file not found error using poor mans install method that worked on another box

[krishna.murphy]

1) How come in one of the website which I come across the published md5 sum is not the same as yours ?

Your md5sum is for the V6.2.1DVD-2010-01-31-EN.iso (I just put the big number into Google and it gave me many websites that have the info.) The md5sum varies by the date, version, CD vs. DVD, etc. So, that's a valid checksum for that release (you have 6.2.1), and there are other valid md5sums for other releases.

2) As a test, I did the knoppix poor mans install on another box and it works. This install does not seem to have 3-d acceleration. No compiz fuzion at startup, no exploding windows when closed out.

This happens on my present system, too. It's actually good in my case, as the processor is a bit underpowered. It definitely will happen when there's no hardware acceleration available.

3) This box has the nvidia geforce 5200 card. Is a manual install of the nvidia driver necessary?

That sounds like a good avenue to pursue. I did a quick search and found this Windows driver, which you might be able to use if nothing else is available. There are a lot of posts on this forum about using Windows drivers, so I won't go into it here - just look around for ndiswrapper.

4) I looked up md5 checksum in wikipedia. Is there another reference on its usage?

There are numerous alternative articles on the web, I'm sure - but why not just use the information it gave you (md5sum is valid, so download was okay) and proceed with your real work?

5) Also, I did not use bit torrent. I always relied on the http or ftp download method.

Torrents have built-in error-correction and validity checking, and are usually faster than old-style http/ftp downloading. There's nothing wrong with doing it the old way, but you do have to be a bit more cautious and check the download validity with md5 and/or sha algorithms if you want to be as confident in the result (using ALL of these is REALLY good, but not always convenient.)

Happy computing, and Cheers!
Krishna

[mrbojangles]

I am still having a file not found error 15 with the problem box. Windows 98 first partition and opensuse 11.3. Knoppix files are in windows partition in knoppix folder. Here is my grub entry:

# Modified by YaST2. Last modification on Sun Oct 3 07:17:56 EDT 2010
# THIS FILE WILL BE PARTIALLY OVERWRITTEN by perl-Bootloader
# Configure custom boot parameters for updated kernels in /etc/sysconfig/bootloader

default 1
timeout 8
##YaST - generic_mbr
gfxmenu (hd0,5)/boot/message
##YaST - activate

###Don't change this comment - YaST2 identifier: Original name: linux###
title openSUSE 11.3 - 2.6.34.7-0.3 (default)
root (hd0,5)
kernel /boot/vmlinuz-2.6.34.7-0.3-default root=/dev/disk/by-id/ata-Maxtor_6B100P0_B3D199GH-part6 resume=/dev/disk/by-id/ata-Maxtor_6B100P0_B3D199GH-part5 splash=silent quiet showopts vga=0x317
initrd /boot/initrd-2.6.34.7-0.3-default

###Don't change this comment - YaST2 identifier: Original name: failsafe###
title Failsafe -- openSUSE 11.3 - 2.6.34.7-0.3 (default)
root (hd0,5)
kernel /boot/vmlinuz-2.6.34.7-0.3-default root=/dev/disk/by-id/ata-Maxtor_6B100P0_B3D199GH-part6 showopts apm=off noresume nosmp maxcpus=0 edd=off powersaved=off nohz=off highres=off processor.max_cstate=1 nomodeset x11failsafe vga=0x317
initrd /boot/initrd-2.6.34.7-0.3-default

###Don't change this comment - YaST2 identifier: Original name: linux###
title Desktop -- openSUSE 11.3 - 2.6.34.7-0.3
root (hd0,5)
kernel /boot/vmlinuz-2.6.34.7-0.3-desktop root=/dev/disk/by-id/ata-Maxtor_6B100P0_B3D199GH-part6 resume=/dev/disk/by-id/ata-Maxtor_6B100P0_B3D199GH-part5 splash=silent quiet showopts vga=0x317
initrd /boot/initrd-2.6.34.7-0.3-desktop

