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3. Starting The Installation

Now that you have a copy of RedHat Linux, you need to get the installation started. Most modern hardware is able to boot from the CD-ROM drive, but some older BIOSes cannot do this and require a floppy to boot into the installation.

3.1 Booting

If you bought a retail version of RedHat 7.0, then this step is easy. Simply insert the pre-made boot floppy into the floppy drive and place the RedHat 7.0 CD-ROM in you CD-ROM drive and you system should boot to the "syslinux" screen. If it does, you can skip to the next section, otherwise make sure your BIOS is set to boot from the floppy and try again. See your motherboard or system manual for instructions on how to change the boot devices in your BIOS.

If you downloaded or copied your version of RedHat Linux, then you have a couple of extra steps to perform. First, try and modify your BIOS to boot from your CD-ROM. Insert the RedHat disk into the CD-ROM drive and boot. If your computer begins to boot and comes to a "boot:" prompt, skip to the next section and continue there.

If you don't already have a boot disk and your system cannot boot from a CD-ROM, then you are going to need to make a boot disk. For this, you need a computer that is currently working and a blank floppy disk. In the "images" directory on the RedHat CD-ROM, there is a file called "boot.img," copy that file to your desktop. In the "dosutils" directory on the RedHat CD-ROM, there is a file called "rawrite.exe," copy that file to your desktop. Execute rawrite.exe, enter "boot.img" at the prompt, enter the drive letter of your floppy drive where the blank disk is, and press enter. This will make a boot floppy for RedHat. After this is complete, return to the computer that you want to install Linux on and insert the floppy and CD-ROM and boot. If it doesn't work make sure your BIOS is set to boot from the floppy and try again. See your motherboard or system manual for instructions on how to change the boot devices in your BIOS.

3.2 Installation Modes

Once you get to the "syslinux" screen it will display many different options. It might be a good idea to ready through what it displays. The first screen is displaying your choices for installation modes. If you simply hit "enter" it will start the default graphical installation, if you type "text" and press "enter" it will override the default and start the text mode installation, and, finally, if you type "expert" and press "enter" it will begin the expert mode installation. There are a few other options, but those are not important right now. For now, we will use the graphical mode by pressing "enter," but everything will still be the same if you use the text mode instead.


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