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- Quickstart for LOADLIN-1.5
- ==========================
-
- Version 1.5 of LOADLIN (as opposite to prior versions) normally needs no
- special configuration and has been reported very stable by all ALPHA testers,
- so I guess you will only need
-
- LOADLIN.EXE,
- LOADLINX.EXE ( the optional preprocessor,
- processes on input params, then executes LOADLIN.EXE. )
-
- Copy these files to a DOS partition (e.g C:\LOADLIN). You must keep both files
- in the same directory, otherwise LOADLINX can't find LOADLIN.
-
- To boot Linux you need also a compressed kernel image file such as
- the "/vmlinuz" or the "/usr/src/zImage". In Slackware distribution you
- can find a lot of kernels (bare, scsi, modern, ...) in the directory
- ..../slackware/kernels of the site you got it from.
-
- Copy the image file to your DOS partion (e.g. C:\).
-
- To boot type at dos prompt:
-
- 1. For a Linux partition (ext2, minix, ...) to mount as root
-
- loadlin c:\vmlinuz root=/dev/hdb2 ro
- ==
-
- 2. For an UMSDOS filesystem to mount as root
-
- loadlin c:\vmlinuz root=/dev/hda1 rw
- ==
- or
- loadlinX c:\vmlinuz root=c: rw
-
- 3. To boot from a SlackWare installation root floppy in drive A:
- having the kernel image file on the hard disk.
-
- loadlinX c:bare root=a: rw ramdisk=1440,no
-
- To boot from a SlackWare installation root floppy in drive B:
- having the DOS-floppy with the kernel image in drive A:
-
- loadlinX a:scsi root=b: rw ramdisk=1440,no
-
- To boot from a SlackWare installation root floppy in drive A:
- *and* having the DOS-floppy with the kernel image in drive A:
-
- loadlinX a:modern root=a: rw ramdisk=1440
-
- ( LOADLIN will prompt for disk change after having loaded the kernel )
-
-
- NOTE: You must know what root partition to use, the above /dev/xxx or C:
- are only examples !!!
-
-
- If you didn't succeed, please read the file MANUAL.TXT.
-
-
- Especially for Slackware users I append a modified version of
- Patrick Volkerding's LODLIN14.TXT which comes with SlackWare
- distribution 2.0.0.
- Assuming Pat will upgrade to LOADLIN-1.5, his then LODLIN15.TXT should
- look like the text below the "------".
-
- Please note, that the official LOADLIN distribution comes as *.TGZ,
- but Pat's comes as *.ZIP.
-
- [ NOTE: The original lodlin15.tgz file can be found in the
- slackware_source/contrib directory. -- Pat ]
-
- So, if you have already Slackware 2.0.0 installed, you must skip the
- "unzip ... pkunzip lodlin15.zip" part and install LOADLIN-1.5
- (under Linux) as follows:
-
- mount -t msdos /dev/hda1 /mnt
- cd /mnt
- mkdir loadlin
- cd loadlin
- tar -xzvf lodlin15.tgz
-
-
- Hans Lermen
- elserv.ffm.fgan.de
-
- ============================================================================
- ----------------------------------------------------------------------------
-
- This is a utility that allows you to start Linux from MS-DOS. It's a good
- alternative to using LILO to boot your machine, and is probably a lot safer
- for beginners to deal with. It also works great with UMSDOS, while LILO
- does not.
-
- To use it, install Linux. Skip the LILO installation, but make a bootdisk at
- the beginning of the system configuration process. Boot your system, and copy
- the kernel (/vmlinuz) to your DOS partition. You may have had this mounted
- somewhere when you installed Linux. If not, you'll have to mount it yourself
- with a command like:
-
- mount /dev/hda1 /mnt -t msdos
-
- You can look to see which partitions are DOS partitions with 'fdisk -l'.
-
- Copy the kernel over:
-
- cp /vmlinuz /mnt/vmlinuz
-
- Next, get DOS going... and unzip the lodlin15.zip file:
-
- unzip -d lodlin15.zip
- or: pkunzip -d lodlin15.zip
-
- Then, read the docs in C:\LOADLIN (or wherever you put it). They'll be a lot
- more help than I will, since they were written by the program's author. :^)
-
- For the record, all I had to do to get loadlin.exe to boot my Linux partition
- was:
-
- Booted my Linux system with this command:
- loadlin c:\vmlinuz root=/dev/hdb3 ro
-
- If you use UMSDOS, you can use syntax like this as well:
- loadlinx c:\vmlinuz root=c: rw
-
- Again, see the docs that come with LOADLIN for complete details on all the
- options, including the most complete list I've seen of options that can be
- passed to the kernel at boot time. :^)
-
- Good luck,
-
- ---
- Patrick Volkerding
- volkerdi@mhd1.moorhead.msus.edu
-