Introduction
Installing a Dual Boot laptop: Windows 98SE and Red Hat Linux 6.2: the following is the summary of a Red Hat Linux 6.2 installation alongside Windows 98 Second Edition I did successfully. Use it as you wish. I cannot be held accountable for your own actions, but i can tell you what i did right ; > Before beginning, i highly recommend becoming familiar with the laptop specifications.
Is that stating the obvious? Who knew? Also, be sure to have an empty floppy disk available.
Go to http://support.dell.com for specifications! Give Dell your system information (the Service Tag) and then check
out "Your System Documentation", where you will find a Specs link. Study the specs, it helps to be comfortable with the hardware.
Write down the information contained in roman numerals I-IV below. Of course, you should have pretty much the same as mine.
These instructions could also benefit you if this is a single (Linux) OS install. Single OS installation means not having to worry about partitioning around Windows 98.
Before installing a Dual Boot OS Configuration, backup your critical Windows documents, email files (i.e .PST for Outlook 98/2000), etc.
Specifications in brief (special attention to Video and Display!)
I. Video Card (ATI Mobility):
1. Video Type: 64-bit hardware-accelerated
2. Data Bus: 2x AGP
3. Video Controller: ATI Mobility
4. Video Memory: 8 MB RAM
II. Display/Monitor:
1. xGA (Active-matrix color- TFT)
2. Maximum resolution/Colors: 1024x768
3. 24-bit color
*Some video specs that would be helpful are not available from Dell's site, but i managed without...
** Ever heard of "X" Windows? It's what we will configure later on.
III. Mouse: TouchPad and Track Stick: PS/2-compatible
IV. Processor: P3 - 650 MHZ (NB CU/G MMC2) & 256 MB RAM
Pre-emptive Strikes
Before installing a Dual Boot OS Configuration, backup your critical Windows documents, email files (i.e .PST for Outlook 98/2000), etc.
Be very careful! This laptop came with Windows 98, meaning the FAT32 file system needed to be dealt with. It took up pretty much the entire HDD. Need to be comfortable and skilled in partitioning hard disk drives (HDDs). It took me a while to learn this and hopefully you can too. I had to partition the HDD before booting the Linux CD. Again, this is only for a Dual Boot Scenario. There are perhaps other means of accomplishing this task, but the following is what worked for me.
This does not pertain to a Linux-only Operating System (OS) install. If you don't want Windows 98 at all, then proceed to boot up from the CD. Fire away! You can kill Windows this way. This may be your wish, this may be good, but be aware: you WILL rid yourself of anything on that OS. Is this good? Bad? Only you know.
The complication with this comes early: the partitioning. Don't be afraid however! I used Partition Magic (PM) 5.0. It is fine software as so many techies know. More information on Partition Magic can be found here. Many of the functions in PM can be accomplished via other means: 'fdisk', for example. Incidentally, I have found one or two partitioning freeware programs on TheFreeSite.Com, more specifically, try their Software Center; although I cannot vouch for them, if you don't have much to lose (literally), it could be a great learning experience. And free! Whatever program you choose, familiarize yourself with it until you are as comfortable with it as, say, your email client. By familiarize, i mean study the help menus, toolbars, click around, etc. but don't apply any changes right away. Close it down, do it again.
If you never heard of 'fdisk', you probably should stop now and do some research on it. Use search engines or books. Anyway, many use PM precisely because of a situation like this: a PC, or laptop comes preinstalled with Windows 98, which is taking up virtually all of the HDD. Therefore 'fdisk' cannot help in this situation because it is limited to partitioning only available space. It cannot partition already taken space, unless you delete that space first, then format it, etc.
[Yes, a way around this is to save/backup all the files from W98 you want to keep. Put them on CD or whatever. Delete the FAT32 partition, i.e. destroy it by whatever means necessary (a DOS boot floppy would help). Then reinstall W98, but only to, say, 1/2 the HDD capacity. This saves the rest for Linux! Now within W98, you can use 'fdisk' to format the remaining space as a Logical drive in an extended partition, formatted as FAT16, of course. Then, you could simply boot up from the RH CD, installing RH to the FAT16 drive. Got it?]
We interrupt this installation for a fine reference on "FAT stuff":
http://www.pcguide.com/ref/hdd/file/fat.htm
Again, this is for a Dual Boot! So, via Partition Magic, I created another partition in the ~11.5 Gigabyte HDD on this laptop. Resize the FAT32 first. The goal is to obtain unformatted, or "unallocated" space. Then, again in Partition Magic (PM), you could format the created partition as FAT16 (File Allocation Table, 16-bit file system), because Linux can easily install on that file system. However, PM is so good, it can partition a new Linux file system (amongst others)! If, upon beginning, you notice there is a C:\ drive (that's highly likely ; >) with Windows 98 (Fat32), that's good. Make a mental note. And, you may notice another partition with 275 Megabytes: that's OK. Ignore it, I killed it in PM or in the RH partitioning- take your pick. Dell created that partition just to confuse us. I'm sure there was a good reason actually, but it does not help in our quest to install 2 OS's.
Before installing a Dual Boot OS Configuration, backup your critical Windows documents, email files (i.e .PST for Outlook 98/2000), etc.
