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<h1>How to Install the Speakup Modified Red Hat Distribution</h1>
<br />
<p>Version 1.0 (DRAFT #5)<br />17 March 2002</p>
<br />
<br />
<p>By <a href="mailto:janina@afb.net,wacker@octothorp.org">Janina
Sajka and William Acker</a></p>
<br />
<br />
<hr noshade="noshade" title=" " />
<div class="c1"><strong>A distribution of GNU/Linux enhanced
with<br />
<a href="http://www.linux-speakup.org">Speakup</a>: The world's
leading Linux screen reader</strong></div>
<div class="c1"><strong>Because equal access to all system
functions is a blind computer user's right, from bootup to
shutdown!</strong></div>
<br />
<br />
<hr noshade="noshade" title=" " width="75%" />
<div class="c1">
<h2>Section One: Introduction and Copyleft</h2>
</div>
<a id="sec1" name="sec1"></a>
<p>Copyleft 2002<br />
By Janina Sajka & William F. Acker<br />
<br />
You may copy this document freely, but only in its entirety.</p>
<p><a href="mailto:janina@afb.net,wacker@octothorp.org">Your
comments and suggestions on this document</a> are most welcome.</p>
<br />
<hr noshade="noshade" title=" " />
<p>Blind people installing the Speakup Modified Red Hat distribution are invited to call Bill Acker by voice telephone
for assistance at +1.303.777.8123 in the USA, -07:00 GMT</p>
<p>The Speakup mailing list is a good place to get help with your
problems and questions. We strongly suggest, and we cordially
invite you to <a href=
"http://speech.linux-speakup.org/mailman/listinfo/speakup/">join
the Speakup mailing list</a>.</p>
<hr noshade="noshade" title=" " />
<div class="c1">
<h3>Current Versions</h3>
</div>
<a id="version" name="version"></a>
<p>The latest edition of the Speakup Modified Red Hat distribution,
and of this HOWTO, can be found at <a href=
"http://www.linux-speakup.org/ftp/disks/redhat/">The Speakup
Modified Red Hat Distribution Home Page</a>. The <a href=
"http://www.linux-speakup.org/ftp/disks/redhat/HOWTO-INSTALL.html">most
current version of this HOWTO is available here</a><br />
<br />
</p>
<p>Learn more <a href=
"http://www.linux-speakup.org/ftp/disks/redhat/about.html">About
the Speakup Modified Red Hat Distribution</a> here</p>
<hr noshade="noshade" title=" " />
<h2>Table of Contents</h2>
<a id="contents" name="contents"></a>
<h3><a href="#sec1">Section One: Introduction and Copyleft</a></h3>
<ul>
<li><a href="#version">Current Versions</a></li>
<li><a href=
"http://www.linux-speakup.org/ftp/disks/redhat/about.html">About
the Speakup Modified Red Hat distribution</a></li>
</ul>
<br />
<br />
<h3><a href="#sec2">Section Two: Are You Ready For Linux?</a></h3>
<ul>
<li><a href="#why">Why Would I Want the Speakup Modified Red Hat
Distribution?</a></li>
<li><a href="#prep">Before You Start ...</a></li>
</ul>
<br />
<br />
<h3><a href="#sec3">Section Three: Choosing and Preparing Your
Installation Media</a></h3>
<ul>
<li><a href="#downloading">Downloading the Speakup Modified Red Hat
Distribution</a></li>
<li><a href="#hd_install">Will a Hard Disk Installation Work For
You?</a></li>
<li><a href="#cdr_creation">Creating Installation CD ROMs</a></li>
<li><a href="#media">Selecting Your Boot Media</a></li>
<li><a href="#rawriting">Creating Boot Floppies</a></li>
</ul>
<br />
<br />
<h3><a href="#sec4">Section Four: Installing</a></h3>
<ul>
<li><a href="#speakup_synths">Supported Synthesizers and their
Associated Keywords</a></li>
<li><a href="#booting">Booting the Installation</a></li>
<li><a href="#beginning_install">Initial Installation
Options</a></li>
<li><a href="#speakup_ref">Speakup Screen Review Quick
Reference</a></li>
<li><a href="#diskdruid">Conquering Disk Druid</a></li>
<li><a href="#more_options">Additional Specific Options To
Consider</a></li>
</ul>
<br />
<br />
<h3><a href="#sec5">Section Five: Now What?</a></h3>
<ul>
<li><a href="#help">Welcome to Linux with Speakup</a></li>
<li><a href="#up2date">Stay Up to Date with Up2date</a></li>
<li><a href="#addendum">Addendum: Some Thoughts About
Partitioning</a></li>
</ul>
<br />
<br />
<h3><a href="#sec6">Section Six: Appendix</a></h3>
<ul>
<li><a href="#storebought">Using Red Hat Media</a></li>
<li><a href="#existing">Adding Speakup to an Existing Red Hat Installation</a></li>
</ul>
<br />
<br />
<hr noshade="noshade" title=" " />
<h2>Section Two: Are You Ready For Linux?</h2>
<a id="sec2" name="sec2"></a>
<h3>Why Would I Want the Speakup Modified Red Hat
Distribution?</h3>
<a id="why" name="why"></a>
<p>Linux is a wonderful environment for computer users who are
blind, and the Red Hat distribution is a compelling, robust yet
cutting-edg and comprehensive Linux distribution package.
