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Thread: 6.10: Netinstall floppies

  1. #1
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    Apr 2005
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    6.10: Netinstall floppies

    A few people have found the previous versions of these useful so here are the Edgy x86 Ubuntu/Kubuntu/Xubuntu/Server floppies. If you can use another method to install (e.g. Mini ISO, tftp boot, etc) then try that first. These floppies are more of a special case get-out-jail free card for people without CD drives or CD burners. If anyone out there feels like mirroring 9mb of very low traffic files then I'd sure like you to get in touch (Most errors happen with people trying to put the image files back together).

    Preparation:
    Get 6 1.44mb good floppy disks. By good I don't mean the one you've been using as a coaster for the past year, I mean good enough that you can write to them without errors.

    Get all the files I've posted on this thread.

    NOTE: These are NOT zip files, they just have the .zip extension, do not attempt to extract them. The forum code won't allow me to upload something that's 1.44mb in size directly, however it will allow files with a .zip extension up to 920kb in size. Therefore I've split each disk into 2 parts and labelled them with a .zip extension. The disk parts are all labelled disk<disk>.<part>.zip. Don't let yourself get confused, don't believe the icons in your file manager, they are NOT zip files. Use the instructions to rebuild the disk images.

    Rebuild:
    Thanks to me being forced into splitting the images you'll have to put them back together to get the real disk images. This is a very simple operation:
    Code:
    Windows:
    copy /b boot.1.zip+boot.2.zip boot.img
    copy /b disk1.1.zip+disk1.2.zip disk1.img
    ...
    
    Linux:
    cat boot.1.zip boot.2.zip > boot.img
    cat disk1.1.zip disk1.2.zip > disk1.img
    ...
    Write:
    Now write the images onto your real floppy disks. It's probably a good plan to label the disks .
    These are image files, they contain an image of the whole floppy disk, they must be written out to the disk (Similar to burning a CD from an ISO image).

    Windows:

    Use the free utility RawWrite http://www.chrysocome.net/rawwrite

    Linux:
    Code:
    dd if=/path/to/image of=/dev/fd0

    Install:
    Set your computer to boot from a floppy drive in the BIOS. If you can't do this then you REALLY shouldn't be using this guide.

    Insert the disk that has been written with boot.img and reboot. After a short delay you'll get asked to insert disk 1 and press a key, the disk will be read and you will be asked for disk 2, etc. After all disks are read the Ubuntu installer will start.

    It's the text only installer so don't get scared when you see lots of kernel messages rushing by while it's booting. After answering a few questions and downloading the base system you will be given the option to install Ubuntu/Kubuntu/Xubuntu/Server/etc.

    After selecting your preference do not panic when the progress bar stays at 6%. The installer must download a large number of files to your system before they can be installed. How long this takes will depend on your download speed (Around 1 hour at 255kb/s).

    After installation be sure to remove all floppies and alter your BIOS to boot from the appropriate hard-drive.

    Notes:
    This HOWTO uses modified GRUB code to support composing an initrd from multiple files. Do not complain to the GRUB devs about bugs.

    This is a network install. No supported network card = no install. The supported hardware is the same as that for the Mini ISO.

    The installer uses <space> to select an option (You'll need this when selecting video modes), the cursor keys for navigation and the enter key to hit a button.

    These disks are effectively a floppy version of the Mini ISO install CD, the only difference being a smaller kernel image (I couldn't fit the Mini ISO one on one disk).

    I don't take any credit for the excellent work someone else did putting together the Mini ISO system.

    Common Mistakes:
    Treating these files as though they are zip archives. They aren't, they are just big blocks of data with filenames that happen to end in .zip.

    Downloading the forum error page. The forum requires you to be logged in before you can download files. If you hit 'save as' and wind up with a file less than 720kb then this is probably the reason why.