###Don't change this comment - YaST2 identifier: Original name: failsafe###
title Failsafe -- openSUSE 11.3 - 2.6.34.7-0.3 (desktop)
root (hd0,5)
kernel /boot/vmlinuz-2.6.34.7-0.3-desktop root=/dev/disk/by-id/ata-Maxtor_6B100P0_B3D199GH-part6 showopts apm=off noresume nosmp maxcpus=0 edd=off powersaved=off nohz=off highres=off processor.max_cstate=1 nomodeset x11failsafe vga=0x317
initrd /boot/initrd-2.6.34.7-0.3-desktop

###Don't change this comment - YaST2 identifier: Original name: windows###
title Windows
rootnoverify (hd0,0)
chainloader +1

###Don't change this comment - YaST2 identifier: Original name: floppy###
title Floppy
rootnoverify (fd0)
chainloader +1

###Don't change this comment - YaST2 identifier: Original name: puppy###
title Puppy Linux 5.0.1
rootnoverify (hd0,0)
kernel /puppy501/vmlinuz pmedia=atahd psubdir=puppy501
initrd /puppy501/initrd.gz

###Don't change this comment - YaST2 identifier: Original name: puppy###
title Game Optimized Puppy Linux
rootnoverify (hd0,0)
kernel /gamepuppy/vmlinuz pmedia=atahd psubdir=gamepuppy append root=/dev/ram0 initrd=image.gz acpi=off PFILE=ask
initrd /gamepuppy/image.gz

title Knoppix 6.2 dvd
root (hd0,0)
kernel (hd0,0)/knoppix/boot/isolinux/linux fromhd=/dev/sda1 knoppix_dir=knoppix/KNOPPIX ramdisk_size=100000 lang=us vt.default_utf8=0 apm=power-off vga=791 nomce quiet loglevel=0
initrd (hd0,0)/knoppix/boot/isolinux/minirt.gz
savedefault
boot

[klaus2008]

Your graphics card should be supported by the nvidia legacy driver 173xx.

Package: nvidia-kernel-legacy-173xx-dkms http://packages.debian.org/en/squeez...acy-173xx-dkms

You should be able to install the driver by issuing

sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get -t testing install nvidia-kernel-legacy-173xx-dkms nvidia-glx-legacy-173xx

After installation the cheatcode xmodule=nvidia should work.

[Capricorny]

I am still having a file not found error 15 with the problem box. Windows 98 first partition and opensuse 11.3. Knoppix files are in windows partition in knoppix folder. Here is my grub entry:

# Modified by YaST2. Last modification on Sun Oct 3 07:17:56 EDT 2010
# THIS FILE WILL BE PARTIALLY OVERWRITTEN by perl-Bootloader
# Configure custom boot parameters for updated kernels in /etc/sysconfig/bootloader

default 1
timeout 8
##YaST - generic_mbr
gfxmenu (hd0,5)/boot/message
##YaST - activate

###Don't change this comment - YaST2 identifier: Original name: linux###
title openSUSE 11.3 - 2.6.34.7-0.3 (default)
root (hd0,5)
kernel /boot/vmlinuz-2.6.34.7-0.3-default root=/dev/disk/by-id/ata-Maxtor_6B100P0_B3D199GH-part6 resume=/dev/disk/by-id/ata-Maxtor_6B100P0_B3D199GH-part5 splash=silent quiet showopts vga=0x317
initrd /boot/initrd-2.6.34.7-0.3-default

.....

title Knoppix 6.2 dvd
root (hd0,0)
kernel (hd0,0)/knoppix/boot/isolinux/linux fromhd=/dev/sda1 knoppix_dir=knoppix/KNOPPIX ramdisk_size=100000 lang=us vt.default_utf8=0 apm=power-off vga=791 nomce quiet loglevel=0
initrd (hd0,0)/knoppix/boot/isolinux/minirt.gz
savedefault
boot

First, I would be suspicious here - what does PARTIALLY OVERWRITTEN mean in practice?
Second, you rely entirely on grub being able to mount the actual partitions and read the kernel/initrd files. I would guess this could go well sometimes, and fail sometimes, depending on hardware and setup. Exactly what you have observed.

