How to install Linux on a Laptop without CD-ROM

Forum: Other Help Topics
Topic: How to install Linux on a Laptop without CD-ROM
started by: sszilveszter

Posted by sszilveszter on Feb. 16 2005,14:04

HOWTO install Linux on a Laptop without any CD-rom or floppy driver under Windows?

1.After you download
-a linux iso file < http://distrowatch.com >
-winimage < http://www.winimage.com/download.htm >
-grubinstall < http://www.geocities.com/lode_leroy/grubinstall/ >
(choose "binary of the installer + the GRUB" (this is the newer one)
or "you can also download the ZIP file from SourceForge")

2.make a directory: c:\boot

3.copy the files from grubinstall package to your c:\boot directory

4.run the console (Start menu>Run...>”command”)
go to c:\boot (c:...>cd c:\boot)
run grubinstall (c:\boot>grubinstall)
(you will see:
„C:\BOOT>grubinstall
NTFS mount failed
FAT mount succeeded
stage1(10141352)
version=3.2
boot_drive=0xff
force_lba=0
stage2_address=0x8000
stage2_sector=10141352
stage2_segment=0x800
stage2(10141352+215)
214 sectors to load from sector 10141353 at 0x820
menu '(hd0,1)/boot/menu.lst'
stage2 configured on (hd0,1).”
or something like that.) (my windows is on the second partition (hd0,1))
this does not overwrite you MBR so you can do it easy

5.make a new file called „menu.lst” in c:\boot directory
type this
„timeout 30
default 0”

6.run your linux .iso file with winimage, (the most distros are running with syslinux from a Boot dir)

7.copy all dirs from .iso to c:\ (ctrl+A, Rightmousebutton and extract with folder) find your syslinux.cfg in your new dirs on c:\ (for example c:\boot\isolinux or c:\boot), you will see for example:
„LABEL linux26
kernel linux26
APPEND ramdisk_size=100000 init=/etc/init lang=us apm=power-off noscsi vga=0x317 splash=silent initrd=minirt26.gz nomce BOOT_IMAGE=beatrix”

8.add this 3 lines to your menu.lst with little differences:
„title linux26
kernel (hd0,0)/my_linux_boot_dir/linux26 ramdisk_size=100000 init=/etc/init lang=us apm=power-off noscsi vga=0x317 splash=silent nomce BOOT_IMAGE=beatrix
initrd (hd0,0)/my_linux_boot_dir/minirt26.gz”
(change „my_linux_boot_dir” for example „boot/isolinux” or „boot”
change LABEL>title,
cut the „APPEND” and move the „initrd=minirt26.gz”
from 2nd to the 3rd line and change it)

9.edit your c:\boot.ini
add: „c:\my_linux_boot_dir\stage1=Linux OS”
you may need to do
ATTRIB -R -H -S C:\boot.ini
to make the file visible and writable and
ATTRIB +R +H +S C:\boot.ini
to revert the attributes of the file

10.check the boot.ini once more, and reboot

If you want to uninstall, then
just delete the C:\boot directory & linux files, and remove your entry from C:\boot.ini
(No registry entries were used by using the tool.)

Posted by sszilveszter on Feb. 16 2005,14:05

I give you an example this is my current menu.lst
default=0
timeout=10

title knoppix
root (hd0,4)/Knoppix
kernel (hd0,4)/KNOPPIX/boot/linux24 ramdisk_size=100000 init=/etc/init lang=us apm=power-off vga=791 nomce quiet BOOT_IMAGE=knoppix restore=hda5
initrd (hd0,4)/KNOPPIX/boot/minirt24.gz

title Beatrix Game hda2
kernel (hd0,1)/beatrix/linux26 ramdisk_size=100000 init=/etc/init lang=us apm=power-off noscsi vga=0x317 splash=silent nomce BOOT_IMAGE=beatrix
initrd (hd0,1)/beatrix/minirt26.gz

title MEPIS kernel 2.6.10 hda5
kernel (hd0,4)/boot/vmlinuz-2.6.10 root=/dev/hda5 nomce psmouse.proto=imps quiet splash=verbose vga=normal
initrd (hd0,4)/boot/initrd.splash

title Berry ISO myconf=/mnt/hda6 (en) hda2/berry
root (hd0,1)
kernel /berry/vmlinuz devfs=mount boot=cdrom berry_dir=/berry/berry lang=en vga=791 splash=silent myconf=/mnt/hda6
initrd /berry/initrd.gz

title UHU live 2.2 ISO gnome loadconfig hda4 loadconfig=hda4/uhu-live
kernel (hd0,3)/uhu-live/bzImagel root=/dev/ram0 rw vga=791 splash=silent xdm=gnome loadconfig=/dev/hda4
initrd (hd0,3)/uhu-live/rootfs.gz

title Windows hda2
root (hd0,1)
chainloader +1