Hi, all -- I have a tricky machine -- no CD, no video, no keyboard, no floppy -- on which I'd nonetheless like to install SuSE 8.1. The machine is currently running a Linux From Scratch build, and I have an alternate root slice ready to go with plenty of space in /home for a copy of the DVD. Any idea how I can proceed? Can I perhaps do a little chroot magic and start the install? TIA & HAND :-D -- David T-G * There is too much animal courage in (play) davidtg@justpickone.org * society and not sufficient moral courage. (work) davidtgwork@justpickone.org -- Mary Baker Eddy, "Science and Health" http://justpickone.org/davidtg/ Shpx gur Pbzzhavpngvbaf Qrprapl Npg!
On Wed, 2003-07-16 at 12:09, David T-G wrote:
Hi, all --
Lo,
I have a tricky machine -- no CD, no video, no keyboard, no floppy -- on which I'd nonetheless like to install SuSE 8.1. The machine is currently running a Linux From Scratch build, and I have an alternate root slice ready to go with plenty of space in /home for a copy of the DVD.
How about you make a bootp combined install server and PXE boot over the network instead? That ought to be one of the better ways to install that box.
Any idea how I can proceed? Can I perhaps do a little chroot magic and start the install?
Possibly. You would have to investigate what the bootimage and initrd on
the DVD actually does, and then mimic that.
Rgds,
--
Anders Karlsson
Anders, et al --
...and then Anders Karlsson said...
%
% On Wed, 2003-07-16 at 12:09, David T-G wrote:
% > Hi, all --
%
% Lo,
*grin*
%
% > I have a tricky machine -- no CD, no video, no keyboard, no floppy -- on
% > which I'd nonetheless like to install SuSE 8.1. The machine is currently
% > running a Linux From Scratch build, and I have an alternate root slice
% > ready to go with plenty of space in /home for a copy of the DVD.
%
% How about you make a bootp combined install server and PXE boot over the
% network instead? That ought to be one of the better ways to install that
% box.
Hmmm... That's not a bad idea. I'll have to check to see if the quad
card that it has can do a network boot, but that might get me there.
Has SuSE yet gotten their equivalent of kickstart going?
%
% > Any idea how I can proceed? Can I perhaps do a little chroot magic and
% > start the install?
%
% Possibly. You would have to investigate what the bootimage and initrd on
% the DVD actually does, and then mimic that.
OK. And initrd is just the initial ram disk, which should be an ext2
image, right?
%
% Rgds,
%
% --
% Anders Karlsson
Afternoon,
% > I have a tricky machine -- no CD, no video, no keyboard, no floppy -- on % > which I'd nonetheless like to install SuSE 8.1. The machine is currently % > running a Linux From Scratch build, and I have an alternate root slice % > ready to go with plenty of space in /home for a copy of the DVD. % % How about you make a bootp combined install server and PXE boot over the % network instead? That ought to be one of the better ways to install that % box.
Hmmm... That's not a bad idea. I'll have to check to see if the quad card that it has can do a network boot, but that might get me there.
When you boot the machine, does it say anything about Intel PXE something or another on the screen? If it does, you should be able to network boot. Most network cards today can do this.
Has SuSE yet gotten their equivalent of kickstart going?
I think that with SLPro 8.2 there is a way of installing over the network. I have not investigated this, but I seem to recall it exists.
% > Any idea how I can proceed? Can I perhaps do a little chroot magic and % > start the install? % % Possibly. You would have to investigate what the bootimage and initrd on % the DVD actually does, and then mimic that.
OK. And initrd is just the initial ram disk, which should be an ext2 image, right?
The initrd is usually a gzipped image of a ext2 or minix filesystem.
Normal today is ext2. Gunzip the image, loopmount it somewhere and have
a poke around what it does. Look for the linuxrc file as that should be
the first thing that gets run.
Rgds,
--
Anders Karlsson
Anders --
...and then Anders Karlsson said...
%
% Afternoon,
Hi again!
%
% > % > I have a tricky machine -- no CD, no video, no keyboard, no floppy -- on
...
% >
% > Hmmm... That's not a bad idea. I'll have to check to see if the quad
% > card that it has can do a network boot, but that might get me there.
%
% When you boot the machine, does it say anything about Intel PXE
What screen? :-)
% something or another on the screen? If it does, you should be able to
% network boot. Most network cards today can do this.
Sounds good.
%
% > Has SuSE yet gotten their equivalent of kickstart going?
%
% I think that with SLPro 8.2 there is a way of installing over the
% network. I have not investigated this, but I seem to recall it exists.
Oooh; that sounds nice.
%
...
% > OK. And initrd is just the initial ram disk, which should be an ext2
% > image, right?
%
% The initrd is usually a gzipped image of a ext2 or minix filesystem.
