hdd install quagmire

[Joseph Schiller]

Hi,

I need a little help installing Knoppix 3.2 version 5/21/03. I had originally started with 6 GB hard drive which turned out to be defective, so I have installed and config'd Knoppix 3.2 on it using reiserFS and left it disco'd in the bay as a rescue drive (if anything goes awry, which invariably it will, I only need to move the IDE cable and the power cable, and voila).

I bought a 40 GB WD brand spanking new drive, it may be because I got $20 mail-in rebate at Best Buy. Well, MS-DOG and WD are sleeping in bed together. My Commate S7AX motherboard from 6/30/98 didn't like the new drive, the BIOS that is. The board was "designed" for Win95, and I refused to upgrade after Win95B, so naturally I hit 32 GB limit head-on, trying to put a drive > 32 GB! BIOS would not recognize it. After a couple of restless nights, I've jumpered pins 5&6 and 3&4 as Single (Master) on primary IDE, also installed Memorex CD-R/W as master and CD-ROM as slave, on the 2nd IDE. I had to install the software that came with the drive and acknowledge zer License Agreement, otherwise I could not use it, but first I had to set BIOS to a quasi-default User 1023 cylinders, 16 heads, and 63 sectors (leaving zeros for other fields if you should find them). After installing a driver for the drive, if that makes any sense, I was prompted for a boot disk. Inserted Win95 disk and kaboom, I have to upgrade to Winduhs ME or XP to use the drive, that was the message WD had in there, which means I have to spend $200 to get a full blown version, fo'get about upgrading, mate. And of course, 3 finger salute to restart the system. I ditched all that with one finger salute and installed SUSE 8.2 Pro instead.

SUSE is using GRUB as the boot loader, and I'm using about 4% of the drive capacity, how do I install Knoppix 3.2 alongside it? Do I create a seperate partition and config GRUB? I've worked exclusively with LILO up until now, and I've found that Debian and SUSE are the most worthy flavors of Linux. SUSE is using reiserFS as default. WOW! The learning curve is a winding road, the foot-print is something of 6 GB worth of software, including digital video editing and a flight sim. I could not locate /etc/resolv.conf or config dial-up just yet. I'm in the FAQ for the next several nights.

Regards,

Joseph Schiller

[rickenbacherus]

how do I install Knoppix 3.2 alongside it? Do I create a seperate partition and config GRUB?

Yep- make yourself a 3G partition (you can go as small as 2.5G I think and after install move directories to separate partitions- it's in the docs)
So anyway.....run the install script and make your partition or make your partition and run the script. Here's the most important step to getting GRUB to boot your Knoppix install:

When asked if you want to install LILO to the MBR choose no and by default it will install LILO into your /root directory.

Then while you still have the Knoppix cd booted, mount /dev/hda1 and edit your grub.conf
Here's mine:


default 0
timeout 30
splashimage=(hd0,0)/boot/grub/splash.xpm.gz
mem=nopentium

title=Gentoo
root (hd0,0)
kernel (hd0,0)/boot/bzImage root=/dev/hda7 "hdb=ide-scsi hdc=ide-scsi mem=nopentium"

title=Debian
makeactive
rootnoverify (hd0,10)
chainloader (hd0,10)+1
boot

title=Knoppix
makeactive
rootnoverify (hd0,8)
chainloader (hd0,8)+1
boot

title=Morphix
makeactive
rootnoverify (hd0,7)
chainloader (hd0,7)+1
boot

Yep I get a menu- yes it's soooooo very easy to do.

The boot might even be unnecessary- I forget and I always just copy the one above and edit it when I have a new partition to boot. Wouldn't be hard to find out though- I'm just lazy. :)


I could not locate /etc/resolv.conf or config dial-up just yet. I'm in the FAQ for the next several nights.

We talkin' SuSE or Knoppix here?

[xbob]

When asked if you want to install LILO to the MBR choose no and by default it will install LILO into your /root directory.

