So I am installing Puppy on an old Compaq M300 laptop, which has no CD or floppy.
So I took out the hard drive, put it into a USB enclosure and installed Puppy from my desktop.
When I put the HD back into the laptop, it wont boot. Puppy offers to create a boot floppy, but I cant use that option. Is there a way to set the hard drive to boot itself?
(I am newbie to Linux so bear with me)
Would it make a difference if I unplugged my desktop HD, which would make the USB/laptop HD to be an "a" partition?
How to make HD bootable?
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Bruce B
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malangbaba
- Posts: 22
- Joined: Thu 30 Aug 2007, 00:21
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Bruce B
The information helps a lot.
In order for FAT32 to be bootable it needs.
Three files, IO.SYS, COMMAND.COM from Windows 95OSR2 or Windows 98. Plus the configuration file MSDOS.SYS (Presuming the boot sector is a typical boot sector, you can eliminate running the MS-DOS SYS command as a file copy should do it).
The boot partition needs to be marked active., you can do this with Linux utilities or MS-DOS FDISK.
Making the partition DOS bootable does NOT accomplish the task of booting Puppy - more steps involved.
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The problem is you do not have enough RAM to successfully run Puppy. with a Frugal Install, a Normal Install is about your only option in my opinion. (or install more RAM).
The Normal installation requires a different filesystem, a native Linux filesystem type 0x83 formatted ext2, and a swap file or partition.
So IMO that means back to square one.
Also, I won't be posting for several hours, so if you're anxious to get to work, I expect others will be happy to advise you more.
In order for FAT32 to be bootable it needs.
Three files, IO.SYS, COMMAND.COM from Windows 95OSR2 or Windows 98. Plus the configuration file MSDOS.SYS (Presuming the boot sector is a typical boot sector, you can eliminate running the MS-DOS SYS command as a file copy should do it).
The boot partition needs to be marked active., you can do this with Linux utilities or MS-DOS FDISK.
Making the partition DOS bootable does NOT accomplish the task of booting Puppy - more steps involved.
-------------------------
The problem is you do not have enough RAM to successfully run Puppy. with a Frugal Install, a Normal Install is about your only option in my opinion. (or install more RAM).
The Normal installation requires a different filesystem, a native Linux filesystem type 0x83 formatted ext2, and a swap file or partition.
So IMO that means back to square one.
Also, I won't be posting for several hours, so if you're anxious to get to work, I expect others will be happy to advise you more.
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malangbaba
- Posts: 22
- Joined: Thu 30 Aug 2007, 00:21
Peace,
yeah so i figured out the Fat32 issues...and since i wont be dual-booting with Win i reformatted and repartitioned the HD so:
2GB EXT2 (Has puppy files installed)
2GB EXT2 (empty - but to try out other distros)
732MB Swap
So then Puppy's Installer guided me through the steps:
- I did (and wanted to) do a "Full" install rather than "Frugal"
- then it asked about installing GRUB
- grubconfig script is executed
- "simple" GRUB Install
- GRUB files go to: /dev/sdb1
- GRUB installed to MBR (When I selected MBR, it copied GRUB to my Desktop HD!!! Which now wont boot to Windows!)
- the laptop HD still wont boot
So now I got two problems
yeah so i figured out the Fat32 issues...and since i wont be dual-booting with Win i reformatted and repartitioned the HD so:
2GB EXT2 (Has puppy files installed)
2GB EXT2 (empty - but to try out other distros)
732MB Swap
So then Puppy's Installer guided me through the steps:
- I did (and wanted to) do a "Full" install rather than "Frugal"
- then it asked about installing GRUB
- grubconfig script is executed
- "simple" GRUB Install
- GRUB files go to: /dev/sdb1
- GRUB installed to MBR (When I selected MBR, it copied GRUB to my Desktop HD!!! Which now wont boot to Windows!)
- the laptop HD still wont boot
So now I got two problems
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Bruce B
I guess you do. And it makes sense based on what you wrote.malangbaba wrote:Peace,
So then Puppy's Installer guided me through the steps:
- I did (and wanted to) do a "Full" install rather than "Frugal"
- then it asked about installing GRUB
- grubconfig script is executed
- "simple" GRUB Install
- GRUB files go to: /dev/sdb1
- GRUB installed to MBR (When I selected MBR, it copied GRUB to my Desktop HD!!! Which now wont boot to Windows!)
