Re: Mount failed: Invalid argument
* Douglas Dreistadt <mobius@ii-okinawa.ne.jp> [2004-01-06 09:16]:
> Lou,
>
> Thanks for the reply. I was feeling pretty lost.
>
> * Douglas Dreistadt <mobius@ii-okinawa.ne.jp>
> [2004-01-05 20:34]:
> > I'm trying to install Debian from CD on a
> > 700mhz AMD system with 500mb RAM.
> > Right now I am stuck in the middle of
> > installation. I have made it as far as disk
> > formatting, but cannot "mount"(?) the root
> > partition.
> > When I try to mount dev/hda1 as the root file
> > system, I get a [Mount failed: Invalid argument]
>
> > error, and cannot proceed beyond that point.
> That
> > error doesn't make sense to me, since I am using
>
> > the installation system setup menus, not the
> > command line, and cannot add any arguments.
>
> -perhaps /dev/hda1 rather than dev/hda1 ????
>
> I'm not sure I know the difference. I guess I must
> mean
> /dev/hda1.
The difference is that dev/hda1 refers to a directory named /dev/hda1
under whatever your current working directory is. Thus if you where
currently in /home/foobar, it would be referring to
/home/foobar/dev/hda1. This is not what you want. You want to refer to
the dev directory that is a usbdirectory of the root (/) directory.
Thus you specify it as /dev/hda1
>
> >
> > I am working with a 80gb Seagate hard disk. I created 3 primary
> > partitions:
> >
> > 5gb for the boot partition 1gb for the swap partition 75gb for
> > everything else
>
> -if they are in that order and the drive is hda then the root
> partition -would be /dev/hda3 not /dev/hda1
>
> So you're saying the root partition and the boot partition are
> different things. I was assuming the the entire operating system was
> going to be installed in the boot partition. Well, if the root should
> be hda3, and the OS goes there, then do I really need to give 5gb to
> the boot partition? Would you recommend repartitioning the boot
> partition down to a smaller size? Reading the installation docs, I was
> very confused. It suggests 20-30mb for the boot partition, but I have
> allocated 5gb because I thought the OS would be installed there. How
> much space would be appropriate for the boot partition?
Yes they are different things. The /boot directory holds copies of your
kernel and some config files for your boot loader. 20 to 30mb should be
fine. The root directory is 'the root of the directory tree or
hierarchy'. This is the directory '/'. This is where your operating
system and everything else will go.
>
> The install doc (chapter 6) also recommends an upper limit of 6gb for
> any partition. On an 80gb drive, that means I would have to create a
> minimum of 14 different partitions! Is that realistic? Do I really
> need to create that many partitions?
I am not hte expert here, but this sounds ludicrous to me. I am not
aware of any limit that would cause you to create partitions of 6gb or
less.
>
> >
> > I succeeded in creating the partitions, initializing all 3
> > partitions, and activating
> the
> > swap partition. Next, it says I have to "mount"
> a
> > partition as the root, and I have tried numerous
>
> > times, but always get the [invalid argument] error.
> >
> > Can anyone out there give me some pointers?
>
>
> I'd be grateful for any comments ...
>
Hope that helps,
Lou
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