    Not being in the right directory when rebuilding. Usually this just affects folks that are unused to the command line. On Windows you can get a command prompt with Start->System->Accessories->Command prompt. Use the command 'cd directory' to change directory (No apostrophes, use the name of the directory you want to change to). 'dir' will give a list of files/directories in the current directory.

    Copying the image files into a disk instead of writing them to the disk. In theory this shouldn't be possible (Unless you have some 2.88mb disks lying around), but if you find yourself getting a 'disk full' error then it's likely this is what you're trying to do.

    Out of disk space. Usually only a problem when installing in a virtual machine. The install requires a minimum of 2.5gb disk space. You'll know when you run out because the installer will just hang there doing nothing, but ctrl-alt-f2 will still give you a busybox shell. Don't get confused with the "This thing has been sitting on 6% for hours" download part of the install.

    Unsupported network card. The Mini-ISO (Which this guide copies) supports a nice range of cards, but by no means all the cards supported in a full install. If you're using exotic hardware or something that is only supported via the restricted modules then you're likely to be out of luck. If you're feeling really adventurous then you can try downloading the appropriate modules (Use modules built for 2.6.17-10-386), copy them to a floppy, press "Go Back" in the installer at some point (After the network configuration fails would be good ), start a shell, mount the disk, modprobe the modules, close the shell and restart network configuration (I believe you'll also want a lunar eclipse, 3 virgins and a live chicken).

    Using the wrong disk. If GRUB gives tells you "Error 15: File not found" then chances are you've put the wrong disk in. You did label them...didn't you?

    Using bad floppies or having a junked floppy drive. This is probably the number one thing that people have got caught out by in previous versions of this guide. Floppies are temperamental little things at the best of times, even after they've just been bought from the store. If you hear the disk drive grinding away when writing out the image then it might, I say might, be an indication of a bad floppy. If you have problems then try replacing the disk the install stops on and try again.
    Code:
    aa644704d5251b304f1a23083c9eb291  boot.img
    8afd1b03c2ae2541749396ea7a77c56d  disk1.img
    a2fb9e2eb5cdbc27589764e25c8d1a13  disk2.img
    98f639fee8f68739119f0967c12adef0  disk3.img
    4c055f660d8cac486dd04552e5d24806  disk4.img
    e6a49dd7c2da752e97e77e6b42818650  disk5.img
    Last edited by Curufir; February 3rd, 2007 at 07:26 AM. Reason: Common Mistakes

  2. #2
    Join Date
    Apr 2005
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    Re: 6.10: Netinstall floppies

    boot.img
    disk1.img

    These are NOT zip files. See the instructions for how to recompose the .img files.
    Attached Files Attached Files
    Last edited by Curufir; February 3rd, 2007 at 05:38 AM.

  3. #3
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    45

    Re: 6.10: Netinstall floppies

    disk2.img
    disk3.img

    These are NOT zip files. See the instructions for how to recompose the .img files.
    Attached Files Attached Files
    Last edited by Curufir; February 3rd, 2007 at 05:39 AM.

  4. #4
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    45

    Re: 6.10: Netinstall floppies

    disk4.img
    disk5.img

    These are NOT zip files. See the instructions for how to recompose the .img files.
    Attached Files Attached Files
    Last edited by Curufir; February 3rd, 2007 at 05:39 AM.

  5. #5
    Join Date
    Dec 2006
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    717
    Distro
    Xubuntu 13.04 Raring Ringtail

    Re: 6.10: Netinstall floppies

    Ok all that gets downloaded is a small stub - not the 720kb files.
    Not being cheeky but they do dl for you ok?
    Anybody else having this issue or just me?

    I can dl other files ok I have tried save as link and ff flashgot and webdownloader...
    Last edited by SilverWave; February 2nd, 2007 at 10:31 PM.