- the laptop HD still wont boot
So now I got two problems :)
The missing Windows MBR is preserved in /dev/sda1/boot/grub, along with instructions on how to restore it.
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malangbaba
- Posts: 22
- Joined: Thu 30 Aug 2007, 00:21
hmm
i cant seem to access: /dev/sda1/boot/grub
Did i lose the opp to do so by rebooting since?
if i go into dev and click sda1 (the icon of which which looks like the insides of a hardrive) it say "I dont know how to open /dev/sda1"
sda1 doesnt show up as a folder but under type it is listed as "blck"
i cant seem to access: /dev/sda1/boot/grub
Did i lose the opp to do so by rebooting since?
if i go into dev and click sda1 (the icon of which which looks like the insides of a hardrive) it say "I dont know how to open /dev/sda1"
sda1 doesnt show up as a folder but under type it is listed as "blck"
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malangbaba
- Posts: 22
- Joined: Thu 30 Aug 2007, 00:21
current menu.lst on the Puppy HD
so...when i put the HD back in the laptop, where it would be the only HD...which of the below settings do i change?
# GRUB configuration file '/boot/grub/menu.lst'.
# generated by 'grubconfig'. Thu Aug 30 02:31:27 2007
#
# The backup copy of the MBR for drive '/dev/sdb' is
# here '/boot/grub/mbr.sdb.30300'. You can restore it like this.
# dd if=/boot/grub/mbr.sdb.30300 of=/dev/sdb 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/sda1)
rootnoverify (hd0,0)
makeactive
chainloader +1
# Other bootable partition config ends
# Linux bootable partition config begins
title Linux (on /dev/sdb1)
root (hd1,0)
kernel /boot/vmlinuz root=/dev/sdb1 ro vga=normal
# Linux bootable partition config ends
title Install GRUB to floppy disk (on /dev/fd0)
pause Insert a formatted floppy disk and press enter.
root (hd1,0)
setup (fd0)
pause Press enter to continue.
title Install GRUB to Linux partition (on /dev/sdb1)
root (hd1,0)
setup (hd1,0)
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)
# GRUB configuration file '/boot/grub/menu.lst'.
# generated by 'grubconfig'. Thu Aug 30 02:31:27 2007
#
# The backup copy of the MBR for drive '/dev/sdb' is
# here '/boot/grub/mbr.sdb.30300'. You can restore it like this.
# dd if=/boot/grub/mbr.sdb.30300 of=/dev/sdb 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/sda1)
rootnoverify (hd0,0)
makeactive
chainloader +1
# Other bootable partition config ends
# Linux bootable partition config begins
title Linux (on /dev/sdb1)
root (hd1,0)
kernel /boot/vmlinuz root=/dev/sdb1 ro vga=normal
# Linux bootable partition config ends
title Install GRUB to floppy disk (on /dev/fd0)
pause Insert a formatted floppy disk and press enter.
root (hd1,0)
setup (fd0)
pause Press enter to continue.
title Install GRUB to Linux partition (on /dev/sdb1)
root (hd1,0)
setup (hd1,0)
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)
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Bruce B
To access non bootable drives (in this case specific directories and files), boot with Puppy Live CD
Then mount them and navigate to destination. I don't think I'd recommend restoring the overwritten MBR with that drive mounted however. Which you should not need to do because the MBR file is on a different drive than the one you want to restore.
Alternately, you could make a DOS boot disk, nothing elaborate. Download aefdisk, a DOS utility, copy the MBR to the DOS boot disk.
Boot with the boot disk and run these commands:
aefdisk /show (to see partition information on first drive)
aefdisk 2 /show (to see partition information on second drive)
aefdisk /restore:a:nameof.mbr (where the nameof.mbr is the actual file name of the first mbr) and you know which drive you are working with by the numbers 2 3 4, the default being 1 which doesn't need to be entered on the command line.
Advantage in aefdisk is it refuses to do something it knows is wrong or doesn't correspond right.
Also you can save a copy of the MBR you are about to overwrite with this command:
aefdisk /save:filename.mbr (where filename.mbr is name of your choosing)
By saving the existing you can put things back as they were, should something go wrong.
-------------
Also there are standard and easier ways to make a new DOS / Windows MBR
MS-DOS FDISK works with all FAT filesystems OSes, and even the NT series, but not so well as with the particular NT series methods. So, if it's just a Windows 98SE or along that vintage,
FDISK /MBR
AND YOUR BACK IN BUSINESS.