Unfortunately, the official Red Hat distribution does not provide
an installation option accessible to the screen reader user, nor
does it yet deliver a completed installation which includes screen
reader support. Until Red Hat Corporation remedies this inequity,
we will continue to provide the Speakup Modified Red Hat
distribution as the accessible alternative for the blind computer
user who wants a Red Hat-style Linux installation. While there are
many ways to get a set of installation media for Red Hat, there is
only one place on the planet which consistently provides
installation media adapted expressly for those blind computer users
who want to use the Speakup Linux screen reader to install a Red
Hat-style Linux on their computers. This means that the blind
computer user will not require sighted assistance, and that the end
result will be an installation that talks every time it is booted,
but only if you get your installation files from <a href=
"http://www.linux-speakup.org/ftp/disks/redhat/">the Speakup
Modified Red Hat Distribution Home Page</a>.</p>
<p>Clearly, all users can choose among several Linux distributions,
and we note and applaud the Slackware team for including Speakup in
their stock distribution since version 8.0. Which particular
distribution one should choose is really a matter of personal
choice. Our only advice is that users unfamiliar with Linux should choose
a distribution for which they can most easily get help when they
have questions. In other words, it's harder for the user of Red Hat
to help someone using Debian or Slackware. This is an important
point because beginning users will most certainly have
questions--many questions.</p>
<h3>Before You Start ...</h3>
<a id="prep" name="prep"></a>
<p>Even persons who are experienced installing Linux need to
prepare before initiating yet another installation. Everyone should
expect to take time to gather the information and tools that will
be needed to effect a successful installation. Do partitions need
resizing and reformatting? What network parameters need to be
specified? What are the video specifications for the new system?
Are some data files, and perhaps certain partitions to be left
untouched so that they can appear in the new installation just as
they are today?</p>
<p>So, if you are new to Linux, plan to spend some time reading
about the installation process and the kinds of decisions you will
need to make before undertaking an installation--especially if
you're installing on a hard disk which currently has some other
operating system that you want to keep, such as Windows, for
example. The Speakup Modified Red Hat distribution of Linux will
coexist nicely on a single hard disk with Windows, but only if you
don't unintentionally delete it during the installation process.
There's no reason to delete Windows before you're ready.</p>
<p>If you are unfamiliar with Linux, you may soon find that the
language of Linux is unfamiliar. This is especially true for users
whose past experience of computers is with operating environments
such as DOS and Windows. Of course, the very same computer that
runs Windows today may well run Linux tomorrow using the same
hardware. But the words that designate the serial ports and the
disks on the system are examples of the kinds of things which have
radically different names under Linux. In fact, learning the
language of Linux well enough to successfully install Linux is
arguably the most difficult task in the entire process.It is very
important for you to know how devices are specified in Linux, and
about disk partitioning and formatting under Linux before you
start. Also, be sure to have requisite information about your
network connections handy.</p>
<p>The <a href= "http://www.redhat.com/docs/manuals/linux/RHL-7.2-Manual/install-guide/"> Official Red Hat Installation
Guide</a> is an excellent resource for learning these details and much more because it is comprehensive and clearly
written, and because it provides keyboard command instructions in addition to mouse instructions. Use your favorite
browser to study this online guide before attempting your first Linux installation especially if you cannot dedicate an
entire hard disk drive just to Linux. If you want, you can even <a
href="http://www.redhat.com/docs/manuals/linux/">download this, and other free Red Hat guides</a> to your hard disk for
easier access. Pay particular attention to the sections on <a
href="http://www.redhat.com/docs/manuals/linux/RHL-7.2-Manual/install-guide/s1-guimode-setup.html"> Disk Partitioning
Setup</a>. If you're adding Linux to a computer that already has another operating environment (like Windows), pay
attention to the sections on <a
href="http://www.redhat.com/docs/manuals/linux/RHL-7.2-Manual/install-guide/ch-dualboot.html"> Configuring a Dual-Boot
System</a>. Before you begin the installation, be sure to have <a
href="http://www.redhat.com/docs/manuals/linux/RHL-7.2-Manual/install-guide/ch-textmode.html#S2-INSTALL-NETWORKINFO">information about your network connections (including dialup connections)</a> handy. And, if you are someone whose computer experience has been mainly DOS or Windows, we highly recommend you study the <a href="http://linuxdoc.org/HOWTO/DOS-Win-to-Linux-HOWTO.html">From DOS/Windows to Linux HOWTO</a> to get a handle on Linux words and how they correspond to the computer words you already know.</p>
