On Mon 06 May 2013 at 21:13:07 -0600, Paul Condon wrote: > On 05/06/2013 05:20 PM, Brian wrote: > > Which includes the USB stick the ISO is on. So you can boot d-i from the > > stick, provide needed firmware from the same stick and install to it. > > Some would see that as value for money, :) > > I don't understand why one would want to install grub on the memstick > as if it were to become somehow self booting. The bios handles booting > from the mini.iso because the mini.iso has been crafted to be booted > by the bios. Wouldn't grub be superfluous? Or what?
Let's try to clear this up. Imagine a machine with two hard disks which has a BIOS handling USB booting. You write the mini.iso to a USB stick and boot from it. You set up the network, choose a mirror and download the installer components. At this stage the stick can be removed from the machine as the mini.iso has done its essential job and everything needed to complete the installation is in memory. Then Detect disks and Partition disks (Manual method). You will be offered two hard disks for partitioning and installing Debian. Re-insert the USB stick (or do not remove it in the first place) and now you will be offered it as a third device to install to. If you proceed to use it then everything on it (including the MBR) will be overwritten. To boot the OS on the USB device you will need GRUB. > And isn't needed firmware already part of the bios (which is pretty > much all the firmare in a PC) . Or would grub/firmware a different > way to boot instead of the code in the mini.iso?? I'm referring to the prompt for non-free firmware which you may get when network hardware is being detected. -- To UNSUBSCRIBE, email to debian-user-requ...@lists.debian.org with a subject of "unsubscribe". Trouble? Contact listmas...@lists.debian.org Archive: http://lists.debian.org/20130507113018.GH25306@desktop