Then mount them and navigate to destination. I don't think I'd recommend restoring the overwritten MBR with that drive mounted however. Which you should not need to do because the MBR file is on a different drive than the one you want to restore.
Alternately, you could make a DOS boot disk, nothing elaborate. Download aefdisk, a DOS utility, copy the MBR to the DOS boot disk.
Boot with the boot disk and run these commands:
aefdisk /show (to see partition information on first drive)
aefdisk 2 /show (to see partition information on second drive)
aefdisk /restore:a:nameof.mbr (where the nameof.mbr is the actual file name of the first mbr) and you know which drive you are working with by the numbers 2 3 4, the default being 1 which doesn't need to be entered on the command line.
Advantage in aefdisk is it refuses to do something it knows is wrong or doesn't correspond right.
Also you can save a copy of the MBR you are about to overwrite with this command:
aefdisk /save:filename.mbr (where filename.mbr is name of your choosing)
By saving the existing you can put things back as they were, should something go wrong.
-------------
Also there are standard and easier ways to make a new DOS / Windows MBR
MS-DOS FDISK works with all FAT filesystems OSes, and even the NT series, but not so well as with the particular NT series methods. So, if it's just a Windows 98SE or along that vintage,
FDISK /MBR
AND YOUR BACK IN BUSINESS.
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Bruce B
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Bruce B
Also, don't give up. If this gets to be too much hassle, we can set the laptop up with a small DOS boot partition and use GRUB for DOS to boot Puppy.
In other words: We don't need to depend on Puppy's GRUB installer if it doesn't install right in your case.
A partitioning scheme in that case would be along these lines:
hda1 MESSY-DOS slightly > 32 MB, FAT16 to be used for DOS booting, GRUB.EXE and DOS utilities
hda2 type 83 for Puppy
hda3 type 83 for Sandbox and playground
hda4 type 82 for swap
In other words: We don't need to depend on Puppy's GRUB installer if it doesn't install right in your case.
A partitioning scheme in that case would be along these lines:
hda1 MESSY-DOS slightly > 32 MB, FAT16 to be used for DOS booting, GRUB.EXE and DOS utilities
hda2 type 83 for Puppy
hda3 type 83 for Sandbox and playground
hda4 type 82 for swap
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Bruce B
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malangbaba
- Posts: 22
- Joined: Thu 30 Aug 2007, 00:21
So Here are the changes and messages i get...
If I load into the Windows option:
title Windows (on /dev/sda1)
rootnoverify (hd0,0)
makeactive
chainloader +1
I get this:
Error 13: Invalid or unsupported executable format
If I load into Linux option:
title Linux (on /dev/sdb1)
root (hd1,0)
kernel /boot/vmlinuz root=/dev/sdb1 ro vga=normal
I get:
Filesystem type unknown partition type 0x7
Error 17: Cannot mount selected partition
If I change it to:
title Linux (on /dev/sdb1)
root (hd0,0)
kernel /boot/vmlinuz root=/dev/sdb1 ro vga=normal
i get:
File system: ext2fs, patition type 0x83
[Linux-bzImage, setup=0x1c00, size=0x1af0c8]
Uncompressing Linux... Ok, booting the kernel
Kernel Panic -not syncing: No init found. try passing init=option to kernel
If I change it to:
title Linux (on /dev/sdb1)
root (hd0,0)
kernel /boot/vmlinuz root=/dev/sda1 ro vga=normal
i get:
File system: ext2fs, patition type 0x83
[Linux-bzImage, setup=0x1c00, size=0x1af0c8]
Uncompressing Linux... Ok, booting the kernel
Kernel Panic -not syncing: VFS: Unable to mount root fs on unknown-block(0,0)
If I load into the Windows option:
title Windows (on /dev/sda1)
rootnoverify (hd0,0)
makeactive
chainloader +1
I get this:
Error 13: Invalid or unsupported executable format
If I load into Linux option:
title Linux (on /dev/sdb1)
root (hd1,0)
kernel /boot/vmlinuz root=/dev/sdb1 ro vga=normal
I get:
Filesystem type unknown partition type 0x7
Error 17: Cannot mount selected partition
If I change it to:
title Linux (on /dev/sdb1)
root (hd0,0)
kernel /boot/vmlinuz root=/dev/sdb1 ro vga=normal
i get:
File system: ext2fs, patition type 0x83
[Linux-bzImage, setup=0x1c00, size=0x1af0c8]
Uncompressing Linux... Ok, booting the kernel
Kernel Panic -not syncing: No init found. try passing init=option to kernel
If I change it to:
title Linux (on /dev/sdb1)
root (hd0,0)
kernel /boot/vmlinuz root=/dev/sda1 ro vga=normal
i get:
File system: ext2fs, patition type 0x83
[Linux-bzImage, setup=0x1c00, size=0x1af0c8]
Uncompressing Linux... Ok, booting the kernel
Kernel Panic -not syncing: VFS: Unable to mount root fs on unknown-block(0,0)
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malangbaba
- Posts: 22
- Joined: Thu 30 Aug 2007, 00:21
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Bruce B
You did great. I expect you to be a Puppy Master in short order.
