Installing and Partitions

Message

bones01 · #1 Post by **bones01** » Mon 11 Aug 2008, 08:04

A couple of months ago, I installed Ubuntu Feisty Fawn, but last week it wouldn't load at all. Was given a copy of the Puppy 4.00 CD, and I like it. But I can't seem to install it without the CD. If I try, the computer tries to start Feisty and goes nowhere.
I've been looking at the forum entries and the manual about installing, and when partitions are raised, I get stuck. I have opened the GParted Partition Manager but can't resize the partition. It simply won't let me do it.
The Device Information at GParted says this:
Model TOSHIBA MK1016GAP
Size 9.36 GiB
Path /dev/hda

DiskLabelType msdos
Heads 255
Sectors/Track 63
Cylinders 1222
Total Sectors 19631430

The mountpoint is /initrd/mnt/dev_save

The computer itself is a Toshiba Satellite Pro 4300 with 320mb of RAM

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks

muggins · #2 Post by **muggins** » Mon 11 Aug 2008, 08:37

Hi bones01,

try booting the puppy CD into RAM, (by entering puppy pfix=ram in the first few seconds when you reboot, then try running gparted, then using puppy's universal installer.

I'm thinking that, when you've booted the CD previously, it has saved some files onto your hdisk.

bones01 · #3 Post by **bones01** » Mon 11 Aug 2008, 23:36

Thanks Muggins. Had a go this morning, and was able to get into GParted. Tried to follow the instructions from the Manual for Frugal Install, but when I restarted, the computer loaded Ubuntu. It did actually load Ubuntu, but there are some problems with that too.

Will keep trying and see how I go.

Any other thoughts?

Bruce B · #4 Post by **Bruce B** » Tue 12 Aug 2008, 08:05

But you didn't mention modifying GRUB's menu.lst file to boot Puppy. Did you?

Trid · #5 Post by **Trid** » Tue 12 Aug 2008, 23:03

Try pressing f12 during boot up (you might have to mash it. I do)
And booting from cd and installing from there.

bones01 · #6 Post by **bones01** » Tue 12 Aug 2008, 23:10

Thanks for the reminder Bruce B. Went back to the manual and followed the further instructions for this. However, I'm still not getting in. When I reboot, and choose "Puppy Linux 4.00 Frugal (on /dev/hda2)" I end up with a black screen with this:

Booting 'Puppy Linux 4.00 frugal (on /dev/hda2)'

rootnoverify (hd0,1)
kernel /puppy400/vmlinuz pmedia=idehd psubdir=puppy400

Error 15: File not found

Press any key to continue . . .

I'm not ready to give up yet, but getting close.

bones01 · #7 Post by **bones01** » Tue 12 Aug 2008, 23:11

Trid, what does 'mash it' mean?

#8 Post by **BÃ©Ã¨m** » Tue 12 Aug 2008, 23:21

You should hav an entry like

Code: Select all

initrd (hd0,1)/puppy400/initrd.gz

in menu.lst

P.S. Mash, maybe like mash patatos?

Trid · #9 Post by **Trid** » Wed 13 Aug 2008, 00:10

bones01 wrote:Trid, what does 'mash it' mean?

My Computer has a very small window in which to press f12, so to avoid missing said windows, I tap the key really fast over and over.

Mashing it.

Like taters.

muggins · #10 Post by **muggins** » Wed 13 Aug 2008, 00:54

Bones01,

your excerpt, from menu.lst, would be for a full install. You need an entry for initrd.gz for a frugal install, like:

Code: Select all

rootnoverify (hd0,1)
kernel /puppy400/vmlinuz pmedia=idehd psubdir=puppy400
initrd /puppy400/initrd.gz

bones01 · #11 Post by **bones01** » Wed 13 Aug 2008, 08:39

Thanks Muggins, but the code you have recorded is exactly what appears in my menu.lst

I have sought to follow the manual as best I can, but I'm still getting nowhere. (That's not altogether true. I'm getting frustrated!!!)

I have no Windows on this computer, and have no plans to put Windows on it. Does that change anything?

Micke · #12 Post by **Micke** » Wed 13 Aug 2008, 09:29

Hello,

can you boot from the live-cd?

If so, have you tried to repartion and reformat your harddrive? It seems you have a linguering ubuntu install which is somehow broken, resulting in problems in installing puppy.

Please read through all of the below before issuing any commands. If you have no problem with loosing every scrap of data on your harddrive you could try the following:

If you can boot from the livecd use(from console)

Code: Select all

cfdisk

to remove existing partitions and create new ones (e.g one bootable linux/ext3 partition and one smaller swap partion). and then use:

Code: Select all

mkfs

to format /dev/hda1 (or what ever you device is called)

and

Code: Select all

mkswap

to set up the new swap partion.

Google these commands to get the syntax and options right, there are plenty of howtos out there so I won't have to take responsibility for messing up your computer

.

And please make sure you get the correct name for your partions before using mkfs and mkswap!

After that try once more to install puppy.