Then while you still have the Knoppix cd booted, mount /dev/hda1 and edit your grub.conf


I'm a newbie a somewhat confused. Does LILO use the grub.conf file or is that a typo?

My HD install screen goes blank right after copying all the files to hda3 during knx-hdinstall. I have to send vga=0x311 and screen=640x480 during boot for the text to be barely readable on my tv (trying to make a media box), and that may be causing it?

Since the files are already there, I'm trying to manually install GRUB using grub-install /dev/hda3, but I keep getting a "cannot create /boot/grub directory error" even though I mounted /dev/hda3 and made it rw.

I am using XOSL to boot at the MBR on partition hda1 so I think I want grub on HDA3. Any thoughts? I tried searching this forum and googling, but haven't figured why it won't install.

[rickenbacherus]

I'm a newbie a somewhat confused. Does LILO use the grub.conf file or is that a typo?

Nope not a typo. LILO doesn't use grub.conf. I thought you were using GRUB as a boot manager. Anyway.......you should still choose no on "install LILO to MBR".

OK so you're using XOSL. I have never used it so I couldn't be of much assistance there but as long as LILO is in your /root directory your boot manager (XOSL) should be able to boot it.
You power on> You choose the OS you want to boot> The boot manager hands things over to the bootloader you have in your /root partition (LILO) and you're off.


My HD install screen goes blank right after copying all the files to hda3 during knx-hdinstall. I have to send vga=0x311 and screen=640x480 during boot for the text to be barely readable on my tv (trying to make a media box), and that may be causing it?

If you screen blanks after copying files then you don't get to finish the install completely. I don't know what that would do exactly- can't be good. Does it blank because of APM? My screen blanks in the middle of the install too but hitting the space bar refreshes the screen.

Does the Knoppix cd boot ok and work properly? If not then I wouldn't install until you get everything working right. Are you connected to your TV with a TV Out from your video card or scan converter? What kind of video card?


Since the files are already there, I'm trying to manually install GRUB using grub-install /dev/hda3, but I keep getting a "cannot create /boot/grub directory error" even though I mounted /dev/hda3 and made it rw.

So you made it through the install but can't boot /dev/hda3 yet correct? If XOSL is still there then you obviously didn't install LILO to the MBR right? So LILO is already installed to /dev/hda3. Have a look at your /etc/lilo.conf file and make sure but you should only have to configure XOSL to boot /dev/hda3 in the manner I described above.


I am using XOSL to boot at the MBR on partition hda1 so I think I want grub on HDA3. Any thoughts?

Well yes in that case you would want GRUB in /dev/hda3 because it needs a boot loader BUT- (sorry for the redundancy) you already have LILO (that is IF your install was completed). I have never tried to install GRUB in the manner you are asking about. If I get a chance (who knows when) I might give it a whirl.


I tried searching this forum and googling, but haven't figured why it won't install.

I don't think you'll find much about GRUB here since Knoppix uses LILO. Again- since you didn't finish the install did you get to make a boot floppy?

[xbob]

If you screen blanks after copying files then you don't get to finish the install completely. I don't know what that would do exactly- can't be good. Does it blank because of APM? My screen blanks in the middle of the install too but hitting the space bar refreshes the screen.

I thought it was Automatic Power Management as well, but it won't come back with the space bar (or any key for that matter).



Does the Knoppix cd boot ok and work properly? If not then I wouldn't install until you get everything working right. Are you connected to your TV with a TV Out from your video card or scan converter? What kind of video card?

Knoppix boots and runs fine from the CD. TV out is straight from the video output. Video card is onboard ATI A3 chipset (~Radeon 7500 or so).



So you made it through the install but can't boot /dev/hda3 yet correct? If XOSL is still there then you obviously didn't install LILO to the MBR right? So LILO is already installed to /dev/hda3. Have a look at your /etc/lilo.conf file and make sure but you should only have to configure XOSL to boot /dev/hda3 in the manner I described above.

