How to install DSL to HD if BIOS can't bootable CD
Forum: HD Install
Topic: How to install DSL to HD if BIOS can't bootable CD
started by: Fiazle
Posted by Fiazle on Jan. 15 2005,12:25
I have an old machine with DOS/Windows 95 OS, Pentium ™ 1994 Production, 16 RAM, 1GB HD(518 MB free space), a CD-ROM, NO mouse, keyboard only, allocated one partition on the single hard driver, the BIOS doesn't support boot from CD, (practically, it even can't access to BIOS configuration Menu, it just never respond when I hit [Delete] key when rebooting...). Plus, no Internet connection. I love DSL, and run it on my other two machines, so I hope to try DSL on this old PC, how can I do it?
When I insert embeded DSL CD into CD Driver, double click on 'dsl-windows.bat, it simply doesn't work, do I have to install it on HD?
Posted by RandomGuy on Jan. 15 2005,20:23
Hey,Out of my personal curiousity, what speed are the processors you use DSL on, my friend was recently given a 75 mhz computer and I was wondering if DSL would run acceptably on it.
As far as double clicking on the .bat file, have you also tried running it from DOS? Start > Run > "command" (I think, oh so long ago I used Win95, lol). This should drop you in the infamous black screen that looks like C:\, from here try navigating to your cdrom drive (probably D but try E if D doesnt work) using the command "cd D:\" from here go to the proper folder on the cdrom, and run the .bat file from there. If you get errors, post them here. If you get nothing at all, I dont know what to tell you =).
Posted by cbagger01 on Jan. 15 2005,22:14
Do this.Copy the \KNOPPIX directory from your CD disk over to your C:
drive so there is now a C:\KNOPPIX\KNOPPIX
Then download the boot floppy image from the dsl website.
Then use a program like rawrite or rawrite32.exe to make a boot floppy.
Then reboot your computer with the boot floppy inserted into your floppy drive.
You should boot with:
dsl noicons base xsetup
and then choose xvesa server
choose 800x600x16bit color.
Good Luck.
Posted by bigkahuna on Jan. 16 2005,04:58
I'm running DSL with a poor man's install on my old pentium 133 noteboot (40mb, 2gb, dos/win95).Two ways to go:
1. Floppy boot. If you follow the directions in the previous post, the boot should autoconfigure and run fine. This is the way that works best on my system.
2. Boot from dos with loadlin.exe. I'm working on this. It works but the init settings and devices aren't setting up automatically. I'll eventually get it right and this will be my preferred way to run it. Why? My floppy drive and CD drive share a bay in my notebook and it's not hot-swappable. So what ever I boot with, I'm stuck with. I'd rather keep the CD drive in and free to play audio CD's etc.
Paul
Posted by Fiazle on Jan. 16 2005,05:42
| Quote |
| Out of my personal curiousity, what speed are the processors you use DSL on, my friend was recently given a 75 mhz computer and I was wondering if DSL would run acceptably on it. |
It's a pc133, 90 mhz computer, no audio card.
------------------------------------------
| Quote |
| Do this. Copy the \KNOPPIX directory from your CD disk over to your C: drive so there is now a C:\KNOPPIX\KNOPPIX Then download the boot floppy image from the dsl website. Then use a program like rawrite or rawrite32.exe to make a boot floppy. Then reboot your computer with the boot floppy inserted into your floppy drive. |
thanks yall, RandomGuy, cbagger01 and Paul.
I'll follow your advice, but where can I download the boot floppy image from the dsl website, can't find it.
Posted by RandomGuy on Jan. 16 2005,05:59
Unless I'm mistaken, I think its called boot-0.8.0.img and it can be found on a DSL mirror under current. Or, here is a direct link to the file:
< http://ibiblio.org/pub....8.0.img >
and to verify: < http://ibiblio.org/pub....md5.txt >
Posted by cbagger01 on Jan. 16 2005,07:02
And here is the link for rawrite32.zip:< http://www.duskware.com/download/rawrite.zip >
Posted by Fiazle on Jan. 16 2005,15:28
My report coming:I downloaded boot-0.8.0 from < there >, use rawrite
| Code Sample |
| rawrite boot-0.8.0.img a: |
Thanks!
But.... the old mouse doesn't work any longer, I have to use keyboard only to work on DSL. I'm quite familiar with the Keyboard Command on Windows, but not master very well under Linux, where can I find a guide about keyboard Command on DSL Linux?
EDIT: I find the guide, will read up them!
Here is main boot Log:
Total memory found: 61832KB
Creating /ramdisk (dynamic size=47584K) on
Shared memory... Done.
Creating directories and symlinks on ramdisk... Done.
Starting inti process
INIT: version 2.78-knoppix booting
Running Linux Kernel 2.4.26
Autoconfiguring devices
WARNING: Autodetection seems to hang, please check your computers BIOS settings
Please check
Scanningfor Harddisk partitions and creating /etc/fstab... Done.
