INSTALL MINI-HOWTO

Jim Hall version 2.0 - 29 Oct 1998

WHAT TO GET:

The "Beta 2" distribution is being made available in two "flavors":

The MINI distribution Contains all the software you need to reproduce the
functionality of MS-DOS. If you want to install the MINI distribution,
you need to download these files:

MINI.IMG        RAWRITE.EXE        BASE1.ZIP         BASE2.ZIP

The FULL distribution Contains everything from MINI, plus compilers,
editors, and full source. If you want to install the FULL distribution,
you will need to download these files:

FULL.IMG        RAWRITE.EXE        BASE1.ZIP         BASE2.ZIP
LANG1.ZIP       EDIT1.ZIP          SOURCE1.ZIP       SOURCE2.ZIP
SOURCE3.ZIP     SOURCE4.ZIP        SOURCE5.ZIP       UTIL1.ZIP

If you do not already have a copy of UNZIP, you will need to download that
as well.

BEFORE YOU INSTALL:

STEP 1 - THE FLOPPY ZIP FILES (* see the variation, at the end)

Once you have downloaded all the files you need, you must do a little
"prep" work before you can install FreeDOS. All of those zip files that you
grabbed are the "floppy zip files". They contain everything that will fit
on one install floppy.

So, start with the BASE1.ZIP file. Format a 1.44MB floppy, then unzip the
BASE1.ZIP file to that floppy. This is what you do, let's assume that you
downloaded the floppy zip files into C:\DNLOADS:

    A:
    UNZIP C:\DNLOADS\BASE1.ZIP

Now everything that you need on the Base-1 install floppy is on that floppy
disk. Repeat this for the BASE2.ZIP file. Format another 1.44MB floppy,
then unzip the BASE2.ZIP file to that floppy. This is what you do:

    A:
    UNZIP C:\DNLOADS\BASE2.ZIP

If you are installing the MINI distribution, then you are done with the
install floppy zip files. If you are installing the FULL distribution, then
you need to repeat the above steps for the other zip files that you
downloaded.

STEP 2 - THE BOOT FLOPPY IMAGE

If you are trying to install FreeDOS on a PC that does not already have a
copy of DOS, the "Beta 1" distribution left you stuck. The "Beta 2"
distribution now lets you create an install boot floppy so you can boot
from in order to install FreeDOS. The boot floppy image needs to be written
to a pre-formatted 1.44MB floppy disk.

Under UNIX, you can use the "dd" program. Under DOS, we need to use a
program called RAWRITE.

To create the boot floppy for the MINI distribution:

   Run RAWRITE - Follow the prompts
   Tell the program to read from MINI.IMG and to write to A:

To create the boot floppy for the FULL distribution:

   Run RAWRITE - Follow the prompts.
   Tell the program to read from FULL.IMG and to write to A:

Notice that the procedure to create the boot floppy is essentially the same
for the MINI and FULL distributions. The only thing that changes is the
name of the image file name.

The inquisitive DOS user will notice that the contents of MINI.IMG and
FULL.IMG are essentially the same. In future releases of the FreeDOS
distribution, I will only require one image file, and there will be an
install-time option to install either a MINI or a FULL distribution.

TO INSTALL FROM FLOPPY 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 boot floppy that you made from either MINI.IMG or FULL.IMG. After
that, just follow the on-screen prompts. You will have the option of
creating a DOS partition, and you will be able to re-format your C: drive
if you want. Please note: I haven't been able to test these before the full
release - please let me know how this works for you.

When the install program asks you where to install from, enter: A: You
should probably install to C:\DOS or C:\FDOS - but that's up to you. During
the installation, you will need to use the install floppies that you
created from the zip disks.

One final note: floppy disk access is still a little slow in this release.
So, your install may take a lot longer than you might expect. Please budget
for some additional time when installing your copy of FreeDOS.

TO INSTALL FROM THE HARD DISK

I won't spend too much time on this, as I expect most people will opt to
install from floppy disk. However, it is possible to install from your hard
disk. If you are installing everything, and you already have a copy of DOS
on your computer, then this is probably the option you want. Hard disk
access under FreeDOS is a lot faster than floppy anyway.

The only difference between installing from floppy disk and installing from
the hard disk is when you create the install floppies from the different
zip files. When you installed from floppy disks, you needed to unzip each
floppy zip file onto a separate floppy disk.

To install from the hard disk, you just unzip each floppy zip file INTO A
SINGLE DIRECTORY ON YOUR HARD DISK. For example, you might do this (let's
keep the assumption that you downloaded the install files to C:\DNLOADS):

   CD \
   MKDIR FDBETA2
   CD FDBETA2
   UNZIP C:\DNLOADS\BASE1.ZIP
   UNZIP C:\DNLOADS\BASE2.ZIP

For the MINI distribution, that's all you need to do. If you want to
install the FULL distribution, you will also need to unzip all the other
floppy zip files like LANG1.ZIP, EDIT1.ZIP, SOURCE1.ZIP, ... and UTIL1.ZIP.
That's it. When the install program asks you where to install from, say
C:\FDBETA2 (you can delete the C:\FDBETA2 directory after you are done
installing FreeDOS - this was just a temporary directory.)

Congratulations! You have now installed FreeDOS from a hard disk.