From: David <bouncingc...@gmail.com> Date: Fri, 4 Dec 2020 22:56:41 +1100 > 1) grub needs a partition table on the target device so it can do > embedding, so the target device can't be an entire block device (eg > sdx) it must be a partition[*] (eg sdxN where N is some natural number) > > 2) And you probably need at least N=2 on an older machine. > If there is sufficient RAM, the installer offers to load itself > into RAM which frees up the partition where the iso is, so that it can > be overwritten by the new install.
My first step was to plan the partition layout and create it with gparted. ROOT, HOME & INSTLLR were formatted ext4. (hd0,mdos1) unused (hd0,mdos2) unused (hd0,mdos3) ROOT / (hd0,mdos4) extended (hd0,mdos5) SWAP swap (hd0,mdos6) HOME /home (hd0,mdos7) INSTLLR (iso, initrd, vmlinuz) are in INSTLLR. There is no need to overwrite INSTLLR during the installation. INSTLLR can be joined onto /home later. From: David <bouncingc...@gmail.com> Date: Sun, 6 Dec 2020 07:29:37 +1100 > > Thanks. Well, the iso file simply wasn't present. > > I don't understand this sentence. Do you mean you made a > human error? Or something else? Yes, my human error. I omitted putting the iso in the folder before the last trial run yesterday. > I suggest the use of priority=medium which allows you to > choose which [*]partitions are searched for the iso, which might help. That definitely helps. The installer then gives the option to search for USB devices. It gives no evidence of a hdd although it's running from one. (?) In the snapshot of console 4, the last line reports "devices found: ''". Meaning "no devices found". http://easthope.ca/FailedBootVrtConsole4.jpg Then I put the iso on a SD card in a USB adapter. The installer finds that iso. Ie. boot from (iso, initrd, vmlinuz) in INSTLLR and let the installer search USB devices. The iso in a USB connected device is found. Preliminary conclusion. The installer can be started from (hd0,msdos7) but the iso search fails to acknowledge existence of (hd0) and fails to find the iso in (hd0,msdos7). Does the installer search algorithm work in the msdos extension? Not always. Does it ever work on the extension? Don't know yet. Regards, ... P. -- Tel: +1 604 670 0140 Bcc: peter at easthope. ca