Very Computer

You just may call me Manuel, you know him, that guy from Barcelona In
Fawlty Towers. His famous words are mine right now : QEU? I KNOW
NOTHING! Linux is complete new to me. Ahum newsgroups also...sorry
(like a *, i've got a modem for 2 tiny months now..).So if my
message is full of mistakes excuze moi.

Here's my problem:

I bought myself Redhat Linux 5.0 with Installation Guide of course.
This i want to install  on my Pentium 120 Mhz Computer. (32 MB RAM).

I've got 1 Generic IDE Disk, 2.1 GB.
It has a C: and a D: partion , E: is CD-rom.

On C: i've installed Dos 6.2/Win 3.11 and Win95.
In msdos.sys of Win95 i made access to a boot-option Dos6.2/Win3.11 or
Win95. No problem.
On D: i've got nothing. Here i want to install Linux.

Well i've read the first chapters of the Installation Guide, lots
makes sense (i think..), but Installing Lilo puzzels/frightens me. I
can't risk losing boot-option to Dos6.2/Win3.11/Win95!

Where must i install Lilo ;

1.  The Master Boot Record on C: ? Lilo takes over the boot-option i
have made?
If so, can i automatically boot -when Lilo starts- to Dos6.2/Win 3.11
or Win95 or Linux. Or must i configure Lilo. How is this done? Like i
said Linux is complete new to me.

2. I prefer number 1 if it's possible. But gives the Redhat
installation program  the opportunity to install Lilo on a floppy ? My
MBR stays the same, my access to Dos6.2/Win311/Win95 stays intact and
if i want Linux just use the floppy. Is this right?

3. Can Lilo be installed to D:? But my  BIOS gives no access to D: Not
possible i think, correct me if i'm wrong.

4. Or must I use another Bootmanager? If so can you recommend me one.

Number 1 is my favorite, so a answer on that i would appreciate. If
you have the time to answer my other questions, great!

By the way, i've spent several ours on Linux-newsgroups to find a
answer to my questions. I've found some links but my knowledge  is to
little and my fear to big.

WILLEM HOLTHUIS, 2-3-'98

<deleted>
::> Well i've read the first chapters of the Installation Guide, lots
::> makes sense (i think..), but Installing Lilo puzzels/frightens me. I
::> can't risk losing boot-option to Dos6.2/Win3.11/Win95!

Relax..  Not that hard at all.

::> Where must i install Lilo ;

::> 1.  The Master Boot Record on C: ? Lilo takes over the boot-option i
::> have made?
::> If so, can i automatically boot -when Lilo starts- to Dos6.2/Win 3.11
::> or Win95 or Linux. Or must i configure Lilo. How is this done? Like i
::> said Linux is complete new to me.

LILO will be installed into Master Boot Record or, in a active primary
partition (for Linux).  You may have to configure the lilo.conf file to
tell the LILO where to boot the DOS files It depends on which distribution
of Linux you have.

::>
2. I prefer number 1 if it's possible. But gives the Redhat
::> installation program  the opportunity to install Lilo on a floppy ? My
::> MBR stays the same, my access to Dos6.2/Win311/Win95 stays intact and
::> if i want Linux just use the floppy. Is this right?

You may choose to boot Linux from a DOS partition, which you may like the
most. Copy the kernel to the DOS partition and load the kernel using
loadlin. Look at the RedHat CD.  It probably have the loadlin program in
it.

::> 3. Can Lilo be installed to D:? But my  BIOS gives no access to D: Not
::> possible i think, correct me if i'm wrong.

You may have to remove the D:, and let Linux create a primary partition
to hold the Linux.  Make it active (bootable) and install LILO on it.
Then, you don't have to touch the MBR.

::> 4. Or must I use another Bootmanager? If so can you recommend me one.

You can, but it is not necessary to do so.  System Commander is a popular
one.

::> Number 1 is my favorite, so a answer on that i would appreciate. If
::> you have the time to answer my other questions, great!

::> By the way, i've spent several ours on Linux-newsgroups to find a
::> answer to my questions. I've found some links but my knowledge  is to
::> little and my fear to big.

