Re: new user

[somian@adelphia.net (Soren Andersen)]

On Sun, May 11, 2003 at 11:06:51AM +0200, Richard Atterer wrote:
> On Thu, May 08, 2003 at 01:01:49PM -0600, Izzy Rodriguez wrote:
> > I downloaded the iso file from one of the mirror sites, however, I do not
> > see how to create the boot file or how to begin the installation.  Help!

> Please have a look at <http://www.debian.org/CD/faq/#record-windows> on how 
> to write the .iso to CD-R.

> To boot from the CD, just put it in the drive when the computer starts up. 
> The documentation on the CD should cover the rest of the installation, it
> should also be available on
> <http://www.debian.org/releases/stable/installmanual>. But the installation
> of Debian is not as easy as that of other Linux distributions - if you're a
> first-time Linux user, try to find a more knowledgeable person to help you.

I hope it's not useless noise, but I'd just like to contribute a "I
second that" WRT reading the Debian installation documentation carefully,
especially if you are trying to install to an older computer. Your
hardware really determines which installation approach to take, and due
to the vast variety of PC-compatible hardware that's been produced, it is
impossible to say (not impossible ... but one ought to get paid for being
able to knowledgeably say *everything* about it) exactly what you'll need
to do. With *most* recent comupters built in, I guess (inaccuracy very
possible), the last 3-4 years, a BIOS setting (perhaps a default already
set on your specific computer) exists to cause the BIOS to find
boot-sector block on a CD-ROM drive before looking for it on a hard disk
or floppy drive. If that is the case, you'll be able to take an easier,
quicker route to Debian installation (and this point applies to all
GNU/Linux distributions). Just place the CD you've burned into the drive
and boot up.

But if you use older hardware that doesn't allow you to adjust the BIOS
settings for boot-from-CDROM, you'll have to create boot floppies (one
or more disks containing the Linux kernel you've chosen to try to start
with, + an initial root filesystem to let you get the installation setup
started). The procedure for creating installation-boot floppies is
described in the Debian installation documentation; the "images" needed
to do that are part of the 1st Debian CD itself. But you probably won't
need to know all that, most likely.

   Good Luck,
      Soren Andersen

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