Installation can be tricky on a machine with 4 megabytes of RAM or
less. Here are a few tricks that can be helpful if you run into
problems. (Symptoms might include: system hangs while booting the bootdisk;
root password required on the rootdisk; inability to run "fdisk" or
"mkswap"; and many more, I'm sure...)

If you have DOS and a 5 1/4" floppy drive, you can save 240K by using Loadlin
in conjunction with a 5 1/4" rootdisk. Here's how:

1. Make the rootdisk using RAWRITE.EXE.
2. Unzip lodlin15.zip (look in /kernels) in a directory on your DOS partition.
3. Select an appropriate kernel from a subdirectory under /kernels. The
   /bootdsks.12/WHICH.ONE document might be helpful in selecting the proper
   one for your hardware. Copy it into the directory where you put loadlin.
4. Put the rootdisk into the floppy drive, and use this command to load it:

   loadlinx scsi root=b: ramdisk=1200
            ^^^^      ^^
            ||||      This should be the drive you put the disk in.
            This is the name of the kernel you selected.

Then, install as usual.

------

There will be times when even that method doesn't save enough memory to
allow installation. Here's another method that may possibly even allow
installation to a machine with 2 megabytes:

1. If you have a second floppy drive, great -- you'll want to use that for
the rootdisk. If not, you'll have to make due with the rootdisk in your
boot drive. With the rootdisk in the boot drive you won't be able to
install from floppy disks or make a bootdisk at the end of the installation
process, since the disk will be "mounted" in the boot drive and cannot be
removed (no matter what the screen tells you) until the machine is
rebooted. Make a rootdisk using RAWRITE.EXE for the floppy drive you
selected.

2. Unzip lodlin15.zip (look in /kernels) in a directory on your DOS
partition.

3. Select an appropriate kernel from a subdirectory under /kernels. The
/bootdsks.12/WHICH.ONE document might be helpful in selecting the proper
one for your hardware. Copy it into the directory where you put loadlin.

4. Put the rootdisk (NOT write protected) into the floppy drive, and use
this command to boot it:

   loadlinx scsi root=b: ramdisk=0
            ^^^^      ^^
            ||||      This should be the drive you put the disk in.
            This is the name of the kernel you selected.


Then, install Linux. If you're using the boot floppy drive for the
rootdisk, you will not be able to install from floppy disks. DON'T take the
rootdisk out of the floppy drive for any reason during the installation!
Also, since scratch files may be written to the rootdisk, you'll want to
start with a fresh copy if you need to start over for some reason.

Once installed, you'll need to have a way to start your new system. If you
were lucky enough to have a second floppy drive to use for your rootdisk,
then you'll be able to make a bootdisk at the end of the installation
process. This is highly recommended. If your boot drive is occupied by the
rootdisk, then you've got two options: Loadlin (a method of booting from
DOS) or LILO. And, if you're using the UMSDOS filesystem then Loadlin is
your only choice.

To boot the system with loadlin, you'll use a command similar to the one
you used to start the rootdisk, but you'll replace a: or b: with the name
of the device you're using for your root Linux partition, like this:

   loadlinx scsi root=/dev/hda2 ramdisk=0

Once your machine is up and running, you'll probably want to switch to a
different kernel, such as one of the ones on the A or Q series. The kernels
in the /kernels directory are designed for installation and aren't as
full-featured as some of the other ones. Or, you could compile a custom
kernel especially for your machine from the source code in
/usr/src/linux. This will provide optimal performance, since it won't
contain any unnecessary drivers.

Pat