what's that .iso files

i downloaded RH7.3 on an FTP server and here it is:
rh1.iso,rh2.iso,rh3.iso... how can i install that? what's the first to install among the 3? thanks

An ISO file is the image of a CD ROM. You can burn those images to CDs using most CD writing software. After that, you should boot up using CD 1 ( the one you made using rh1.iso) if you have a BIOS that supports bootable CDs. If not, there are utilities on CD 1 to make boot floppies.

do i have to CD burn it? why can't I install it from HD, in fact i have a copy of it on my drive. Do i need that 3 .iso files or just one of them to install RH? thanks

You can, just mount the .iso file

you can mount them in linux using the "loop" device. if this is what you need, ask again and i can tell you the exact command line.

for windows, search www.google.com (or better www.cnet.com or www.simtel.net ) for "isobuster" or "demon tools". then you can extract the files to another directory on your harddrive. afaik NERO can also mount iso images as virtual cd-roms on windows.

since you need to reboot into linux during the installation, you should burn the images to CDs. or you might have a problem to access the files once you quit windows.

OK, can i ask what's the command? lets start from the beginning. I have a win2000 on C: then i have that 3 .iso files some where in D : then what? pls. help

it is a LINUX command. You can only mount these images if you have already a command-line and a kernel with loop support.

it SHOULD work like this (untested):

1. boot win2k, download "isobuster" and extract the files to make bootdisks from the cd-roms to a directory. then make the bootdisks. the README tells you how.
other way: download the disk-images from RH´s ftp/webserver.
2. boot from these disks and when prompted for a cd-rom or similar, you need to get a command line:
maybe the installer offers this (rescue console or similar). if not:
press ctrl-alt-f1 up to ctrl-alt-f10 and see if you get a "login:" prompt.
if not, try ctrl-C and ctrl-break.
if the disk boots using LILO (it says "LILO booting ...." at the very beginning of the boot process), hold down SHIFT, then press TAB to see the image´s name. (eg. BootKernel). then force it to boot into a shell (enter "BootKernel init=/bin/sh"; replace "BootKernel" with the name shown when you press TAB)
if still not, you need somebody to build a custom bootdisk for you.
3. you have a "Login:" prompt now. type "root", it should not ask for a password. if you used the LILO-way, you don´t need to login.
4. now you have a command line. if any of the following mount commands fails, you need a custom bootdisk from someone else, again.
5. mount the harddisk partition containing your image files. /dev/hda5 is the first logical partition (usually D: in windows) if you have 2 harddisks, it depends on how they are connected:
/dev/hdb1 is primary slave, first partition. try /dev/hdc1 and /dev/hdd1 too.

mkdir /windows
mount -o ro -t vfat /dev/hdb1 /windows

replace the vfat by "ntfs" if you use ntfs. the "-o ro" makes the partition read-only so you cannot destry anything (the ntfs driver is afaik very beta)
6. once you mounted the windows partition, do this (assumed you have the iso´s in D:\)
mkdir /cdrom1
mount /windows/rh1.iso /cdrom1 -o loop=/dev/loop1 -t iso9660

7. now you can access the files on this "virtual" cd-rom in the directory /cdrom1.

cd /cdrom1
chroot .
/sbin/installer (somebody else needs to tell you what the RH-installer is called, i never used redhat )

when prompted for CD2, you say it´s not available and should be installed at a later point (when you can already boot the new installation)

if this does not work, please be as precise as possible in describing what you did last and what the OS´s answer was.

this is the hard way. why don´t you visit some buddy with a cd-burner and spend the $2 for three cd-r media?

much success!
M

WOW! amazing , how did u knew all that? hope i could learn it too.. thanks a lot

i´m a nintendo kid (of those who try to install linux on their Super-NES and Gameboy)