<p>Once you have a good grasp of Linux basics, once you have a sense of how you will use fdisk or Disk Druid, once you
understand terms such as /dev/ttyS0, /dev/sda, /dev/hda and /dev/hda1, etc., you'll be ready to begin installing the
Speakup Modified Red Hat distribution.</p>
<h2>Section Three: Choosing and Preparing Your Installation Media</h2>
<a id="sec3" name="sec3"></a>
<h3>Downloading the Speakup Modified Red Hat Distribution</h3>
<a id="downloading" name="downloading"></a>
<p>The Speakup Modified Red Hat distribution is provided as a set
of five CD ROM images, called ISO images, on the <a href=
"http://www.linux-speakup.org/ftp/disks/redhat/current/">Speakup
Modified Red Hat Distribution Home Page</a>. These are the files
whose filenames end in the ".iso" extension. Only the first two of these five .iso files are absolutely required to install the Speakup Modified Redhat Distribution.</p>
<p>Whether you use an ftp client, or whether you download them using
the links provided here is unimportant. Because each of these files
is very large it will take some time to download them, even over a
fast network connection--so that achieving a successful download
can seem like a major accomplishment on its own. You are very
strongly advised, therefore, to use a download method which will
resume from the place it was interrupted should your network
connection be interrupted for any reason. Also, be sure that you
are downloading these files in binary mode, and that
you have a total of about 3 gigabytes of free disk space in the
directory to which you're downloading them--should you decide to download all 5 of them. Remember, you only really
need the first two to effect a successful installation:</p>
<ul>
<li><a href=
"http://www.linux-speakup.org/ftp/disks/redhat/images/disc1.iso">Installation
Disk 1</a></li>
<li><a href=
"http://www.linux-speakup.org/ftp/disks/redhat/images/disc2.iso">Installation
Disk 2</a></li>
<li><a href=
"http://www.linux-speakup.org/ftp/disks/redhat/images/docs.iso">Documentation
Disk</a></li>
<li><a href=
"http://www.linux-speakup.org/ftp/disks/redhat/images/SRPMS1.iso">Source
Code Disk 1</a></li>
<li><a href=
"http://www.linux-speakup.org/ftp/disks/redhat/images/SRPMS2.iso">Source
Code Disk 2</a></li>
</ul>
<h3>Will a Hard Disk Installation Work For You?</h3>
<a id="hd_install" name="hd_install"></a>
<p>Now that you have the iso images for the Speakup Modified Red
Hat distribution, you may not need to actually create CD ROMs from
these images in order to install. If you downloaded these files to
a directory you will not be formatting, such as your Windows
Desktop, for example, you can simply use these files as your
installation media, provided that you still have at least 3.5
gigabytes of free disk space for the actual Linux installation
itself.</p>
<p>To install from hard disk you will need to create a bootable
floppy as described below. During the installation process you will
be asked what hard disk, and what directory on that disk holds the
installation iso images. Of course, you will need to answer using
Linux designations (like /dev/hda1and windows/desktop), and not
Microsoft designations (like C:\WINDOWS\DESKTOP>) because Linux
doesn't speak Windows!</p>
<p>NOTE: You may use the hard disk installation option if you have
these iso images on any kind of secondary, removable media such as
the Iomega Jazz drive or the Castlewood Orb drive. The process is
the same though the drive designation will, of course, be
different.</p>
<h3>Creating Installation CD ROMs</h3>
<a id="cdr_creation" name="cdr_creation"></a>
<p>Now that you have the iso images for the Speakup Modified Red Hat distribution, go ahead and create CD ROMs from each
of these images using whatever software you ordinarily use for creating CD ROMs (cdrecord on Linux, or Easy CD Creator
in Windows, for example). How to do this is beyond the scope of this document, but we do want to point out that an "iso
image" is actually a kind of "picture" of a CD ROM. In other words, your objective is to create a CD ROM with the
contents of the iso image, and not a CD ROM with a single .iso file on it. For example, the first installation CD ROM
should have files like the following files on it: README COPYING, autorun, RedHat, README.speakup, dosutils, images.
<h3>Selecting Your Boot Media</h3>
<a id="media" name="media"></a> If your computer supports booting
from CD ROM , you may boot from the first Speakup Modified Red Hat
installation CD ROM and pass your speech synthesizer setting at the
Boot> prompt .Go directly to <a href="#booting">Booting the
Installation</a> below.<br />
<br />
<p>If you cannot boot from CD ROM, or you will be installing from your hard dis, or over a network connection to another
computer, you will need to create one or more of the following floppies to boot your speakup-enabled Linux installation.
You can download these floppy images here, or just take whichever ones you need from the images directory on the first
CD ROM:</p>
<ul>
<li><a href=
"http://www.linux-speakup.org/ftp/disks/redhat/images/boot.img">boot.img</a>
--the most commonly used image.