Right.
% Normal today is ext2. Gunzip the image, loopmount it somewhere and have
% a poke around what it does. Look for the linuxrc file as that should be
% the first thing that gets run.
Ah. Thanks!
%
% Rgds,
%
% --
% Anders Karlsson
% When you boot the machine, does it say anything about Intel PXE
What screen? :-)
Doh! You said it had no video. Silly me. :)
Well, if you have to interact with the machine in any way while it
boots, be it configuring network card or giving extra options to the
kernel on boot, perhaps a serial console would work? A null-modem cable
is reasonably cheap, and I am sure the SuSE kernels support serial
consoles. :)
If you do install the machine using the SuSE equivalent of kick-start,
let me know how you did it. ;-) Handy to know.
Regards,
--
Anders Karlsson
Anders, et al --
...and then Anders Karlsson said...
%
% > % When you boot the machine, does it say anything about Intel PXE
% >
% > What screen? :-)
%
% Doh! You said it had no video. Silly me. :)
*grin*
%
% Well, if you have to interact with the machine in any way while it
% boots, be it configuring network card or giving extra options to the
% kernel on boot, perhaps a serial console would work? A null-modem cable
% is reasonably cheap, and I am sure the SuSE kernels support serial
% consoles. :)
The trick is getting the SuSE kernel on there in the first place! The
real challenge, I think, will be having a network boot image that looks
to the serial port as well as booting from the network anyway.
%
% If you do install the machine using the SuSE equivalent of kick-start,
% let me know how you did it. ;-) Handy to know.
Heh :-) The last I heard was that "they were working on one"; I don't
even know if such exists yet!
%
% Regards,
%
% --
% Anders Karlsson
On Fri, 18 Jul 2003, David T-G wrote:
% If you do install the machine using the SuSE equivalent of kick-start, % let me know how you did it. ;-) Handy to know.
Heh :-) The last I heard was that "they were working on one"; I don't even know if such exists yet!
You're probably thinking of autoyast, which is mature and very powerful. http://www.suse.de/~nashif/autoinstall/ -- Roger Whittaker SuSE Linux Ltd Appleton House 139 King Street Hammersmith W6 9JG ------------------ 020 8846 3923 ------------------ roger@suse.co.uk ------------------
Roger -- ...and then Roger Whittaker said... % % On Fri, 18 Jul 2003, David T-G wrote: % % > Heh :-) The last I heard was that "they were working on one"; I don't % > even know if such exists yet! % % You're probably thinking of autoyast, which is mature and very powerful. % % http://www.suse.de/~nashif/autoinstall/ I might be. Thanks; I'll check it out! HAND :-D -- David T-G * There is too much animal courage in (play) davidtg@justpickone.org * society and not sufficient moral courage. (work) davidtgwork@justpickone.org -- Mary Baker Eddy, "Science and Health" http://justpickone.org/davidtg/ Shpx gur Pbzzhavpngvbaf Qrprapl Npg!
I have a tricky machine -- no CD, no video, no keyboard, no floppy -- on which I'd nonetheless like to install SuSE 8.1.
One possibility that occurs to me is to attach a video, keyboard, CD drive, etc., do the installation, and then remove it all. (Rather boring, I know.)
Peter, et al -- ...and then Peter Evans said... % % > I have a tricky machine -- no CD, no video, no % > keyboard, no floppy -- on which I'd nonetheless % > like to install SuSE 8.1. % % One possibility that occurs to me is to attach a video, keyboard, CD % drive, etc., do the installation, and then remove it all. That is a theoretical possibility. However, as I have no available video card, no USB keyboard (it doesn't have a PS/2 kbd or mouse port), and no CD drive handy, I'm pretty much out of luck there. % % (Rather boring, I know.) Boring != bad :-) Thanks & HAND :-D -- David T-G * There is too much animal courage in (play) davidtg@justpickone.org * society and not sufficient moral courage. (work) davidtgwork@justpickone.org -- Mary Baker Eddy, "Science and Health" http://justpickone.org/davidtg/ Shpx gur Pbzzhavpngvbaf Qrprapl Npg!
The 03.07.17 at 06:21, David T-G wrote:
% One possibility that occurs to me is to attach a video, keyboard, CD % drive, etc., do the installation, and then remove it all.
That is a theoretical possibility. However, as I have no available video card, no USB keyboard (it doesn't have a PS/2 kbd or mouse port), and no CD drive handy, I'm pretty much out of luck there.
