[Cooker] building a bootable Mandrake CDROM - which image file for booting?
I've copied the whole Mandrake 7.0 CDROM tree from CD to an ext2 partition. I can boot from the ext2 partition via a floppy with the 'hd.img' image written to it. However, I can't figure out which IMG file I need for the CD. # cd /mnt/scratch -- where the CD filesystem tree was copied to # mkisofs -b images/txt_boot.img \--- the IMG file -c boot.cat -o /tmp/mandrake.iso \ -J -r -T \ -p LinuxMandrake \ -P www.mandrakesoft.com \ -A Linux_Mandrake_7.0_GPL_version \ -V LM70GPL \ . I can boot from a "CD floppy" (# dd if=cd.img of=/dev/fd0) onto the CD, so I'm convinced the filesystem is okay. However, it won't boot if I use the cdrom.img file. It _will_ boot if I use txt_boot.img but that image doesn't trigger the graphical install routine, which is the routine I need to use. Any ideas? :) All suggestions are appreciated. Hugo
[Cooker] test
[Cooker] creating partitions at command line
Problem: How to create a floppy which will boot into its own little Linux,
create and format partitions on the hard drive, and untar files (.tar.gz's
held on a CDROM) onto said hard drive.
Solution: TOMSRTBT, 'stb' (save the hard disk's boot sector), 'stf' (save
each partition's MBR), 'afio' and 'sfdisk'... but I can't get the parameters
for sfdisk right. I can create primary partitions, no problem, but I can't
seem to make extended partitions (/dev/hda[5-9]).
In theory, I suppose I could make a carbon copy of the device ('cat /dev/hda
| tar -cz /dev/hdd/hda.tgz') but what if the destination hard drive has a
different cylinder/sector configuration?
TIA,
Hugo ... in over his head :^)
[Cooker] [OT] good motherboards
I know this is severely OT but I would appreciate feedback from the readers of this list. My boss's boss has given me yet another batch of motherboards unreliable by design (last time, AstroMicro; this time, ProComp) and I would appreciate recommendations of good motherboards, especially anecdotal evidence of quality. I've heard good things about:- - Gigabyte - Tyan - ABit (The PCs run Pentium III CPUs up to 550MHz and are Linux/Windows98 dual-boot. I figure, if it'll run Linux, it'll run Windows, but not the other way around.) I'm looking on ZDNet for reviews but I trust the Cooker people more than ZDNet. I'm not asking anyone to do my research for me. You folks are yet one more information resource for me to exploit- umm, I mean, utilize. :) TIA, HugoRabson
[Cooker] LM7 (Air) kickstart problems w/locale
I'm following the kickstart guide on the Mandrake web page, trying to create a kickstart boot disk for Linux Mandrake 7.0 (Air). The boot disk boots the CDROM but the locale (lang = 'en') line in auto_inst.cfg.pl always leads to fatal errors:- perl: warning: Setting locale failed perl: warning: Please check that your locale settings:- LANGUAGE = "" LC_ALL = "en" LANG = "" are supported and installed on the system. It then quits, telling me I can either reboot or press CTRL-ALT-F2 to get to a shell. The locale is the one I chose when carrying out the interactive installation that created the auto_inst.cfg.pl file in the first place. I've tried 'en', 'en_US' and even 'fr_FR' (which seems to get a bit further). Any ideas? :-) TIA, Hugo Rabson
Re: [Cooker] LM7 (Air) kickstart problems w/locale
Hi,
I don't know where auto_inst.cfg.pl can be found; so I can't help you more
right now; but the needed modification would be to set also the LANG and
LANGUAGE variables (with them defautling to the value of 'lang' if not set)
root/auto_inst.cfg.pl is created by LM7's installation suite.
See http://www.linux-mandrake.com/drakx/auto_inst.html for the HOWTO.
Kickstart is IMO a wonderful idea. Norton Ghost lets me create a bootable CD
which installs Windows 98 while I'm doing something else; kickstart would
let me do the same thing for Linux. My boss would love that.