</li>
<li><a href= "http://www.linux-speakup.org/ftp/disks/redhat/images/bootnet.img">bootnet.img</a>--use this if you're
installing over a network connection. You may also need the <a href=
"http://www.linux-speakup.org/ftp/disks/redhat/images/drvnet.img">additional network interface drivers disk</a>.</li>
<li><a href="http://www.linux-speakup.org/ftp/disks/redhat/images/pcmcia.img">the PCMCIA drivers diskette image</a>--Use
this if you are using a
PCMCIA card during installation.</li>
<li>NOTE: If you start the installation and get a message saying your CD
ROM can't be found, you may need this disk of <a href=
"http://www.linux-speakup.org/ftp/disks/redhat/images/oldcdrom.img">
older CD ROM drivers</a>.</li>
<li>And, if you get a message saying your hard disk can't be found,
you may need this disk of <a href=
"http://www.linux-speakup.org/ftp/disks/redhat/images/oldblock.img">
older device drivers</a>.</li>
</ul>
<p>If you do need to use two floppies to boot for any reason, don't
miss the important note about using two floppies in the section
entitled <a href="#booting">Booting the Installation</a> below.</p>
<h3>Creating Boot Floppies</h3>
<a id="rawriting" name="rawriting"></a>
<p>If you can, use the Linux dd command to create whatever boot floppies you need. If you can't use dd because you don't
have linux yet, get the Windows version of the program called <a href=
"http://uranus.it.swin.edu.au/~jn/Linux/rawwrite.htm">RawWrite</a> and unzip it to your Windows computer. Use it to
create the Linux boot floppy you need.</p>
<p>If you can't use either Linux' dd command or the new Windows
rawrite program, use the older DOS <a href=
"http://www.linux-speakup.org/ftp/disks/redhat/rawrite">rawrite.exe</a>
program. This DOS program is also provided on the first
installation CD ROM in the dosutils directory. There are some very
important considerations to pay attention to when using the DOS
rawrite program:</p>
<ul>
<li>Windows, Windows screen readers, and DOS screen readers can
interfere with the proper functioning of the DOS rawrite
program.</li>
<li>Do not use the DOS rawrite program from the Windows "run"
dialog, or from a Windows MS DOS session, if you can possibly help
it.</li>
<li>You should shutdown to MS DOS to use the DOS rawrite program
if you can, with the MS DOS session in full screen mode as your
second choice.</li>
<li>You may use a DOS screen reader to answer the three prompts
rawrite poses, but kill the screen reader immediately after
answering the third prompt because your screen reader can corrupt
the floppy you're creating with the DOS rawrite program.</li>
</ul>
<p>The three prompts the DOS rawrite program poses, in order,
are:</p>
<ul>
<li>Enter disk image source file name:</li>
<li>Enter target diskette drive:</li>
<li>Please insert a formatted diskette into drive and press
-enter-</li>
</ul>
<p>We suggest you place rawrite and the floppy disk images you
selected in the <a href="#media">Selecting your Boot
Media</a> section above in the same directory (or file folder). That
way you need only type the file name of the image from which you're
creating a floppy to answer the first of these questions. For the
second question, answer with the DOS drive designation, such as "a"
because, of course, rawrite is a DOS or Windows program. After you
press enter in response to the third question, the floppy creation
process will begin and you'll notice your floppy disk is spinning.
<strong>Remember to kill your speech synthesizer during this disk
writing process!</strong> When disk activity stops, rawrite has
finished and that diskette is then ready for use booting the
installation process.</p>
<h2>Section Four: Installing</h2>
<a id="sec4" name="sec4"></a>
<p>Now that you've gathered the information and created the media you need to complete an installation of the Speakup
Modified Red Hat Distribution, it is finally time to begin the installation process itself. Be sure to read through this
section before you actually begin the installation, though, so you can be thoroughly familiar with the process. In
particular, pay attention to how you will specify your speech synthesizer in order to get a speech-enabled installation
underway.</p>
<h3>Supported Synthesizers and their Associated Keywords</h3>
<a id="speakup_synths" name="speakup_synths"></a>
<p>We pause now to name the speech synthesizers currently supported
by Speakup. These are the only ones available for you to use with
the Speakup Modified Red Hat distribution at this time. Please note
the appropriate speakup keyword associated with the synthesizer you
will be using. You will need to specify it at the beginning of the
boot process as described below:</p>
<table>
<caption><strong>Speakup Supported Synthesizers and their
Associated Keywords</strong></caption>
<tr>
<td>Accent SA</td>
<td>ACNTSA</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>Accent PC</td>
<td>ACNTPC</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>Apollo</td>
<td>APOLO</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>Audaptor</td>
<td>AUDPTR</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>All Blazie products</td>
