Problems finding autoinst.xml on floppy

4 May 2005

      Hello,

I'm new to suse and yast2/autoyast. I've got suse professional
9.3 and want to install that on a number of machines.
I've created an autoinst.xml file (from using
"yast2 autoyast") that I've put on a 3.5" floppy
(MSDOS formatted). The autoinst.xml file passes
xmllint without comments, and it looks OK.
The floppy does not contain any info file.

The problem:
I put in the DVD and the floppy and boot.
Apparantly, the autoinst.xml file should
be detected automatically and turn the installation
into an automated one. However, it does not detect
the file (it's spelled correctly, I've checked
several times). I can see that the disk drive
flashes its LED during the first phase of the
installation, so it looks like it's at least trying
to read the floppy. It does not find it, or at
least thinks that something is wrong with it,
since it always proceeds to manual install.

If I explicitly specify autoyast=floppy, or
autoyast=floppy://autoinst.xml (in the first
installation screen) it also tries to read
the floppy, but then I end up in the ncurses installer
where I get the message "Could not find the SUSE Linux
Installation Source, Activating manual setup program".
What does that mean?

I've tried with two different floppy disks, so that
it's not the disk that is broken. The disk drive
is working under normal suse (KDE) operation, so
it does not seem like that that is broken either.

What am I doing wrong?

- Is a MSDOS-formatted floppy disk OK?
- Is the content of the autoinst.xml file wrong?
  The XML syntax seems to be fine, but how can
  I tell whether the installer thinks that the
  contents makes no sense? How can I verify that
  the *installer* thinks the autoinst.xml file is OK?
- Do I need an info file on the floppy?
- Can't I do this floppy autoinstallation with the
  factory SuSE 9.3 CDs/DVDs?

The autoinst.xml file:
----------------------------------8<-----------
<?xml version="1.0"?>
<!DOCTYPE profile SYSTEM "/usr/share/autoinstall/dtd/profile.dtd">
<profile xmlns="http://www.suse.com/1.0/yast2ns"
xmlns:config="http://www.suse.com/1.0/configns">
  <configure>
    <groups config:type="list">
      <group>
        <groupname>video</groupname>
        <userlist>tsslab</userlist>
      </group>
      <group>
        <groupname>dialout</groupname>
        <userlist>tsslab</userlist>
      </group>
    </groups>
    <networking>
      <dns>
        <dhcp_hostname config:type="boolean">false</dhcp_hostname>
        <dhcp_resolv config:type="boolean">false</dhcp_resolv>
      </dns>
      <interfaces config:type="list">
        <interface>
          <bootproto>static</bootproto>
          <broadcast>192.168.0.255</broadcast>
          <device>eth0</device>
          <ipaddr>192.168.0.20</ipaddr>
          <name>Ethernet Network Card</name>
          <netmask>255.255.255.0</netmask>
          <network>192.168.0.0</network>
          <startmode>auto</startmode>
          <usercontrol>no</usercontrol>
        </interface>
      </interfaces>
      <modules config:type="list">
        <module_entry>
          <device>static-0</device>
          <module></module>
          <options></options>
        </module_entry>
      </modules>
      <routing>
        <ip_forward config:type="boolean">false</ip_forward>
      </routing>
    </networking>
    <runlevel>
      <default>5</default>
      <services config:type="list">
        <service>
          <service_name></service_name>
        </service>
      </services>
    </runlevel>
    <scripts>
      <post-scripts config:type="list">
        <script>
          <filename>postinstall</filename>
          <interpreter>shell</interpreter>
          <location></location>
          <source><![CDATA[echo "Postinstallation script is
running!"]]></source>
        </script>
      </post-scripts>
      <pre-scripts config:type="list">
        <script>
          <filename>preinstall</filename>
          <interpreter>shell</interpreter>
          <location></location>
          <source><![CDATA[echo "Preinstallation script is
running!"]]></source>
        </script>
      </pre-scripts>
    </scripts>
    <user_defaults>
      <expire></expire>
      <group>100</group>
      <groups>video,dialout</groups>
      <home>/home</home>
      <inactive>-1</inactive>
      <shell>/bin/bash</shell>
      <skel>/etc/skel</skel>
    </user_defaults>
    <users config:type="list">
      <user>
        <encrypted config:type="boolean">true</encrypted>
        <fullname>tsslab</fullname>
        <gid>100</gid>
        <home>/home/tsslab</home>
        <password_settings>
          <expire></expire>
          <flag></flag>
          <inact>-1</inact>
          <max>99999</max>
          <min>0</min>
          <warn>7</warn>
        </password_settings>
        <shell>/bin/bash</shell>
        <uid>1000</uid>