As soon as the files are copied using the knx-hdinstall script from the root shell, the screen goes blank and doesn't come back. It's like it's waiting for the input for the next step. It may still be APM related but just doesn't respond to the wake up space bar (or any other key), because it seems like I see something for an instant on the screen when I 3 finger reboot.



Well yes in that case you would want GRUB in /dev/hda3 because it needs a boot loader BUT- (sorry for the redundancy) you already have LILO (that is IF your install was completed). I have never tried to install GRUB in the manner you are asking about. If I get a chance (who knows when) I might give it a whirl.

LILO does not appear to be loaded since the install terminates when I reboot. LILO would be fine, I just don't know how to manually install it on hda3 when I boot from the CD. Even though I mount and make hda3 rw using the right click menu before going to the console, grub is blocked from making changes like it is still in ro mode.



I don't think you'll find much about GRUB here since Knoppix uses LILO. Again- since you didn't finish the install did you get to make a boot floppy?

I tried using the floppy boot.img fromt the CD to make and floppy on another machine and then copy it using Nero to a bootable CD. My Knoppix machine does not have a floppy drive.

[Joseph Schiller]

Hi,

I've only installed SuSE 8.2 Pro on my new drive, and I did not have a chance to load Knoppix 3.2 yet. After install, reboot goes right into Grub> prompt and I am stuck. I think the problem consists of 3 parts, user error, I have not manually config'd the /etc/grub.conf, and BIOS limitations. My /etc/grub.conf file consists of 2 lines:

root (hd0,1)
install --stage2=/boot/grub/stage2 /boot/grub/stage1 d (hd0) /boot /grub/stage2 0x8000 (hd0,1)/boot/grub/menu.lst
quit

The file was generated during install. I've been studying FAQs thus far, and I've not been able to fix that, yet. When I try the standard params "kernel /vmlinuz root=/dev/hda1 vga=791" I get error msg "Cannot mount selected partition." I have found a work-around: I set BIOS to boot from CD-ROM,C,A first, then when it boots from ISOLINUX, when I get a prompt, I enter 'boot installed system' and after 3-5 min, I get to select language English, after probing hard disk and loading LVM module, I get an option to load installed system. So, I get to the login prompt eventually. But the end-users who will be using the machine eventually, are not Linux anybodies. I need to set it up painless for them. Another problem that I need to solve, is the monitor view port. When the sys loads all the startup files, the display is correctly positioned on the monitor, but when the boot-strap is finished, the desktop is off about 2" from the left margin. I'm using Nvidia drivers and 32 MB graphics card 'Albatron'. I've seen it on dinosaur graphics cards before. After adjusting monitor display, the boot-strap programs are off the screen to the left. I can't leave it up to the user to adjust every time they boot. I'm not sure which module is responsible for this. For sure, I did not have to monkey with settings while booting Knoppix 3.2.

Sincerely,

Joseph Schiller

[rickenbacherus]

Hi,
I did not have a chance to load Knoppix 3.2 yet.

Define 'load'- I'm thinking you mean 'boot the Knoppix installation'.


After install, reboot goes right into Grub> prompt and I am stuck. I think the problem consists of 3 parts, user error, I have not manually config'd the /etc/grub.conf,

Exactly- you need to tell grub which partition to boot. You've kind of lost me as to where you installed this drive though.

It's simple-

/dev/hda-Primary master
/dev/hdb-Primary slave
/dev/hdc-Secondary master
/dev/hdd-Secondary slave


and BIOS limitations. My /etc/grub.conf file consists of 2 lines:

root (hd0,1)
install --stage2=/boot/grub/stage2 /boot/grub/stage1 d (hd0) /boot /grub/stage2 0x8000 (hd0,1)/boot/grub/menu.lst
quit

All boot loaders do the same thing- there is the primary stage and the secondary stage- they just have their own way of writing it.
GRUB makes it a little more exciting too because it uses two naming conventions. /dev/hd? and similar to a SCSI BUS

0,0-1st hard drive, first partition
0,1-1st hard drive, second partition etc.

Another way to look at it- 0 is the raw device and 0,0 is a specific portion of the raw device.


