4. Preparing Media
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4. Preparing Media

To install Fedora Core from discs, you need five installation CDs, or the installation DVD. There are separate disc sets for each supported architecture.

For instructions to download and prepare this CD or DVD installation media, refer to http://fedora.redhat.com/download/. If you already have the full set of Fedora Core installation media, skip to Section 1.1, “Booting from CD, DVD, or USB Media”.

	Architecture-Specific Distributions
	To install Fedora Core, you must use the boot and installation media that is particular to your architecture.

You may use the first CD or DVD installation disc from the complete Fedora Core distribution to boot your computer. The Fedora Core distribution also includes image files for boot-only CD or DVD media and USB media. These files can be converted into bootable media using standard Linux utilities or third-party programs on other operating systems.

You may boot your computer with boot-only media, and load the installation system from another source to continue the process. The types of installation source for Fedora include:

CD or DVD media installation discs
hard drive, either attached by USB, or internal to the computer
network installation server, using either HTTP, FTP, or NFS

You can use this facility to install Fedora Core on machines without using installation discs. For example, you may install Fedora Core on a laptop with no CD or DVD drive by booting the machine with a USB pen drive, and then using a hard drive as an installation source.

The supported boot media for Fedora include:

CD or DVD media (either installation disc #1 or a special boot-only disc)
USB media
network interface (via PXE)

	Installation from Diskettes
	There is no option to either boot or install Fedora Core from diskettes.

4.1. Preparing CD or DVD Media

The images/boot.iso file on the first Fedora Core installation disc is a boot image designed for CD and DVD media. This file also appears on FTP and Web sites providing Fedora Core. You can also find this file on mirror sites in the Fedora Core distribution directory for your particular architecture.

The Fedora Core distribution is also downloadable as a set of CD-sized ISO image files or a single DVD-sized ISO image file. You can record these files to CD or DVD using a CD or DVD burning program on your current operating system:

Windows operating systems

Burn an ISO image to disc using your installed CD or DVD burning software. Most software has an option labeled Burn image file to disc or Make disc from ISO image. If your software offers a choice of image formats, choose "ISO image" as the file type. If several ISO formats are offered, choose the closest match to "Mode 1, 2048-byte blocks."

Apple MacOS X

Open the Disk Copy application, found in the /Applications/Utilities folder. From the menu, select Image → Burn Image.... Select the CD image to burn, check that the burn options are correct, and select the Burn button.

Linux operating systems

If you are using a recent version of the GNOME desktop environment, right-click the ISO image file and choose Write to disc. If you are using a recent version of the KDE desktop environment, use K3B and select Tools → Burn CD Image, or Tools → Burn DVD ISO Image if appropriate. The following command line works for many other environments:

cdrecord --device=cdwriter-device -tao -eject image-file.iso

	System-Specific Instructions
	Unfortunately this guide cannot offer specific instructions for every possible combination of hardware and software. Consult your operating system's documentation and online support services, and Section 14.3, “Finding Documentation and Support” for additional help if needed.

4.2. Preparing USB Boot Media

	Data Loss
	This procedure destroys data on the media. Back up any important information before you begin. Some models of USB media use additional partitions or software to provide functions such as encryption. This procedure may make it difficult or impossible to access these special areas on your boot media.

The images/diskboot.img file on the first Fedora Core installation disc is a boot image designed for USB media. This file also appears on FTP and Web sites providing Fedora Core.

Several software utilities are available for Windows and Linux that can write image files to a device. Linux includes the dd command for this purpose.

The dd utility requires you to specify the device file that corresponds to the physical media. The name of the device file matches the name assigned to the device by your system. All device files appear in the directory /dev/. For example, /dev/sda denotes the first USB, SATA, or SCSI device that is attached to the system.

To learn the name that your system assigns to the media:

Open a terminal window. On a Fedora system, choose Applications → Accessories → Terminal to start a terminal.
Attach or insert the media.

In the terminal window, type the following command:

dmesg

Look for the items in the dmesg output that relate to the detection of a new SCSI device. Linux systems treat USB media as forms of SCSI device.

	Using the Device Mapper
	On Fedora Core 5 and later systems, it may be easier to find the right device name by examining the `/dev/disk/` directory. Use the command `ls -l /dev/disk/by-id/` to see the disk devices collated by model and device name.

Unmount the media. On a Fedora system, right-click the icon that corresponds to the media, and select Unmount Volume. Alternatively, enter this command in a terminal window:
```
umount /dev/<device>
```
Replace <device> with the name of the correct device file for the media.

To write an image file to boot media with dd on a current version of Fedora Core, carry out the following steps:

Locate the image file.
Attach or insert the media.
Your system may automatically detect and open the media. If that happens, close or unmount the media before continuing.
Open a terminal window.
In the terminal window, type the following command:
```
dd if=diskboot.img of=/dev/<device>
```
Replace <device> with the name of the correct device file for the media.

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