For my poor man's installs, I always make separate subdirectories under grub's own /boot for the Knoppix kernels, so that if grub can get up and running, Knoppix can. Then you could, I think, even leave it to Knoppix's own initialization to find the Knoppix image.

[mrbojangles]

Thank you klaus2008! The nvidia driver is installed and working. My initial knoppix-data.img file was too small, so I deleted it and made a larger one and the install went smoothly.

[mrbojangles]

On the problem box, I have no success in booting knoppix. I have tried capricorny's suggestion and even tried the cd version of knoppix. I am thinking that the problem is with grub and not with knoppix. The Knoppix entry is not visible on the grub boot screen and I have to scroll down to make the knoppix entry visible. Is there a limit to how many boot entries grub can handle?

[mrbojangles]

I ran the script and here are the results:

Boot Info Script 0.55 dated February 15th, 2010

============================= Boot Info Summary: ==============================

=> Acer 3 is installed in the MBR of /dev/sda

sda1: __________________________________________________ _______________________

File system: vfat
Boot sector type: MSWIN4.1: Fat 32
Boot sector info: No errors found in the Boot Parameter Block.
Operating System: Windows 98
Boot files/dirs: /IO.SYS /MSDOS.SYS /COMMAND.COM

sda2: __________________________________________________ _______________________

File system: Extended Partition
Boot sector type: Grub
Boot sector info: Grub 0.97 is installed in the boot sector of sda2 and
looks at sector 104812036 of the same hard drive for
the stage2 file. A stage2 file is at this location on
/dev/sda. Stage2 looks on partition #6 for
/boot/grub/menu.lst.

sda5: __________________________________________________ _______________________

File system: swap
Boot sector type: -
Boot sector info:
sda6: __________________________________________________ _______________________

File system: ext4
Boot sector type: -
Boot sector info: Operating System: Welcome to openSUSE 11.3 "Teal"
- Kernel ().
Boot files/dirs: /boot/grub/menu.lst /etc/fstab

sda7: __________________________________________________ _______________________

File system: ext3
Boot sector type: -
Boot sector info: Operating System:
Boot files/dirs:
=========================== Drive/Partition Info: =============================

Drive: sda ___________________ __________________________________________________ ___

Disk /dev/sda: 100.3 GB, 100256292864 bytes
255 heads, 63 sectors/track, 12188 cylinders, total 195813072 sectors
Units = sectors of 1 * 512 = 512 bytes
Sector size (logical/physical): 512 bytes / 512 bytes

Partition Boot Start End Size Id System

/dev/sda1 63 65,641,652 65,641,590 c W95 FAT32 (LBA)
/dev/sda2 * 65,641,653 195,800,219 130,158,567 f W95 Ext d (LBA)
/dev/sda5 65,641,716 66,782,204 1,140,489 82 Linux swap / Solaris
/dev/sda6 66,782,268 108,727,919 41,945,652 83 Linux
/dev/sda7 108,727,983 195,800,219 87,072,237 83 Linux


blkid -c /dev/null: __________________________________________________ __________

Device UUID TYPE LABEL

/dev/sda1 3D68-1E0F vfat
/dev/sda2: PTTYPE="dos"
/dev/sda5 94df2aa6-9c9a-4820-8f96-cf31d31ad1bc swap
/dev/sda6 8e73b184-1e6f-4693-8a5e-938cd6aaec05 ext4
/dev/sda7 32cf9172-d8cf-4e3e-ae95-c401cfcd1a63 ext3
/dev/sda: PTTYPE="dos"

============================ "mount | grep ^/dev output: ===========================

Device Mount_Point Type Options

/dev/sda6 / ext4 (rw,acl,user_xattr)
/dev/sda7 /home ext3 (rw)
/dev/sda1 /windows/C vfat (rw,noexec,nosuid,nodev,gid=100,umask=0002,utf8=tr ue)


=========================== sda6/boot/grub/menu.lst: ===========================

# Modified by YaST2. Last modification on Sun Oct 3 07:17:56 EDT 2010
# THIS FILE WILL BE PARTIALLY OVERWRITTEN by perl-Bootloader
# Configure custom boot parameters for updated kernels in /etc/sysconfig/bootloader

default 1
timeout 8
##YaST - generic_mbr
gfxmenu (hd0,5)/boot/message
##YaST - activate

###Don't change this comment - YaST2 identifier: Original name: linux###
title openSUSE 11.3 - 2.6.34.7-0.3 (default)
root (hd0,5)
kernel /boot/vmlinuz-2.6.34.7-0.3-default root=/dev/disk/by-id/ata-Maxtor_6B100P0_B3D199GH-part6 resume=/dev/disk/by-id/ata-Maxtor_6B100P0_B3D199GH-part5 splash=silent quiet showopts vga=0x317
initrd /boot/initrd-2.6.34.7-0.3-default

###Don't change this comment - YaST2 identifier: Original name: failsafe###
title Failsafe -- openSUSE 11.3 - 2.6.34.7-0.3 (default)
root (hd0,5)
kernel /boot/vmlinuz-2.6.34.7-0.3-default root=/dev/disk/by-id/ata-Maxtor_6B100P0_B3D199GH-part6 showopts apm=off noresume nosmp maxcpus=0 edd=off powersaved=off nohz=off highres=off processor.max_cstate=1 nomodeset x11failsafe vga=0x317
initrd /boot/initrd-2.6.34.7-0.3-default

###Don't change this comment - YaST2 identifier: Original name: linux###
title Desktop -- openSUSE 11.3 - 2.6.34.7-0.3
root (hd0,5)
kernel /boot/vmlinuz-2.6.34.7-0.3-desktop root=/dev/disk/by-id/ata-Maxtor_6B100P0_B3D199GH-part6 resume=/dev/disk/by-id/ata-Maxtor_6B100P0_B3D199GH-part5 splash=silent quiet showopts vga=0x317
initrd /boot/initrd-2.6.34.7-0.3-desktop

###Don't change this comment - YaST2 identifier: Original name: failsafe###
title Failsafe -- openSUSE 11.3 - 2.6.34.7-0.3 (desktop)
root (hd0,5)
kernel /boot/vmlinuz-2.6.34.7-0.3-desktop root=/dev/disk/by-id/ata-Maxtor_6B100P0_B3D199GH-part6 showopts apm=off noresume nosmp maxcpus=0 edd=off powersaved=off nohz=off highres=off processor.max_cstate=1 nomodeset x11failsafe vga=0x317
initrd /boot/initrd-2.6.34.7-0.3-desktop

###Don't change this comment - YaST2 identifier: Original name: windows###
title Windows
rootnoverify (hd0,0)
chainloader +1

###Don't change this comment - YaST2 identifier: Original name: floppy###
title Floppy
rootnoverify (fd0)
chainloader +1

###Don't change this comment - YaST2 identifier: Original name: puppy###
title Puppy Linux 5.0.1
rootnoverify (hd0,0)
kernel /puppy501/vmlinuz pmedia=atahd psubdir=puppy501
initrd /puppy501/initrd.gz

###Don't change this comment - YaST2 identifier: Original name: puppy###
title Game Optimized Puppy Linux
rootnoverify (hd0,0)
kernel /gamepuppy/vmlinuz pmedia=atahd psubdir=gamepuppy append root=/dev/ram0 initrd=image.gz acpi=off PFILE=ask
initrd /gamepuppy/image.gz

title Knoppix 6.2 dvd
root (hd0,0)
kernel (hd0,0)/knoppix/boot/isolinux/linux fromhd=/dev/sda1 knoppix_dir=knoppix/KNOPPIX ramdisk_size=100000 lang=us vt.default_utf8=0 apm=power-off vga=791 nomce quiet loglevel=0
initrd (hd0,0)/knoppix/boot/isolinux/minirt.gz
savedefault
boot
=============================== sda6/etc/fstab: ===============================

