CDs, Floppys and Macs!
Forum: HD Install
Topic: CDs, Floppys and Macs!
started by: Grumbles
Posted by Grumbles on Jan. 16 2006,11:08
I'm new to linux and all this stuff, so talk slowly please. 
Ok, what I believe I am working with is a computer with a 533Mhz processor and a 2GB hard drive. the bios tells me that it has the capability to boot from a CD. Apart from that I don't know much about it. If you think it would help I can delve deeper.
The only problem with the parts I had scavenged was that half of the system files are missing, so I figured I would put some form of linux on it and have some fun with that.
So... i downloaded dsl-2.1b.iso and dsl-2.1b.iso.md5.txt and made a CD or two out of 'em
I've set up the BIOS to boot from the cd drive but when it starts to boot it says something sort of like "Booting from ATAPI CD-ROM:..." Pause. Whirring noises. " Failure."
That's about as far as I've gotten with it. It then goes on to try booting from the floppy or the hard drive.
I would try and boot from a floppy, but there are logistical problems. First off, I have no way to actually make the floppy. I can copy the program necessary to creating the floppy into the computer through DOS, but it lacks the ability to run win32. (the computer I'm using right now is an iBook) The only way I can see it happening is if I got a friend to make it then send me all the files in the formatted disk or just give me the disk.
And something I wasn't quite sure about... From this computer I can take the .iso file and decompile it into all its little components (boot, knoppix, lost+found and all that jazz) and then copy that data onto a CD-R or just copy the .iso file onto the CD. Neither worked better than the other. But just so I can eliminate one variable, which one is correct? or is there some special application that works on macs?
Yes... So... Any help would be appreciated. I'm running out of ideas.
Posted by skaos on Jan. 16 2006,11:29
I don't know how to burn an iso image on a mac, but the end result after burning should be a cd which shows the boot, knoppix and lost+found directories when you look at it after burning. Look for "burn image" or "burn iso image" in the cd burning software that you are using (or do a bit of googling).
Posted by Grumbles on Jan. 16 2006,11:37
Ok, I've had a CD-R that had the boot,knoppix, and lost+found, but nothing happens with it. What can i do to make linux boot?
Posted by pr0f3550r on Jan. 16 2006,19:19
Hold on, am I missing something? What is the Mac going to do with that? AS far as I know, DSL is for PC's (32bit). I am not even sure if it works on AMD64 (I tried but I failed, but maybe because I am lame), but definitely not on PowerPC (aka Mac)!
Posted by Grumbles on Jan. 16 2006,20:21
That isn't quite what i'm trying to do.I have a mac that i'm using to get the files necessary to run DSL.
I decompile the .iso and copy those files onto a CD-R.
I then put the CD into a windows98 computer with half it's system files missing. (I can run the command prompt with a boot floppy, otherwise it's useless as is.)
Hope that clarifies some things.
Posted by Grim on Jan. 17 2006,00:52
| Quote (Grumbles @ Jan. 16 2006,13:21) |
| I decompile the .iso and copy those files onto a CD-R. |
Holy shit there's your problem...
You don't need to "decompile" anything. An iso is a disk image, just like a dmg. If you're running classic or earlier, use Toast and burn the iso as an image.
If you're using OSX, open the "Disk Utility" click "Images" in the apple menu, then click "Burn..." from the drop-down menu. Navigate to the DSL iso and hit "Open".
Make sure there's a blank CDR in the burner and you should be set.
Posted by Grumbles on Jan. 17 2006,01:29
Wonderful! Thanks alot. 
It seems to be going better now.(I oughta check out the utilities file more often.)
Posted by Grim on Jan. 17 2006,03:43
Yeah, that's the bad thing about OSX mounting disk images on the desktop, there's the mistaken assumption that the contents should be dragged to a disk and burned.It's a common mistake. Glad you got it working.
