This is the time to create the partitions you need to install Debian. You need to cre-ate a swap partition as well as a Linux partition. First crecre-ate the Linux partition starting at the beginning of the free space. You only need one Linux partition for the complete installation. This partition should start somewhere before the 1,024 sec-tor so that it will be bootable. Leave room on the system to create a swap partition.
You should have at least a 64MB swap partition, but I recommend a 128MB parti-tion, or twice the RAM size of your system.
From the main menu, press Enter to begin the process of partitioning the hard drive. You will be asked to select the drive to partition. If you have only one drive, the choice is simple. If you have more than one drive, then pick the one that you
want to install Debian on. After you select the drive, an informational dialog will appear. This screen tells you what the limitations are of the bootloader — LILO on older systems. After you have read this screen, press Continue to proceed.
The cfdiskutility then starts, which offers you the ability to make changes to the drive partitions. This tool identifies any partitions currently created, and any unused space. The up and down arrows select the partitions on the drive. The left and right arrows navigate the menu options at the bottom. Scroll through the menu options until New is selected. Press Enter to create a new Linux partition (be sure to leave enough room for the swap partition). Now create the swap partition in the same manner, except you need to specify the type as swap. When all the partitions are created, use the Write menu option to commit them to the disk. Finally, use the Quit menu option to return to the installation.
The step of partitioning the hard drive is skipped if Linux and swap partitions already exist.
Initializing and activating a swap partition
After the drive is partitioned for the install, it needs to be initialized,which means that it is formatted for use. Select the desired swap partition (normally only one) and press Enter. The next dialog box asks you whether you want to skip the bad blocks check. The default, Yes, skips the check. You should perform this check on older drives that you have had for more than a couple of years; however, it takes some time, depending on the size of the partition and the speed of the computer.
Lastly, you are asked if you are sure that you want to initialize the partition.
Remember that data on the partition will be lost.
Initializing a Linux partition
Time now to initialize the Linux partition. This formats and sets up the main parti-tion on the hard drive where you will install Debian. Select the partiparti-tion on which you wish to install Debian. If you only have one partition created for Linux, you should only see one partition. Press Enter to accept the partition.
Next you will see a dialog box in Figure 2-2 asking if you want to maintain Pre 2.2 Linux Kernel Compatibility. (The kernel is the heart of the operating system.) This means that you intend to use older kernels on this hard drive. This is a newer for-matting method for the Linux partition that allows for added functionality with the newer kernel. The default is Yes, but I recommend choosing No unless you know for sure that you intend to compile and run older kernels.
Note
Figure 2-2: The new ext2 kernel allows you to use the new filesystem.
You will now see another dialog box concerning the bad block check. Again, this can be a time-consuming process depending on the size of the hard drive and the speed of the computer. By default, Yes skips the check.
A final dialog box asks you whether you are sure you want to do this. If you are using a pre-existing Linux partition to load Debian on, all data will be lost from it.
However, if you just created the partition, there is nothing to lose. Proceed with the file system creation.
The next dialog box asks if you want to mount the root of the file system on this partition. You must have one partition with the root file system mounted or you will not be able to build a Linux system. Root is the foundation for the entire directory structure that Linux uses. Therefore, you want confirm with Yes.
Initializing the operating system kernel and modules
Now that the disk is prepared, the fun begins as the kernel and the needed modules are installed on the new system. Press Enter to accept the highlighted menu option to start this process of installing the kernel and modules.
You must first select an installation medium from the dialog box. Your choices are CD-ROM, /dev/fd0(the first floppy drive), /dev/fd1(the second floppy drive), hard drive, or mounted. Use the floppy drive if you do not have a CD-ROM. Normally, you will choose the CD-ROM, as the rest of this installation process assumes.
See Chapter 15 for more details about the kernel and the modules used with it.
You now need to select the CD drive. For systems with multiple CD drives, choose the one that contains the installation disk. The next dialog box asks you to insert the installation disk. After going through both dialog boxes, you need to enter the Debian archive path (/dist/stable). You can get there a couple of ways, but the easiest is by pressing Enter twice — once for the path shown, and again for the default stable archive.