THE FREEDOS BETA 9 ("Methusalem") DISTRIBUTION DETAILED INSTALLATION INSTRUCTIONS Updated by Bernd Blaauw (bblnews@hotmail.com) 03 February 2003 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- It is assumed if you are reading this then you have already read the generic install guide (INSTALL.TXT) and done necessary preparation work. I. BOOT DISK OPTIONS We provide 2 kind of bootdisk types. The first is the standard bootdisk, as used on the cd-rom (uses diskette emulation), and this is the type of diskette you get when creating a FreeDOS bootdisk yourself. The second bootdisk is the advanced bootdisk we have prepared for you. You will get a choice for "standard loading" (intended for ancient 8086/80186/80286 platforms) and "enhanced loading" (for 386 type platforms or newer). The "standard loading" is the same as any FreeDOS bootdisk. Enhanced loads the Syslinux bootloader, which gives you the choice to load 1) load disk image (bootdisk is loaded into RAM and accelerates diskette access. Normal diskette drive is accessible as B:) 2) Memtest86+ (for testing system working memory) 3) Smart Boot Manager (not yet implemented, allows to boot from cdrom) When you first boot with the floppy you are asked what option you want. -Option 1, standard, loads appropriate cdrom-drivers to provide access to the cdrom. -Option 2, old processor or no cdrom, is the most compatible option but provides no acceleration at all. This option is very suitable if you want to install FreeDOS using diskettes (not yet available). -Option 3, clean boot, is usable for system maintenance where it's not allowed to have any drivers loaded. -Option 4, provide custom drivers, is useful in case you cannot get access to the cdrom using the drivers provided by the FreeDOS Project (SCSI systems for example). -Option 0 uses an older, official, version of Memtest86 for testing system memory. If we cannot detect the cdrom, you get the chance to either insert it, or (as an alternative), to use the installation diskettes if you have these. Last resort is dropping you to the commandline. II. PREPARING THE INSTALLATION In this step you have the choice to configure both the preferred installation settings and the harddisk layout. Select option 1, installing FreeDOS. This gives you access to the second menu, where you can customize the preferred language, keyboard layout, etc.. Especially language selection is important, since it gives you the chance to work with FreeDOS in a language you are familiar with. Once that is done, again select option 1. Now you get the chance to create/change your harddisk layout. In order to succesfully install the FreeDOS operating system, you will need a activated primary partition (use option 1, FDISK, if desired or necessary) with the FAT filesystem (use option 2, FORMAT). Once these conditions are met, option 4, Start Install, lets you actually install the desired FreeDOS components. III. VARIOUS MESSAGES At this point, the installation will display some general messages about FreeDOS or this particular installation. Press the ESC key to continue after reading the various messages. (Longer documents are displayed using pg, you will see PG filename on the top line. This allows you to scroll using the arrow keys.) Please read, or at least glance at them. IV. KEYBOARD LAYOUT Because not everyone will be using a US keyboard, if you are using an AT class 286 or higher computer then you will be provided a chance to run KEYB with one of the supported keyboard layouts. If you are using a US keyboard, or do not wish to install KEYB, then you may opt to skip loading KEYB, otherwise press the key corresponding to the desired layout. V. PARTITION PREPARATION As mentioned above, your harddisk needs to be prepared for allowing FreeDOS (or any other operating system that can handle the FAT filesystem) to store files on it. In general you will will want to: 1. Create the partition, use FDISK, or use a more advanced disk partitioning tool if you have it. Do this step only if you need to create a new partition, you may of course use an existing partition if it is supported by DOS. WARNING!!! Be careful and make sure you have backed up all important data before proceeding. We are not responsible for loss of data or other problems resulting from use of these programs. Reboot and proceed to step 2. 2. Initialize the partition using Format. Before a partition may be used by DOS, various bits of information must be written to it. The format program will do this for you. Some programs such as PowerQuest's Partition Magic will do this when creating the partition, so when using such programs you may skip this step. Do this step only if you just created a partition (step 1) or you wish to wipe clean an existing partition. WARNING!!! All data on the formated drive will be lost! Make sure the highlighted partition (drive) is the one you wish to format. 3. Install System files ( run SYS ). This is an important step if you wish to have FreeDOS boot from your hard drive. However, you are not forced to do this as you may not want to overwrite an existing operating system (i.e. just boot from floppy disk) or you may need to do this to a drive that is not displayed. We give you the opportunity to do this as the END of the installation, so we know all conditions are met before performing this critical step. WARNING!!! This will overwrite any existing operating system's boot record and thus make that OS no longer bootable. This does not overwrite the MBR (Master Boot Record), so multiboot loaders should be ok. Make sure the highlighted partition (drive) is the one you wish to install system files to. If installation is succesfully completed you may select to reboot, or keep using the newly configured operating system. Remember, the FreeDOS system files are not installed to your hard drive ( e.g. SYS C: ) unless you explicitly choose the Install SYStem files option. VI. THE INSTALL PROGRAM When the install program asks where you will install from (where the install files are located) enter: A:\ Or if you have extracted all the installation sets to a single directory on your hard drive, specify the full path and drive to it. The install program will then ask you where to install FreeDOS. Most people will use C:\DOS or C:\FDOS. Install will also prompt you to determine which optional components to install. VII. POST INSTALL STEPS After the installer has run a last configuration file is run to make the installed programs actually usable. Later on, you may customize the created autoexec.bat and config.sys by running EDIT VIII. MANUAL INSTALL FROM FLOPPY DISK Note: For many cases the boot disk will prompt you for all necessary information and perform the required steps, however, some may need to manually do the steps as outlined below. Choose option 3, clean boot if you are using the installation boot disk. Now you are ready to install the FreeDOS distribution on your computer. If you have made all your floppies correctly, then you reboot your computer using the install boot floppy. When your computer boots up (may take a minute or two, depending on the speed of your PC) you will be taken through the setup process. At this point, you have the opportunity to run FDISK to create a DOS partition IF YOU DON'T ALREADY HAVE ONE. To run FDISK, just type: FDISK Then follow the on-screen prompts to create a new partition and mark it as the active primary partition. After you run FDISK, you will need to reboot. Just boot off the install boot floppy again. IF YOU CREATED A NEW PARTITION for FreeDOS, you'll also need to format the partition before you can use it. To do that, just type: FORMAT C: Don't forget to make the C: drive bootable with FreeDOS. Just type: SYS C: After that, run the install program: INSTALL See above section 'THE INSTALL PROGRAM' for more information. When returned to the command prompt, do any other steps desired and when done, reboot! -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Congratulations - you have now installed FreeDOS! --------------------------------------------------------------------------