THE FREEDOS BETA 8 ("Nikita") DISTRIBUTION

DETAILED INSTALLATION INSTRUCTIONS

Updated by Jeremy Davis <jeremyd@computer.org>
07 April 2002

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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

 When you first boot with the floppy you are asked to choose the
 installation mode.  MINI installs will only prompt you for the
 BASE installation set, whereas FULL install will also provide
 an opportunity to install the rest of the installation sets.
 If your computer monitor supports color, then select the options
 with COLOR, otherwise choose the MONOCHROME choices.  Note: the
 MONOCHROME modes simply activate monochrome support in included
 programs (if available).

 If you wish to perform the installation steps manually, select
 option 4, Clean Boot from the menu.  This will skip all installation
 steps, but still provides access to necessary utilites (FDISK,
 FORMAT, SYS, ...).

 Primarily for testing purposes, you may also have the option to
 use the Fat32 enabled kernel.  The Fat32 enabled kernel may be
 compiled with 80386 specific instructions, so its use is only
 suggested for newer computers (where Fat32 support is more likely
 to be desired anyway).  Options 5 & 6 replace the file KERNEL.SYS
 on the floppy with the indicated kernel.  This requires the
 ability to write to the floppy, so please be sure the write
 protect notch is set to allow writing before attempting.


II.  LANGUAGE SELECTION

 Note: The steps below may differ slightly depending on which
 boot disk you use and which options you select.

 After selecting MINI/FULL and COLOR/MONOCHROME mode, you will
 be prompted for a language to use during installation.  Not
 all text has been translated and very few languages are supported.
 English is the original language, so all untranslated text will
 still be in English.  Press the key corresponding to the language
 desired, or press '0' for default English text.  This option
 simply sets the LANG environment variable, which is used
 throughout the installation floppy in an attempt to display
 localized messages.


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 XKEYB with one of the supported keyboard layouts.
 If you are using a US keyboard, or do not wish to install XKEYB,
 then you may press '0' to skip loading XKEYB, otherwise press
 the key corresponding to the desired layout.


V.  PARTITION PREPARATION

 Currently when running in monochrome mode, you will be prompted
 to run the various programs in a manner similar to described below
 in the 'MANUAL INSTALL FROM FLOPPY DISK' section.  Otherwise the
 Partition Management tool will be run, which allows you more
 flexibility as to which drive a particular program uses and which
 program to execute.

 In general you will will want to:
   1.  Create the partition, use either FDISK, Ranish Partition
       Manager, or you can split an existing parition using FIPS.
       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.
       Don't forget, if you are using the Fat32 enabled kernel,
       and decide to create a Fat32 partition, FORMAT does not
       yet support Fat32, so you will need another method to
       format (initialize) it.  
       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 <drive> ).
       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.
       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.

 Once your partitions are successfully initialized, press the Enter
 key to continue or you may abort the installation by pressing the
 ESC key.  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.  Once install has finished you should edit the sample
 configuration files (config.sys & autoexec.bat) to correct the paths
 (only necessary if you did not install to C:\FDOS) and copy them to
 the root directory.  Replace FDOS in the steps below with the actual
 location you specified in the step above.

 To copy the files to the root directory type:
     COPY C:\FDOS\CONFIG.SYS C:\
     COPY C:\FDOS\AUTOEXEC.BAT C:\

 To edit the files, put the boot disk back into the drive and type:
     TE
 When the editor starts, go to File menu, select Open, and in the
 filename entry field type C:\CONFIG.SYS, followed by pressing Enter.
 Then repeat, but use  C:\AUTOEXEC.BAT instead.  Don't forget
 to save your changes when done (File --> Save).


VII.  POST INSTALL STEPS

 At this point all the basic FreeDOS installation steps should be done.
 If you wish to use English and a US keyboard then go ahead
 and reboot now.  If everything goes alright then FreeDOS is
 installed.  If you wish to continue using your specified keyboard
 layout or a desired language (when supported by individual programs),
 edit C:\AUTOEXEC.BAT (the one you just copied to C:\).  If it dos
 not exist, then create it.  The first line should be
     @ECHO OFF
 otherwise all commands will be displayed.  Somewhere in the file
 make sure the following two lines appear (they need not be together)
     SET LANG=EN
     XKEYB US
 but replace EN with appropriate 2 letter language id (e.g. ES for
 Spanish) and US with appropriate keyboard layout name.
 Reboot and if all goes well then FreeDOS will be using your desired
 keyboard layout and if possible, to some extent desired language.


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 4, 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!

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Congratulations - you have now installed FreeDOS!

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