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No CD no Floppy = Kernel Panics

  • 24-10-2005 10:38pm
    #1
    masteroftherealm
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 3,141 ✭✭✭


    Hey all. Right I have a laptop (Old Compaq Armada 6500) that I want to get Debian/Ubuntu/Knoppix/ANYTHING onto. Problem being it has a dead cdrom and no floppy. No booting off USB or Network.
    So plan was to install a base system onto the hardrive while in another machine then put HD back in.
    But that didnt work in Debian Srage Woody or Knoppix 3.9 or Ubuntu Hoary Hegdehog. Keep getting kernel panics at kernel load.
    Any other ideas how to do this? Any distro specifically for this?
    Any ideas at all??


Comments

  • #2
    SwampThing
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 944 ✭✭✭SwampThing


    There's not much I can think of without some fashion of a bootable device - even a bootable clothes peg would do.

    Hmm, what about... partition magic; make a partiton big enough to take a bootable image of some sort of linux distro - nothing fancy, just enought to get fdisk/parted tools on a booted volume and the files needed for your OS install.

    You could then try installing something like Acronis OS Selector or Partiton Magic's Boot Manager to the current OS (windows, I assume) and see if you can boot the ne partiton. Then, use that to install. Rejig partions when you're finished.

    Could be complete poppy-cock, but might give you something to start with.


  • #3
    masteroftherealm
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 3,141 ✭✭✭masteroftherealm


    Yeah though that might work but i get error 19'(Not able to mount) from that one.


  • #4
    osmethod
    Closed Accounts Posts: 244 ✭✭osmethod


    If you have a 9 pin serial port on your laptop a serial install could work for you. I've installed through the serial port on the *bsd's - quite slowmind you, but successful.

    A link for something sililar for "Debian Linux" -

    http://www.patoche.org/LTT/install/00000103.html (a bit outdated)

    A Redhat Linux install over serial port...
    http://www.cpqlinux.com/serialinstall.html

    Your hair may be at your ankles by the time it's finished!!!!

    Alternatively, you could buy an external parallel port cdrom and off you go...

    osmethod


  • #5
    AndrewMc
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 354 ✭✭AndrewMc


    masteroftherealm wrote:
    So plan was to install a base system onto the hardrive while in another machine then put HD back in.
    But that didnt work in Debian Srage Woody or Knoppix 3.9 or Ubuntu Hoary Hegdehog. Keep getting kernel panics at kernel load.
    Any other ideas how to do this? Any distro specifically for this?
    Any ideas at all??

    It sounds like the kernel can't find the filesystem to boot from. This could happen if the harddrive was installed as hdb (for example), and it appears as hda on the laptop. I think that's fairly easily fixed in lilo/grub.

    Alternatively, perhaps your oldish laptop needs a special IDE controller driver? During installation on another PC it wouldn't have been set up during the installation. If you know which driver this might be, then you should be able to make a new initrd that includes the driver and try again.


  • #6
    tomk
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 1,067 ✭✭✭tomk


    I did this a good while ago, with an old Toshiba 486 lappie. The distro I used was Pebble Linux, which is a cut-down version of Debian, and is designed to be installed in exactly that way. It is intended for use on Wireless APs, but don't let that bother you. Once it's up and running, you can treat it like a regular Debian setup, or if you create two partitions on the hard drive, you could get Pebble running on one, and then use debootstrap to install "vanilla" Debian on the other. I've recently done the two-partition job on an old P166 carcass I had lying around - no CDROM, no floppy, just Pebble.

    If you decide to try it, I'd be happy to help.


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  • #7
    masteroftherealm
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 3,141 ✭✭✭masteroftherealm


    So its designed to be installed then moved?
    Excellent.
    Ill try that one out.


  • #8
    niallb
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 2,755 ✭✭✭niallb


    AndrewMc wrote:
    This could happen if the harddrive was installed as hdb (for example), and it appears as hda on the laptop. I think that's fairly easily fixed in lilo/grub.

    Almost certainly it.
    You'll also need to change the filesystem
    names in /etc/fstab.

    What exactly is the error message when the kernel panics? Without that we can't really help.

    Can you boot a livecd in the machine you did the install on?
    Do it with the laptop drive attached,
    mount it and change that file.

    Alternatively, disconnect your own drives
    and make sure the laptop drive is /dev/hda
    and run the install again.

    None of the distros you mention should have an install problem, you're just moving things
    after they're set up. Sort that and it'll work fine.

    NiallB


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