1. How do I make a boot floppy in Slackware? Do I alreadyhave one? Is this
the same as the lilo floppy I have (see next).

2. I don't boot often but I'm still using the floppy lilo. I have a typical
2 HD system with XP on hda. Will changing boot=/dev/fd0 to /dev/hda and
then running lilo (or is it liloconfig?) as root write to the mbr of hda
and get me off of the floppy? Or is it boot=/dev/hda1? Below is the
lilo.conf file. (note I have 2 win4ln boots.... forget why. I use the
win4linSL (SLackware).

3. What is vga = 773 ? It's ugly as hell... but no big deal. Are any of the
others "prettier" (I have a Samsung SyncMaster 172N LCD monitor with
on-board video on a very new Intel mobo. It would be nice to see a "pretty"
lilo screen so when I show others how Linux "works"... but no big deal.
It's only "up" for a few seconds anyway. But first impressions can be
important sometimes.

Thanks,

Al


# LILO configuration file
# generated by 'liloconfig'
#
# Start LILO global section
boot = /dev/fd0
message = /boot/boot_message.txt
prompt
timeout = 1200
# Override dangerous defaults that rewrite the partition table:
change-rules
reset
# VESA framebuffer console @ 1024x768x256
vga = 773
# Normal VGA console
# vga = normal
# VESA framebuffer console @ 1024x768x64k
# vga=791
# VESA framebuffer console @ 1024x768x32k
# vga=790
# VESA framebuffer console @ 1024x768x256
# vga=773
# VESA framebuffer console @ 800x600x64k
# vga=788
# VESA framebuffer console @ 800x600x32k
# vga=787
# VESA framebuffer console @ 800x600x256
# vga=771
# VESA framebuffer console @ 640x480x64k
# vga=785
# VESA framebuffer console @ 640x480x32k
# vga=784
# VESA framebuffer console @ 640x480x256
# vga=769
# End LILO global section
# Linux bootable partition config begins
image = /boot/vmlinuz
root = /dev/hdb1
label = Linux
read-only
# Linux bootable partition config ends
image = /boot/win4lin
root = /dev/hdb1
label = win4lin
read-only

image = /boot/win4linSl
root = /dev/hdb1
label = win4linSl
read-only
# WinForLin ends
other = /dev/hda1
label = windows
table = /dev/hda

> 1. How do I make a boot floppy in Slackware? Do I alreadyhave one? Is
> this the same as the lilo floppy I have (see next).

Your lilo floppy is a boot floppy that is able to boot you into Slackware.

> 2. I don't boot often but I'm still using the floppy lilo. I have a
> typical 2 HD system with XP on hda. Will changing boot=/dev/fd0 to
> /dev/hda and then running lilo (or is it liloconfig?) as root write to
> the mbr of hda and get me off of the floppy?

Yes, if you run lilo after such a change lilo will be installed to your
MBR and you will not have to use any floppy to boot into Linux.

> Or is it boot=/dev/hda1?

No, /dev/hda1 is your first partition on /dev/hda, the MBR is the first
512 bytes of /dev/hda.

> 3. What is vga = 773 ? It's ugly as hell... but no big deal. Are any of
> the others "prettier"

I think that most of us prefer "vga = normal". If you read the comments
you might se what differs the different vga = <some_number>.

> # LILO configuration file
> # generated by 'liloconfig'

> # VESA framebuffer console @ 1024x768x256
> vga = 773
> # Normal VGA console
> # vga = normal
> # VESA framebuffer console @ 1024x768x64k # vga=791 # VESA framebuffer

So if you would like some more colors you could try vga=791 instead.

You didn't define what you mean with ugly, but you said that you had a LCD
monitor. A guess would be that your monitor is optimized for another
resolution than 1024x768 and that it isn't very good at resampling the
image. I think that you could try 1280x1024 by setting "vga = 775".

regards Henrik
--
The address in the header is only to prevent spam. My real address is:
hc2(at)uthyres.com Examples of addresses which go to spammers:
info@mailman.se christianprispress@hot.ee root@localhost

In article <bqddm0$21b04c$1@ID-105369.news.uni-berlin.de>,
Henrik Carlqvist wrote:
> I think that most of us prefer "vga = normal". If you read the comments

Are you serious? I *never* choose that. 80x25 text on a 17"+ monitor is
just too large! I have to get back so far I can't reach the keyboard!

