VL 3.2 partial installation

[perfecto]

Hello,

I am a student with no experience in Linux or in programing.
I'm looking for a tutorial to install part of VL 3.2, by selecting the appropriate modules, on an old Toshiba Satellite Pro laptop 430CDT.
I've looked in the manual sections and there is nothing apart from the comparative chart.
The laptop runs at 122MHz and has 46MB of Ram. 
Here are more detailed specs. : http://www.csd.toshiba.com/cgi-bin/t...ceghdgngdgnj.0
This is the system setup I accessed a long time ago:
Memory (KB)
Total: 49152
Base: 640
Extended: 48320
Shadow BIOS ROM: 192

Hard Disk
HDD Mode: Enhanced IDE(normal)

I/O ports
serial: COM1 (3F8H/IRQ4)
Infrared: Not used
Parallel: LPT1(378H/IRQ7)
Sound: Address/IRQ/DMA

Others
Power-up mode: Resume
CPU Cache: enabled
Battery save mode: Full Power
Alarm volume, system beep (skip)
Panel Power ON/OFF: Enabled
Alarm power on, keyboard, pointing devices (skip)
Boot Priority:  (arrow) FDD>HDD

I previously had Windows 95 but it got corrupt and although I did intend to retrieve the data on the 4GB hard disk, it now seems to be hopeless. The bios version is 6.3.
So my best bet is to clean everything.
VL 3.2 will have to be installed through floppies. The computer won't boot by Cd.
I'll only use the laptop to write docs and browse the internet.  

Thanks,

perfecto

[sovavto]

Reading your information I didn't see anything that would prevent you from installing VL 4.0

There is an installation manual on VL 4.0 which will tell you how to install it.

Give it a try....
If your computer has a CD-ROM but won't boot from it - just start with the floppy and then put in the CD later (follow instructions).

[seaken]

I have read and understand the process for booting from a floppy. But, in my case, I cannot have the CD-ROM drive and the floppy installed at the same time. I am trying to install Vector on an old Compaq LTE5400. Once I boot from floppy what will happen when I got to swap in the CD-ROM? In Windows 98 I have to reboot to get the CD-ROM drive activated. I can't hot-swap in this bay. It's either the floppy or the CD-ROM, not both.

So, I am wondering how to install the boot files to the hard disk. I could create a small partition that would load the install program and CD-ROM drivers (will drivers for the CD be needed in linux?). Can I then start the install from the CD? How do I get the hard disk to boot the linux kernel in the same manner as the floppies? Can I use some utility like rawrite to do this on the hard disk?

I am envisioning something like this:

Partition the hard disk and place a boot image for the install program
Shut down and re-boot to the hard disk to start the install program
Tell the program to look for the linux system on the CD-ROM to continue installation

Will this be possible?

If not, is there a way to install linux from DOS or windows without booting from linux?

Sean

[bigpaws]

http://vectorlinux.osuosl.org/docs/vl40/en_html/vl_installation_guide_en.html

Bigpaws

[seaken]

Thank you. Excellent reading. But I am still not understanding how I get the stuff from the CD onto the hard disk since I can't keep the CD in place while I boot.

I was able to get the boot and root floppies to work and I partitioned the hard drive with two partitions, one for "/" and one for "swap". I got through to the search for the install files, at which time I swapped in the CD-Rom drive. The routine failed to find the files and I ended up back out to a bash prompt and was told to reboot.

Even if I can manage to format the hard drive to place the files as noted in the document you referred me to, how do I get the files off the CD since I don't have a working OS? Should I load DOS on the first partition just so I can copy the files? Then, will the Vector install reformat back to linux? Won't the files be lost when I attempt to set the "/" partition?

I'm confused.

Sean

[seaken]

I was finally able to get VL3.2 installed on the laptop's hard disk, even without a boot CD. Here's how I did it:

First, I figured out that most of the instruction I was reading online were for more recent versions. I had to look a little closer at the CD for 3.2. On that CD there is a VECLINUX directory that holds the compressed files for use with the bootbale floppies I made earlier. Once I understood that I could put these files on a DOS partition I was home free.

Here's the steps:

Used Gparted to create another partition for use with Vector.
(I had previously installed Puppy which comes with Gparted. I could have used fdisk from DOS to create partitions.)

Used another computer to make two boot floppies, a "boot" and a "root".
(I used this method because I can't keep the CD and the floppy in the computer at the same time.
This could be done with a copy to the DOS hard disk then swap in the floppy)

Booted to DOS with Vector CD in the CD-ROM drive.
(Previously installed MSDOS to hard disk)

Created a /veclinux directory in the root of the C: drive (C:\)
Copied three files into the /veclinux directory on the hard disk - from the \veclinux directory on the CD.

Shutdown and swapped in floppy drive. Rebooted with the "boot" floppy.

Boot floppy loaded and then asked for the "root" floppy.
Vector installed from the files in C:\veclinux into the new partition.

Rebooted into Puppy and edited the Grub "menu.lst" file to load Vector.
Rebooted and chose Vector. Vector loaded from hard disk and allowed login.

Delete /veclinux files from C: drive.

That was it.

Now that I know I can install VL I will reformat and get rid of Puppy. I may keep DSL on this laptop along with VL. It is pretty snappy and comes with Firefox. Next, I am going to try VL 4.3. One of these VL version will become the OS for this old laptop.

Sean