Compaq Armada m700, Pentium III: Issues with installing Lubuntu via BusyBox

[charitosha]

Few days ago i found my first laptop ever - compaq armada m700, and decided to install lubuntu.
the thing is, i tried to do the installation a bit unconventionally, and now i have a problem to solve...
So while in XP(which i want to get rid off) i made a 2nd partition, formated in FAT32, and burnt the iso image overthere(sda2) . I thought that it will start booting from there(which it did) and then through the installation process i'll wipe out xp(can't get to that part yet.)
So the installation stops at the step where it detects and mounts the cd-rom. it gives me an error saying that it couldn't mount the cd-rom because it was empty(duh!).
i tried to do the following: mount -t /dev/sda2 /sr0 and also: mount -t /dev/sda2 /dev/sr0. Both times it couldn't find sr0 in /etc/fstab.
Please tell me this: if it's not possible to mount like this, how can i redirect the installation process into sda2 where the iso lies?
Please bear in mind that i cannot get into xp anymore(as far as i'm concern), so it looks like i have to do it via busybox, which should be possible and would be really cool!

Kind Regards!

p.s. i looked in this forum before posting, found some infos but nothing particular to my case... i am asking for some guidance

[charitosha]

Ok so i tried to install Lubuntu 12.04
at lubuntu installation screen, the only difference is that i don't have the "Try Lubuntu without installing" option (the root cause of my problem)
Q1: why i don't have the "Try Lubuntu without installing" option?

when in this screen if i press esc i get a pop-up saying :"You are leaving the graphical boot menu and starting the text mode interface"
if ok is pressed the display goes black, the word boot is shown with the cursor next to it i.e. boot: _
i made 2 attemps
boot: /boot/grub
invalid or corrupt kernel image
boot: /boot/grub/kernel.img
Could not find kernel image: /boot/grub/kernel.img
Q2: why did the above happened?

i believe that the problem arises when while trying to do the installation, i get to the step where it "detecting hardware to find cdrom" and then replies that the cdrom is empty(which it is) and cannot go any further. then i cancel the installation get a window with some options and choose the buil-in shell option. i get the following:
BusyBox v1.18.5 (ubuntu 1:1.18.5-lubuntu4) built-in shell (ash)
~#
Q3: # means that i have su privileges right?

for now i'm just wondering around the files that i see from ls and reading about them from the net.
Q4:how is it possible to make the installation process to look for the kernel image in the sda2 partition?

i am just asking for some pointers and guidance, because i want to make it on my own, i'm believe it's a good way to learn!

[mörgæs]

I would consider an M700 too old to be of any use. How much memory does it have?
If you nevertheless want to experiment I recommend the alternate Lubuntu 13.10. Best is to have some unformatted space left on the drive before installing.

[ibjsb4]

A P3 with a 128M of ram ..

May want to have a look at Puppy.

http://puppylinux.org/main/Overview%...%20Started.htm

The try lubuntu option probably can't run on that.

[charitosha]

actually my RAM is 378.324 MB and cpu 746.306 MHz. i've double checked these values.
Isn't this ram enough for Lubuntu? And also, i'm stuck in the lubuntu installation as i say in my 1st post, i cannot even access XP let alone try different Linux flavor.
Can somebody, please, answer my 3 questions in my 2nd post?

[sudodus]

I have a few unconventional methods to boot very old computers, but before suggesting which method would suit in your case I have some questions:

- Can you boot from a CD or from USB?

- or must you boot from the internal HDD? In this case, can you take the HDD out of the armada and connect it to another computer?

[ibjsb4]

Rage Mobility P/M AGP 2x

Looks to be supported

https://wiki.ubuntu.com/HardwareSupp...sVideoCardsAti

[sudodus]

Ok so i tried to install Lubuntu 12.04
at lubuntu installation screen, the only difference is that i don't have the "Try Lubuntu without installing" option (the root cause of my problem)
Q1: why i don't have the "Try Lubuntu without installing" option?

What Lubuntu iso file did you download? the desktop iso offers "Try Lubuntu without installing", the alternate iso does not, but it can install in computers with lower RAM and when there are problems with the graphics.

What tool did you use to make a drive bootable? I did not quite understand what you made bootable and how to made it bootable.

when in this screen if i press esc i get a pop-up saying :"You are leaving the graphical boot menu and starting the text mode interface"
if ok is pressed the display goes black, the word boot is shown with the cursor next to it i.e. boot: _
i made 2 attemps
boot: /boot/grub
invalid or corrupt kernel image
boot: /boot/grub/kernel.img
Could not find kernel image: /boot/grub/kernel.img
Q2: why did the above happened?

I don't understand enough [yet] to answer this question

i believe that the problem arises when while trying to do the installation, i get to the step where it "detecting hardware to find cdrom" and then replies that the cdrom is empty(which it is) and cannot go any further. then i cancel the installation get a window with some options and choose the buil-in shell option. i get the following:
BusyBox v1.18.5 (ubuntu 1:1.18.5-lubuntu4) built-in shell (ash)
~#
Q3: # means that i have su privileges right?

Yes, but busybox is a very limited shell, you can only run a few commands compared to running a full bash shell. I must admit, that I don't know much about what is possible is busybox. I try to avoid getting there

for now i'm just wondering around the files that i see from ls and reading about them from the net.
Q4:how is it possible to make the installation process to look for the kernel image in the sda2 partition?

I will reply in a general way. If the installation works properly, you can install Lubuntu to any partition, that is big enough. The installer can reformat it if necessary.

You have enough RAM for that, trying to install Lubuntu 13.10. But don't install Lubuntu 12.04, it has no long time support and has passed end of life. (Furthermore, that installer needs more RAM.)

i am just asking for some pointers and guidance, because i want to make it on my own, i'm believe it's a good way to learn!

But as I wrote before, some other installer might be better. And Lubuntu Core might be better than standard Lubuntu. Or even some other distro which is ultra light weight.

[charitosha]

i burnt the iso in the hdd so i could take it out and connect it to my pc (it will take me a bit of time because it has an ide conector).
because i burnt it in the hdd it looks that now i'm stuck with it and have to do it from there...
what can you connect via the Rage Mobility???

[sudodus]

i burnt the iso in the hdd so i could take it out and connect it to my pc (it will take me a bit of time because it has an ide conector).
because i burnt it in the hdd it looks that now i'm stuck with it and have to do it from there...

Are there any files, that you need to save before overwriting them?

Is it OK to use the whole drive for Lubuntu (and overwrite whatever is on the HDD?

It is possible to install a Lubuntu system in one computer, and to port it to another computer, and it will run, as long as you use free drivers (opposite to proprietary drivers, typically for graphics and wifi).

what can you connect via the Rage Mobility???

Rage is the graphics chip, and Ibjsb4 told us, that Lubuntu's graphics are likely to work with it.