Installation showstopper
Hello,
I have a problem with FTP-based installation of Debian Linux for which I
could find no information on debian.org or in the howto's. I have:
architecture: i386
model: Dell Dimension XPS266, PII
memory: 192Mb
scsi: none
cd-rom: Toshiba, ATAPI
network card: none
pcmcia: none
I downloaded version 2.1r4 files from:
ftp://ftp.debian.org/pub/debian/dists/stable/main/disks-i386/current/
I made a rescue disk, a drivers disk, and the 7 base14-*.bin disks. I am
able to boot from the rescue disk, and the other disks appear intact as
well. I also have all the .bin files on a FAT16 partition, along with
base2_1.tgz (downloaded ultiple times from disparate sources in an
attempt to solve my problem). I'm running WinNT with 2 IDE hard drives:
Drive 1: 3 partitions, 1 primary and 2 logical, all FAT 16, 4Gb total
Drive 2: 3 primary partitions, FAT16, Linux, NTFS, in that order, 8Gb total
The .bin files are on the 1st logical partition of the first disk, if that
matters. I want to keep WinNT on the machine, but add linux to the 2Gb
partition on my second disk drive.
PROBLEM: I can boot to dos, run install.bat from the logical partition,
and made it up to the "Install Base System" item. It can find and start
unpacking the base2_1.tgz file, but crashes mid-way through unpacking with
"File error!! There was a problem extracting the Base System from
/instmnt/debian/base2_1.tgz" and halts, only allowing me to try that
option again I re-downloaded the file multiple times, to no avail. WinZip
is able to uncompress and untar the file with no trouble (100+Mb free on
the FAT16 partition, 2Gb on the linux partition). That's when I made the
base14-*.bin floppies, and tried installing from floppy rather than from a
DOS partition. Again, I got up to the "Install Base System" item, loaded
in all 7 disks (apparently without trouble), and then it crashed with a
similar error after the 7th disk had finished loading. I could find no
other menu items (from the install.bat program) that would help. Browsing
the linux partition with the help of a shell, I found /usr, /bin, /sbin,
/dev, and more. But, I'm assuming I'm not done installing, seeing as the
process crashed.
Any help, pointers to relevant doc, or suggestions are welcome.
Gary
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