Manual install of Knoppix 6.2.1 ful disk to HDD

[pebl]

I printed out the manual instructions from 6/18 and just looked at the instructions currently shown (online). Both say to go to a command line and type: "knoppix-installer". Well, there is no such file. I even ran a find and looked around the disk myself. Kind of difficult getting the install started when the initialization program is missing.
To answer your question, yes, I have several technical reasons for doing a manual instead of automatic install. More than I am willing to go though in this blog.

[krishna.murphy]

I printed out the manual instructions from 6/18 and just looked at the instructions currently shown (online). Both say to go to a command line and type: "knoppix-installer". Well, there is no such file. I even ran a find and looked around the disk myself. Kind of difficult getting the install started when the initialization program is missing.
To answer your question, yes, I have several technical reasons for doing a manual instead of automatic install. More than I am willing to go though in this blog.

I don't know the instructions you reference, but it sounds out-of-date. The "Knoppix HD install" on the Preferences menu in the GUI should do what you're saying you want to do. The general wisdom shared on this site has been that "installing" a full Linux setup, with partitioning, etc., is better done with either Debian or Ubuntu, since there are a LOT of unusual tweaks in Knoppix to facilitate ReadOnly-SlowDisk operations. Typically, only folks wanting to make their own version of Knoppix (which is fair game) are advised to do that. Far better, IMHO, to use either

knoppix tohd=/dev/whatever

and

knoppix fromhd=/dev/whatever

or the flash install utility (on the same menu), which will work with a hard drive as well. Those options will keep the "containerized" Knoppix intact, rather than duplicating what's in there on a hard drive partition, which seems to make things go awry.

Cheers!
Krishna

[klaus2008]

The installer program for Knoppix HD install is called 0wn (Zero Work Needed) and the one for installation on flash media is called flash-knoppix.

[Capricorny]

The installer program for Knoppix HD install is called 0wn (Zero Work Needed) and the one for installation on flash media is called flash-knoppix.

Yes. And according to all the help requests after HD installs cropping up here, that "0" - zero - in 0wn might seem to be something of a misnomer in a lot of cases

I think it is a somewhat unfortunate situation, as people nowadays are used to starting with a live distro, trying it out, and then seamlessly being able to transfer it to HD if they want to. But those other distros (like Ubuntu and Mandriva) have been designed for HD installs, and later adapted for live running, while Knoppix is a born live thing. With Knoppix 6.X (MicroKnoppix base), the older package compatibility problems with Debian packages are mostly gone, and used with "poor man's installs" - i.e. Knoppix copied to hard disk without "unwrapping" it, it can work extremely well in ordinary use. But people keep on reporting problems with ordinary installs, and, at the very least, a lot of the utilities for administration of an ordinary install are lacking or insufficiently adapted for Knoppix. So, I think it is safe to say that for ordinary install, Knoppix is not there yet. I also think it is safe to say that Knoppix' base, Debian, by default has not been the most user-friendly distro either - I think that was an important reason Ubuntu came into being and quickly grew popular.

It may not be a long way to go to get there, but the apparent lack of a Knoppix developer community surely does not help.

One possible way out, might be to take a Knoppix release, and remaster it, adapting, for example, the most important Ubuntu system administration tools.

As for the original question in this thread, 0wn is of course not for manual installs. To find directions and hints about manual installs, I think it is best to look into remastering strategies. There, we unpack, run and manipulate Knoppix manually.