<td>BNS</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>DEC Talk Express</td>
<td>DECTLK</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>DEC Talk External</td>
<td>DECEXT</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>Doubletalk internal (isa card)</td>
<td>DTLK</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>External, serial Litetalk or Doubletalk</td>
<td>LTLK</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>Speak Out</td>
<td>SPKOUT</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>Artic Transport</td>
<td>TXPRT</td>
</tr>
</table>
<p>The correct syntax for indicating which speech synthesizer
you're using is:</p>
<ul>
<li><strong>speakup_synth={synth_keyword}</strong></li>
</ul>
<p>So, to install with an external Litetalk,you will specify that
speakup should talk to the Litetalk synthesizer as follows:</p>
<ul>
<li><strong>speakup_synth=ltlk</strong></li>
</ul>
<p>By default Speakup probes for a speech synthesizer on all the
serial ports available to it. If this doesn't work, you may specify
a particular serial port. The first serial port, the one
Windows/DOS calls COM1 becomes ttyS0 in Linux, and COM2 becomes
ttyS1, etc. So, to indicate that Speakup should use the second
serial port, you would specify:</p>
<ul>
<li><strong>speakup_ser=1</strong></li>
</ul>
<p>NOTE: If Speakup probes for a speech synthesizer but fails to find one, linux will still boot though it will not
speak. On the other hand, if you specify a particular port and Speakup cannot find your indicated synthesizer on that
port, linux will not boot.</p>
<h3>Booting the Installation</h3>
<a id="booting" name="booting"></a>
<p>At long last you are ready to begin installing the Speakup
Modified Red Hat distribution. Start a text-based installation with
speech by booting the appropriate floppy disk you prepared in the
<a href="#rawriting">Creating a Boot Floppy</a> section above, or by
booting the first installation CD ROM disk. <strong>But, when and
how do you specify your synthesizer?</strong> Regrettably the boot
prompt doesn't start out talking, though it could be made to (see
below). So, you will need to monitor disk activity as your system
boots. Most computers will beep briefly following bios activity
just at the point that system information is read from disk. Your
disk will spin briefly following this beep. When it stops, you're
at the boot> prompt. Type the following and press
<<ENTER>>:</p>
<ul>
<li><strong>text speakup_synth={synth_keyword}</strong></li>
</ul>
<p>where {synth_keyword} is the appropriate <a href=
"#speakup_synths">speech synthesizer keyword</a>. You may also
specify your serial port if you wish. So, for example, to start a
text-based installation with a Litetalk on the second serial port,
you would type:</p>
<ul>
<li><strong>text speakup_synth=ltlk speakup_ser=1</strong></li>
</ul>
<p>You will have a full minute to type this command correctly. If
you make a mistake, press Ctrl-U to clear the command line and
start entering your command from the beginning again.</p>
<p><strong>IMPORTANT:</strong>If, for any reason, you need to boot
with two floppies--because you need additional drivers, for
example--add "dd" to your command. So, to start the boot process
using a litetalk on the serial port, and have the opportunity to
introduce a second diskette to the boot process, your command would
specify:</p>
<ul>
<li><strong>text dd speakup_synth=ltlk speakup_ser=1</strong></li>
</ul>
<p>NOTE: If you're comfortable editing a file in a text editor, you
can make the boot> prompt speak--but only to a serial speech
synthesizer, not an internal one. Edit the file sysLinux.cfg which
is on your boot floppy using a text editor. Immediately above the
line in this file which says: "LABEL Linux" add the following
line:</p>
<ul>
<li><strong>serial=0,9600N8</strong></li>
</ul>
<p>NOTE: Change the "=0" as appropriate for your serial port, e.g.
for the second serial port use "=1" instead.</p>
<p>About a minute after you press enter to the boot> prompt,
speakup will begin speaking the installation process. You're on
your way.</p>
<h3>Initial Installation Options</h3>
<a id="beginning_install" name="beginning_install"></a>
<p>The first few choices you have to make will determine how
accessible your installation will be. Here's what to choose. If you
make a mistake, just start over:</p>
<ul>
<li>Select English as your installation language. It's the only
choice currently supported by Speakup.</li>
<li>At the prompt for specifying the keyboard map, be sure NOT to
select U.S. or U.K. Rather, select speakup, otherwise you'll not
have screen review capabilities during the installation process,
though you'll continue to have speech.</li>
</ul>
<h3>Speakup Screen Review Quick Reference</h3>
<a id="speakup_ref" name="speakup_ref"></a>
<p>Perhaps the trickiest part of the installation is also a very critical point in the installation. Red Hat's
partitioning tool, called Disk Druid, is often confusing to new users. You'll need to use speakup's screen review
commands carefully to ensure that you've correctly specified your mount points and which partitions are to be formatted.
