Substitute for CD-ROM Boot Install
Fred Clearwater
fred.linux at adelphia.net
Tue Dec 7 04:21:48 UTC 2004
> > Fred Clearwater writes:
> > All:
> >
> > I'm trying to install FC2 on an older system that does not support
> > booting from the CD-ROM (there is a CD-ROM that works for reads but not
> > booting). In the past, I've been able to create a floppy boot disk to
> > start the install process and then continue from the CD-ROM drive to
> > finish the install of other Linux versions. Apparently the floppy is not
> > an option for FC2 according to what I've read due to kernel size. I read
> > that there was a way to use a floppy to run grub to boot the system and
> > then somehow access the CD-ROM to run the installation routine. I've got
> > the system to boot up from a floppy with grub and leave me at the grub
> > prompt on the system. I've tried copying the vmlinuz file from the
> > CD-ROM to the hard drive and run that from the grub prompt but the end
> > result is the system stops at a kernel panic. The install CD-ROM has a
> > file called diskboot.img that the readme information
> > indicates can be used to boot the system from a USB pen drive. Can I use
> > that somehow from the hard drive to do the boot and install process or is
> > there some other way?
>On Monday 06 December 2004 20:18, Sam Varshavchik wrote:
> I presume this is the vmlinuz images from images/pxeboot.
>
> If so, you also need to boot using initrd.img from the same directory.
> Something like this.
>
> title Installer
> root (hd0,0)
> kernel /vmlinuz
> initrd /initrd.img
Fred Clearwater writes:
That worked! Just for the record in case someone else has this problem,
here's the entire sequence:
1. Create a grub boot floppy disk. (Instructions for this can found in a
how-to on the net)
2. Copy the vmlinuz and initrd.img files from the CD-ROM disk number 1 to the
first hard drive on your target system. (this assumes that Linux is the only
system to be installed. I formatted the drive as a FAT32 drive and booted
the system using a DOS bootable recovery disk to copy the files from the
CD-ROM since it had CD-ROM driver files to recognized the CD-ROM)
3. Leave the CD-ROM in the drive and use the grub floppy to re-boot the
system.
4. At the grub prompt type
a. "root (hd0,0)" and Enter (omit quotes)
b. "kernel /vmlinuz" Enter
c. "initrd.img" Enter
d. "boot" Enter
5. This will load the kernel and start the installer on the CD-ROM.
6. Follow installation instructions to load FC2.
Thanks,
Fred Clearwater
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