OTOH the isntall maybe shouldn't abort on a perl warning;
at least not on that perl warning.
You're right. :-) I checked the kickstart didn't abort until later. It
looks as if there are two problems - one relating to the locale and one
relating to the filesystem.
The following will create a kickstart installation boot diskette based on a
Linux system interactively installed recently:-
Login as root.
# umount /mnt/floppy
# cd /mnt/cdrom/images
# dd if=cdrom.img of=/dev/fd0H1440
# mount /mnt/floppy
# cp /root/auto_inst.cfg.pl /mnt/floppy
# emacs /mnt/floppy/syslinux.cfg
Change the 'timeout' value to under 20
Change the 'default' value to 'ks' (no quotation marks)
Save; exit emacs.
Then CTRL-ALT-DEL and reboot with the floppy and CDROM inserted. (Make sure
the BIOS will boot from floppy, not CDROM.)
Here is what happens:-
#---
Loading cdrom.rdz
Loading vmlinuz
[kernel stuff]
Initializing CDROM...
in second stage install...
Entering step 'Choose install or upgrade'
Entering step 'Choose mouse'
Entering step 'Choose your keyboard'
perl: warning: Setting local failed.
perl: warning: Please ensure that your local settings:-
'lang' = 'en'
'lc_all' = 'en'
'language' = 'en'
perl: warning: are supported and installed on your system.
perl: warning: Falling back to the standard local ("C").
[ the above 'perl warning' section is written three times in total]
Entering step 'Miscellaneous'
Entering step 'Setup filesystems'
error :(
switch to console f2 for a shell
press return to reboot
#---
I've tried setting 'lang', 'language' and 'lc_all' to various values but the
warning still appear, even with the values put into the .cfg file but the
Mandrake installation suite itself.
Re: [Cooker] LM7 (Air) kickstart problems w/locale
- Original Message - From: Pixel [EMAIL PROTECTED] To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Sent: Thursday, January 27, 2000 10:54 AM Subject: Re: [Cooker] LM7 (Air) kickstart problems w/locale "Hugo Rabson" [EMAIL PROTECTED] writes: Entering step 'Miscellaneous' Entering step 'Setup filesystems' error :( you should find interesting stuff in console 3
Re: [Cooker] LM7 (Air) kickstart problems w/locale
CTRL-ALT-F3 tells me:-
Starting step 'Miscellaneous'
..
Starting step 'PartitionDisks'
No SCSI devices available
Warning: you must have a root partition.
For this, create a partition (or click on an existing one).
Then choose action 'mount point' and set it to '/'
...at /usr/bin/perl-install/install2.pm at line 310
I modified the auto_inst.cfg.pl file (created by interactive installation)
as follows:-
'partitioning' = {
'clearall' = '1',
'autoformat' = '0',
'eraseBadPartitions' = '0',
'auto_allocate' = '0'
},
(I also tried autoformat=1)
Any ideas? :)
Hugo
P.S. Sorry about the 'empty' email. Outlook Express has some keyboard
shortcuts I didn't know about.
- Original Message -
From: Pixel [EMAIL PROTECTED]
To: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Sent: Thursday, January 27, 2000 10:54 AM
Subject: Re: [Cooker] LM7 (Air) kickstart problems w/locale
"Hugo Rabson" [EMAIL PROTECTED] writes:
Entering step 'Miscellaneous'
Entering step 'Setup filesystems'
error :(
you should find interesting stuff in console 3
Re: [Cooker] LM7 (Air) kickstart problems w/X
It appears that Air's installer (or, more likely, one of the 3rd-party tools
on which it relies) cannot format DOS partitions. If auto_inst.cfg.pl is
modified as you suggest (clearall = 1, auto_allocate = 1) and no DOS
partitions are included in the partitioning() array, kickstart formats the
partitions, installs the files and completes 99% of the installation. :-))
It gets as far as configuring X, where it fails. The X section of my
auto_inst.cfg.pl file looks like this:-
...
