Chapter 4 : Before setup

Configuring your BIOS

The BIOS (Basic Input/Output System) is used to boot up a computer. Specifically, it is used to find the device on which the operating system is located and to start it up. It is also used for the initial configuration of the hardware.

The appearance of plug'n'play and its widespread use means that all modern BIOS can initialize these devices, but you still have to ask it to do so. If your Windows 9x is initializing these devices instead of the BIOS, this will need to be changed for use under Linux.

Changing your BIOS settings is most often performed by holding down the DEL key during startup. Unfortunately, there are many types of BIOS in use today and they each have their own technique, you will need to find out what works for your PC. Once you are in the BIOS, the option to look for is often called PNP OS installed (or Plug'n'Play OS installed). Set this option to No: the BIOS will then initialize any plug'n'play devices and that can help Linux recognize some devices in your machine which it would not otherwise.

If your BIOS can boot up from the CDROM and you want to perform a standard installation of Linux-Mandrake (not using Lnx4Win), you can also set your BIOS to boot from the CDROM before searching the hard disk.

Creating a bootdisk

If your BIOS cannot boot from the CDROM, you will need to create a bootdisk: the CDROM contains all the files needed to do so. You will also need to create a bootdisk if you wish to use System Commander. If you will be using Lnx4Win you will not need a bootdisk, so you may skip this step and go on to Chapter 5.0, which deals with Lnx4Win.

The boot-up images are in the images directory on the CDROM. Two files in particular will help you: the files cdrom.img and txt_boot.img. The first file is the one needed to perform a graphical installation. If the graphical installation doesn't work for you, you will have to install using text mode, in which case, you will need to use the txt_boot.img file.

Under Windows

You will need to use the program called rawwrite. This can be found in the CD dosutils directory (figure 4.1).

Note: in this example, the CDROM drive is designated by the letter D:; you will naturally have to choose the letter designating the CDROM drive on you machine.

Please note that there is a DOS version, rawrite, of the same program (it is, in fact, the original version of the program; rawwrite is merely a graphical frontend to it).

Start the program, as shown in figure 4.2.

Select the boot image to copy and the target device (example in figure 4.3).

Then, if you haven't already done so, insert an (empty!) disk into your chosen device and click on Write. You now have a boot disk to install your Linux-Mandrake distribution.

Under Linux

If you already have Linux installed (on another machine, for example, or on that of a friend who has lent you his Linux-Mandrake CD), then carry out the following steps:

• mount the CDROM. Let us suppose that the mount point is /mnt/cdrom;
• log in as root;
• insert an empty disk into the drive and type:

$ cp /mnt/cdrom/images/cdrom.img /dev/fd0

Replace /dev/fd0 by /dev/fd1, if you are using the second disk drive and, of course, the name of the image with the one you want. Your boot disk is now ready.

Supported hardware

Linux-Mandrake can handle a large number of hardware devices, and the list is far too long to be quoted in its entirety here. Nevertheless, some of the steps described in this chapter will help you ensure that your hardware is compatible (or not) and, where applicable, to configure some of the problematic devices.

What's not supported

Some types of hardware cannot presently be handled by Linux, either because the support is still in experimental stage, because nobody has written a driver for the devices in question, or because it has been decided that they cannot be supported, for often valid reasons. For example:

• winmodems, whatever they may be: they cannot be supported and will probably never be. The difference between a "real" modem and a winmodem is that a winmodem cannot function alone: it needs a special driver which emulates a large number of its functions in its place. You can communicate with a normal modem by sending it a series of commands, which cannot be done with a winmodem (this also explains why Linux does not need drivers for the modems: it only gives access to the serial port, with an external program sending the commands). If your modem is PCI, unfortunately it has a high risk of being one...
• USB devices: support for USB is still experimental. However, if you are set on it, the USB support has been compiled as a module in the various Linux-Mandrake kernels, so you can test it. But do it at your own risk. A HOWTO is available.

Collecting information on your hardware

Linux's hardware resources are now highly developed, and, apart from the devices mentioned in the previous section, you can expect the rest of your hardware to be accepted, and even more.

However, some types of devices are still having problems with Linux, and, in particular, ISA plug'n'play devices. However you can use Windows to find out their configuration. Right-click on the My Computer icon, choose Properties, select the tab Devices Manager, then select View devices by connection (figure 4.4).

If you have ISA devices, you must view them when you bring up the directory structure (figure 4.5).

You will be able to find the ISA devices in this part of the directory structure. If you only see one entry for the data port, ignore it. If there are devices present, and if there is no conflict, you can then select and click on the button Properties (figure 4.6).

You will have to write down the basic address(es) (Input/output range) used, together with the IRQ(s). Also note down the DMA channel(s) used for the sound cards.

If your ISA card is plug'n'play, you will have to be careful to configure your BIOS properly, as instructed in the preceding section but, even if you do so, Linux may not find it. However, you can disable plug'n'play for the particular device: if the manufacturer has provided one, you should have a disk containing a program enabling you to carry out this procedure. Generally, it is the device's own setup program which does so. If you have this sort of program, start it up, set the device's configuration with the parameters used and disable the plug'n'play: Linux can then see it as soon as it is set up.

Don't worry too much about sound cards, though: you may configure them after installation, and not during installation. The sndconfig program uses the isapnp package, which is the only program under Linux able to handle such devices.