[Date Prev][Date Next] [Thread Prev][Thread Next] [Date Index] [Thread Index]

Re: netinstall basically, well, F****D up.



On Sat, 2003-07-19 at 12:16, Lars Unin wrote:

> > There's quite a lot involved in what you did I'm not knowledgeable
> > about, and you didn't mention why you attempted to do it this way, so
> > perhaps I'll be speaking past you, but...
> > 
> > You bypassed most of the install logic for Debian.  If you did a similar
> > thing attempting to change between other distros, you'd be bypassing the
> 
> I use the available options, thats *NOT* breaking logic,

You wrote to me (in part):

initialise HDA5 (thats my new dedicated root partition 2gig)
chose Ext2 (when something works well, stick with it, I say)
exit installer and reboot

go into Mandrake, extract 2.4.18-bf modules into
new root partition on HDA5,

restart installer
go to ASH insmod pegasus
network download options now work
IT downloads floppy images
IT downloads a base system, and it doesn't let me choose;


You interupted the flow built into the installer, you "extract"ed the
modules into a partition manually, the installer didn't offer to let you
pick your system...and you're surprised.  And you're claiming you
allowed the installer to follow it's built-in logic.

I'm only surprised when what happens doesn't match what I think should
happen.  I've noticed when that occurs it means my thinking is wrong.


> > Is your personal data in a separate partition, that is, is /home it's
> > own partition?
> 
> Seperate data is in the windows partition, which I can't raise the courage 
> to nuke yet, purely for prosperity.

Sure.  Same here.


> I wonder, are you copying this from a FAQ?
> They only have problems if you use old IDE drive BIOSES that can 
> only detect the first gig with INT13H  

I don't know what you know, so I answered broadly.  You might know a
lot, but you might not, and I can't tell.  Easier to provide the info
that might be relevant.  You can easily pass over the parts you already
know, but I do a disservice not providing you what you need to make
choices.


> > Part of the reason I ultimately chose Debian is that advice in How-tos
> > and on the web didn't seem to work with other distros, because they make
> > proprietary choices - files are named differently, located somewhere
> > else, boot scripts are different.  Debian seems the most "standard" of
> > the well-supported distro projects.
> 
> Nah the most standard is Red Hat, however it is absolute shite.

Hmmm.  RedHat is most standard, but it's shit.  Debian is wrong too - it
won't work the way you want it to.


> I did I followed the instructions at 
> http://www.debian.org/releases/stable/i386/ch-install-methods#s-create-floppy
> for a debian hard disk netinstall (note it's section 4.4)
> floppy installs are notoriously unreliable, and, well, cd/dvd technology
> is older then the networking broadband technology im using.

I install booting off the first CD and then installing the rest from the
network over a cable modem.  I know how this works.


> As for doing something different, loading modules inside the installer to
> "shim" temporary net access is common practice.

Maybe, but you didn't make it work.  Perhaps you're understanding isn't
what you think it is.  I know that when I follow the installer's flow as
provided, it works, so I expect if you do, it will work for you, too.

At least that would give you a known starting point to work from, and
that's why I recommended it.  If you prefer another approach, have at
it.


> Im not pissed at you for saying it though ;-)
> nobodys perfect.

I never thought this.

Cheers,
Bret
-- 
bwaldow at alum.mit.edu




Reply to: