Re: Debian Etch and a half
[re CC'ing debian-laptop and debian-user, so others can help]
On Sat, 2008-11-22 at 14:40 -0800, jeffry killen wrote:
> On Nov 22, 2008, at 12:47 PM, Frank Lin PIAT wrote:
>
> > On Sat, 2008-11-22 at 11:22 -0800, jeffry killen wrote:
> >> I downloaded the netinst and want to install [..] I have static ip
> >> address service with my ISP.
> >
> > IIRC, Debian installer will try DHCP, then offer to configure the
> > interface manually.
>
> O.K., I downloaded the netisntall cd image and burned it to
> a disc as data file iso 9660.
> I put it in the cd/dvd tray and entered bios setup to tell
> the system to boot from cd.
> I started with the dhcp connection attempt and failed
> saying it did not get any offers. So the system switched
> back to the system on the hard drive and boot normally.
> This was with the netinstall image.
>From what you describe, it seems that your computer is trying to
"netboot" (i.e boot from the network), as opposed to trying to boot from
the CDROM.
What we want is to boot from the CD, start installing the system from
the CDROM, then download the extra files from a Debian Mirror.
Is your laptop a PC or a Mac?
> >> The installer wants to get on the net using dhcp so I change
> >> the network interface configuration to use dhcp but I would
> >> rather download the business card image.
> >
> > I don't understand what's your problem here.
> >
> >
> >> The web page in
> >> the Debian site has this under the heading for the business
> >> card installer:
> >>
> >> businesscard CD image (generally 20-50 MB)
> >>
> >> * Available for all architectures.
> >> * Needs to be booted with the option 'suite=etch' to install
> >> etch-and-a-half.
> >> * Will automatically install the 2.6.24 kernel.
> >>
> >> specifically:
> >> Needs to be booted with the option 'suite=etch' to install
> >> etch-and-a-half.
> >> How do I do this?
> >
> > When your are at the boot prompt, select the install menu entry, then
> > press the "tab" key, then type "suite=etch", so you get something like
> > :
> > install suite=etch
> So, it is 99% certain I am doing something wrong.
> What do you think it is?
You computer seems to try to boot from the network, not from the CD.
> The platform I used to download the cd image files
> was Mac OSX and the software I used to burn the
> cd was Roxio Toast. I do this because this machine
> Mac OSX is the one that is configured with one of
> the static ip addresses and is the one I use to
> contact the web and do down loads and such. The
> other machines I have, including the new one, are
> either configured with static private ip address
> or public static ip addresses and are web servers.
>
> So when I tried to use the netinstall cd, I had the
> machine connected to the ADSL modem/router
> with the interface configured for dhcp. This did not
> work. The reported reason that no offer was received.
I assume the "No offer" message comes from the BIOS
screen (black and white), not from Debian-Installer (blue and red
screen)
> I believe this is because there is no dhcp server between
> the router/modem and the machine.
The Modem/Router probably has a DHCP (most of htem have one). However a
DHCP isn't enough to allow "PXE netboot".
Anyway, what you want to do is to boot from the CD, as mentioned above.
> So advertising re-
> quests have to go all the way out through the isp's system
> to find a dhcp server. My understanding is that at this
> stage of the boot process, the machine is trying to find
> a boot-p server to boot from.
Oh, yes that's correct. We reach the same conclusions.
> So it could be bypassing the cd as not bootable. I am not enough of a
> computer scientist to get to the bottom of this.
You look good enough :
> Could I be missing the boot prompt. Things happen
> quickly on this machine.
What computer brand / model?
> I have Debian Etch 4.0 r1 and am told that it does
> not support newer hardware (cd/dvd) drivers and
> to get Etch and a half, which I am trying to do.
You would be able to boot the CD anyway.
> Once I get the basic system installed I can use the existing
> cd's to install packages.
Correct.
> I have written a lot. I don't mean to be a pest but this
> is what I have to hand at present
You can try to ask on #debian irc channel, on irc.debian.org
Xchat ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Xchat ) is a good irc client that
is available on many platform. (It's time to sleep here).
Franklin
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