory.
The following is a list of different images and their respective installation methods:
cdrom.img
network.img
and
network_drivers.img
To install from an NFS, FTP, HTTP repository on your local LAN or from one across the world, via the Internet. The network configuration of the machine on which you wish to install may be manual or automatic. Please make sure that you make both floppies.
pcmcia.img
Use this image if the installation medium is reached through a PCMCIA card (network, CD-ROM, etc.).
hd_grub.img
Use this image if you want to perform the installation from a hard disk. You need to copy the contents of the CD onto the hard drive (either on a FAT, ext2FS, ext3FS or ReiserFS partition). At the hd_grub customization site there is a little tool which may prove helpful for customizing your boot floppy.
In order to do
so, you need to use the rawwrite program. You will find it
in the CD-ROM's dosutils/
directory.
You may have noticed that there is a DOS version of the same program called rawrite. In fact, this is the original version of the program. rawwrite is a graphical front-end to it.
Start the program, as shown in Figure 2.1, “The Rawwrite Program”.
Select the
boot image to be copied and the target device. In almost every
case, the target device is the A:
drive (that
is, the first floppy disk drive).
Then if you have not already done so, insert an empty disk into your chosen floppy drive and click on the button. When completed click on the button: you now have a floppy boot disk to install your Mandrakelinux distribution.
If you already have GNU/Linux installed (another version, or on another machine, etc.), then carry out the following steps:
Mount the
CD-ROM, if needed. Let us suppose that the mount point is
/mnt/cdrom
.
Log in as
root
(to do so, open a terminal window, run the
su command and enter root
's
password).
Insert an empty diskette into the floppy drive and type:
$ dd if=/mnt/cdrom/install/images/cdrom.img of=/dev/fd0 bs=512
When this operation is completed, your floppy boot disk will be ready for use.