  6. #6
    Join Date
    Jun 2006
    Location
    Texas, USA
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    59
    Distro
    Ubuntu 7.04 Feisty Fawn

    Re: 6.10: Netinstall floppies

    silverwave when i download it it's the full 720kb but when i try to ope it, it wont. heres the output
    Code:
    [/home/thomas/Desktop/disk4.1.zip]
      End-of-central-directory signature not found.  Either this file is not
      a zipfile, or it constitutes one disk of a multi-part archive.  In the
      latter case the central directory and zipfile comment will be found on
      the last disk(s) of this archive.
    zipinfo:  cannot find zipfile directory in one of /home/thomas/Desktop/disk4.1.zip or
              /home/thomas/Desktop/disk4.1.zip.zip, and cannot find /home/thomas/Desktop/disk4.1.zip.ZIP, period.
    but i think thats due to the way they are packed and thats why you should use the command line ways of unarchiving
    Last edited by gorilla_king; February 3rd, 2007 at 02:26 AM.

  7. #7
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    Re: 6.10: Netinstall floppies

    gorilla_king:

    They are not archives. They certainly aren't zip files.

    What each of these files actually represents is one half of a disk image for a 1.44mb floppy.

    The forum puts limits on how big files can be depending on the extension they get uploaded with. It allows around 920kb for files with a .zip extension so I just split the image files into two and uploaded the pieces with a .zip extension.

    The instructions tell you how to put the files back together into disk images. If someone comes along with a mirror for the full sized files then this step will become unnecessary.

    SilverWave:

    Odd, I can dowload them fine. The forum does require you to be logged in to download files. That would explain not getting a 720kb file, you'd be dowloading the html page saying you aren't logged in.
    Last edited by Curufir; February 3rd, 2007 at 05:37 AM.

  8. #8
    Join Date
    Dec 2006
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    Distro
    Xubuntu 13.04 Raring Ringtail

    Re: 6.10: Netinstall floppies

    Quote Originally Posted by Curufir View Post
    gorilla_king:

    Odd, I can dowload them fine. The forum does require you to be logged in to download files. That would explain not getting a 720kb file, you'd be dowloading the html page saying you aren't logged in.
    Working now - must have been a log on issue thanks for the help.

    I ran md5sum against the rebuilt files and they are all ok

    Code:
     md5sum -c check.md5
    boot.img: OK
    disk1.img: OK
    disk2.img: OK
    disk3.img: OK
    disk4.img: OK
    disk5.img: OK
    Now I can dig out that old pc and give this ago

  9. #9
    Join Date
    Apr 2005
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    Re: 6.10: Netinstall floppies

    Quote Originally Posted by SilverWave View Post
    Now I can dig out that old pc and give this ago
    Good luck, let me know how it turns out. I've run through the full Ubuntu install whilst checking the disks, but one install doesn't really prove anything. It'll be interesting to see someone else get through it.

  10. #10
    Join Date
    Dec 2006
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    717
    Distro
    Xubuntu 13.04 Raring Ringtail

    Re: 6.10: Netinstall floppies

    Quote Originally Posted by Curufir View Post
    Good luck, let me know how it turns out. ...
    Ran through install today...

    Your side of of it works fine (thanks).
    e.g. the netinstall from the mirror pulls in the software repartitions the hard drive installs grub etc.

    I can log in and access the console after boot up.

    I can not boot up into gnome, this is probably a hardware issue with video card.
    starting...
    em:17179569.184000 acpi unable to locate rsdp
    em:67.613159 codec read timeout (final) at 0xe014=0x7c [0x0]
    etc....

    It was always a long shot with the ancient hardware I had to test it on - but the good news is I have another way out if I find myself in trouble and have had practice installing via floppies and the text based install.

    Again thanks for putting this guide together I have learned a lot

    ---
    I may have a look at the hardware issues later but tbh it may be more trouble than its worth - to give you an idea this old box is a K6 (500mhz) with 2656mb ram, 2x30gb HD's, Oh yeah and a 3dfx Voodoo 3000 AGP card
    Last edited by SilverWave; February 5th, 2007 at 04:05 AM.

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