So, here's a quick introduction to using Speakup followed by an introduction to Disk Druid.</p>
<ul>
<li>Screen review is accomplished on the numeric keypad with
numlock on.</li>
<li>The -enter- key on the numeric keypad silences speech until you
press some other key. It also returns the audio cursor to the
location of the on screen cursor. For this reason it is often
helpful to press -ENTER- on the numeric keypad after exploring
onscreen data.</li>
<li>The CTRL key (by itself) makes speakup catch up to the screen
scroll.</li>
<li>The plus key on the numeric keypad reads the entire
screen.</li>
<li>The #7 #8 and #9 keys read lines, previous, current, and next
respectively. When you use #7 or #9 to read the previous or next
line, that line then becomes the current line (which you can then
read using #8). This is how you can work your way up and down the
screen.</li>
<li>The #4 #5 and #6 keys read by word.</li>
<li>The #1 #2 and #3 keys read by character.</li>
<li>The dot on the numeric keypad specifies your cursor location on
screen.</li>
</ul>
<p>There's more, of course, but this is all you really need to get
started and perform a proper installation of the Speakup Modified
Red Hat Linux distribution.</p>
<h3>Conquering Disk Druid</h3>
<a id="diskdruid" name="diskdruid"></a>
<p>Partitioning the hard drive is one of the most critical tasks you face during the installation process. It's
also somewhat complicated especially for the beginning user. Please study this section carefully, therefore,
before you take on this important task for the first time.</p>
<p>On the other hand, you do have choices. If you're happy letting the installation program make decisions for you, you
can select "automatic" and things will be done as the installation scripts determine. If, however, you want to make your
own partitioning decisions, you will need to indicate at least the "slash" mount point by using Disk Druid. Experienced
linux users may wonder about using fdisk. It is available, but you cannot specify mount points in fdisk, so you will
have to use Disk Druid for this important task at the least.</p>
<p>There are two parts to the Disk Druid main screen. These are reached sequentially by using TAB and Alt-TAB.
These two parts consist of:</p>
<ul>
<li>A list of partitions already defined on your hard drive. If your hard drive already has partitions, you will see
them in this list. As you make changes, the newly defined partitions will appear on this list even though they haven't
actually been created yet. And, if your disk doesn't have any partitions yet, only the device designation will appear on
this list until you create partitions.
<li>A set of action buttons you can select by
pressing enter as you tab around. These buttons have names like "new,"
"edit," "delete," etc. When you're on one of these buttons, all you can do is
press enter to initiate that particular activity, or TAB to the next button, or
Alt-TAB to the previous button.
</ul>
<p>So, how do you know when you've tab'd to the list of defined partitions?
Speakup won't say anything in particular to tell you you've reached that
list. Instead, here's how you can know. As you tab, you eventually come to
a button that says "back." When you hear "back" for the first time, tab
once more. You'll hear speakup say "back" again. You are now on the list
and can use down arrow (you'll always start at the top of the list) and
then up arrow to move through the list. Be careful to use speakup's
"read current line" key, the number 8 key on the numeric keypad, to
ascertain that you're actually on the partition you mean to be on before
editing or deleting it.</p>
<p>TAB to thean action button and press enter. This will bring up a new, subsidiary screen. Some of these subsidiary
screens are quite simple,
others are not. The EDIT and NEW screens, for example, will first give an edit
field where the mount point for this partition is to be specified. This is
where you type '/', or '/usr', or '/home', for example. Use TAB and Alt-TAB in these subsidiary screens to work
your way through the various options and edit fields. Use the screen review features of
speakup often to understand what's happening. The #8 key on the numeric keypad is your friend.
And, if you explore with other keys, remember that the enter key on the
numeric keypad will return the speakup cursor to the system cursor--the
place you actually are on the form.</p>
<p>There are four types of controls you'll encounter on these subsidiary screens:</p>
<ul>
<li>Edit fields indicated by underline characters where you're expected to type something. If you press the #5 key on
the numeric keypad and hear the synthesizer say "line line line," you're on an edit field. Note that many of these
fields already have a "1" in them that you may want to remove with the delete key.
<li>Check boxes (indicated by [*] when selected and [ ] when not selected) where you use the spacebar to select and
unselect the item. You may not recognize these unless you use the current word key, the #5 key, on the numeric keypad.
<li>Drop down lists where you use the up and down arrows to indicate your selection. You'll encounter this control for
specifying the file format (such as ext3, ext2, fat) of a new (or edited) partition. This control is probably the most
dificult to use with speech because you hear two selections as you move with up or down arrow. You hear both the
selection you've arrowed away from, and the one you've arrowed to, so you will probably want to be especially careful
here. Go all of the way to the top or bottom of the list to get a sense of how this control works with your speech
synthesizer. Remember, you can come back and change this information if you need to.
<li>OK and Cancel buttons;
</ul>
<p><strong>IMPORTANT: Be sure to check each entry on the list of partitions before continuing to the next step. It is
not hard to make a mistake in the Disk Druid screens, and it can be quite cumbersome to undo mistakes after you've
created and formatted partitions</strong></p>
<h3>Additional Specific Options To Consider</h3>
<a id="more_options" name="more_options"></a>
<p>Here are some additional recommendations and critical points
regarding the choices you need to make during the installation
process:</p>
<ul> <li>You'll be asked what kind of installation you want to perform. This screen offers the following selections:
Workstation, Server, Laptop, Custom, Update. We very strongly advice that you choose "Custom" (unless, of course, you
are actually updating an existing installation). Unfortunately, the "Workstation" and "Laptop" installation classes skew
their package and configuration selections to gui users, and this is highly disadvantageous to the speech and braille
user who will find that some important, text-based programs, like the Lynx world wide web browser, for example, are not
installed.</li>
<li>You will be asked what packages you wish to install. There's a
very long list of available packages, and you could certainly add
anything you don't install now later, but this would be a nuisance
at best and tends to be confusing to the BEGINNER. We recommend you
press the "end" key to go to the last option which is "everything"
if you have sufficient disk space. An "EVERYTHING" INSTALLATION
REQUIRES APPROXIMATELY 3.5 gB, but it will really provide everything the
blind user needs.</li>
<li>You'll be asked whether you want to use grub or lilo as your
boot loader, select lilo, and be certain to have it installed in
the "Master Boot Record (MBR)," unless you really know what you're
doing. Lilo is not the default choice, though locating it in the
MBR is.</li>
<li>You will be asked to specify any parameters that you need to
pass to lilo at bootup. This is where you make Linux talk, by
default, every time you boot your completed installation. If you
miss this prompt, you can certainly fix this later--but your Linux
won't talk as it boots, and the default pause at the boot>
prompt (where you can type your synthesizer keyword setting for
speakup) isn't nearly as generous as our installation media. So, try
not to miss this important step. Specify your speech synthesizer
(and optionally a serial port) just as you did at the boot prompt.