The file was generated during install. I've been studying FAQs thus far, and I've not been able to fix that, yet. When I try the standard params "kernel /vmlinuz root=/dev/hda1 vga=791" I get error msg "Cannot mount selected partition."

Add the following to grub.conf but edit it to your own needs using the drive names as above. All you want GRUB to do is point to your installation of Knoppix because LILO is actually going to boot Knoppix not grub. You don't need to install GRUB to your Knoppix partition. You don't need to "run" GRUB either because it just reads its config file. Whatever you put in that file should be presented to you in a menu, if it doesn't work then so what, boot something else and change it.

title=Knoppix
makeactive
rootnoverify (hd1,2)
chainloader (hd1,2)+1
boot

Looking at the above I am booting Knoppix from /dev/hdb3 (second hard drive, 3rd partition).


I have found a work-around: I set BIOS to boot from CD-ROM,C,A first, then when it boots from ISOLINUX, when I get a prompt, I enter 'boot installed system' and after 3-5 min, I get to select language English, after probing hard disk and loading LVM module, I get an option to load installed system. So, I get to the login prompt eventually. But the end-users who will be using the machine eventually, are not Linux anybodies. I need to set it up painless for them.

Let's see what happens after you fix GRUB.


Another problem that I need to solve, is the monitor view port. When the sys loads all the startup files, the display is correctly positioned on the monitor, but when the boot-strap is finished, the desktop is off about 2" from the left margin. I'm using Nvidia drivers and 32 MB graphics card 'Albatron'. I've seen it on dinosaur graphics cards before. After adjusting monitor display, the boot-strap programs are off the screen to the left. I can't leave it up to the user to adjust every time they boot. I'm not sure which module is responsible for this. For sure, I did not have to monkey with settings while booting Knoppix 3.2.

There are really many possibilities for this. A 32M graphics card is more than capable but I don't know anything about an Albatron. Are you sure you're using the right drivers? Just because they're from nvidia doesn't mean they'll work. Have you plugged that video card name or better yet the chipset into G4L? (http://www.google.com/linux) Does SuSE work correctly with the card? Have you looked at any of the related configuration files? /etc/X11/XF86config-4 (in Knoppix anyway- don't know about SuSE).

[Joseph Schiller]

How y'all are,

Bah humbug! All this helpful info was of no help. Thanks for your support folks. After many hours of reading and surfing, I fixed the problem in less than 5 minutes. First and foremost, I was getting "Grub>" prompt because the HDD was useless to the loader, and it could not access any partition, regardless what params I tried to pass to it. I hit head on the 32GB limitation, which was courtesy of the AWARD BIOS 1.01A version. All I had to do was download the following utilities CHKBIOS.EXE or the Windows BWZ-REL.EXE to figure out which version of BIOS I had. You should be able to find them by Google. There is a BIOS chip on the motherboard which has its serial number covered with a sticker that can be easily peeled off, on some mbs it is soldered on, which means you need to ditch them, if not soldered on, you can get a replacement chip if your FLASH upgrade goes haywire. Once I knew which version of BIOS I had, the serial number during boot was not very helpful, I downloaded AWDFLASH.EXE and S7AX30.BIN version 3.0 of the AWARD BIOS from the manufacturer's website. The next step I am not sure why it did not work, trying to save the old BIOS to the floppy, the system would write for hours on end and produce a 0 byte file, I tried passing specific params to the flash prog but it didn't want to work, these options can be seen by launching AWDFLASH /? from the DOS prompt, not the Windows DOS-Box. Regretably, I had no opportunity to save the old BIOS, and I overwrote it out of desperation. After reboot, I got my Linux right on track and gone was the "Grub>" prompt. Right now I am loading the bemoth program. Once it's complete, I'll install Knoppix on another partition, apt-get and config the GRUB.

Sincerely,

Joseph Schiller

[rickenbacherus]

How y'all are,

Bah humbug! All this helpful info was of no help. Thanks for your support folks.
Joseph Schiller

Since this is a Knoppix support forum that's the best I can offer but I'll be certain not to bother next time.

