[monted]

I have a Mandrake 8.1 installation and I am currently downloading 9.1. Will the ISO take care of my bootloader so I can get into Windows without any problems?I assume the ISO file I download will make a bootable install disk,correct?

WindowsME,WindowsXP Home-Service Pack 1,Mandrake Linux 8.1 tri-boot

[snowdog]

The bootloader (lilo I'm assuming) will work just fine. While setting up the bootloader during the Mandrake install you can pick which OS you want to be the default OS. The disk 1 ISO is bootable. You should always make the rescue floppies (Windows and Linux) just incase something goes horribly wrong. :-) Remember the three rules to happy commputing... 1: backup, 2: backup, 3: backup.

[monted]

I dowloaded CD1 file and burned it to CD. I am now downloading CD2. There is a CD3 Internationalization. What is this one for? Do I need it?

[snowdog]

You don't need the third disk, but it does have some important stuff (the kernel source for one). There are a bunch of other lib's and progs on it too. Good to have, but not absolutely necesary.

[snowdog]

I don't know if this is too late to help or not, but what I used to do when I was dual-booting was backup anything I wanted from Linux onto the Windows partition. Then I would do a full install of the new Linux OS. Windows upgrades have soured me over time. Don't know if I'll ever trust a full urgrade ever again. Ya, I'm jaded. :-)

[monted]

I burned the ISO's to disk,but CD1 is not bootable. I think I need to burn them as an "image". How do I do that?

[snowdog]

What burning software are you using on Windows? Here's a link to a site with info on burning under Linux and Windows... http://www.linuxiso.org/viewdoc.php/howtoburn.html

You should also verify the MD5's of the Linux iso's. Here's another link to a site to help with that... http://www.linuxiso.org/viewdoc.php/verifyiso.html

[monted]

I used XP and just saved the file to CD when I downloaded it.Should I use Nero?

[snowdog]

Ya, it has to be written as an .iso. Nero would work fine.

[monted]

Nero's 15 day trial is a piece of junk.You can't burn any data,just test burn. The windows utility doesn't have a setting for "burn as image".The files are burnt on the disks as .iso files.I don't know how to get the data burnt on the disks as an image...

[snowdog]

Try burning it from Mandrake. Make sure you have cdrecord, cdparanoia, and mkisofs installed. If those are all good, then from a console as root (type su then enter the root password when it asks for it) run 'cdrecord -scanbus' (no quotes). This will give you the device numbers for your burner.
Once you have those numbers, cd to the directory that the iso is in, then run "cdrecord -v -eject -dummy speed=* dev=0,0,0 xxx.iso' (no quotes -dummy runs a test, remove this when you want to write the .iso, speed=* *=whatever speed your burner is at, I usually use speed=16, my burner is 48x24x48, put the dev= numbers that cdrecord -scanbus gave you). This should work no prob.

[monted]

Originally posted by snowdog:
Make sure you have cdrecord, cdparanoia, and mkisofs installed.

I am new to Linux and have no idea how to check that.

[snowdog]

Just type in cdrecord -scanbus. If it works great, if not, these programs are on your Mandrake 8.1 disks. Run the cdrecord string for doing a dummy run. If it works, great, if not, everything is on your disks. From the K menu (if you use KDE) find the configuration menu and install the programs I mentioned above. Everything you need is probably already installed. Just give it a shot.

[monted]

ok ,it gave me the numbers"0,0,0" . How do I do a "cd"? I have copied the file to my Linux Desktop. I tried to use an Archive application,but had no luck,did something wrong. I have 3 ,but no luck.One is Gnome-toast, another is X-CD-roast,and the other was GCombust.I had more luck with GCombust but got errors.If I knew how to cd,lol, I could probably get the disk burnt,though.

[snowdog]

Sorry, cd is 'change directory'. From a console type 'cd /wherever/iso/is' to get to the directory that has the iso, then run the cdrecord string from above. You might have to be root to run the command.