In other words, to specify that lilo should include speakup support
for the internal Doubletalk enter: <strong>speakup_synth=dtlk</strong>
</li>
<li>You will be prompted to configure your video card, specify its
video memory, and specify your monitor. It is helpful to know this
information in advance, though the default choices will usually be
adequate. It is also OK simply to skip this section using the conveniently provided "Skip X Configuration" button. If you do skip configuring your video, you will get runlevel 3 by default--which is what you want.</li>
<li>Immediately after the video specifications, you will be
prompted to configure Xwindows. Go ahead and install X if you have
sufficient hard drive space. Choose GNOME as the default desktop,
and choose text as the default bootup mode. Unless you know the
specifics of your video hardware, simply accept the default
configuration the installer offers, and then do NOT test it. X
configurations rarely come out perfectly at first guess, and they
can comfortably be tweaked later using the Xconfigurator command.
In fact, sighted users tend to copy their working X configurations
from previous installations of Linux, so problematic is the
configuration of a crisp X.</li>
<li>Unless you chose to skip the installation of Xwindows, you will be asked whether you want a graphical or text boot, by
default. Select text because this is what Speakup supports. This is
not the default selection. If you miss setting this option during
the installation, you will find that Linux suddenly goes silent
just as it finishes booting. That's because we do not yet have
speech for Xwindows. If this happens to your installation, simply
press Ctrl-Alt-F1 to switch to the first text console, and log in
as root. Then edit your runlevel in /etc/inittab, changing the
value from "5" (which specifies gui) to "3" (which specifies
text). If you skipped installing Xwindows, you will have runlevel 3 by default.</li>
<li>You will be prompted to create a boot floppy for your Linux installation. This is, of course, an important thing to
do. Regrettably, this floppy will not boot Linux with speech, though, unless you edit the file sysLinux.cfg to add the
speakup speech synthesizer specification you use. You will still have a boot prompt where you can type this by hand,
just as when you booted this installation, but it's so much easier to have this important capability built directly into
this important floppy diskette. So, when you've completed installing the Speakup Modified Red Hat Distribution, revisit
this important step using the "mkbootdisk" command. The floppy you create using mkbootdisk will speak as it boots your
system.</li>
</ul>
<h2>Section Five: Now What?</h2>
<a id="sec5" name="sec5"></a>
<p>After you've created an emergency boot floppy, the installation
will prompt you to reboot your computer. You're now ready to begin
using your installation of the Speakup Modified Red Hat
Distribution!</p>
<h3>Welcome to Linux with Speakup</h3>
<a id="help" name="help"></a>
<p>Congratulations. You should now have a working, talking Linux
installation. Of course this undoubtedly means that you have more
things to learn in order to get the most from your Linux computer.
The Speakup mailing list is a good place to get help with your
problems and questions. We strongly suggest, and we cordially
invite you to <a href=
"http://speech.linux-speakup.org/mailman/listinfo/speakup/">join
the Speakup mailing list</a>.</p>
<p>We would be remiss not to provide some additional pointers to
the wealth of helpful information about using Linux which is
available to you. The following are but a few, key options. Some of
these are online, web resources, and some are built into your Linux
installation itself:</p>
<ul>
<li>Learn the "man" command. Type "<strong>man man</strong>" at a
command prompt to learn about using man. It's a fundamental,
builtin source of information that you will not exhaust.</li>
<li>Learn about the "info" command. Type it at a command prompt.
