These are 1.2 MB bootdisk images for Slackware Linux 3.5.0.

 These disks use Linux kernel version 2.0.33, with FAT32/Joliet patches.

 You'll need one of these to get Linux started on your system so that you can
 install it. Because of the possibility of collisions between the various Linux
 drivers, several bootkernel disks have been provided. You should use the one
 with the least drivers possible to maximize your chances of success. All of
 these disks support UMSDOS.

 You will be using the bootdisk to load and start a rootdisk. See the /rootdsks
 directory for these.

 A bootdisk is created by writing the image to a formatted floppy disk
 with RAWRITE.EXE under DOS.  For example, to use RAWRITE.EXE to create the
 bare.i bootdisk you'd put a formatted disk in your floppy drive and issue
 the following command:

 C:\> RAWRITE BARE.I A:


 ...and now some important information (i.e. the bad news ;) for people with
 systems that use a 1.2 megabyte (5 1/4 inch) boot floppy drive:

 Systems with 1.2 megabyte boot floppy drives are no longer fully supported.
 If you can get the system installed, everything will work fine.  But, the 
 rootdisks in Slackware 3.5 no longer fit on 1.2 megabyte floppies.  As a 
 result, you'll need to use one of the following workarounds.  We will list
 them in order of most to least recommended:

 1. If you have a bootable CD-ROM drive, some Slackware CD-ROMs (for example,
    the ones supplied by Walnut Creek CDROM) can be directly booted.  If you
    have this capability, you won't need to use any installation floppies.  

 2. Don't use installation floppies at all.  Instead, start the installation
    process from DOS.  To do this, install loadlin (lodlin16.zip in the kernels
    directory) on your DOS drive, and put these files in the same directory:
    
    A kernel, such as: \kernels\bare.i\zimage
    A rootdisk, such as: \rootdsks\color.gz

    Then, run this command in DOS to start the installation process:

    loadlin zimage root=/dev/ram initrd=color.gz load_ramdisk=1 rw

    If you aren't sure which kernel from the \kernels directory to use (there
    are over 50 of them to choose from), you can take a look at the README
    file in the \bootdsks.144 directory.  The descriptions of those bootdisks
    are equally applicable to the raw kernels found in \kernels.

 3. If you happen to have a 1.44 megabyte SECOND floppy drive (B:) you can
    boot one of the bootdisks in this directory, and load the rootdisk from
    your second floppy drive with this command on the boot prompt:

    ramdisk root=/dev/fd1

 4. If you're thinking about using a UMSDOS installation (this puts Linux on
    your DOS drive in a \LINUX directory), consider using the ZipSlack
    installation process to get started.  Instructions are in the \zipslack
    directory.

 5. Install a 1.44 megabyte floppy drive as your first floppy drive.  (and 
    while you're at it, add some more memory ;^)

 6. You can try using one of the unsupported rootdisks in \rootdsks\obsolete
    that will fit on a 1.2 megabyte floppy disk.


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  Here's a description of the bootdisks:

  These are the bootdisks for IDE systems.  All IDE bootdisks support IDE hard
  drives and CD-ROM drives, plus additional support listed below.  To create a
  disk, just put a formatted floppy disk in your drive and choose one of the
  options listed below to make the disk.  Read all of the choices carefully to
  pick the disk that best matches the hardware in your machine.  NOTE:  Using
  the VIEW program to create the Slackware bootdisks will not work under
  Windows95.  If you're running Windows95, you'll need to restart your machine
  in MS-DOS mode before you can create a bootdisk.



bare.bat    (bare.i)   This is the disk to use for installation on most IDE
                       based PCs.  It includes support for IDE/ATAPI CD-ROM
                       drives.
  
net.bat     (net.i)    An IDE/ATAPI bootdisk with Ethernet support.


  The bootdisks listed below are for systems that contain a SCSI controller.
  All SCSI bootdisks feature full IDE hard drive and CD-ROM drive support,
  plus additional SCSI drivers:


scsi.bat    (scsi.s)   A generic SCSI bootdisk, with support for most SCSI
                       controllers that work under Linux.  (NOTE: This disk
                       wastes a lot of memory, since it contains nearly *all*
                       of the SCSI drivers.  If you know which SCSI controller
                       your system has, it's *far* better to use the disk 
                       designed especially for it.  But, if you don't know,
                       then this generic disk might just work for you.)

scsinet.bat  (scsinet.s) All supported SCSI controllers, plus full ethernet
                         support.