[rickenbacherus]

Knoppix boots and runs fine from the CD. TV out is straight from the video output. Video card is onboard ATI A3 chipset (~Radeon 7500 or so).



I use a Radeon 7200 and I boot like so:

boot: lang=us screen=1024x768 xmodule=ati noscsi nopcmcia

I don't have a tv out tho. Maybe boot with all of the "no" cheatcodes that you can without disabling any hardware. I use 'noscsi' and 'nopcmcia' just because I don't have any such devices- the cd will boot fine without them tho.

lsmod will show you if the radeon module is loaded.

Here's the relevant section from a fresh install. (release date 6-6-03)


/etc/X11/XF86Config-4

Section "Device"
### Available Driver options are:-
# sw_cursor is needed for some ati and radeon cards
Option "sw_cursor"
#Option "hw_cursor"
#Option "NoAccel"
#Option "ShowCache"
#Option "ShadowFB"
#Option "UseFBDev"
#Option "Rotate"
Identifier "Card0"
# The following line is auto-generated by KNOPPIX mkxf86config
Driver "radeon"
VendorName "All"
BoardName "All"
# BusID "PCI:1:0:0"

I can kill the xserver and log in as a different user that way but the machines locks if I try to log out with the Radeon card. This card is supported under the current XFree86.


X -version

XFree86 Version 4.3.0 (Debian 4.3.0-0ds4 20030416150820 dstone@aedificator)
Release Date: 18 March 2003
X Protocol Version 11, Revision 0, Release 6.6
Build Operating System: Linux 2.4.21-pre5 i686 [ELF]
Build Date: 16 April 2003
Before reporting problems, check http://www.XFree86.Org/
to make sure that you have the latest version.
Module Loader present
OS Kernel: Linux version 2.4.20-xfs (root@Knoppix) (gcc version 2.95.4 20011002 (Debian prerelease)) #1 SMP Mit Mär 26 15:37:36 CET 2003

Hopefully you can get it to finish installing.

[Joseph Schiller]

Hi,

It seems that I have offended you. I offer you my sincere apologies, you possess greater knowledge base on Knoppix than I ever hope to possess. It seems an easy solution now, but we both missed the boat on the BIOS. For one thing, I could boot from the ISOLINUX CD (the big clue was the LVM module), but hdd install was a different matter. I am sure that 8.4, 32, and 137 GB hurdles are still out there. I posted a solution, and I am installing Knoppix, BTW. In SuSE there's no need to edit /etc/resolv.conf manually, in fact when I tried in Vim, I could not write to the file. Everything is handled by YaST2 under Network. When I config'd Knoppix kppp, I had to try each of the different devices for the internal modem. In YaST2, the script auto detects and configures everything, all I needed to add was the ISP dial-up number and password. I couldn't have done it without your help. Thanks again.

Regards,

Joseph Schiller

[rickenbacherus]

Never heard of a Commate mobo before. Sounds like a nuissance. Of course I would know about nuissance mobo's since I have an IBM S30 (whatever that is) and interstingly enough I have never been able to get SuSE installed on that box or I'd have tried it aeons ago. Thanks for posting your solution.

[xbob]

Hopefully you can get it to finish installing.

For the heck of it, I tried to install again and it worked. My problem with install appeared to be the power management screen shut off as you first suspected. During the install on my machine, the screen shuts off for power management when the install is ~98% complete. I caught it right at that point and refreshed the display with a tap of the space bar, and I am up and running!

Apparently my motherboard or knoppix does not like the power management screen shutdown to be active when using the knx-install script?

Thanks for your help.

[rickenbacherus]

Apparently my motherboard or knoppix does not like the power management screen shutdown to be active when using the knx-install script?

Thanks for your help.

Anything's possible -I don't turn off APM for an install but I do make sure not to hit keys too often. I do know that you can't (shouldn't) leave an install alone for too long after it finishes because something gets jammed up and it won't finish. I dunno.........

Glad you got it working tho.