On Thu, 14 Feb 2002, Bill Freeman wrote:
> The RedHat 7.1 installer says that my old box at home (16Mb) "doesn't have
> enough System memory to install RedHat Linux" ...

  Red Hat is no longer targeting systems that "small", which makes Red Hat
Linux a sub-optimal choice for it.

> So, other than buying more RAM (if the box will take it) or reading
> through the anaconda sources, does anyone have an easy way around this?

  Have you tried the "text mode" installer?  That might use less memory.

> Or possibly this is because the install kernel needs to run without swap
> space?

  I am fairly sure that is part of why that requirement exists.  But it is
mainly just a case of Red Rat targeting the latest-and-greatest, not the
machines from seven years ago.  One size does not fit all.

> Since I only want to do an upgrade, my existing swap partitions are
> actually available, if there's a way to tell the installer to use it.

  You might try switching VC's to a shell prompt, and manually mounting your
swap space.  The installer may be looking at physical RAM, though.

> Alternatively, does anyone know whether an upgrade is anything more than
> updating a set of packages?

  There is intelligence in the installer to handle things like obsolete
packages, totally new packages, subsystem changes, and the like.

> If that's all, is there a specific subset to do first, because of
> interdependencies, such that the rest could be rpm'ed afterwards in dribbs
> and drabs?

  Upgrade RPM first.  Then the kernel and C libraries.  Then do an "rpm
--freshen" to update packages you already have installed.  Then install new
packages as you need.  You will have to make manual adjustments.  How many,
I cannot say.

-- 
Ben Scott <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
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