Problem with Slackware install

[Rodney]

Hi all.
 
Well I have finally downloaded, burned and created the two floppy disks
for Slackware 8.0.  However, I am having some problems.
 
First of all it is a IBM computer with a Pentium 233 (I believe).  I
bought a Double Talk LT and connected it to the 9 pin serial port.  This
computer currently has Windows on it, so I was able to run the test.com
program for the Double Talk LT and I could hear and understand the words
spoken.
 
I am only going to use this computer for Linux.
 
I am having trouble with the first step.
 
I inserted the boot disk I created from the speakup.I file on the
Slackware CD.
 
Turned the computer on, and waited for the floppy disk to spin down.  I
have a little bit of sight (can't read any characters though) and I
noticed there was what looked like a prompt.
 
I typed in:
ramdisk speakup_synth=ltlk
and pressed enter.  However, the computer never started speaking any
prompts or anything.
 
I tried entering:
ramdisk speakup_synth=ltlk speakup_ser=n
where I replace n with 0 through 3.
None of my attempts worked.
 
I would appreciate any help.
Thanks.
Rodney
RDHaynie at home.com