Can't boot from CD. [Archive] - Download Knoppix Live CD or DVD, Get Documentation and Help

abre

12-23-2004, 10:13 PM

I have downloaded Knoppix and the CD has been burnt sucessfully. I cannot however boot from the CD, I have the latest BIOS for my machine but this will not allow me to boot from a CD. I have heard of a floppy disk that will tell the computer to boot from CD (or something like that). Does anyone know how to create one of these?

Any help would be greatly appriciated. I'm running the latest version by the way.

cannonfodder

12-23-2004, 11:09 PM

did you set the bios to boot from cd? try that..

and then if it fails..create bootdisk by using rawrite prog on knoppix CD.....didnt you read FAQ??

Harry Kuhman

12-23-2004, 11:12 PM

One application that will do this for you is Smart Boot Manager. (http://btmgr.webframe.org/index.php3?body=download.html)

Another boot manager that I like very much is XOSL (http://www2.arnes.si/~fkomar/xosl.org/home.html). XOSL is somewhat more complex and a bit more complicated to set up (but not hard if you can read and follow instructions), but it has a lot of features that SBM lacks.

abre

12-23-2004, 11:18 PM

I can't set the BIOS to boot from CD it doesn't support it. And I can't find the rawrite program on the CD. Where is it? I looked where it told me to look.

cannonfodder

12-23-2004, 11:23 PM

it's in a archive called grubboot.zip..i cant remember where i got it..hunt thru the iso image or check the download section..

Harry Kuhman

12-23-2004, 11:32 PM

.... And I can't find the rawrite program on the CD. Where is it? I looked .....
Why fool with rawrite and make a boot floppy that can only boot one thing, when you can use Smart Boot Manager and make a floppy that will boot any bootable CD? You can even install it to the MBR of your hard drive and not have to fool with a floppy at all, giving any old PC the ability to boot from CD.

abre

12-23-2004, 11:35 PM

How do I use the rawrite program?

cannonfodder

12-23-2004, 11:35 PM

yeah kudos to you and your smart boot manager harry...but your last post sounds like "NO dont use anything else but smart boot! do it do it now!!! all other options is crappeh i have decided that you must use this and this only!"

you sound kinda insistant.....let abre post back and then go from there...

no offense or anything....

abre

12-23-2004, 11:42 PM

I only want to be able to run Knoppix, but I'm a very graphicl guy. Just learning Linux, so I really want the easiest way to do it.

cannonfodder

12-23-2004, 11:48 PM

well did you find grubboot.zip??

abre

12-23-2004, 11:51 PM

No, but I did a search for rawrite and have downloaded that, and that now runs.

abre

12-23-2004, 11:54 PM

cannonfodder

12-23-2004, 11:58 PM

How do I use the rawrite program?

well i had a look at it... rawrite says that you have to run it at dos prompt...well mine kills itself off when i tell it to run and make an image...but may be it's coz i am runnining thru dos shell on windows..meh..i suppose SMB might be worth a look?

abre

12-23-2004, 11:58 PM

I am using windows to do this.

abre

12-23-2004, 11:59 PM

I am using windows to do this. Also is there a good tutorial to guide me through an SMB setup.

Harry Kuhman

12-24-2004, 12:01 AM

..i suppose SMB might be worth a look?
Or, SBM :wink:

cannonfodder

12-24-2004, 12:05 AM

dunno...i just booted off the cd so i never had to use a boot floppy..sorry..but there might be tutourial on SBM website..

try that..or run rawrite in ms-dos mode??

*just realised harry is mod >.> <.< ~runs~ *

abre

12-24-2004, 12:07 AM

I don't understand SBM?

If you want to boot linux with Smart BootManager, you must install LILO into the Superblock of your linux partition, instead of into MBR!
What does this mean?

Harry Kuhman

12-24-2004, 12:19 AM

I don't understand SBM?

