Package: boot-floppies Version: potato Bug #1: There is no way to install Debian via a USB floppy drive. I have a Sony notebook (PCG-C1VE) with external USB floppy (and NO built-in CD drive). When using the potato boot floppies, the kernel is loaded without any problems from the rescue floppy. However, it will prompt for the root disk, which in turn it will not find, because the USB floppy is not available at that time. Bug #2: loadlin (from the DOS partition) also fails. It will load kernel and initrd (it displays lots of ... for both files), but then hangs immediately with nothing but a black screen. (Even Ctrl-Alt-Del does not work there.) (The first workaround was to install Redhat - when putting the ISO images on the DOS partition, Redhat will install with a single disk.) Suggestion #3: I've tried to install Debian using a currently running Linux. On a different (desktop) machine I unpacked base2_2.tgz and modules.tgz into a clean ext2 partition, put a kernel there and configured it using lilo from the already-installed system. Debian would then boot smoothly, only to tell me that I'm "trying to boot an unconfigured system" and to put in the rescue disk. On #debian-boot I got the hint to remove /sbin/unconfigured.sh. (I haven't tried yet, but I'm sure it will work.) -> It would be convenient if there was a way to install Debian just by unpacking a tar archive. Configuring it should be done at the first time the system is booted, or by a simple shell script (running on any *ix). The Debian boot howto should include a section on what to do in this case. (BTW: NetBSD installs via tar, which is very convenient when setting up an NFS root. The NetBSD install README is very comprehensive there.) (Adventure #4: I will later try to replace my notebook's Redhat with Debian on the SAME partition. Maybe there could be some hints for people trying this.) Thanks... Christoph -- Christoph Berg <cb@heim-d.uni-sb.de> Wohnheim D, 2405, Universität des Saarlandes, 0681/9657944
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