Then you can remove the hard disk, plug it somewhere else, install, and plug it back. I did that for my 386SX-20... Notice that the only package that is tuned somewhat to the microprocesor is the kernel: the rest are just generic pentium nowdays, I think. Alternatively, I read somewhere that you can use the serial port as a console (remote), and perhaps even the main one; but I don't know if this applies to the install. This is configured in inittab. -- Cheers, Carlos Robinson
Carlos, et al -- ...and then Carlos E. R. said... % % % The 03.07.17 at 06:21, David T-G wrote: % % > That is a theoretical possibility. However, as I have no available video % > card, no USB keyboard (it doesn't have a PS/2 kbd or mouse port), and no % > CD drive handy, I'm pretty much out of luck there. % % Then you can remove the hard disk, plug it somewhere else, install, and % plug it back. I did that for my 386SX-20... Not only does that take down my gateway for the time required to install, but I have to get another machine into which I can plug the drive. If I had that, I'd probably have video, kbd, and cd as well :-) % % Notice that the only package that is tuned somewhat to the microprocesor % is the kernel: the rest are just generic pentium nowdays, I think. Makes sense. Tricky to load on a 486, but makes sense :-) % % % Alternatively, I read somewhere that you can use the serial port as a % console (remote), and perhaps even the main one; but I don't know if this % applies to the install. This is configured in inittab. With lilo it's easy to set up a serial console (I even contributed changes to the doc that comes with the kernel, though I don't think they were ever included *sniff*). I don't know if the SuSE disks support it, but without a CD drive from which to boot (not to metion the adventures of makign it boot from CD instead of from the hard drive) it's a moot question anyway. % % -- % Cheers, % Carlos Robinson /me wonders if someone could just build a basic system, tar it up, and send it on for me to spit out and then update via yast... :-D -- David T-G * There is too much animal courage in (play) davidtg@justpickone.org * society and not sufficient moral courage. (work) davidtgwork@justpickone.org -- Mary Baker Eddy, "Science and Health" http://justpickone.org/davidtg/ Shpx gur Pbzzhavpngvbaf Qrprapl Npg!
The 03.07.17 at 19:30, David T-G wrote:
...and then Carlos E. R. said...
% Then you can remove the hard disk, plug it somewhere else, install, and % plug it back. I did that for my 386SX-20...
Not only does that take down my gateway for the time required to install, but I have to get another machine into which I can plug the drive. If I had that, I'd probably have video, kbd, and cd as well :-)
Well... even on a home network - is it? I'm unsure if you mentioned it - or a bussiness production machine, upgrading any critical machine live, without a backup, is a no-no :-)
% % Notice that the only package that is tuned somewhat to the microprocesor % is the kernel: the rest are just generic pentium nowdays, I think.
Makes sense. Tricky to load on a 486, but makes sense :-)
In my case, I used suse 6.4, which assumes a 386. I only neede to recompile the kernel for the 386. Suse 8.2 I'm unsure if it assumes a 486 or a 586 for packages.
% % Alternatively, I read somewhere that you can use the serial port as a % console (remote), and perhaps even the main one; but I don't know if this % applies to the install. This is configured in inittab.
With lilo it's easy to set up a serial console (I even contributed changes to the doc that comes with the kernel, though I don't think they were ever included *sniff*).
Good to know I wasn't mistaken.
I don't know if the SuSE disks support it, but without a CD drive from which to boot (not to metion the adventures of makign it boot from CD instead of from the hard drive) it's a moot question anyway.
You might boot from a diskete, and tell it to use an ftp source.
/me wonders if someone could just build a basic system, tar it up, and send it on for me to spit out and then update via yast...