If you want to boot linux with Smart BootManager, you must install LILO into the Superblock of your linux partition, instead of into MBR!
What does this mean?

SBM is a bootstrap manager (as is XOSL). If you install it to your hard drive MBR, then it and LILO can't both be in the MBR. As long as you're booting from CD, this is a complete non-issue, as you don't install LILO or GRUB at all. You can install SBM to your hard drive MBR and not have to ever touch a floppy (your computer doesn't even need a floppy drive), or you can make a SBM floppy and then boot from floppy and SBM will come up and let you boot a CD (or a partition from the hard drive).

If you decide this is all going too well and that you need the extra agrivation of trying to install Knoppix to the hard drive, then installing LILO or GRUB comes into the picture. LILO and or GRUB are also boot managers, and they can let you boot Linux or Windows. They can't (AFAIK) boot any CD in the CD driive for you though. LILO can be installed in the MBR, but it can also be installed in the same partition that Linux is installed in. When using a boot manager like SBM or XOLS, it is wise to install LILO to the Linux partition rather than to the MBR. That way you still have SBM (or XOSL) as your bootstrap manager. You boot, SBM comes up and shows a menu. You select the Linux partition to boot Linux, the Windows partition to boot Windows. SBM is simple but the boot menu is not as clean or noce looking as XOSL. XOSL has a numebr of extra features. Either will do the job tough, and if this is sounding complex to you then I think it would be better to start with SBM (although you would learn a lot by going over the XOSL instructions).

cannonfodder

12-24-2004, 12:20 AM

wtf??? i dunno much about linux...so i'm with you on this one..wtf?? oi harry-san..a little help please...your uber SBM is difficult to understand..

abre

12-24-2004, 12:24 AM

I don't think I explained what I want well enough.

I have a computer, with Corel Linux on it :oops: (don't laugh). I want to run Koppix Linux on it, but I can't because the BIOS will not boot from a CD-ROM. For the Corel Linux install we had a floppy disk, which told the computer to use the CD to run (and thereofre install). I am looking for something to do this.

Now you might have already told me that what I need is SMB, but from what I understand this boots multiple operating systems (am I right?). I'm not really interested in this. I just want to boot Knoppix.

Does this clarify things or is this how you understood it before? Have I got it completely wrong?

Harry Kuhman

12-24-2004, 12:26 AM

shah

12-24-2004, 12:34 AM

You still need SBM.
Just create a SBM boot floppy.
Boot from it and choose to boot CDROM with knoppis cd inserted.

Get SMB floppy image from: http://slackware.at/data/slackware-current/rootdisks/sbootmgr.dsk
Then in Corel linux do : dd if=sbootmgr.dsk of=/dev/fd0

or in windows/dos , use any of this tools : http://www.fdos.org/ripcord/rawrite/#windows

:D

cannonfodder

12-24-2004, 12:36 AM

wtf??? i dunno much about linux...so i'm with you on this one..wtf?? oi harry-san..a little help please...your uber SBM is difficult to understand..
Is there a question here somewhere (other than the offensive TLA)?

I suggest getting SBM, making a floppy (no risk to the hard disk that way, although there is minimal risk anyway), boot the SBM floppy and actually try using it.

whats the offensive TLA??? i havent come across this abbrev on forums before.....and i didnt mean anything by my post's about you..sorry if it looked that way..

BACK on topic....

abre...dont worry about it you explained it well enough..basically you want to replace corel linux *giggles at abre* with knoppix right??

*edit*

just realised that harry and shah have been posting while i was still in reply mode..so if any of my posts seem out of sync dont worry..they relate to posts previous to the one directly above mine..

so use SMB to make boot floppy and then install knoppix..done..

Harry Kuhman

12-24-2004, 12:36 AM

...Now you might have already told me that what I need is SMB, but from what I understand this boots multiple operating systems (am I right?). I'm not really interested in this. I just want to boot Knoppix....
easy to follow steps:

Download SBM. Whatever flavor unzips/untarballs/unwhatevers with whatever OS you use.