/dev/disk/by-id/ata-Maxtor_6B100P0_B3D199GH-part5 swap swap defaults 0 0
/dev/disk/by-id/ata-Maxtor_6B100P0_B3D199GH-part6 / ext4 acl,user_xattr 1 1
/dev/disk/by-id/ata-Maxtor_6B100P0_B3D199GH-part7 /home ext3 defaults 1 2
/dev/disk/by-id/ata-Maxtor_6B100P0_B3D199GH-part1 /windows/C vfat users,gid=users,umask=0002,utf8=true 0 0
proc /proc proc defaults 0 0
sysfs /sys sysfs noauto 0 0
debugfs /sys/kernel/debug debugfs noauto 0 0
usbfs /proc/bus/usb usbfs noauto 0 0
devpts /dev/pts devpts mode=0620,gid=5 0 0

=================== sda6: Location of files loaded by Grub: ===================


51.6GB: boot/grub/menu.lst
53.6GB: boot/grub/stage2
53.7GB: boot/initrd
53.7GB: boot/initrd-2.6.34.7-0.3-default
53.7GB: boot/initrd-2.6.34.7-0.3-desktop
53.6GB: boot/vmlinuz
53.6GB: boot/vmlinuz-2.6.34.7-0.3-default
53.6GB: boot/vmlinuz-2.6.34.7-0.3-desktop
=============================== StdErr Messages: ===============================

No volume groups found
mdadm: No arrays found in config file or automatically

[ICPUG]

Oh dear me, or words to that effect. I missed this the first time you posted your menu.lst.

You said originally that knoppix was in the Knoppix directory of the partition yet in your menu.lst you say

knoppix_dir=knoppix/KNOPPIX

that implies the knoppix file is stored in the /knoppix/KNOPPIX folder of the partition.

Have you added the file name by mistake?

try:
knoppix_dir=/knoppix

(note the leading slash to make sure we are one level from root)

or better:

knoppix_dir=/knoppix knoppix_name=KNOPPIX

[kl522]

At this stage of the problem it seems everyone has his own idea of what will be the cause of it.

However, I would still like to bring the attention back to the basics, is the message "file not found" something given out by :-

a) the bootloader ( ie grub ), or
b) the kernel has booted, the initrd has loaded, it's the shell script 'init' which failed to locate the KNOPPIX compressed image.

As we know, if it is a bootloader message, then the knoppix cheatcode is irrelevant; if it is a knoppix error message, then the kernel file (linux) and initrd(minirt) location are irrelevant.

If one were to actually look at the boot messages, the answer of whether it is (a) or (b) is kind of obvious. Even if it is not obvious enough, adding a cheatcode "debug" will make it even more obvious !

Well, since the original poster is not very much concern about this aspect, it remains as everyone's guess then.

Complicating things with it is that the original poster also said he could not even boot with the DVD/CDROM. Now, this is getting interesting. However, there is no error message offered in this situation. It can't be giving out the same error message, if an attempt to boot has been made to the isolinux bootloader. It will only give out the same error message if the BIOS/CMOS has not even attempted to boot from DVD/CDROM.

Last but not least, I am not personal convinced that the attempt to try out capricony's suggestion is conclusive, as there were no offer to show the location of the needed files and the needed menu.lst.

But for now I wish everyone have a good day.

[mrbojangles]

I wish to say first that I appreciate the helpful replies to my problem. Second, maybe I have not provided enough detail, but that is the process of learning.
1. The box has no dvd drive. The dvd files are extracted from the iso image.
2. The bootloader (grub) can not find the kernel or initrd. I see the grub entry for knoppix echoed to the screen ending with the file not found error 15. There is no kernel booting.
3. If there is a debug script for this problem, I would like to try it.
4. A knoppix live cd does work.