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Message from Steven
===================
pepijn wrote:
>
> i and a friend of me have some old computer, and we 
> want to remove dos and put basic linux on it, or even 
> make a dual boot if that is possible

Yes, that is is possible.  In fact, there are
several advantages that way.

> i think we have to use fdisk to format the hd, 

I suggest you use DOS fdisk (from a DOS boot floppy)
to remove the existing partitions on the hard disk
and create a small DOS partition (C:).  If the HD
is 1 gig or larger, I'd make the DOS partition 125mb
(scale it down for a smaller HD).  Leave the remainder
of the HD unallocated.

Use the DOS boot floppy to:  FORMAT C:/U/S
Make a DOS directory on C: and copy the DOS executables 
from the floppy to C:\DOS.  If you have a DOS version 
of PKUNZIP, you should put that in C:\DOS too.  Same
goes for any other DOS utilities you regularly use.

Reset the computer and check that DOS boots and runs
without problems.  If so, you can then move on to the
installation of BL3.  

BL3 installation is much simpler from the DOS version 
of BL3, and I recommend you use that.  However, if you 
already have the floppy version, you can use that.  

Boot BL3.  Do not start X.  Everything is done from 
the command line:
--------------
fdisk /dev/hda
--------------
Press p is see the current partitions on the primary HD.
You should see DOS on /dev/hda1.  

Press n to create an new partition.  Press p to make it 
primary.  Accept the default first cylinder and make the 
partition size +200M (unless you have a very small HD).

Press p to check that your new partition is there.  
There should be unallocated space (from end cylinder
of your Linux partition to the last cylinder of the
drive).  Some of this space can be used for a swap 
partition (if you have less than 128mb of RAM).  

If you are completely happy with the specifications 
of your new partition, press w to make it permanent.

> and then use mke2fs to create a 2fs partition on it.

Assuming your Linux partition is /dev/hda2 (you did
make the the 2nd primary partition, didn't you?):
-----------------
mke2fs  /dev/hda2
-----------------

> and about the mounting part....

After putting the e2 filesystem on your partition 
(which you did with the mke2fs command), you mount
it at /hd
---------------------
mount  /dev/hda2  /hd
---------------------

> i thought in linux drives where in mnt

/mnt is a popular mounting directory (and it exists
in BL3), but other names can be used.

>  and are called hda1, hdb1 and so on

That is not standard.  No doubt, some Linux distribution 
uses those mountpoints, but it is completely arbitrary.

> do we have to somehow manually mount the hd before 
> it shows up in mnt?

Yes, you have to do everything manually in BL3.  There
are no daemons to auto-mount or auto-configure.

> and how do we execute install-to-hd, and where is it located.

Simply type the following and press ENTER:
-------------
install-to-hd
-------------

Cheers,
Steven