Auto mounter started for: floppy cdrom
INIT: Entering runlevel: 5
mount: special device /...
su(pam_unix)[196]: session opened for user dsl by (uid=0)
Resolution: 800x600
preferred color depth: 16 bit
---------------------------------
btw, I haven't try booting from DOS, will working on it after I fixed keyboard command on DSL...
Posted by Fiazle on Jan. 16 2005,15:36
| Code Sample |
| WARNING: Autodetection seems to hang, please check your computers BIOS settings Please check |
I noticed that warning when booting DSL, does that means DSL can't detect my HD thoroughly? Do I need disable HD dectection on boot?
Posted by Fiazle on Jan. 16 2005,16:13
ok, I boot DSL with cheatcode dsl noicons base xsetup,
but how to open terminal with keyboard command only?
Posted by bigkahuna on Jan. 16 2005,18:38
You can also use "loadlin.exe" to boot DSL on your hard drive -without- a floppy drive, -without- rebooting, and -without- creating a Linux partition, thus leaving the floppy drive and cd drive free for other uses."loadlin.exe" basically clears DOS from memory and loads Linux instead without having to re-boot, so you can launch it with a batch file from the c:\ prompt.
I started another thread "booting DSL from DOS" that describes how I'm doing it. So far it works pretty well, but since I don't know much about Linux or DSL I haven't been able to get my sound card to function... (any DSL experts care to advise?).
It should also be possible to launch DSL from a CD that is not bootable (like my old notebook) with "loadlin.exe", but I haven't figured that out yet.
Yet another possibility is using "colinux" which allows launching Linux from within Windows. I've only played with this a little bit with a distro called "Topologilinux".
The small size and minimal hardware requirements of DSL give you all sorts of options.
Paul
Posted by cbagger01 on Jan. 19 2005,17:33
If you want to boot up DSL straight into TEXT mode (keyboard) without windows or moune, boot with:dsl base 2
Posted by BegLinux on Jan. 20 2005,23:14
| Quote (bigkahuna @ Jan. 15 2005,23:58) |
| I'm running DSL with a poor man's install on my old pentium 133 noteboot (40mb, 2gb, dos/win95). 2. Boot from dos with loadlin.exe. I'm working on this. It works but the init settings and devices aren't setting up automatically. I'll eventually get it right and this will be my preferred way to run it. Why? My floppy drive and CD drive share a bay in my notebook and it's not hot-swappable. So what ever I boot with, I'm stuck with. I'd rather keep the CD drive in and free to play audio CD's etc. |
Paul,
I am running DSL on an old Pentium 133 notebook with MS-DOS/MS-Win95.
I copied the whole DSL CD on the HD (hda2 in my case), resulting to 2 directories: \boot and \KNOPPIX
Then this loadlin.cfg file worked for me:
------- loadlin.cfg ------------------
\boot\isolinux\linux24
ramdisk_size=100000
initrd=\boot\isolinux\minirt24.gz
#root=/dev/hda2
root=/dev/ram
rw
init=/etc/init
vga=xvesa
lang=fr
apm=power-off
nusb noagp nofirewire
#noapm
#nomce
keyboard=be-latin1
----------------------------------
I had to start in DOS with a minimum config.sys.
loadlin @loadlin.cfg
HTH
Daniel
Posted by bigkahuna on Jan. 20 2005,23:42
Merci Daniel,Your config works for my system as well.
Question: How do I set xvesa, screen resolution, color depth, and mouse from the boot up? It still asks for these settings during the boot process.
Thanks,
Paul
Posted by BegLinux on Jan. 24 2005,03:25
| Quote (bigkahuna @ Jan. 20 2005,18:42) |
| Merci Daniel, Your config works for my system as well. Question: How do I set xvesa, screen resolution, color depth, and mouse from the boot up? It still asks for these settings during the boot process. Thanks, Paul |
When you are satisfied with your configuration, save it to the HD:
DSLPanel->Backup/Restore->Device: hd?? [Backup]
Next time you boot, DSL will see the saved file, and restore your configuration without asking questions...
NOTE:
Curiously, the DOS boot HD is under /cdrom, read only.
So, in order to be able to write on it,
I added: sudo mount /cdrom -o remount,rw
in: .bash_profile
and: /home/dsl/.bash_profile
in: filetool.lst
I don't know how to change the owner or the permission of /cdrom, so I have to 'sudo' all saves to it...
Daniel
Posted by bigkahuna on Jan. 24 2005,04:59
Thanks, I'll give it a try!Paul
Posted by Baerli on Jan. 27 2005,14:49
is there any methode to copy cd content to hd without cd-rom drive? 
i´ve got an old laptop with 133MHz pentium CPU, 23 MB RAM, 64MB HD.
ps I´m i really linux noob.
and sorry for my bad english, I´m german
Posted by SaidinUnleashed on Jan. 27 2005,15:08
There are several methods described in the documentation for how to do this.-J.P.
Posted by Baerli on Jan. 27 2005,17:05
thanks!!I hadn´t seen this link.
baerli