/Micke

#13 Post by **BÃ©Ã¨m** » Wed 13 Aug 2008, 09:34

bones01
This what you have posted

rootnoverify (hd0,1)
kernel /puppy400/vmlinuz pmedia=idehd psubdir=puppy400

Error 15: File not found

Not quite the same as Muggins (and I) proposed.

Having Windows or not should not be a problem.

My menu.lst is:

Code: Select all

title Puppy 4.00
	kernel (hd0,0)/puppy400/vmlinuz
	initrd (hd0,0)/puppy400/initrd.gz
	boot

But for me it's still not clear how many partitions you how now and on which one puppy is installed.

muggins · #14 Post by **muggins** » Thu 14 Aug 2008, 03:31

My grub menu.lst entry, to boot a frugal pupversion4, is:

Code: Select all

title pup4
root (hd0,1)
kernel /pup4/vmlinuz root=/dev/ram0 vga=normal psubdir=pup4
initrd /pup4/initrd.gz

bones01 · #15 Post by **bones01** » Thu 14 Aug 2008, 03:59

Thanks for the suggestions, Muggins & Beem. I've tried both, but to no avail. I'm intrigued that you have both made suggestions that are completely different to that listed in the manual under Frugal Installation.

Beem, what I posted is what comes up when I start the computer. The menu.lst that I had is, as best I can, the same as suggested in the manual.

I have two partitions and Puppy is in the second (hda2).

Maybe I'll just stick with the CD until I can try something else.

vg1 · #16 Post by **vg1** » Thu 14 Aug 2008, 09:50

Looks like your kernel has not been found, perhaps vmlinuz has been renamed inadvertently. This has been commented on a lot, you should look around and avail yourself of the search facility. Otherwise we go in circles sugesting the same fixes over and over again. This is one recent thread with a similar problem: http://www.murga-linux.com/puppy/viewtopic.php?t=32112, but there are more.

Muggins'/Beem's menu entries may be different from the one in the manual, but they are both valid for their setups. The manual can only suggest a model entry, which has to be tweaked to suit each particular setup. Beem's entry is simpler to try, it should work for you provided the partition and folder names concur with yours, otherwise adjust to your setup. If not already done boot into another OS and check that vmlinuz & initrd.gz have not changed names. While you're at it check that you have the pup_400.sfs in the correct directory and named correctly.

#17 Post by **BÃ©Ã¨m** » Thu 14 Aug 2008, 10:02

I don't remember quite well the procedure, but from within GRUB a find can be done also.
I think you when in the offending GRUB entry you have to push e for edit
You get a cmd line or you have to push something else (c?) to get a command line.
Then find and the name of the file to look for.
You get a list of the place(s) where the file is.

muggins · #18 Post by **muggins** » Thu 14 Aug 2008, 12:09

bones01,

If you enter c when you first boot, you'll start the grub console. Then you can try entering:

Code: Select all

find /puppy400/vmlinuz
find /puppy400/initrd.gz

Also, could you copy&paste your complete grub menu.lst?

bones01 · #19 Post by **bones01** » Thu 14 Aug 2008, 23:06

Thanks. I'll give it a go tomorrow when I have a bit of time

bones01 · #20 Post by **bones01** » Mon 18 Aug 2008, 12:22

Sorry I didn't get this done earlier. Weekend was fuller than expected, but a whole lot of fun too.

vg1, you mention using another OS. Don't have one on the system now. I'm also feeling way out of my depth. Not sure what vmlinuz is or where it should be, but will look through some more forums entries to see what I can find.

Muggins, here is the menu.lst (no doubt it will mean more to you than it does to me)
# GRUB configuration file '/boot/grub/menu.lst'.
# generated by 'grubconfig'. Wed Aug 13 08:15:19 2008
#
# The backup copy of the MBR for drive '/dev/hda' is
# here '/boot/grub/mbr.hda.8832'. You can restore it like this.
# dd if=/boot/grub/mbr.hda.8832 of=/dev/hda bs=512 count=1
#
# Start GRUB global section
#timeout 30
color light-gray/blue black/light-gray
# End GRUB global section
# Other bootable partition config begins
title Windows (on /dev/hda1)
rootnoverify (hd0,0)
makeactive
chainloader +1
# Other bootable partition config ends
# Linux bootable partition config begins
title Puppy Linux 4.00 frugal (on /dev/hda2)
rootnoverify (hd0,1)
kernel /pup4/vmlinuz pmedia=idehd psubdir=pup400
initrd /pup4/initrd.gz
# Linux bootable partition config ends
title Install GRUB to floppy disk (on /dev/fd0)
pause Insert a formatted floppy disk and press enter.
root (hd0,1)
setup (fd0)
pause Press enter to continue.
title Install GRUB to Linux partition (on /dev/hda2)
root (hd0,1)
setup (hd0,1)
pause Press enter to continue.
title - For help press 'c', then type: 'help'
root (hd0)
title - For usage examples, type: 'cat /boot/grub/usage.txt'
root (hd0)

Am I missing something vital, or has there been a simple error somewhere?

I really appreciate the time you are giving me. I will look forward to your comments when they arrive.

(old)Puppy Linux Discussion Forum

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Installing and Partitions

Installing and Partitions