Re: Installer

[Steve McIntyre <steve@einval.com>]

On Thu, Sep 23, 2010 at 12:09:11AM -0700, Vernon J Millward Jr. wrote:
>I do allot of work on computers of all different types. One problem I have 
>noticed is allot of times I get computer with no OS on them at all and no info 
>on it's make up. I also have 3 different arcitecture of systems myself. 
>
>My question is could there be an installer designed that will try to detect the 
>systems makeup? like i386 or 64 or power pc ETC.
>My x64 installer will not work on my i386 or mack. If there was an installer 
>that detected the system and then downloaded the proper base system packages it 
>would make life a little easier. 

Try the multi-arch netinst CD [1], it's exactly what you're looking
for. It will boot on all of amd64/i386/powerpc, detecting and using
the correct architecture for the hardware. There's an equivalent 3-way
disc which will work on alpha/hppa/ia64 too.

[1] http://cdimage.debian.org/debian-cd/5.0.6/multi-arch/iso-cd/debian-506-amd64-i386-powerpc-netinst.iso

-- 
Steve McIntyre, Cambridge, UK.                                steve@einval.com
"Since phone messaging became popular, the young generation has lost the
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