::> WILLEM HOLTHUIS, 2-3-'98

--
Michael
+------------------------------------------------+

| http://www.geocities.com/ResearchTriangle/8116 |
+------------------------------------------------+

MarianoL
Mariano Luna
"Fell no fear,
drop no tears,
increase your knowledge,
and make them FEAR"
                        Mariano Luna

Hello,

:> I bought myself Redhat Linux 5.0 with Installation Guide of course.
:> This i want to install  on my Pentium 120 Mhz Computer. (32 MB RAM).
:>
:> Well i've read the first chapters of the Installation Guide, lots
:> makes sense (i think..), but Installing Lilo puzzels/frightens me. I
:> can't risk losing boot-option to Dos6.2/Win3.11/Win95!

If you install lilo in the first sector of your first HD, you may remove
it later from with in DOS (if all goes wrong from a DOS-Bootdisk) using
"fdisk /mbr". This will rewrite the Master boot record and so removes lilo.
You may install lilo in a way, that it is possible to boot from your drive
C: a before, and that will show your previously installed bootmenu...

:> Where must i install Lilo ;
:> 1.  The Master Boot Record on C: ? Lilo takes over the boot-option i
:> have made?

Lilo install the option to boot your DOS/Win partition or linux from the
second Harddisk. You have 2 bootmenus in this case...

:> If so, can i automatically boot -when Lilo starts- to Dos6.2/Win 3.11
:> or Win95 or Linux. Or must i configure Lilo. How is this done? Like i
:> said Linux is complete new to me.

You will find a lot of information about lilo in most linux-distributions.

: The when you finish installing all the stuff and boot  lilo will come up
: and with  the tab key you will  get a list of the actual boot options.

Depending on the way lilo was configured, you may get the list automatically
or you have to press one of the following keys to get the selection:
        shift / control / alt

: The list will say :linux            win95 (or whatever you have named it
: in the LILO instalation)

You have another possibility (not tried yet):
Maybe it it possible to modify the boot-menu in a way that if select
an entry named "linux", the program loadlin.exe will be started.
loadlin is a program, that makes it possible to start linux from DOS
prompt with a simple command-line. Someone wrote (some time ago), that
he started linux by double-clicking an icon from within win95, but i
never tried it (i have no Win95 :-) ).

:> 2. I prefer number 1 if it's possible. But gives the Redhat
:> installation program  the opportunity to install Lilo on a floppy ? My

Shure, that is also possible. Another solution (but much slower) would be
to load the complete kernel from a floppy, but it is also possible to load
only the bootrecord from floppy and the kernel from your second HD.

:> MBR stays the same, my access to Dos6.2/Win311/Win95 stays intact and
:> if i want Linux just use the floppy. Is this right?

It is possible...

:> 3. Can Lilo be installed to D:? But my  BIOS gives no access to D: Not
:> possible i think, correct me if i'm wrong.

I don't think so... What type of harddisk is that? If it is an IDE-drive,
you may load the kernel from that drive. If it is a SCSI-drive and your
controller provides a Bios-extension, it is alos possible. If you can
use your second drive for DOS without special deviece-drivers, it is
possible to load the kernel from that drive. But be careful! the kernel
(better to avoid problems: the whole partition the kernel is booted from)
must reside in the first 1024 Cylinder of that drive...
Normally you can not use lilo from that drive, but there is no reason to
load the kernel from thee first HD...

:> 4. Or must I use another Bootmanager? If so can you recommend me one.

That is another possibility:

Some time ago, i installed lilo in the first sector of my linux root
partition of my second HD, and booted linux via OS/2 Bootmanager, which
provided the necessary functionality...

:> By the way, i've spent several ours on Linux-newsgroups to find a
:> answer to my questions. I've found some links but my knowledge  is to
:> little and my fear to big.

There is no reason to have such big fear, if you read the documentation
carefully. But you should really read the documentation. It is possible
(with most distributions) to install loadlin first on your DOS-Disk.

If you have read the lilo documentation, you may later decide to install
lilo. I think this would be the safest way... I didn't install RedHat 5.0
so far, so i don't know, what the lilo-conbfiguration would provide.
Maybe that is a real save solution for your problem too.

ciao,