Thanks for the response (and sorry about replying to your email address rather than the list)
Good to know Wheezy comes with the Initio driver module. I wasn't sure how to tell by inspecting Wheezy install CDs. However, I'm going to install Lenny first as I have the CDs and want to avoid a net install which was painful in the past on this machine. I prefer to take my headaches one at a time - base install (SCSI driver), X install (video config) then ethernet access (past problems getting=20 driver settings to 'stick'). I wrote: >> I have initialized a 3.3 MB ext3 root partition for Debian 5 and >> downloaded the hd-media versions of vmlinuz, initrd.gz, boot.img.gz=20 >> and a cd ISO from the official Debian archives.=20 Brian replied: > The 3.3 MB root partition isn't required. I suppose you could use it, > but it appears to me to complicate things. Opps, *typo* - root partition is 3.3 GB (not MB). Deducting 0.75 or so for the ISO and boot kernel files, I'll have about 2.5 GB of space for the base install and X install. I can move subtrees to another much larger partition beyond addressable BIOS limits once the base install is working. Brian continued: > boot.img.gz isn't needed either. I was scratching my ahead about it, but grabbed it too as one=20 write-up I found used it in a USB flash-drive install. > > 1) If I install this kernel and iso image in my Debian 5 root=20 > > partition with lilo or grub, I should automatically launch the=20 > > Debian 5 installer after booting this partition, correct? >=20 Brian replied: > I'd put vmlinuz and initrd.gz in /boot/ and the cd ISO in /, a place > where d-i is likely to find it when it looks for it. d-i can also=20 > locate the ISO if it is on a USB stick. These are the subdirs I used for my hard drive partition. However,=20 when I tried to run lilo -r /mnt -t -v, the error message indicated=20 I needed additional file(s) on the file system - see my question=20 #2 below: Brian continue: > You didn't say what your existing bootloader is. GRUB Legacy? If so.=20 > you write a stanza in its configuration file giving the locations=20 > of vmlinuz and initrd.gz so you can boot the kernel. I used lilo for the Woody install, but I installed the (legacy) Grub=20 package for Woody and don't mind using it instead for Debian 5, but I =1Bsuspect I still need to add additional file(s) to the root file=20 system, ie.: > > 2) How do I go about creating the rudimentary file system I need be > > able to install lilo or grub on the clean root partition - without > > what subdirectories and executables do I need and where do I find > > them without a working Debian 5 system to clone? * This is where I am still stuck * > > 3a) If I can launch the Debian Installer this way, will it allow me to > > manually switch package sources from Debian servers to my CD-ROM (which > > presumably I can mount once the installer has loaded the Initio SCSI > > driver module.)? Brian replied: > This could be done after you have installed from the cd ISO and have > booted into the new system. Good to know. Hopefully it will be obvious when and how to switch the package source so I can avoid a hung install. I wrote: > > 3b) If not, will the installer pull packages from my CDs if I replace > > the hd-media version of the cd ISO image with the CD version of the > > cd #1 ISO image? Brian replied: > You can certainly use cd #1 but, never having done it, I'm not certain > about how d-i deals with the other CDs. Allegedly the install can hang if the ISO does not 'match" the way the kernel/initrd was compiled. Probably risky, as I have not stumbled across a report claiming someone else has done it.. Thanks again. Sounds like I am diving down an appropriate rabbit hole! -- 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/20130717221249.ga1...@nc.rr.com