I have "vga = 10" on my server, and "vga = 791" just about everywhere
else. I've experimented with some of the card-specific FB console
drivers, but most of them I tried seem buggy in comparison to good old
vesafb.
--
/dev/rob0 - preferred_email=i$((28*28+28))@softhome.net
or put "not-spam" or "/dev/rob0" in Subject header to reply

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/dev/rob0 <rob0@gmx.co.uk> is thought to have typed
the following text on 2003-11-30:

> In article <bqddm0$21b04c$1@ID-105369.news.uni-berlin.de>,
> Henrik Carlqvist wrote:

>> I think that most of us prefer "vga = normal". If you read the comments
>
> Are you serious? I *never* choose that. 80x25 text on a 17"+ monitor is
> just too large! I have to get back so far I can't reach the keyboard!
>
I don't know, I've never liked the modes other than 80x25 as far as the
console is concerned. I did try a few of the vga modes, but have never
gotten used to them, although I have no problem working in aterms under
X.

> I have "vga = 10" on my server, and "vga = 791" just about everywhere

I have 'vga = normal' on all of my machines.

> else. I've experimented with some of the card-specific FB console
> drivers, but most of them I tried seem buggy in comparison to good old
> vesafb.

Same experience here, although I only use the frambuffer for 'links -g'
and sometimes mplayer, so my experience is limited.

- --
Bartosz Oudekerk

Play Rogue, visit exotic locations, meet strange creatures
and kill them.
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Henrik Carlqvist wrote:

>> 3. What is vga = 773 ? It's ugly as hell... but no big deal. Are any of
>> the others "prettier"
>
> I think that most of us prefer "vga = normal". If you read the comments
> you might se what differs the different vga = <some_number>.
>



Thanks for the help. One last question. Is there a way to NOT see all of the
boot-up message gibberish... maybe hide it behind a nice picture or
something?

Al

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On Sun, 30 Nov 2003 19:52:19 -0800, Adams-Blake Company <atakeoutcanton@adams-blaketakeout.com> wrote:
> Thanks for the help. One last question. Is there a way to NOT see all of the
> boot-up message gibberish... maybe hide it behind a nice picture or
> something?

Yes, but it takes a little bit of work...

www.bootsplash.org

I, currently, cannot get the damned 'splash' utility to append a graphic
to an already created initrd, either compressed or not.

--
Rob | If not safe,
Email and Jabber: | one can never be free.
athlonrob at axpr dot net |
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On Sun, 30 Nov 2003 19:52:19 -0800
Adams-Blake Company <atakeoutcanton@adams-blaketakeout.com> wrote:

> Thanks for the help. One last question. Is there a way to NOT see all
> of the boot-up message gibberish... maybe hide it behind a nice
> picture or something?
>

Hey! Those wonderful boot messages are not gibberish. When I saw those
the first time I booted slackware, I thought I was in heaven. To try to
hide them would be heresy. (Don't make me bring out the goat.)

Maybe my view is tainted, since my kids' computer is freezing on boot-up
sometimes and any possible error message is nicely covered up by the
Win98 flash screen.

Mike

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On Sun, 30 Nov 2003 20:17:03 -0800, AthlonRob <junkmail@axpr.net> wrote:
> www.bootsplash.org
>
> I, currently, cannot get the damned 'splash' utility to append a graphic
> to an already created initrd, either compressed or not.

Just an update for anybody who cares - I got it working. The directions
on the bootsplash website are somewhat... lacking? If you don't already
have an initrd, they tell you to append to a newly created blank one.
Well, instead of doing that, you can just run the splash utility and
direct the output to a new file, and bam, you have the necessary initrd.

I'm using icky Gentoo graphics ATM, I need to find a good Slackware
bootsplash theme, I think. The silent mode sure is cool. :-)

--
Rob | If not safe,
Email and Jabber: | one can never be free.
athlonrob at axpr dot net |
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Mike Denhoff <mike.denhoff@not.real.ca> is thought to have
typed the following text on 2003-12-01:

> On Sun, 30 Nov 2003 19:52:19 -0800
> Adams-Blake Company <atakeoutcanton@adams-blaketakeout.com> wrote:
>
> hide them would be heresy. (Don't make me bring out the goat.)
>
What would a *non-BOZO* know about that particular horned animal I'm
not allowed to mention?

- --
Bartosz Oudekerk

Play Rogue, visit exotic locations, meet strange creatures
and kill them.
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Bartosz Oudekerk wrote:
>> On Sun, 30 Nov 2003 19:52:19 -0800
>> Adams-Blake Company <atakeoutcanton@adams-blaketakeout.com> wrote:
>>
>> hide them would be heresy. (Don't make me bring out the goat.)
>>
> What would a *non-BOZO* know about that particular horned animal I'm
> not allowed to mention?

nothing, obviously. why do all these uninitiated keep bringing up goats? we
don't do anything with goats. there is no such thing as a goat ritual. we
also don't consume large amounts of psychotropic plants paint our bodies
and dance naked around bonfires. we don't do that. ever. really we don't.

--
Joost Kremers joostkremers@yahoo.com
since when is vi an editor? a discussion on vi belongs in
comp.tools.unusable or something... ;-)