Appendix C. Driver Disks
Why Do I Need a Driver Disk?
While the Red Hat Linux installation program is loading, you may see a screen that asks you for a driver disk. The driver disk screen is most often seen in three scenarios:
If you are running the installation program in expert mode
If you run the installation program by entering linux dd at the boot: prompt
If you run the installation program on a computer which does not have any PCI devices
So What Is a Driver Disk Anyway?
A driver disk adds support for hardware that is not otherwise supported by the installation program. The driver disk could be produced by Red Hat, it could be a disk you make yourself from drivers found on the Internet, or it could be a disk that a hardware vendor includes with a piece of hardware.
There is really no need to use a driver disk unless you need a particular device in order to install Red Hat Linux. You will most likely use a driver disk for non-standard or very new CD-ROM drives, SCSI adapters or NICs. These are the only devices used during the installation that might require drivers not included on the Red Hat Linux CD-ROMs (or floppy disk, if you created an installation boot floppy to begin the install process).
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If an unsupported device is not needed to install Red Hat Linux on your system, continue with a regular installation and then add support for the new piece of hardware once the installation is complete. |
How Do I Obtain a Driver Disk?
The Red Hat Linux CD-ROM 1 includes a driver disk image (images/drivers.img) containing many rarely used drivers. If you suspect that your system may require one of these drivers, it may be a good idea to go ahead and create the driver disk floppy before beginning your Red Hat Linux installation.
Another option for finding specialized driver disk information is on Red Hat's website at http://www.redhat.com/support/errata under the section called Bug Fixes. Occasionally, very popular hardware may be made available after a release of Red Hat Linux that will not work with drivers already in the installation program or included on the driver disk image on the Red Hat Linux CD-ROM 1. In cases like this, the Red Hat website may contain a link to a driver disk image you can use to install Red Hat Linux using that hardware.
Creating a Driver Disk from an Image File
If you have a driver disk image that you need to write to a floppy disk, this can be done from within DOS or Red Hat Linux.
To create a driver disk from a driver disk image using Red Hat Linux:
Insert a blank, formatted floppy disk into the first floppy drive.
From the same directory containing the driver disk image, such as dd.img, type cat dd.img > /dev/fd0 as root.
To create a driver disk from a driver disk image using DOS:
Insert a blank, formatted floppy disk into the a: drive.
From the same directory containing the driver disk image, such as dd.img, type rawrite dd.img a: at the command line.
Using a Driver Disk During Installation
Simply having a driver disk is not enough. You must specifically tell the Red Hat Linux installation program to load that driver disk and use it during the installation process.
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A driver disk is different than a boot disk. If you require a boot floppy to begin the Red Hat Linux installation on your system, you will still need to create that floppy and boot from it before using your driver disk. If you do not already have a installation floppy disk and your system does not support booting from the CD-ROM, create an installation floppy disk using the correct filename.img file (such as boot.img) on the Red Hat Linux CD-ROM 1 in the images directory. For instructions on how to make a boot disk, see the Official Red Hat Linux x86 Installation Guide section called Making Installation Diskettes. |
Once you have created your driver disk, begin the installation process by booting from the Red Hat Linux CD-ROM 1 (or the installation boot floppy you made if you cannot boot from the CD-ROM for whatever reason). Then, at the boot: prompt, enter either linux expert or linux dd.
The Red Hat Linux installation program will ask you to insert the driver disk. Once the driver disk is read by the installer, it can then apply those drivers to hardware discovered on your system later in the installation process.