'X' = {
'card' = {
'default_depth' = 16,
'resolution_wanted' = '1024x768'
}
},
...
Kickstart says:-
"Entering step 'Install system'
Entering step 'Configure networking'
Entering step 'Cryptographic'
Entering step 'Configure timezone'
Entering step 'Configure printer'
Entering step 'Set root password'
Entering step 'Add a user'
Entering step 'Create bootdisk' -- disabled ('mkbootdisk' = '0')
Entering step 'Install bootloader'
Entering step 'Configure X'
error :("
Console #3 says:-
* unknown line 1538 (2-the-Max MaxColor 6000)
* unknown line 1541 (Gainward Challenger EV)
* unknown line 1544 (MachSpeed VGA ET6000)
* unknown line 1547 (KouTech KeyVision 128EV)
* warning: undefined subroutine main:: called at line
/usr/bin/perl-install/Xconfigurator.pm at line 824.
* warning: undefined subroutine main:: called at line
/usr/bin/perl-install/Xconfigurator.pm at line 824.
...propagated at /usr/bin/perl-install/Xconfigurator.pm line 825.
(I'm using a card recognised and configured as a V2x00 Rendition Verité. It
works well under Linux and is detected correctly by Air's interactive
installer.)
Can I tell kickstart to configure Air for a specific graphics card (no
autodetection, no testing)? Alternatively, is it possible to instruct
kickstart to detect the card but not test it?
Hugo
- Original Message -
From: Pixel [EMAIL PROTECTED]
To: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Sent: Thursday, January 27, 2000 1:06 PM
Subject: Re: [Cooker] LM7 (Air) kickstart problems w/locale
"Hugo Rabson" [EMAIL PROTECTED] writes:
I modified the auto_inst.cfg.pl file (created by interactive
installation)
as follows:-
[...]
oups. add auto_allocate = 1 (the doc is a bit buggy on this point)
[Cooker] Windows bugs keep me employed (was Re: ZDNET TV- Silicon Spin)
Eric Lusk [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote:- They just know that without Windows and its endless problems, their tech support shows wouldn't be necessary, and they'd be out of jobs. I, for one, am certain I would lose my current job if Win2K fixed all the bugs in its basement. I run a small PC store have become aware of how hard it is (and expensive, if you can't do it yourself) to maintain Windows if you're of average intelligence and not particularly PC-literate. Every day someone comes to the store, complaining that their Windows installation has crashed/died/etc. Usually the customer has done one of the following:- - gone around deleting things in order to save space, and deleted something crucial - added a program which upgraded MSIE/DirectX/whatever, thereby screwing up the OS - added a peripheral which is playing havoc with other devices, trying to steal resouces, causing random crashes, etc. More often than not, the best solution is to reinstall Windows. (How ridiculous is that?) That usually breaks most of the customer's existing programs, so _they_ need to be reinstalled too. Also, customers rarely have the necessary drivers. What difference does it make whether the drivers exist or not, if you can't find them? :-) At least Linux supports high-quality hardware out-of-the-box. Windows doesn't even do that, in my experience. Sorry, I rarely post anything this inflammatory. :) I'm just so tired of people looking down on Linux when Windows is so patently flawed anyway. Hugo
[Cooker] making dual-boot systems (lilo 1024 problem)
System: Pentium II Celeron @ 433MHz 64Mb RAM 10Gb HDD If I resize the DOS partition to 4Gb, the remaining 6Gb would be _plenty_ for Linux, of course, but I cannot make LILO boot the partition (it's past block 1024). I have known of this limitation for the last year or so but it didn't matter because I had my OSes on different hard disks. However, I have customers asking for Linux was wondering if there was an easy way to add Linux to a currently Windows-only hard drive. AFAIK, I could remove the old partition, install Linux as the first and then Windows as the second partition, but that would of course mean losing the old Windows partition. Perhaps there is a boot loader which can overcome this problem? TIA, Hugo