Leave the C:\ Drive alone! If dual booting is your goal, leave C:\ alone. It is Windows. It is extremely important to you (right?). Put aside the "Windoze", Linux-centric jokes right now, and remember (for the last time): backup your damn Win documents and, did i mention- this is a guide for a Dual Boot install?? Now that you recognize the sanctity of C:\, create in PM a new partition, formatted with the Linux file system if you have not already. This will be revisited under the RH partition program, so i will revise it later. Choose "No" when prompted, "Indicate Use for New Partition" re: OS usage (i tried "yes" and it caused problems). Agree to accept "Swap" partition. This is important for Linux.
**The important thing is to figure a way to "resize" that C:\ drive. Windows has it all to itself. That is how it was factory-installed. Split it in half, for example. Remember: Do Not Delete. PM has safeguards for this, but be careful. If you use Windows all the time and only want to "play" with Linux, partition accordingly (yes, it's simple math!).
Brief Intermission from Partitioning
Now you see the "Welcome to Red Hat Linux" message. Hit Enter to proceed.
1. Language: English for me (US)
2. Keyboard: US for me
3. Installation Type: Workstation or Server? I'm sure you know the difference (if not, research it a bit). I chose Workstation: it is a laptop after all, although a powerful one. It all depends on your purpose, but if dual booting, a server setup is unlikely, right? You can customize later.
4. KDE vs. GNOME: These are a couple of GUIs to choose from: I chose Gnome, because i like it a bit more. Flip a coin, you can change at a later date.
Now, back to some partitioning, as needed!
I then reached the Automatic Partitioning menu here: I chose 'manual' to view the current disk partitions. Some of this work was done in Partition Magic. You are now familiar with partitioning. Here, you can Edit/Add/Delete. Even though you spent all that time mastering PM 5.0, you now must learn the RH partitioning scheme. This is so important, i want you to take a break...
OK, now use the TAB and arrow keys, navigate, see where you go. TAB through at least 5 times. Note the WIN95/FAT32 partition. Leave it alone. Guard it with your life. Don't add or delete until you are comfortable driving here. Practice adding, then cancel out.
Now: the goal is to have 4 Linux Native "Types" and 1 Linux Swap "type". Assuming you are comfortable with navigating here, add/edit as needed.
Here is what I came up with for "mount points", and you should too:
If you do not know what these are, you can learn later. Incidentally, there are variations on these points, but again, this is what worked for me and generally follows the Red Hat Manuals nonetheless. Adjustments can be made later. OK, save changes. I then formatted ALL partitions, and checked "for bad blocks". It takes a bit longer, but do it. Use space bar to put in asterisks in brackets. TAB again to navigate this mini-menu. Click OK.
Hostname, Mice and Accounts
After the formatting, i assume you found no bad blocks. I did not. Need:
1. Hostname. Get from SysAdmin, unless this is a home network. Can be edited later: if you have "hostname.domain.com", you need only put in "hostname" in this example.
2. Mouse selection: Generic -3 button PS/2 for me. Check underneath your mouse for possible information.
3. Password for Root (very important, don't forget); create user account(s) as needed. Can do more later.
X Server: the endless pursuit of Video Configurations
I have to admit several years ago I was stumped by configuring video and monitor settings. If my newsgroup compass was accurate, I was not alone. However, Red Hat (and other Linux vendors) have made this step a bit easier as of late. Add to the mix the fact that for this laptop we already have several of the more important specifications (see "Introduction"): Video Memory, Video Controller (which tells us the video card vendor), etc. Of course, if you do not want a graphical user interface for your Linux OS, then skip these steps and enjoy command-line only. I personally do like command-line (and "old-timers" often insist on using it only) because it is a great way to truly understand the UNIX world (I am surely still learning it), but most people install a GUI/"X" Server and use both: as you probably know you can easily open one or many command prompt windows within a GUI Linux.
1. We come upon "X Probe Results".
2. My video card works with "Generic Mach64".
3. The "X" Server is "Mach 64". OK, and yes, keep a log.
Interim before Monitor Settings
1. Next, the Formatting begins. Do not interrupt, this will take a while.
2. You then can install as you wish. Choose packages- maybe scroll through for the heck of it. Because I have a good amount of HDD space, i installed all. Packages can be added later, so this is not your last chance.
3. Then, the creation of a boot disk. Use a floppy disk here. This is straightforward and easy, and HIGHLY recommended. You might need this some day and will be thankful if you created this boot disk (similar to a Windows 98 E.R.D.).
Monitor Configurations
1. We now enter Custom Monitor Setup. The Dell web site alluded to earlier indicated resolution of 1024x768, 24-bit. But, it did not specify Horizontal and Vertical synchronization ranges (unless I missed this)
2. Here is what worked for me in the Horizontal range: "Non-interlaced SVGA", 1024x768@60 HZ, and 800x600@72 HZ
3. For the Vertical range: "50 - 90".
4. Run the Probe, and accept the default if you get no errors.
5. "X" is then started as a test. Hopefully you will be prompted: "Can you see this"? Click "yes" and start "X" upon boot. That is it!
The Finale
1. A reboot is needed. Remove the CD-ROM and the floppy unless you would like to enter the setup program again ; >
2. I entered the BIOS Setup program to set the boot sequence to begin with the HDD. Then reboot continued.
3. I then saw a beautiful site: the LILO Boot prompt: this "Linux Loader" menu is where you choose either DOS (yes, Windows) or Linux. Reboot twice to be sure both OS's are available. Success!