<user_password>$2a$05$CdvjoC.h6A5UWVx1hVXMzu/eI9CdA467wf4YX.LDWaUNuicm
Z1Ss2</user_password>
        <username>tsslab</username>
      </user>
    </users>
    <x11>
      <color_depth config:type="integer">24</color_depth>
      <configure_x11 config:type="boolean">true</configure_x11>
      <display_manager>kdm</display_manager>
      <enable_3d config:type="boolean">false</enable_3d>
      <monitor>
        <display>
          <max_hsync config:type="integer">82</max_hsync>
          <max_vsync config:type="integer">75</max_vsync>
          <min_hsync config:type="integer">31</min_hsync>
          <min_vsync config:type="integer">58</min_vsync>
        </display>
        <monitor_device>1280X1024@75HZ</monitor_device>
        <monitor_vendor> LCD</monitor_vendor>
      </monitor>
      <resolution>1280x1024</resolution>
      <window_manager>kde</window_manager>
    </x11>
  </configure>
  <install>
    <general>
      <clock>
        <hwclock>localtime</hwclock>
        <timezone>Europe/Stockholm</timezone>
      </clock>
      <keyboard>
        <keymap>swedish</keymap>
      </keyboard>
      <language>en_US</language>
      <mode>
        <confirm config:type="boolean">false</confirm>
        <forceboot config:type="boolean">true</forceboot>
      </mode>
      <mouse>
        <id>00_ps2</id>
      </mouse>
    </general>
    <partitioning config:type="list">
      <drive>
        <device>/dev/hda</device>
        <initialize config:type="boolean">false</initialize>
        <partitions config:type="list">
          <partition>
            <crypt>twofish256</crypt>
            <filesystem config:type="symbol">reiser</filesystem>
            <format config:type="boolean">true</format>
            <fs_options>
              <opt_format>
                <option_blank
config:type="boolean">true</option_blank>
                <option_str>--format</option_str>
                <option_value>auto</option_value>
              </opt_format>
              <opt_hash>
                <option_blank
config:type="boolean">true</option_blank>
                <option_str>--hash</option_str>
                <option_value>auto</option_value>
              </opt_hash>
            </fs_options>
            <loop_fs config:type="boolean">false</loop_fs>
            <mount>/</mount>
            <partition_id config:type="integer">131</partition_id>
            <size>30000</size>
          </partition>
          <partition>
            <crypt>twofish256</crypt>
            <filesystem config:type="symbol">reiser</filesystem>
            <format config:type="boolean">true</format>
            <loop_fs config:type="boolean">false</loop_fs>
            <mount>/boot</mount>
            <partition_id config:type="integer">131</partition_id>
            <size>500</size>
          </partition>
          <partition>
            <crypt>twofish256</crypt>
            <format config:type="boolean">false</format>
            <loop_fs config:type="boolean">false</loop_fs>
            <mount></mount>
            <partition_id config:type="integer">130</partition_id>
            <size>auto</size>
          </partition>
        </partitions>
        <use>all</use>
      </drive>
    </partitioning>
    <software>
      <addons config:type="list">
        <addon>Basis-Sound</addon>
        <addon>Kde-Desktop</addon>
        <addon>Min</addon>
        <addon>Office</addon>
        <addon>SuSE-Documentation</addon>
        <addon>X11</addon>
      </addons>
      <base>default</base>
      <packages config:type="list">
        <package>ddd</package>
        <package>ethereal</package>
        <package>ethtool</package>
        <package>ipgrab</package>
        <package>iptraf</package>
        <package>netboot</package>
        <package>nttcp</package>
        <package>perl-Net-Telnet</package>
        <package>rinetd</package>
        <package>tcpd-devel</package>
        <package>trafmon</package>
      </packages>
    </software>
  </install>
</profile>

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________________________________________________
Dr. Thorbjörn Jemander, Senior/RT Systems Expert
Enea Epact AB, Teknikringen 8, Linköping, Sweden
thje@epact.se,  +46 13 465 58 67,  www.epact.com

Problems finding autoinst.xml on floppy

Thorbjorn Jemander