Installing Backtrack 2

(THIS ARTICLE IS OUTDATED !
NEW ARTICLE : BackTrack 3 Final Install + Dual Boot)

I have been using Zenwalk since 2 years and finally decided to give a go at Backtrack. Yes, both of these systems belong to the Slackware family …

I guess it is just coincidence

I am far from being involved in distributions battles (like I used to), trolling about which is better than which. Of course I have my views, there are Linux distributions adopting an economical philosophy that I dislike. But it is not a good idea to waist a life acting against the system, we must learn about how it works and how to deal with it, then we may manage to change the current world.

I / Backtrack 2 Installation via Bt Live CD

I will be fast concerning the installation details, you might found out more in this movie.

I use cfdisk to partition my hard disk:
# cfdisk

My hard disk is partitioned this way :
- Windows XP on /dev/hda1 (NTFS - 20go)
- Backtrack 2 on /dev/hda2 (Linux ext2 - 10Go)
- ”Backup Partition” on /dev/hda5 (FAT32 – 10 Go)

I always make sure to have an independent 10 Go partition to put my files in. This way you will not lose any of your datas, even if you reinstall your system.

Once your hard disk is partitionated, the two important steps are to format the partition you are willing to use for backtrack (/dev/hda2 in my case) and to mount /dev/hda2 onto the Live CD (mnt/backtrack folder, previously created) :

# mke2fs /dev/hda2
# mkdir /mnt/backtrack
# mount /dev/hda2 /mnt/backtrack

Then, you can launch the BackTrack Installer.

II/ LILO Modifications

Now backtrack is installed, you will notice that you are unable to boot Windows XP. To be able to boot Windows XP, you have to make changes in the etc/lilo.conf file, changes are indicated in bold:

—————–

boot = /dev/hda
prompt
timeout = 50
#Passport protection (facultative) :
passport=yourpassport
bitmap=/boot/splash.bmp
change-rules
reset
vga = 792
image = /boot/vmlinuz
root = current
initrd = /boot/splash.initrd
label = bt
read-only

#Windows Boot possibility :
other = /dev/hda1
label = Windows
table = /dev/hda

—————–

Do not forget to apply the changes :
# lilo -v

If you want to get rid of the graphical menu, take off :
bitmap=/boot/splash.bmp and remplace it by :
message = /boot/boot_msg.txt
Do not forget to create your text file in /boot

LILO WARNING:

If you are living in a country using azerty keyboards (like me, we are not using qwerty in France unfortunately), please notice that the password at boot will be typed as if you were using a qwerty keyboard. So be aware that your a,q,z,w,m keys (and many others) are going to be mixed up when typing your password