:-D
Now, that is not an absurd idea! You could perhaps make a minimun install on _any_ machine, and then copy everything by ftp there. Just make sure to use the appropiate kernel, and to adjust lilo as needed. Of course, you always need another machine. As long as you don't try to install X, it will be fine. Or it should ;-) But don't count on me to tar it up for you! X-) I don't have the bandwidth, anyway. -- Cheers, Carlos Robinson
Carlos, et al -- ...and then Carlos E. R. said... % % The 03.07.17 at 19:30, David T-G wrote: % % > ...and then Carlos E. R. said... % % > % Then you can remove the hard disk, plug it somewhere else, install, and % > % plug it back. I did that for my 386SX-20... % > % > Not only does that take down my gateway for the time required to install, % > but I have to get another machine into which I can plug the drive. If I % > had that, I'd probably have video, kbd, and cd as well :-) % % Well... even on a home network - is it? I'm unsure if you mentioned it - % or a bussiness production machine, upgrading any critical machine live, % without a backup, is a no-no :-) It is, indeed, a home network, and my plan is to install in an alternate partition rather than touch the existing boot slice, but, yes, it is in a critical spot. I simply suffer from server density deficiency! % % > Makes sense. Tricky to load on a 486, but makes sense :-) % % In my case, I used suse 6.4, which assumes a 386. I only neede to % recompile the kernel for the 386. Suse 8.2 I'm unsure if it assumes a 486 % or a 586 for packages. I think that all of the RPMs I see on my 8.1 are 586 or 686. I also have SuSE 6.1 for anything really old, but it's a pain to have to go and compile everything so I just won't go out and get any 486s any time soon! % % > With lilo it's easy to set up a serial console (I even contributed % > changes to the doc that comes with the kernel, though I don't think they % > were ever included *sniff*). % % Good to know I wasn't mistaken. Yep. % % > I don't know if the SuSE disks support it, % > but without a CD drive from which to boot (not to metion the adventures % > of makign it boot from CD instead of from the hard drive) it's a moot % > question anyway. % % You might boot from a diskete, and tell it to use an ftp source. No floppy, either :-) Didn't even think to mention that one... % % % > /me wonders if someone could just build a basic system, tar it up, and % > send it on for me to spit out and then update via yast... % % Now, that is not an absurd idea! Thank you :-) That's actually, although from LFS, how this system was first built. I just don't want to have to keep compiling the world when I want to add nfs support or an http server or whatever, much less staying ahead of security patches. I want Y.O.U. :-) % % You could perhaps make a minimun install on _any_ machine, and then copy % everything by ftp there. Just make sure to use the appropiate kernel, and % to adjust lilo as needed. Yep. My bet is that it shouldn't take more than 100M, and maybe as little as 50M. % % Of course, you always need another machine. As long as you don't try to % install X, it will be fine. Or it should ;-) Yeah :-) % % But don't count on me to tar it up for you! X-) I don't have the % bandwidth, anyway. Oh, phooey. Well, at leat the idea is out there now... Anyone care to install a 586 or 686 (it's a Celeron 550) with a Tulip network driver and enough YaST to talk to an nfs server (my laptop)? I can give you a place to drop the tar.bz2 file, of course. % % % -- % Cheers, % Carlos Robinson Thanks again & HAND :-D -- David T-G * There is too much animal courage in (play) davidtg@justpickone.org * society and not sufficient moral courage. (work) davidtgwork@justpickone.org -- Mary Baker Eddy, "Science and Health" http://justpickone.org/davidtg/ Shpx gur Pbzzhavpngvbaf Qrprapl Npg!
On 2003.07.18 15:50 David T-G wrote:
I think that all of the RPMs I see on my 8.1 are 586 or 686. I also have SuSE 6.1 for anything really old, but it's a pain to have to go and compile everything so I just won't go out and get any 486s any time soon!
They are all compiled for a plain pentium in suse 8.2, I guess: optflags: i686 -O2 -march=i686 -mcpu=i686
% You might boot from a diskete, and tell it to use an ftp source.
No floppy, either :-) Didn't even think to mention that one...
Just an stupid question: O:-) What happens if it breaks down one day? You have no way to get into it...
Thanks again & HAND
Ahhh...! I don't have "HAND" in my acronyms list :-? -- Cheers, Carlos Robinson
Carlos, et al -- ...and then Carlos E. R. said... % % % On 2003.07.18 15:50 David T-G wrote: % % > I think that all of the RPMs I see on my 8.1 are 586 or 686. I also have % > SuSE 6.1 for anything really old, but it's a pain to have to go and % > compile everything so I just won't go out and get any 486s any time soon! % % They are all compiled for a plain pentium in suse 8.2, I guess: % % optflags: i686 -O2 -march=i686 -mcpu=i686 Isn't a plain pentium a 586 and a Pentium II / Celeron a 686? % % % > % > % You might boot from a diskete, and tell it to use an ftp source. % > % > No floppy, either :-) Didn't even think to mention that one... % % Just an stupid question: O:-) *grin* % % What happens if it breaks down one day? You have no way to get into it... If it breaks then it breaks. I pop the drive out, take it over to the guy who built it for me and perhaps even get a new LFS load on it. Since LILO talks to the serial console, though, the first thing I try is booting from the alternate partition (which currently has the LFS build on it the same as the primary) and do the repairs from there. [That's what I'd do once SuSE, or whatever it turns out to be, is finally installed.] % % % > Thanks again & HAND % % Ahhh...! I don't have "HAND" in my acronyms list :-? I see that Anders has already answered this one for me :-) % % -- % Cheers, % Carlos Robinson Thanks again & HAND :-D -- David T-G * There is too much animal courage in (play) davidtg@justpickone.org * society and not sufficient moral courage. (work) davidtgwork@justpickone.org -- Mary Baker Eddy, "Science and Health" http://justpickone.org/davidtg/ Shpx gur Pbzzhavpngvbaf Qrprapl Npg!
participants (6)
-
Anders Johansson
-
Anders Karlsson
-
Carlos E. R.
-
David T-G
-
Peter Evans
-
Roger Whittaker