Newbie: Need Help with HD Install without CD-Drive

Forum: HD Install
Topic: Newbie: Need Help with HD Install without CD-Drive
started by: Tzvi

Posted by Tzvi on June 01 2006,13:11

I have never used Linux before and to date have been a strict M$ junkie.

I have an old laptop that has XP on it and I am trying to use it as a musicserver with the SlimServer software. < http://www.slimdevices.com > Unfortunatly, Windows XP likes to use all my resources and hence the performance suffers terribly to the point of being unusable.

Somebody has created a LiveCD with this software and DSL.
< http://www.herger.net/slim/detail.php?nr=763 >

Unfortunatly my laptop does not have a CD Drive nor bootable USB ports. I do have the ability to remove the hard drive and hook it up to another computer. (Unfortunatly only ones to run XP)

Is there any way for me to hook this hard drive into another machine and install this version of DSL and be able to dual-boot with XP on the laptop. (Wow, what a mouthful)

Thank you for any help you can provide. As I said, I am a Linux newbie. Who knows, maybe after this I might be a convert.

If I am posting this in the wrong spot please let me know.

--Tzvi

Posted by u2musicmike on June 01 2006,21:22

Do you have a floppy drive that you can boot from? If you do make a forum search on the poorman's install or if you have DSL installed on a USB stick boot to it. I'm new at this too but read the forum on the embedded stuff too at least that would push the XP stuff way in back.

Posted by u2musicmike on June 01 2006,21:35

Oops, I posted before I was finished. I have used another machine that would boot from the CD ROM and booted DSL 2, cfdisked the hd to make linux partians, and did the hd grub install then took the hd out and put in another machine that didn't have a good CD ROM.

Posted by piccolo on June 02 2006,10:39

DSL WITHOUT CD
This method is called "DSL Poorman's Install".

1. Extract the hard disk from old computer, to insert it onto another computer.

2. Download the dsl-2.4.iso and bootfloppy.img files from any < Mirrors >

3. Extract, from the dsl-2.4.iso file, the folder KNOPPIX and copy it to the hard disk of old computer.
IMPORTANT: Make sure the KNOPPIX name is copied in UPPERCASE letters.

4. Create the DSL boot floppy from bootfloppy.img file: < Boot Floppies >

5. Then you connects the hard disk on old computer again. Insert the boot floppy and reboot the old computer using the DSL boot floppy.

That launch DSL from files onto hard disk as well as DSL boot from CDROM. Therefore still DSL was not installed to hard disk and it is running "live mode" from RAM memory.
Later, if you want, you can do the installation to hard disk. Note there are two methods: Full Installation and Frugal Installation. I recommend you the Frugal Installation:
< Frugal Howto >