Extract the SMB installer.

Run it.

It will list out it's options. You can pick a language and a target device (under DOS/windows the target 0 is the floppy, the target 128 is the first hard drive, Linux might be different so look, but I expect it is the same)

Run it again with the options of your choice, which in this case would be your language of choice and the floppy drive.

Be sure your BIOS can boot from floppy and will do so before booting from hard disk.

Reboot, with the floppy you just made in the floppy drive.

The SBM menu will come up.

Pick CD0 from the menu. Be sure Knoppix is in the CD drive.

Watch Knoppix boot.

If you think the SBM menu is too ugly, look at XOSL.
If you are tired of fooling with a floppy you might want to install to the MBR, but given the information that you have just provided, this could wipe out the LILO from Corel if (as is likely) it is already on the MBR. SBM has a way to back up the old MBR, but unless you understand how to install the Corel Lilo to the Corel Linux partition rather than the MBR then I would suggest just skipping this and using the SBM floppy, which will do what you indicated you want.

Harry Kuhman

12-24-2004, 12:39 AM

whats the offensive TLA??? i havent come across this abbrev on forums before.....and i didnt mean anything by my post's about you..sorry if it looked that way.....
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/TLA
you figure out the rest

abre

12-24-2004, 12:45 AM

Harry Kuhman

12-24-2004, 01:44 AM

Ok, I understand that now. However the CD drive doesn't show up in the boot menu. I assume this is because there aren't any drivers for it at bootup, because it works in Corel Linux. Could this be solved or is that even the problem?
Is there something special about this CD drive that would need a special driver? If it's a normal IDE drive it should certainly be in the list of bootable devices. You should be looking at a list that starts off Previous MBR and Quit to BIOS and maybe Power off (don't know if that one depends on power management being available or not), then Reboot, Floppy, Harddisk, followed by CD0 CD-ROM. You might try CTRL-I to rescan just to be sure. Also, be sure it's not off the bottom of the screen. Type F1 to bring up more help.

There's also something under [tab] then System Settings-> that deals with CD-ROM I/O ports that might help, but I've never had to use it and would not be sure what you would put here or if it would help.

I think the bottom line is there may be something strange about this CD-ROM drve that you're not telling us.

cannonfodder

12-24-2004, 02:19 AM

maybe it's scsi cd?

Harry Kuhman

12-24-2004, 02:29 AM

maybe it's scsi cd?
Maybe. But I would expect SBM to be able to boot a SCSI drive too. (Not going to hook one up just to find out though.) If so there's a good chance that a Linux boot floppy (or floppy pair) made with rawrite will boot it, but we really need to get an answer to what this CD drive is before we can solve the problem.

abre

12-24-2004, 04:31 PM

I'm now away from that computer for a while, I post again when I'm back there.

shah

12-25-2004, 05:25 AM

There is another option for you if you still unable to boot from cd.
Get kanotix-X (fix2). It can boot from iso using cheatcode : fromiso=path/name.iso
You can get it to work and boot without a cd but you need to install Grub.
You also need to copy vmlinuz and miniroot.gz from cd to your hdd.
I haven't try this, maybe you can install to hdd while booting fromiso.

This is an example of my Grub's menu.lst:
title Boot Kanotix iso
kernel /kanotix-iso/vmlinuz fromiso=/kanotix-iso/kano*.iso noprompt ramdisk_size=100000 init=/etc/init lang=us apm=power-off hda=scsi hdb=scsi hdc=scsi hdd=scsi nomce quiet alsa silent
initrd /kanotix-iso/miniroot.gz

Good luck
:D :D

Weetabix

12-26-2004, 12:57 PM

Being a total n00b I couldnt even get SBM working on boot up, I just get a non system disk error - replace error. :x

Can someone please help ? :(