It's an integrated and cross-referenced help facility built into
your Linux computer.</li>
<li>Discover all the helpful guides on the documentation CD ROM and
all the online support available to you just by launching the lynx
browser.</li>
<li>Discover <a href="http://www.Linuxdoc.org">The Linux
Documentation Project</a>, and especially the collection of
subject-specific <a href=
"http://www.Linuxdoc.org/docs.html#howto/">HOWTO Documents</a> that
you can read online or download to your computer.</li>
</ul>
<h3>Stay Up to Date with Up2date</h3>
<a id="up2date" name="up2date"></a>
<p>Red Hat provides a safe and simple means for keeping your
Speakup Modified Red Hat installation fully up to date called
up2date. You need to register online, but once you're registered
it's very easy to use:</p>
<ul>
<li>Go to <a href="https://rhn.redhat.com">The Red Hat Network Home
Page</a> and register your computer.</li>
<li>After you've registered, be sure to "entitle" your system. This
is a separate step.</li>
<li>Now, as root, run the up2date script as follows from a console
command line prompt:<br />
</li>
<li>up2date -u --nosig --nox<br />
</li>
</ul>
<h3>Addendum: Some Thoughts About Partitioning</h3>
<a id="addendum" name="addendum"></a>
<p>How should you partition your hard drive? There is much debate
on this point and probably always will be. Of course, you can (and
should) take comfort in the certain knowledge that your first Linux
installation will not be your last. Also, if you've set up a system
where you can boot both Linux and Windows, you are likely to want
to have access to your data, no matter which OS you choose to boot
at any given time. Lastly, we believe that you would prefer to make
it easy to upgrade (or reinstall) Linux without repartitioning, and
without losing any of your user data. The following brief recommendations are
certainly not a full dissertation on the subject, but they do address questions that arise fairly often.</p>
<ul>
<li>We strongly urge you to spend some time reading <a
href="http://www.redhat.com/docs/manuals/linux/RHL-7.2-Manual/install-guide/ch-partitions.html">An Introduction to Disk
Partitions</a>.</li>
<li>Create a primary partition "mountpoint is '/') of about 254 mb
(or greater). unless you also provide a separate /var partition and
mount point, your /var directory will reside on this partition.
this is both good and bad and requires comment. it is good for /var
to reside on the / partition because it is the first partition
mounted during system boot. if /var is elsewhere certain important
functions may not be available during system boot, such as system
logging and dns functionality. on the other hand, user mailboxes,
by default, live in /var/spool/mail. any web pages created for
public access live, by default, in /var/www, and ftp files in
/var/ftp.</li>
<li>consider moving mail, web content, and ftp directories to
/home, where user files are stored. the older default for web pages
is /home/httpd, and /etc/httpd/conf/httpd.conf accordingly. mail
can be symlinked (try man ln to learn about Linux' symbolic
links).</li>
<li>We recommend you make your primary data partition, /home, a separate partition. That way you can comfortably upgrade to a new release without losing your personal data files. When you undertake a major system upgrade, move your mail, any web and ftp directories, /etc, and /usr/local to a temporary directory on /home before upgrading. If you do this, you can even reformat system partitions like / and /usr without losing your personalized system configurations and your personal data.</li>
<li>If you have created a computer that can boot either Linux or Windows, consider making your /home partition a VFAT partition, so that you can access your personal data files from both Linux and Windows. You can use the tools unix2dos and dos2unix to quickly convert text files back and forth as you may need.</li>
</ul>
<h2>Section Six: Appendix</h2>
<a id="sec6" name="sec6"></a>
<p>If it is possible to do so, we highly advise you get the Speakup Modified Red Hat Distribution if you wish to install
a Red Hat style linux distribution with the Speakup screen reader. Unfortunately, this isn't always practical. And, it
may be possible to achieve the same result using Red Hat's CD ROM media, or ISO images. And, it may well be possible to
modify an existing installation of Red Hat for Speakup.</p>
<h3>Using Red Hat Media</h3>
<a id="storebought" name="storebought"></a>
<p>If you have ISO images from Red Hat, or CD ROMs from Red Hat, you may nevertheless be able to install with Speakup.
Whether or not this will work depends mostly on how close the version you have is to the current version of
the Speakup Modified Red Hat Distribution. Obtain and create the appropriate floppy diskette images as described above,
then boot with the appropriate Speakup parameters as described above. If your version of Red Hat is sufficiently close,
you will be able to install linux, but your completed installation won't speak until you make the modifications
described below.</p>
<h3>Adding Speakup to an Existing Red Hat Installation</h3>
<a id="existing" name="existing"></a>
<p>To add Speakup to an existing installation of Red Hat linux, follow these two simple steps:</p>
<p>Step One: Obtain the kernel RPM appropriate to your computer, and the file called consoletools.rpm,from the <a
href="http://www.linux-speakup.org/ftp/disks/redhat/kernels/">Kernels Directory</a at the Speakup Modified Red Hat
Distribution Home Page.</p>
<p>Step Two: As root use the following commands to install these files:</p>
<ul>
<li><strong>rpm -iv [kernel.image]</strong></li>
<li><strong>rpm -iv consoletools.rpm</strong></li>
</ul>
<p>You will not have speech during this process. You will need to reboot for these modifications to take effect.</p>
<p><strong>IMPORTANT: If you receive a message about failed dependencies, you will need to install or update the missing
or outdated package files first. Consult the document <a
href="http://www.redhat.com/docs/manuals/linux/RHL-7.2-Manual/custom-guide/ch-rpm.html">Package Management with RPM</a>
to learn more</strong></p>
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