If your machine allows you to "boot" from the CD-Rom drive, do this, if not, boot from the boot disk.
You should see a welcoming screen:
Tap "enter" to continue. You can also choose to launch the installation in "expert" mode. To do this, type "expert". The expert mode allows you to enter by hand all the parameters of your machine (no automatic detection).
A minimised Linux is therefore launched. It will detect your system's resources and act as a base afterwards for the installation program.
You should now see a dialogue box appear allowing you to choose a language for installation.
Scroll up and down the list using the keyboard. Choose "English" for an installation in English. Tap "enter". Note: the choice of language for installation and the type of keyboard will determine the Mandrake installation language and also the graphical interface.
Once the installation language has been chosen, it is important to select a keyboard type.
As for the installation language, it is important to select the appropriate keyboard type if you want to take advantage of the level of Internationalization. Scroll with the keyboard. Tap "enter" to confirm your choice.
Note: once your Linux system has been installed, you can modify your choice of keyboard with the command /usr/sbin/kbdconfig
If you install Linux-Mandrake on a portable computer and you use PCMIA peripherals which are being used at the time of installation (SCSI CD-Rom or ethernet network card for an NFS installation for example), you should try to detect them. Therefore reply "yes" to the question "Do you use PCMIA peripherals?". Note that this only concerns the installation of Linux-Mandrake. Your PCMIA peripherals will be totally recognised by your newly installed Linux.
You have the choise between five different installation methods. Clearly, if you install the PowerPack version of Linux-Mandrake, you will certainly use the CD-Rom installation.
Select one of these methods for installation of Linux-Mandrake:
1. Local CD-Rom: this is the ideal method if you own a CD-Rom drive and the PowerPack version of Linux-Mandrake.
2. Image NFS: this method can be used if you have access to an NFS server (Network File System) which contains Linux-Mandrake on your local network.
3. Hard disk: use this method if you have the Linux-Mandrake CD copied onto a hard disk present on your machine. This method will require the additional installation disk.
4. FTP: if you have a high access rate to a distant FTP server holding the Linux-Mandrake distribution, use this method. This method will also require the use of the additional installation disk.
5. Image SMB: use this method if you install Linux-Mandrake from a volume shared with Microsoft Windows(tm). This method requires yet again the use of the additional installation disk.
The installation procedure will try to detect an ATAPI (IDE) CD-ROM drive. The majority of CD-ROM drives on general use machines comply with this standard. If you have a more advanced machine, you may own a SCSI drive. If you have an old machine, you may have a custom CD-ROM drive (e.g. Mitsumi(tm), Aztech(tm), Panasonic(tm), Sony(tm)...). The latter two cases are more complicated to handle as you will have to enter manually the parameters necessary for their detection.
- SCSI drive procedure: you will have to choose your type of SCSI drive from the list. If yours is not recognised, choose others until a compatible is found. At worst, you will have to enter the parameters of the card.
Common SCSI parameters:
- Custom CD-ROM drive: In the same way as for the SCSI drive, you will have to choose the type of your drive and specify its parameters.
Common parameters:
| Hardware | Parameters |
| Mitsumi | mcd= adresse , irq |
| Sony CDU 31 ou 33 | cdu31a_port= adresse cdu31a_irq= irq |
| Aztech CD268 | Aztcd= adresse |
| Compatible SB Pro ou SB 16 | sbpcd =adresse , sb_pro_setting |
| ATAPI/IDE | hd x =cdrom |
Example of address: 0x340
Example of irq: 7
x takes a value such as a,b,c,d... depending on the letter of your disk drive.
If you have at your disposal, within a local network to which you are connected, an NFS server containing Linux-Mandrake, you can install it directly via the network. Note that this procedure will be slower than installing from local CD-ROM.
If you choose this method, the installation procedure will search for your network card and initialise it first. It will attempt to detect the card automatically first. If this fails, you will have to will have to specify the type and parameters of your card.
For example, for an ISA NE2000 compatible Ethernet card, you will have to specify:
- that you have a NE2000 compatible card
- its parameters: base address (e.g. 0x300) and irq (e.g. 5).If your card is not detected, you will not be able to use this method of installation.
As soon as your card is recognised, you will have the choice of several methods of installation by NFS:
Choose the appropriate method: static IP address, BOOTP or DHCP
If you use the first method, you have to enter a series of parameters:
IP address: enter the IP address of your machine.
Sub-network mask: it is offered automatically starting from your IP address - you can modify it according to your network.
Default gateway: ditto
Principal names server: ditto
The following dialogue box asks you to specify new parameters, on order to know:
You will now have to describe the information relating to the NFS server you are using.
Enter the Internet address or IP number of your NFS server. Then enter the directory in which the Mandrake distribution can be found on this machine. This is the directory that contains the RedHat/ directory. For example, if you have a Mandrake CD mounted on /mnt/cdrom/, the directory to specify is:
/mnt/cdrom/Important note: the directory containing the Mandrake distribution must have export authorisation on the NFS server (see the file /etc/export on the server). If it doesn't then you will not be able to access it.
You have the option to install Linux-Mandrake from the partition of your hard disk that contains the distribution. This installation method requires the use of the second additional installation disk.
Having loaded the second installation disk, you should choose the partition of the disk that contains the Mandrake distribution, and the directory containing the RedHat/ directory. The installation should then continue without any particular problems.
For installation by FTP, you have to load the second additional installation disk. Once you have done this, choose your FTP server (IP address) and the path to the RedHat/ directory. Move onto the next chapter for the continuation of installation.
For installation by FTP, you have to load the second additional installation disk. This installation method allows you to use a Linux-Mandrake archive on a shared disk under Windows, or on a shared disk using Samba. Move onto the next chapter for the continuation of installation.