Things were happening so fast on your end, I could not hold a reasonable facsimile of where you were at in my mind. Therefore, I don't know how helpful my advice was. As if I were telling you how to change a flat tire, when you'd already done it and were now working on the leaking radiator. Nice to see someone pulling up their shirt sleeves and getting to work.
-------------------------------------
So, if I've got it right, you laptop is booting with GRUB, has a Normal Install, an extra 0x83 partition for playing with other distros and a swap partition?
Things were happening so fast on your end, I could not hold a reasonable facsimile of where you were at in my mind. Therefore, I don't know how helpful my advice was. As if I were telling you how to change a flat tire, when you'd already done it and were now working on the leaking radiator. Nice to see someone pulling up their shirt sleeves and getting to work.
-------------------------------------
So, if I've got it right, you laptop is booting with GRUB, has a Normal Install, an extra 0x83 partition for playing with other distros and a swap partition?
-
Bruce B
-
malangbaba
- Posts: 22
- Joined: Thu 30 Aug 2007, 00:21
Peace,
Thanks for the help. Your guidance either reaffirmed what I was doing right, or corrected me where I was headed wrong.
Is there any way for me to get and copy Win98 or XP bot files to a bootable CD and try: "fdisk /mbr"?
Alternately, what would happen if I install GRUB on this Desktop HD again, with not other drives connected? Would I get a GRUB booter pointing to Windows? Or will I hose things even more?
Thanks for the help. Your guidance either reaffirmed what I was doing right, or corrected me where I was headed wrong.
Yep. Will be posting Puppy tweaking questions over the next few days...So, if I've got it right, you laptop is booting with GRUB, has a Normal Install, an extra 0x83 partition for playing with other distros and a swap partition?
So back on the desktop. It has Windows XP. No floppy though.Q What version of Windows is it?
Is there any way for me to get and copy Win98 or XP bot files to a bootable CD and try: "fdisk /mbr"?
Alternately, what would happen if I install GRUB on this Desktop HD again, with not other drives connected? Would I get a GRUB booter pointing to Windows? Or will I hose things even more?
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Bruce B
GRUB installs in a variety of ways, very flexible.
Typical is GRUB on the MBR with support files on a partition somewhere. Do NOT install GRUB with the support files on an NTFS partition, which is XP default. GRUB doesn't not read NTFS, also it probably wouldn't install support files on the NTFS anyway.
Okay, one question answered, do NOT GRUB unless you have a Linux partition or install also.
Windows 98 FDISK would (should) fix it, but is not the ideal way, due to text error messages differing. But you only get the error messages when there are errors.
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Many ways to fix an XP mbr but you seem to have some software / hardware handicaps.
Did you lose the original copy in the /boot/grub directory I mentioned?
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I switched to Linux because of XP - and never learned many particulars of XP - don't want to either, except as it lends itself to running and configuring Linux.
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I'll let people more familiar with XP than myself help you with fixing up the XP MBR if my previous advise cannot be implemented.
Typical is GRUB on the MBR with support files on a partition somewhere. Do NOT install GRUB with the support files on an NTFS partition, which is XP default. GRUB doesn't not read NTFS, also it probably wouldn't install support files on the NTFS anyway.
Okay, one question answered, do NOT GRUB unless you have a Linux partition or install also.
Windows 98 FDISK would (should) fix it, but is not the ideal way, due to text error messages differing. But you only get the error messages when there are errors.
---------------
Many ways to fix an XP mbr but you seem to have some software / hardware handicaps.
Did you lose the original copy in the /boot/grub directory I mentioned?
----------------
I switched to Linux because of XP - and never learned many particulars of XP - don't want to either, except as it lends itself to running and configuring Linux.
----------------
I'll let people more familiar with XP than myself help you with fixing up the XP MBR if my previous advise cannot be implemented.